How do you tell?

[Ian Smith]

Twice in last couple of days I've been caught out addressing a female member of the forum as a male - First it was Madrat now Wolffie.

Sometimes there's clues in their signature, but more often than not it's not so obvious and it comes down to the things they say.

I just referred to Wolffie as a "Gent" (sorry Wolffie) but something in the back of mind was saying otherwise so I went back through past posting and stumbled across - "When I was a little girl" - Now there's a clue !!!

I suppose I could tailor my response to be non-gender specific but it's a bit less personal, so what to others do?

How do you tell? ( I've read all those books BTW)

Ian

[Chumley]

G'day Ian,

Don't know how you can tell, but I figure it's ok to assume male unless obvious or told otherwise. Yeah, it may be sexist (or really 'genderist') but I think the general consensus would be that there are more men doing wood than women. Same way you need to say 'male nurse' as 'nurse' implies female. Not saying it's right or good, just that's the way it is and I guess will continue unless the ranks even up.

Cheers,
Adam

[Barry_White]

Perhaps Neil could put a field in the User Profile to select Male, Female or Other for those so inclined. I suppose some ladies don't like to disclose their gender on a mostly male site in case all the male chauvinists raise their ugly heads.

[Ian Smith]

Perhaps Neil could put a field in the User Profile .

Neil,
Is this possible/worth it?

Regards

Ian

[munruben]

Can be a bit tricky addressing someone if you don't know their sex but if not sure it's probably better to play it safe and not refer in a specific way to a persons sex. It's not always necessary to refer to someone by name if it comes to it. There are plenty of males on here who don't divulge their Christian names. Well I think they are males.

[watson]

Maybe its the tiny smidgeon of "hippiedom" left in me, but if ,within the forum, any answer is just directed to a "woodie" (I was just going to type "Fellow Woodie") then the problem doesn't occur if the username is used.
That's if the game is played both ways.

Just a thought

[prozac]

I just referred to Wolffie as a "Gent" (sorry Wolffie) but something in the back of mind was saying otherwise so I went back through past posting and stumbled across - "When I was a little girl" - Now there's a clue !!!

How do you tell? ( I've read all those books BTW)

Ian

Crikey, I read that post too and never picked up on it. I did think;
a/. It was a strange thing to say but then maybe everyone else got it except me,
b/. That perhaps Wolffie did a bit of cross-dressing.

Now I know that I was wrong and am a bit of a dill.

As for members genders. We could have pink posts for girls and blue for boys. Seriously, I figure everyone is a person so just be gender neutral.

prozac

[Fuzzie]

There are plenty of males on here who don't divulge their Christian names. Well I think they are males. __________________
Cheers, John

I've met at least 2 woman who went by the name John.

So Mrs Munruben, you were saying........

A partial solution would be to make this a non anonymous site like www.familywoodworking.org however I think if it really matters to the poster, they will make it apparent quickly enough. We live in a gender neutral era.

Cheers,
Franklin

[madrat]

Twice in last couple of days I've been caught out addressing a female member of the forum as a male - First it was Madrat now Wolffie.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Personally, it didn't bother me.

My parents gave me a male name at birth so I have had my fair share of confusing people as a kid.

Even nowadays, at work when people return my calls, they think they're calling back a male (even though the voice is a little higher than normal).

Figured my parents having 4 girls, wanted at least one boy and me getting the male name, was THEIR way of a compromise .

After all, when most people go by their signature name, who's to know?

Speaking as a female and for myself, it wouldn't offend me in anyway if someone else was to assume the same thing in future posts.

I'm cool with it.

[ubeaut]

I'm not really sure that knowing gender is all that important, after all as Watson said we are all woodies. Knowing someone's sex could cause more problems than it solves especially in these days of political correctness.

I think most women who want us to know their gender have done so.

The forums are non gender specific, the same as they are non denominational, non racial and non political.

Cheers - Neil

PS if you feel it's really important to know the sex of others then list your reasons why below.

[Ian Smith]

Thanks for all your responses.
It's no big deal, but I just thought as a matter of courtesy it was the thing to do, but if it doesn't bother others than I can live with that.

Regards

Ian

[flynnsart]

Yep, we are all just woodiesProbably more females on here than you know. And I do not think there would be even one female on here who wouldnt get a chuckle out of being thought a male.

Donna

[prozac]

Hi Ian,

Personally, it didn't bother me.

My parents gave me a male name at birth so I have had my fair share of confusing people as a kid.

I'm cool with it.

So...o, Madrat is a male name?

prozac

[jow104]

One of the advantages of the
French language I suppose, everything is either masculine or femaline, le & la.

Woodworker= English

le menuisier= French.

Therefore all woodworkers would be masculine

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Is it really relevant? Kids also read these forums, so as long as you keep that in mind what can you possibly say to genuinely offend someone else?

On second thoughts... considering some of the drongo's that've passed through over the years, I take all the above back...

Don't post. Shut down yer computer now, throw it in the bin and go out to your shed instead. Even then, someone is bound to take umbrage!