Girls don't exsist on the internet

[Gwyn]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/17/27

Funny how I can nod my head and go "yep I know what that's like" to most of the examples she gives.

[griever]

Yeah...that really sucks....for a while, I kept a neutral guise, but everyone thought I was a guy.  I actually scared people when I told them I was a girl.  Of course, they probably didn't ask for pics because I had a large enough army in the RPG to royally whip their butts, but yeah....

[tickyhead]

man.....it's kinda sad how much of that was true. Not for me in particular, (most people on the MMOGs I play know I'm a girl. Yay me! ) but still...

Sucks that both the net and the gaming industry are considered so masculine. Not that my opinion matters, cuz I don't really exist here! *fades away*

[Miluette]

This makes me sad. Especially since I like to choose male avatars in those sorts of things.

Seriously though, wah. Girls...exist. And...aren't all net whores. Poo to the ones that are, making the rest of us look bad.

I used to be part of a small gaming community. There were maybe 4 girls total over the 3 years I was with them, but they at least believed I was a girl. (Hehe, admin had a sister part of the community.) Most of the time I seem Neutral to people...well, more now than, say, 4 years ago, when there were lots of ^^ or ^__^.

Yeah, back then I made us all look bad too.

[tickyhead]

nah, I've even seen GUYS use stuff like ^^; and ^^ and ^__^ and even the lowly ^_~. What REALLY gives girls bad names (in my opinion) are the spazzes on, say, DeviantART. (you find them everywhere, but these I remember most because there's a TON of them. no offence to anyone who actually IS like this too, it just bugs me....)

Observe: "OMFG yaoi!!!! *3* FULL VEIW OR I KNOKC UR BALLS OUT!!!!1!!111 ^_________^ hehehehehehehehe its my 2 fav charas from :insert mainstream anime here: KISSING!!!!111 KAWAIIIII @.@ *drool* hehe I'm so naghuty~~~~~ ^_~~ lol NO BAD CMOMENTS (even though their settings say they want advanced critiques ) OR I'LL POO ON U!!!111!!!"

See, doesn't it make you cringe? I nearly stabbed my eyes out writing it. Even sadder is when the spaz in question isn't a young girl, but a full grown woman in college studying english.

(by the way, I have no idea what it is about me, but somehow everyone on the net just KNOWS I'm a girl no matter what my avatar is or what I type like....it's like some freak glitch in the internet that I can't be ambiguous. Though I'm not sure if they don't cringe or pause for a really long time when I start talking HTML or computer specs XD)

[Gwyn]

I also hate the girls who actully do demand free stuff and special attention because they are a girl.

[Xepher]

Funny that you should point out that article here actually, as this seems to be one of those too few places online where the girls outnumber the guys. Just looking at the main forum page, most of the "last post by..." entrys are by a girl, and the majority of regulars here are girls. I've definitely seen what that article talks about in games though... Counter-strike is especially bad about that, with the built-in voice chat people always start spazzing as soon as they hear a girl's voice. Thankfully, they're usually being killed by said girl as well.

Strangely enough, the reverse happens often too. I have a female character in WoW, and most people (at least on my guild/server) are content not asking questions... Then again, I'm in an adults-only guild, so it keeps out most of the immature idiots, and we really do have a fair amount of real girls in it. Occasionally though, I get stupid messages from complete strangers asking for pictures or other stupid stuff. I figure the quickest way to end that is to tell them I'm a guy. I do so, and then they don't believe me, saying I'm just trying to get them to go away. After that, no matter what I say, they won't change their minds. I've had a couple try and get me to prove that I'm a guy... get this... by asking sports questions. I don't give a flying frack about who the yankees beat in the series or whatever, so I obviously "fail" these tests, and then they insist I must be a girl. Same way girls obviously don't exist on the internet, guys don't exist without sports it seems.

I've also had people looking for hosting here assume I'm a girl. I think it's a combination of being more articulate than the average howler monkey, and the fact that I run something "creative." That's the area of the internet that's opposite the rest in assumptions. If it's an art site, people seem to assume everyone there is female until proven otherwise.

I'm still not sure how/why Xepher.net ended up with such a high percentage of female members, compared to the average internet. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I just find it odd, since, as a guy, I wouldn't think I'd have any special insight or bias that should influence it so. No, my only complaint is that I don't seem to have the same ability in real life. I never seem to meet a nice girl that can also pwn in counter-strike. :-)

[Miluette]

Bwargh! "I'm a girl, watch me dance! Give me money!" I MIGHT only do that if it was in a GAME for FUN with FAKE MONEY and I was really BORED... but that has nothing to do with reality. And since it does seem to be rediculous I'd avoid it.

I want to play these games now so I can freak people out. (But my voice is deep. It's not mannish, but I might sound like a guy trying to sound like a girl. >_<)

LOL, deviantart lowered the internet's collective braincells even more.

Anyway, I use my built-in radar to detect genders online when they're not obvious. My radar's 70-80% correct usually. Here's where I pass/fail:

Pass: I knew Xepher was a guy. Yay! I win!
Fail: ticky, despite your icon I assumed you were a guy for whatever reason. Also, kept misreading your username (whaaa? I'm weird). I lose!

[tickyhead]

actually, that's kinda cool that you thought I was a guy. It's a break from the norm at least plus it means my ambiguity training is working! Huzzahs all around!

But I dunno xeph, I don't see how people can think you're a girl....maybe I'm just weird like that. (Or maybe I have gendar like senshuu!)

speaking of senshuu, I've got the other end of the stick. My voice is SOOOOOOOO girly and high-pitched that people who hear it don't just find out I'm a girl, they think I'm a really young, really ditzy girl. Much like the DA stereotype I talked about earlier.....

(btw, think of it as tick-ee-head )

[Gwyn]

Tickyhead is a girl? omgwtf pics?

:p

[Databits]

Heh... I know what you mean Xepher. Back in the old days of vRO I had both a male and female account specifically to create two types of characters. In WoW I remade those characters (obviously not exactly the same being it's a different game). But in both cases, when on a female character I'd have stupid males who apparently don't realize that character != player... and yeah, in many cases, even if you tell them otherwise, they usually aren't smart enough to figure it out.

I also hate the girls who actully do demand free stuff and special attention because they are a girl.

What about the males who pretend to be females and do the exact same thing. That's just as annoying.

I have a tendency to treat males and females the same in games. Basically because I really don't care what sex the person is in real life. In the case of WoW, if they can't role play (the point of a RP server), I simply ignore them. What's interesting is that people treat you differently based on the character that you play. Something that I wholeheartedly resent.

[Ashley_Rose]

I get a lot of that too. I know I don't play WoW, but just hear me out. LOL.

Honestly, though CoH has a larger female populace, it's still aggravating to see the crap that girls do, I had one male character, and female characters would send me tells saying 'pics for Inf' [Influence (money)] I mean, what the hell? Why are girls doing that?

Also, I get the frequent, 'yur a grl dood?' when randomly we're sitting around waiting for someone to get back with a mission. I don't particuarly dress specifically for the opposite gender in real life, why would my characters? Most of them have costumes that don't reveal jack.  My most unclothed character is aptly name 'Queen Nefertiti' and is consequently dressed to match the name.

Or, my favorite as of yet, I play a tanker occasionally, named PMS Defender. Now, she's a girl, with a girl bio and proper grammar, and a girly but nasty war cry. But she's a damn good tanker, she can run in, take damage, and deal it out, to up to red level, without hurting too badly. The minute boys actually find out I'm a girl (once again, decent grammar and spelling gives it away) suddenly it's called into question. How can a girl play a tank? Much less an adequate one? Same goes for other classes. It's as though because I have different genetalia, my ability to make a good, solid team and solo character goes right down the drain.

Up to date, the WORST experience with a girl was a task force or something equally important and difficult where I asked and then invited, most were guys, per usual, and there was one particularly shitty girl, who dressed her girl like a whore. I mean, if that's your thing, whatever. So we get inside and we're fighting, and this girl is dying, a lot, she's not doing her job, she poorly created her character, blah blah. I'm out of endurance, and she asks me to revive her, and I, being team lead, curtly inform her to go to the hospital, and pick up inspirations on the way, and also, please make sure to be more careful next time. She gets upset, and sends me a tell, saying she's just a starter, and to go easy. I inform her that this is a TF, and people pull their own weight and manage to be a helpful member, all the time, without me going 'easy'. She then said 'I'll send naked pics if you be nice...' and I politely reject the offer as I am a woman, only to teleport her to the mission and when she dies again and I've informed her that it's skirmish before she gets booted, she tells the team that I've been sending her private tells and harrassing her for a picture and that I'm a lesbian.

Ugh. But yeah. Reading this story made me at least feel that much better.

[Databits]

Yup... I hate that too. Seems common across all mmorpg's eh? I know games are supposed to be submersive, but can it go too far? It is still, after all, just a game. Digital characters in a digital world with digital equipment and digital money. None of it means anything in real life. But then again, MMORPG's just give people a new way to contest their e-pein. Ego's and arrogance are quite common, and almost everyone (the younger kids around 12 are the worst), seems to think it's a dating service.

News Flash! IT'S NOT!

People seem to have a difficult time telling what my real life gender is in games. Perhaps it's got something to do with the fact that I too type normal complete sentences. I don't try to be cool and leet like so many people by trying to say as much as I can in as few words and symbols (if you can call them words) as possible. So yeah Rose, I guess people presume that just because someone types normally or grammatically correct, they must be female. Yes I've ran into the "pix plz" situations too.

[SilentFyre]

Ah, the good old "Girls don't exist on the internet" subject. I have had countless run-ins with this little issue.

I play WoW. I play WoW a LOT. There is barely any time of day that I am at my house and I am not logged in. I have become known in my guild, and luckily they all knew I was female. I recently had a guild change because I wanted to have some Molten Core runs. It all becomes this fun fiasco of events. I have a friend that is also a female in the guild. Just the other day, she had her 'wedding' with a guy in the guild. Shortly afterwords, she gets bored and sends me a tell that we should act like lesbians to piss him off. I, having a boyfriend that is also in the guild, decide not to add to the event but just play along in a very minimal manner. What could possibly happen?

I was sadly, sadly mistaken. Hawk, as I will refer to as the groom, took immediate offense to the situation. After a good 10 minutes, the other females gives up at poking at me and we split ways. The very next day, Hawk is threatening me with taking his girl. Now I've been stuck in a rut where someone hates me and I haven't done a thing to them. The bride logs on and starts up the little event. I take no part in it on this day. Suddenly, Hawk makes a comment of anger in which I am referred to as a male. I kindly correct him and he just EXPLODES. He quickly denies the fact that I could possibly be female, and that I am just trying to get out of any punishment. Luckily, half the guild that was on backed me up in my correct gender. I think he still believes I am male.

Well, through this whole thing I've gained an enemy out of a simple joke. He still wants to kill me, and has made many a comment on how fast I drop. Well HELLO, Im a MAGE. We don't last long when we have 5 paladins wailing on us with their Jesus shields up. It just doesn't work that way.

Another instance of a male insisting that I am not female was in my earlier days in Warsong Gulch. I was very frusterated what with the real world and the fact that horde was continuously losing the BGs. I cursed. Later in the match someone refers to me as a him and I correct them again. Suddenly I am bobarded with 9 other males freaking out that I can not possibly be female because I cursed. To this day, they must believe Blindmagi, a female character, is played by a male.

I have also shared my image with my former guildmates. Most of them took it well and were semi-relieved that I am actually female. (They had heard me on TS many a time before with my friend. I was lucky to be in a guild of friends from the internet that were at least semi-mature.) Unfortunately, it sparked someone to start hitting on me. I can deal with some flirting and whatnot, but the extend at which he brings it is far too much. Males digust me sometimes.

I never knew there were really that many females here at Xepher.net. Craazy.

[Miluette]

Wow, this makes me so sad.