Do you write like a man? or a woman?

minstrel · #1 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 12:12 AM

Is it possible to predict the gender of a writer based on one sentence, or a few sentences?

Test the Gender Genie and find out.

matauri · #2 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 01:50 AM

Time for a sex change! I'm a man! LOL

I think Carbonize & Cyanide should take this test, considering that both of them got mistaken for females ;-)

Cindy

rocky1 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 03:00 AM

Initial post was 184 words, and the Gender Genie was confused! I read the part where it stated that it works best with 500 or more words, and I pasted the entire piece of corresondence I'd cut the first paragraph from, and at 852 words it called it correctly.

carju1 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 08:34 AM

I put my WPN article in and......

Female Score: 991
Male Score: 1441

The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male

All those masculine 'the's and 'are's beat up the wimpy female 'if's I had in there :)

Julian

ldyguique · #5 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 08:36 AM

Words: 715

(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)

Female Score: 570
Male Score: 884

The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!

Why am I not surprised? Half of my callers also think that I'm male because I have a husky low-pitched voice.

sonnie · #6 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 06:40 PM

Female Score: 149
Male Score: 357

It's all those male words: as, it, to, the, a. Tim the Toolman would be proud. Arh, Arh, Arh.

paulhiles · #7 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 07:38 PM

Female Score: 574
Male Score: 1035

The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!

[a] [are] [as] [to] all saw me through!
Mind you, this was using an extract from my final dissertation for a Business IT degree (which I agonised over for months! :o)

Paul

Leisa · #8 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 09:08 PM

Whenever I enter my business writing it comes up male, but my creative writing comes up female. Interesting. Matauri, better make two appointments for that operation.

rocky1 · #9 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 09:47 PM

Leisa interjects a very valid point here ladies. I personally would be interested in knowing what the other two of you used in analysis. And, if you would be so kind as to perform a similar comparison for the sake of our inquisitivity! (Yeah I think that's a word, it sounds good anyhow!)

IF, such is the case on all three of your parts, it would very likely tend to indicate that you gals are setting your feminine side aside, and gearing your documents to a male audience. Essentially a high impact business document style of writing. At that point however, I think we need Minstrel Woo Doggie!'s analytical mind to step in here and try to determine if this is something you've been taught, if it's a habit you've acquired over time to try and fit into what is at least perceived a male dominant business world, or if each of you simply had too many bowls of Wheaties for breakfast!

Whatever the cause it is an interesting case study. And, I'm thinking that it's very likely a taught method of business composition.

Leisa · #10 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocky1

Everything he said.

Yeah, I'd really like to know too. I was thinking along your same lines (god save me) and I'm leaning toward that explanation.

It's not a consious, conse, consio, whatever! thing but you may be right. Women may rule this World of Men but we have to play by the rules of men to fit in. Or something like that.

Leisa · #11 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 09:55 PM

Rocky, let's holler a little louder to get him in here....

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DOOOOOOOggie!!!!

minstrel · #12 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:00 PM

Frayed Knot, Rocky...

I just entered your last post into the Gender Genie and got this:

Quote:

Words: 184
(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)
Female Score: 348
Male Score: 277

I tried it with both nonfiction and "fiction" written by me and came up female twice. I then tried a male fiction author - ditto: verdict = female. My older sister, who has written two mystery novels, tried passages from those and was told she was, you guessed it, male.

On the other hand, I just tried a passage from a journal article on antidepressants and got this:

Quote:

Words: 315
(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)
Female Score: 169
Male Score: 462
The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!

So maybe it's not reallyt fiction vs. nonfiction so much as "science" vs. "non-science" (aka passages written in more colloquial language)...

...in which case, maybe the implicit assumption of the authors of this little program is that women can't write in technical/scientific language - and if so, even to me that would be a call to arms! :o)

Leisa · #13 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minstrel

...in which case, maybe the implicit assumption of the authors of this little program is that women can't write in technical/scientific language - and if so, even to me that would be a call to arms! :o)

them's fightin' words

minstrel · #14 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:18 PM

I agree, Leisa...

However, I just tried a passage from an article that I wrote last spring on the socialization of males in western society - it was for a semi-scientific magazine (i.e., professional but not totally academic) - and again got this:

Quote:

Words: 378
(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)
Female Score: 587
Male Score: 558
The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: female!

What the "Genie" highlights are all the "short" words like "the", "and", "all", etc. Here is the text entered, with the highlighted words identified in red and square brackets:

Quote:

[The] past decade has revealed increasing evidence that boys [and] men in our society [are] suffering in [a] number of ways - depression, anxiety, difficulties [with] intimacy, [and] other problems [are] all too common - yet [the] socialization of males forces them into denial, repression, [and] displacement behaviors. Mary Pipher's 1994 book, Reviving Ophelia, described today's world [as] "a look-obsessed media-saturated girl-poisoning culture" that causes young girls [to] "stifle their creative spirits [and] natural impulses which ultimately destroys their self-esteem". [The] book's title refers [to] [the] story of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "as [a] girl, Ophelia [is] happy [and] free, but [with] adolescence [she] loses herself. [When] [she] falls in love [with] Hamlet, [she] lives only for his approval. [She] has no inner direction; rather, [she] struggles [to] meet [the] demands of Hamlet [and] [her] father. [Her] value [is] determined utterly by their approval. Ophelia [is] torn apart by [her] efforts [to] please. [When] Hamlet (despondent over [the] death of his father) spurns [her], [she] goes mad [with] grief. Dressed in elegant clothes that weigh [her] down, [she] drowns in [a] stream filled [with] flowers". Four years later, [the] release of Real Boys by William Pollack drew attention [to] [the] fact that today's boys [are] also in trouble: "Hamlet fared little better than Ophelia. Alienated from himself [as] well [as] from his mother [and] father, he [was] plagued by doubt [and] erupted in uncontrolled outbursts. He grew increasingly isolated, desolate, [and] alone, [and] those [who] loved him could [not] get through [to] him. In [the] end, he died [a] tragic [and] unnecessary death". Pollack, [who] has since released [The] Real Boys Handbook: [A] Guide for Parents [and] Others, says that [as] [a] society [we] shame young boys [and] men into repressing [and] denying their [more] tender feelings. Pollack talks about [the] "Boy Code" that commands boys" [to] [be] [a] man, [be] strong, [be] brave, don't [be] [a] sissy, don't show [your] feelings". He suggests that [the] Boy Code [is] learned [at] an early age in sandboxes, playgrounds, classrooms, [and] our homes. Boys [who] don't learn quickly [to] conform [to] this code [are] taunted [and] shamed until they do. [As] [a] result, they learn [to] [be] silent [and] [to] suffer quietly, retreating behind [what] Pollack calls "[the] mask of masculinity".

So, it's worse than we thought... apparently, according to this program, women are only capable of monosyllabic utterances...

The "female" words are also
(1) words of 4 letters or less, and
(2) primarily connective words, which, even if eliminated, don't reduce the comprehensibility of the text.

My conclusion:
(1) the author of this program is a male and possibly a misogynist
(2) his view of women is that they use a lot of words that aren't necessary and if eliminated would leave the rest of the conversation or text more understandable

"Fightin' words" indeed...

Time to start burning down that website? ;o)

matauri · #15 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minstrel

Time to start burning down that website? ;o)

Actually, I didnt mind it calling me a male. Not at all ! It was strangely gratifying to know that with a technical text & a professional text, that I can enter The Boys Club.

That it edited 'fluff' for females is a good indication that what Leisa, ldyguique & myself wrote isn't considered 'fluff' :-)

<<< shakes Leisa's & ldyguique's hand! >>>
Well done Ladies !! :-)

Cindy

janeth · #16 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:36 PM

I'm not playing because I think the Genie is broke.

I also think Rocky and Minstrel broke it.

Leisa · #17 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:37 PM

I agree with Matauri...every point. I'm not ashamed!!!!

But, to make the gender genie happy I will continue this post in true woman-spirit.

if not where should be with myself when her was not with she and me. hers was not where should be.

Leisa · #18 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:39 PM

the report on my last sentence is as follows:

Words: 21

(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)

Female Score: 365
Male Score: 0

The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: female!

minstrel · #19 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:40 PM

Cindy:

While you were replying, I was editing and extending my post - see above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matauri

Actually, I didnt mind it calling me a male. Not at all ! It was strangely gratifying to know that with a technical text & a professional text, that I can enter The Boys Club. That it edited 'fluff' for females is a good indication that what Leisa, ldyguique & myself wrote isn't considered 'fluff' :-)

That depends on how you view it - explaining this badly (I was very tired that day) got me into some unexpected trouble recently with a female Crown Attorney and female Judge, but that won't stop me trying again! :o)

If you read Pollock's book (or even the brief description above), the point is that, compared to most women, many men are handicapped, maybe almost disabled, emotionally - looking at it that way, it isn't a compliment to a woman to be thought to be a male...

To put it more bluntly, John Wayne doesn't exist. John Wayne never existed. Even John Wayne wasn't "John Wayne" (indeed, I find it interesting that his real first name was "Marion"). And the efforts of the male gender to emulate John Wayne are doomed and crippling.

minstrel · #20 (**permalink**) 12-20-2003, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janeth

I'm not playing because I think the Genie is broke. I also think Rocky and Minstrel broke it.

Pfffttt... what do women know about programming? ;o)

(ducking to