Fandom, online fandom, communication, and gender: more stuff
Having dumped all the old stuff from kateorman into a posting here, I'm setting up this posting as a catch-all for anything more I happen to come across. Adding stuff at the top. Cites at the end.
"Fangirl" is not an insult. Tumblr posting from ca. 2014. How times have changed. My proud use of the term back in the day was unpopular to say the least.
Gender-spotting tool could have rumbled fake blogger (New Scientist, 22 June 2011). I must find out what the latest is on the software being developed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in NJ, which analysed large numbers of news items and emails to identify factors which tended to differ in men's and women's writing. When NS ran their report, it was about 85% accurate (and 63% sure that "A Gay Girl in Damascus" was a bloke).
Tumblr discussion on the "gender split" in fandom. Similar thoughts from fozmeadows.
Writing in "Gender Blending", Michael A. Gilbert discusses the idea that transitioning requires a shift in how a trans woman communicates and eve thinks. At one point he describes how BBSes and then the Internet opened up new lines of communication and community for transgender people. Interestingly, when Gilbert examined fora for trans women, he found a diversity of discussions styles. "Some correspondents seem to be almost wholly feminine in their style of argument and communication, while others, though they sign their missives with a femme name, seem decidedly masculine. One can identify the pickiness, aggression, and lack of concern for person as opposed to position that is classically male. Moreover, many responses to postings are highly analytical and show little desire to examine more contextual or personal issues." (I couldn't help smiling at the description of flame warriors with "extraordinarily soft and sweet" names.) On the other hand, there was also "a great deal of support... a willingness to expose and share emotions... an openness, an awareness of pain, and a sense of connection" usually found only in very close male relationships. The trans women also discussed "family, children, and relationships" more than would be usual for a male group.
This is interesting for many reasons, not least of which that "pickiness, aggression, and lack of concern for person as opposed to position" so perfectly describes my online interactions with others for so many years - learned, I believe, from arguing with men on Usenet. I've changed how I relate to other online to a fair extent, but you know, I still think like that.
(It's only fair to note how often Gilbert reminds the reader that trans people, like cis people, are extremely diverse: "We must be wary of the broad brush." So true. :)
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Gilbert, Michael A. "Beyond Appearances: Gendered Rationality and the Transgendered". in Bullough, Bonnie, Vern L. Bullough, and James Elias (eds). Gender Blending. Prometheus Books, New York, 1997.
"Fangirl" is not an insult. Tumblr posting from ca. 2014. How times have changed. My proud use of the term back in the day was unpopular to say the least.
Gender-spotting tool could have rumbled fake blogger (New Scientist, 22 June 2011). I must find out what the latest is on the software being developed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in NJ, which analysed large numbers of news items and emails to identify factors which tended to differ in men's and women's writing. When NS ran their report, it was about 85% accurate (and 63% sure that "A Gay Girl in Damascus" was a bloke).
Tumblr discussion on the "gender split" in fandom. Similar thoughts from fozmeadows.
Writing in "Gender Blending", Michael A. Gilbert discusses the idea that transitioning requires a shift in how a trans woman communicates and eve thinks. At one point he describes how BBSes and then the Internet opened up new lines of communication and community for transgender people. Interestingly, when Gilbert examined fora for trans women, he found a diversity of discussions styles. "Some correspondents seem to be almost wholly feminine in their style of argument and communication, while others, though they sign their missives with a femme name, seem decidedly masculine. One can identify the pickiness, aggression, and lack of concern for person as opposed to position that is classically male. Moreover, many responses to postings are highly analytical and show little desire to examine more contextual or personal issues." (I couldn't help smiling at the description of flame warriors with "extraordinarily soft and sweet" names.) On the other hand, there was also "a great deal of support... a willingness to expose and share emotions... an openness, an awareness of pain, and a sense of connection" usually found only in very close male relationships. The trans women also discussed "family, children, and relationships" more than would be usual for a male group.
This is interesting for many reasons, not least of which that "pickiness, aggression, and lack of concern for person as opposed to position" so perfectly describes my online interactions with others for so many years - learned, I believe, from arguing with men on Usenet. I've changed how I relate to other online to a fair extent, but you know, I still think like that.
(It's only fair to note how often Gilbert reminds the reader that trans people, like cis people, are extremely diverse: "We must be wary of the broad brush." So true. :)
__
Gilbert, Michael A. "Beyond Appearances: Gendered Rationality and the Transgendered". in Bullough, Bonnie, Vern L. Bullough, and James Elias (eds). Gender Blending. Prometheus Books, New York, 1997.