Walk like a man, talk like a man . . .
According to the Gender Genie, I write like a man. I've submitted eight blog posts of more than 500 words into the Gender Genie, and it has identified all but one post as male -- in some cases by quite a lopsided margin.
I'm not sure how to take this. I was once told, by a man, that I argue like a man. I took it as a compliment, not out of a sense of disloyalty to my own gender, but because I think that's how it was meant. Besides, since I've been known to generalize about the opposite sex in a way that's not always entirely positive, I'm not going to kick and scream when men occasionally do the same. Tell me that I drive like a man, however, and I'll be asking you to name your second.
For what it's worth, I submitted large chunks of Jane Austen, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and early Henry James, and the Genie identified the gender correctly each time. Late Henry James, from The Wings of the Dove, was identified as female. A large excerpt from the "Penelope" (Molly Bloom) chapter of Ulysses was identified as female, by a wide margin, but so was the opening chapter of that novel, which focuses on Stephen Dedalus.
I also submitted the text of this post, including the very sentence you are reading. It told me, "The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!"
Oh, well. I can take it like man.
(I found the Gender Genie via Amba at Ambivablog)
I'm not sure how to take this. I was once told, by a man, that I argue like a man. I took it as a compliment, not out of a sense of disloyalty to my own gender, but because I think that's how it was meant. Besides, since I've been known to generalize about the opposite sex in a way that's not always entirely positive, I'm not going to kick and scream when men occasionally do the same. Tell me that I drive like a man, however, and I'll be asking you to name your second.
For what it's worth, I submitted large chunks of Jane Austen, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and early Henry James, and the Genie identified the gender correctly each time. Late Henry James, from The Wings of the Dove, was identified as female. A large excerpt from the "Penelope" (Molly Bloom) chapter of Ulysses was identified as female, by a wide margin, but so was the opening chapter of that novel, which focuses on Stephen Dedalus.
I also submitted the text of this post, including the very sentence you are reading. It told me, "The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!"
Oh, well. I can take it like man.
(I found the Gender Genie via Amba at Ambivablog)
posted by Kate Marie | 8:46 AM | Permalink
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3 comments
3 Comments:
I submitted a blog post, under both 'nonfiction' and 'blog post', as well as a piece of fiction that I've written.
It has determined that I, like you Ms. Kate Marie, am male.
Last time I checked, my anatomy just wasn't falling in line with that assessment. My bridegroom hasn't had any objections yet, so I think it's safe to say that I'm most definitely NOT male.
It's good to know that computers aren't all-knowing. Yet.
Yeah, it's funny. I submitted quite a few more blog posts after I posted this, and most of them were determined to have been written by a male.
By the way, congratulations to you and your bridegroom. Are you newlyweds?
Thank you for the congratulations, but we are a long way past the newlywed stage. I still refer to him as my groom to remind myself of what made me marry him in the first place. Some days I have to dig deeper than others, but he has to do the same when it comes to me as well.
As for the Gender Genie, I tested some writing from various female friends and it was correct in all cases except one. I'm currently trying to find some male friends to test, but this is proving difficult, as none of them write much.
Incidentally, the friend the Genie got wrong has a personality and writing style very similar to my own. It's likely just a coincidence. I just found that to be an interesting discovery.
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