Is it normal that girls seem to choose girly nicks/usernames purposely?

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111 Comments

First off, I'm a feminist, and these are just observations, so don't judge.

Most women, of course, want to be treated as equals, but often contrarily exhibit behaviours that set them apart from men. I know this is societal conditioning, but I do wonder why the majority of women seem to want to be "known" as women even online in an anonymous setting. Is it because they know they'll be treated with more kindness by the usual male majority?

I find that most men tend to choose nicks that are "gender-neutral" in the sense that they choose nicks that could be applied to either sex fairly. We come to associate these types of neutral nicks with men, not because we're biased toward applying anything unwomanly to men, but I think because women tend to always choose feminine sounding nicks.

I think this used to be more prevalent. Around ten-fifteen years ago, every girl was "SweetyAngelDust17" or "SuperHotCutie19". Nowadays, the femininity is more subtle, but still kind of obvious, whether we realize it or not. Anyone with a nick related to thoughtful, serene reflection or to poetic imagery (especially nature) is perceived as being a girl. The traits I commonly see in female usernames are: cute, innocent, nonaggressive, beauty, peace, idealism, fiction-based, myth-based (though this is borderline neutral), etc.

The problem is, I tend to notice that girls that do use gender-neutral nicks seem to be treated more equally/fairly AND with more respect EVEN AFTER they've been "outed" as female than girls who use girly nicks. All the girly-nicked girls get is hit on. On this site, an exception to "girls choose girly nicks" that pops into my mind is "Freedom_". Am I crazy, or does she get more respect for her ideas and thoughts than some of the other girls? Honestly, I think even I respect her more for it!

Do you think the level or girliness of the nick reflects the girliness of the girl or do you think it's just down to taste? I don't want anyone to think I'm suggesting tomboys are smarter/more worldly or deserve more respect here, but is it normal that most of these girls seem to choose these nicks that set them apart intentionally? Of course, there are men too who choose nicks to set them apart, but usually not as "men" but as a certain, specific type of man. So it's not the same thing. One could argue that a girl called "TreePeace" just likes nature, but the user that chose it most probably wouldn't only be "all about" the environment. Though, a man who chose "CreepySexAddict" would most definitely be all about sex.

Girls, do you sigh in annoyance when you see a girl with a really obivously chick-ish nick? I tend to think, "Way to enforce the stereotype..."

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62% Normal
Based on 34 votes (21 yes)
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Comments ( 111 )
  • modernism
    8 years ago | pl

    Nice post, but personally, just as you don't believe females should shower their username in unicorn rainbows and butterflies, I don't believe females should feel the need to hide their femininity if they are in touch with it and don't necessarily want to keep it some kind of secret.

    "modernism" is fairly neutral, but my username is also pink. Why? Not because I want people to be like, "Oh, look, she's a girl, let me objectify her" or "Oh, look, she's a girl, let me be extra nice to her" or whatever else may or may not happen - my username is pink because I like the color pink. If I liked the color blue better, my username would be blue. It's as simple as that.

    If I wanted my username to be "Mrs.GirlyGirl222", it would indeed be "Mrs.GirlyGirly222". I, and I hope most females, don't give a shit if people are aware of our gender. If someone wants to seem obviously female online for the sole reason that males will possibly be kinder to them - then that's not exactly the most virtuous option, but it's their own life.

    You said you were a feminist, and feminism is all about equality - not about hiding the fact that females exist (online, in this case), or attempting to be more "manly" or "gender neutral" for a chance to be "respected" more. Having a feminine username doesn't "enforce" any stereotype - it's enforcing individuality. In fact, pretending a person ISN'T female is buying into the idea that not being feminine = deserving respect. Instead of ignoring the fact that some girls are very feminine, females as such should be okay with saying - "Hey. I'm a chick. And I'm not looking for validation of my sexual nature or any excessive kindness toward me with my femininity. I indeed like cuddly animals, and dresses, and romantic dates, and rom-coms, and I kind of cry... a lot. So, yes, I am a female, and very, very feminine, but that in no way makes anything I have to say any less valid."

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      It can be frustrating when you feel you have to alter your behaviour or lie about your tastes and preferences to avoid being typecast. And I think snap judgments that a lot of people make can be shaken off if they're simply misunderstandings, but we're sort of conditioned by evolution to jump to an emotional judgment of someone based on how they present themselves.

      If you see a guy who looks like a thug walking down the street, no matter how much your fair and liberal brain wants not to judge him, you might tense up as he passes you by. These involuntary reactions aren't the worst of it, however, as some people base their entire world view upon these instinctual feelings about people who aren't the same as they are or act or present in a way that triggers those archetypical fight or flight responses.

      He's different > different is scary > scary is threatening > avoid threat > learn to avoid future threat > teach others to recognize the threat > bigotry/hate/prejudice/alienation

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      • modernism
        8 years ago

        You're trying to alter the wrong things. Instead of altering yourself, or feminity in general, we need to alter the way people think. For example, with racism, some people want to say "don't see color!", but that's not the issue. We need to embrass and achknowledge whatever differences we have and still accept them as a blank slate. Prejudice will most likely always exist - but you're not helping it by trying to erase every trace of individuality or mold a group of people to fit bias standards.

        If someone is sexist toward a woman for example; that woman shouldn't try to become more "gender neutral" to please the sexist. We should be working on removing sexist ideal's instead - despite the fact that that will be much more difficult.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          8 years ago

          Thank you. I agree. Sorry about that formatting error in my last comment! They're supposed to be arrows.

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          • modernism
            8 years ago

            You're welcome. And it's no biggie - I assumed they were supposed to be arrows. :)

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      • RoyRogers
        8 years ago

        Just because you want to not be treated like crap for being female does not mean you dont want people to know you are a woman. A lot of woman dont like people mistaking them for men. They are proud of being women. Why does not wanting to be treated like crap mean you automatically be a man? Doesn't that go against the ideals of feminism? What I think your confusing is transgenderism, not feminism. Feminism says women can be strong and smart and do not deserve to be treated like nothing but a kitchen wife, It does not say that all woman are want to be men. They just do not like being told they are LESS for being female. Transgenderism says you want to be a man. I personally do not care about gender, or really see Gender as something that separates people in most cases. So when I pick screen names they are either something which I believe reflect my personality or something I like. I dont really take into account the female/male factor when creating a screen name. What I do take into Factor is the colors I choose for my profile. For example if I dont want to be seen as feminine, I will not choose the color pink. However generally when I do not specify gender my personality and screen names seem to come off very masculine, so most people assume Im male.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          8 years ago

          I'm not advocating for women to hide their gender at any cost in an anonymous setting, I just don't think a woman should go out of her way to be acknowledged as female for the wrong reasons. Being proud to be female has nothing to do with what I'm saying. There's a big difference between being proud of who are you and being desperate to be recognized as what you are.

          For some reason, in the case of gay men, people openly berate them for perceived desperation for acknowledgement. People want them to be "quietly" proud. I'm not saying this is right, but I'm saying people should take the time to figure out how they want to represent themselves and identify themselves.

          A username, in some eyes, is a defintion of the self. Whether we like it or not, we're going to be judged for how we choose to identify and define ourselves. Choice and free will are rights. Anyone can be "GirlyWhirlyTutuHead" if they want to be, but are those who chose names like that aware of the colour through which their opinions will be viewed? Are they truly aware of the prejudices that will be applied to them? I guess it comes down to whether or not you value being accepted for exactly who and what you are over your message being heard and understood. It's a tough call. I think in the Western world, though, people automatically jump to defending who they are firstly, and what they want to teach the world, secondly. In some cases, that's a shame. For me, I believe my message is more important to be understood than the messenger.

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          • RoyRogers
            8 years ago

            Okay well why do you believe treating women fairly means they are suddenly men? Why can we not just treat everyone the same regardless of gender. What you are saying is everyone is worthless unless they are men. Which is in fact goes against the ideals of feminism doesn't it? Once again you are mixing feminism up with transgenderism and those are two TOTALLY different things. BTW for the record my name is a Virgin Cocktail made with cherries, Coke and Grenadine. I happened to know this drink since there is many references in media to this and a Shirley Temple.

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            • Anonymous Post Author
              8 years ago

              What are you even talking about? I neither suggested nor explicitly said any such thing. What YOU'RE suggesting is that you believe that to not be stereotypically feminine means to be masculine (This suggests YOU have a patriarchal view of the world, as if male is the default and female the exception). You seem not to understand gender neutral. I DO wish everyone would be treated equally. Not only do I think women acting explicitly feminine interferes with their neutral acceptibility, I feel that men acting explicitly masculine or macho does the EXACT SAME THING. I am NOT one of those who colour their opinion of someone based on how they act or present themselves, but I'm not naive enough to pretend those people don't exist or not to be wary of them. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with being stereotypically male or female if that's who you are, but I do think it can hinder you when you have a point to make. Do I think that's fair? No! Of course I don't, and I made that VERY clear in my last response to you. Stop being a shit-disturber, please.

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            • RoyRogers
              8 years ago

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqMJXagg5M

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            • RoyRogers
              8 years ago

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Temple_%28beverage%29

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  • Crow
    8 years ago | pl

    "I do wonder why the majority of women seem to want to be "known" as women even online in an anonymous setting. Is it because they know they'll be treated with more kindness by the usual male majority?"

    The problem with your observation is that women who choose gender-neutral or manlier screen names and who do not blatantly state their sex are likely overlooked by your observations. Hence, distorting your idea of a majority.

    Feminine names are also chosen by craftier men in male-dominated games because women are treated better by some players. It's honestly quite difficult to determine the sex of someone online.

    For the record, I am a woman. In a number of communities I've gone by: Incomplet, Shaquille O'Heal, Adolf Tittler, SoScarlett and Arielle. My personality is consistent between all accounts and the general reception is the same regardless of whether or not I blatantly advertise my sex.

    A person's username is the tip of the iceberg. If you're going to sigh, sigh when you see people overtly exploiting their identity for perks.

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  • mypenisinyourmouth
    8 years ago

    My username is pretty gender neutral I'd say

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  • libby.larsen
    8 years ago

    Hold the phone. iEatZombies_ gets tons of respect because SHE is a good writer.

    You are hopelessly preoccupied with gender, and your perception of respect is very one-dimensional. To design any kind of valid hypothesis test for your subjective perceptions, you will have to design a control group in an extremely rigorous manner.

    Go back to the drawing board.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      Frankly, I didn't foresee this post being held up to such scrutiny. It was late, and it doesn't exactly get any of my points across well. I had no idea it would get this popular, and to be honest, I agree with most of the criticism it's received. I think my points got lost in my controversial tone. A casual observation has been blown into a rather serious debate, and I'm glad of that. People have brought up some great ideas here.

      I assure you, though, I'm not preoccupied with gender. I know my post doesn't reflect that, but I think it ironically illustrates something that I was trying to get others to understand in the first place. People should put more time into what they're saying than into how they're presenting themselves while they say it. My own post is such a great example of that. Both, of course, are important, but in the end, it's the message the matters and the message that will be remembered. Thanks for giving my post some thought.

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      • libby.larsen
        8 years ago

        Sure. It's nice to work with smart people like you.

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  • NakedStevesJigglyBits
    8 years ago

    I'm gender neutral.

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  • Freedom_
    8 years ago

    I don't think it's the name as much as the personality. Keddersprincess and rainbow discharge^ are good examples of women with very feminine nicknames albeit without the super girly personality. It seems that disrespect on this site is aimed toward those who are more likely to give an explosive reaction.

    Like the unoriginal mimic troll above observed, my username used to be myboyfriendsbitch, but I was treated just the same, as I recall. When I chose the name freedom!(it used to have an exclamation mark:D) I didn't want my gender to be obvious, but that wasn't for respect...quite the opposite actually. I wanted to draw out others' opinions of my views (or jestfulness) more objectively because I thought it was strange that no one really fucked with me too much... *Shrugs*

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  • NeofelisNebulosa
    8 years ago

    I like for people to know I'm female.

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    • Short4Words
      8 years ago

      I thought you were a dude

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      • dirtybirdy
        8 years ago

        I lost count of how many people here thought I was a birdman.

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        • RoyRogers
          8 years ago

          DirtyBirdy sounds like slang the British would use to refer to a flirtatious female. Why would anyone assume male with that kind of name? Anything with Bird/Birdy after it would be refering to a female. In the US the term that is most used is Chick. Shes a cute chick. Look at all the Chicks are in this place dude.

          Shes a clever bird
          Shes a dirty birdy
          Shes a cute chick
          Look at all the chicks

          It simply seems illogical to assume the name "DirtyBirdy" is for anything other then a female.

          Generally the type of animals we use to refer to men are pigs, or hounds. For females some variation of bird(Bird term) is consistent in both British and American English. So there really should be no other conclusion. If you want to be derogatory for females you call them a fish. Other things used to reference females are cats.

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          • disaffected
            8 years ago

            there's a lot of bias in this post: cultural and otherwise. it is illogical to assume anything from something as nigh-endlessly interpretable as that username. "dirty" and "birdy" both have an unbelievable number of associations. you must remember that people have the tendency to "search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms [their] beliefs or hypotheses while giving disproportionately less attention to information that contradicts [them]." this is called the confirmation bias.

            with the confirmation bias, i could easily assume "dirtybirdy" was a male if i focused on the facts that "bird" is a common slang for "penis," and that qualifying "birdy" with the adjective "dirty" sounds like something a raunchy male might use to describe himself in a bid for attention. alternatively, i could conjure the stereotype of the outcast, sex-deprived male, holed up in his room, whose only sexual outlet is to post vulgar comments anonymously on the internet. i could further reinforce my opinion by recalling that males frequent internet forums more often than females.

            when confronted by information that contradicts my opinion, like the information you provided, i could shift my narrow gaze only to information that challenges the veracity of yours. for instance, i could again evoke an over-generalization of a sex and say that a female would never call herself a “dirty bird” because no woman wants to be seen as raunchy—or even overtly sexual. a woman would never deliberately demean herself.

            if you see the folly in all of this, perhaps you've grasped my point. your gross generalizations fail to take into account a wealth of contradictory information.

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            • RoyRogers
              8 years ago

              That would be sexist than. Thinking a female can not be perverted or have perverted thoughts is not accurate. Females are above all humans. Humans have needs, thoughts and generally will have sexual urges. To assume that a female cant depict themselves as dirty, since woman never have naughty thoughts is misogynist. Though you make a valid point with the male genitalia meaning a penis.

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            • dirtybirdy
              8 years ago

              Goodness gracious, who knew my name would be such a topic of debate? I did purposefully refer to myself as such because I can be rather raunchy and flirtatious. I don't see it as demeaning myself, more like just having fun in a filthy, goofy, debaucherous manner.

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          • dirtybirdy
            8 years ago

            Wow, I appreciate this well thought out and knowledgeable remark. The only thing I could think of was that maybe people thought the things I used to say were too unladylike. Could it be my raunchy vulgarity?? Or maybe it's the cargo pants... Harrumph.

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        • Terence_the_viking
          8 years ago

          No way thats just harsh.

          Dirty birdy is such a cool girly name and people who don't get that are stupid wankers.

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          • dirtybirdy
            8 years ago

            :D I thought it was girly enough for people to know I was a she...but I guess not. I really did lose count after about 10 male assumptions :(

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    • RoyRogers
      8 years ago

      There is nothing wrong with the fact that you are proud to be a woman. The OP is speaking bullshit and saying Feminism says that all woman have to stop being woman to earn any rights. That is just totally sexist. You should not have to be ashamed for the gender you were born! I dont think it would be called Feminism if that was truly the case.

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      • NeofelisNebulosa
        8 years ago

        :D

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  • squirrelgirl
    8 years ago

    I didn't pick this username because I wanted male attention - I just like squirrels and rhyming.

    I didn't even think to keep my gender a secret because I joined on a whim. Well that, and at that time I wasn't aware of the fact that sexism still exists on the Internet. (What can I say? I'm sheltered.)

    So yes, I do agree that sexism is a problem online because I conducted a little "experiment" where I made a second account on a forum and kept my gender a secret just to see how people would react.

    When I was gender-neutral, I got a ton of upvotes and became instantly popular (in contrast to an older account on the site where I had a more feminine username but had less upvotes even though I had used that account for much longer).

    The moment I began using a feminine character as an avatar, however, the upvotes stopped completely. I originally thought I could get away with it because I assumed people could look at the character and assume I was a straight/bisexual male who was attracted to her; instead it backfired on me.

    I guess that saying about the word "assume" is true: It makes an "ass" out of "u" and "me"!

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      You're somewhat of an interesting case study.

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      • squirrelgirl
        8 years ago

        I take that as a compliment.

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    • Couman
      8 years ago

      Avatars are tricky. Especially if it shows an actual human character. I've noticed for instance that if someone has a cute smiling character and then make argumentative posts, it can create a very weird impression. (I don't know if avatar or behavior fit that description, It's just an example).

      I'm not trying to say what you noticed wasn't true but I do think it can be more complicated than people simply never upvoting users they think are female. Of it would also on what forum. I'm sure there are some where members absolutely are as straight-up sexist as that.

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  • anti-hero
    8 years ago

    If I weren't so lazy I would go make an account called Ms.Trixie_Juggs09 just to comment on this post.

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    • Stinky_Niggers
      8 years ago

      I think one that announces your latent homosexuality would work well. Perhaps "Anti-hetero" ?

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      • anti-hero
        8 years ago

        Says the man who's usernames usually have something to do with assholes and shit. Why not cut out the middle man and fuck a warm turd?

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  • charli.m
    8 years ago

    I chose mine because I'm boring and not good at choosing usernames.

    Also, many people think I'm male, anyway. Probably because I'm blunt, and this is stereotypically a "male" characteristic.

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    • Terence_the_viking
      8 years ago

      Names are not what matter.

      Levels of awesomeness are.

      You are one of the Awesomenessest.

      It's fucking lovelies

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      • charli.m
        8 years ago

        Oh my fucking potatoes!

        Where you been???

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        • Terence_the_viking
          8 years ago

          Around hehe

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    • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
      8 years ago

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXXd68j5reo

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      • charli.m
        8 years ago

        If I remember correctly, you said something to me about this, way back when.

        You and one other user seemed to be the only ones to connect with tbat movie. I've never seen it, so it's unintentional.

        I'd forgotten what the movie was though, so thanks :)

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        • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
          8 years ago

          waaaay back when

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          • charli.m
            8 years ago

            Indeedy.

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    • Stinky_Niggers
      8 years ago

      No, it's pretty obvious you're a bitch.

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    • wistfulmaiden
      8 years ago

      Charli is a female spelling / Charlie is male. Not that it matters these days:)

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      • charli.m
        8 years ago

        Yeah, I know. Apparently, a lot of IINers don't, though.

        Then again, several call me "charlie.m" anyway...

        Meh fuck it.

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    • [Old Memory]
      8 years ago

      Same here. A lot of people thought I was male at first .

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      • TrustMeImLying
        8 years ago

        Was your color Maroon when you first joined? I've noticed people sometimes (I have too) assume genders based on username color

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        • [Old Memory]
          8 years ago

          I can't remember to be honest with you. It probably was I change it pretty often.

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      • charli.m
        8 years ago

        I know it's not a gender specific name, but it always seems like a girls name to me.

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      • Koda
        8 years ago

        Your colour just magically changed when I reloaded the page.

        Your reputation preceded you in my case. I was told you were a girl before we met. Or was I? That might have been someone else...

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        • [Old Memory]
          8 years ago

          We're you or weren't you is the question? You left that up for discussion...

          Ahh yes me and you and our magical timing, I just changed it.

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          • Koda
            8 years ago

            Yeah, we came to this post almost exactly the same time.

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  • wistfulmaiden
    8 years ago

    I'm a girlie girl and proud of it:)

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  • handsignals
    8 years ago

    Say nick one more time motherfucker I dare you!

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      uh... nick?... lace... I lost my nicklace...

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  • pixiecutlover
    8 years ago

    I don't think it is normal or healthy, I've written about this very thing several times online. I think women waste a ton of time and effort on this stuff and let it control their lives. Every where I go online I see women with names like that. Also they post way more selfies and always pretty ones looking like models. Society has brain washed women into believing that their worth is based on their ability to attract men. These women think that creating a stir amoung males is somehow a great accomplishment. Good looking men get a pat on the back for it and that's about it. With women it's like it's supposed to be their whole life. When I bring this up I get shot down or ignored but it's a real problem. Gender roles are a way of using people for their physical traits and ignoring the individual inside just like livestock. It's an insect hive survival oriented mentality that stunts society and it's members.

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    • Stinky_Niggers
      8 years ago

      Everything you wrote sounds wonderful on paper, but has no basis in reality. Complete idealism.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      I totally agree. I feel like you're the first person who really understands why I made this post. I took a risk by not prefacing everything I said with PC clarifications because I felt doing so would undercut the poignancy of my post. In hindsight, had I known this post would get so popular, I wouldn't have written it so quickly. I wish I could edit it now.

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  • TheButtholeSailor
    8 years ago

    autumn, Alice, rose, charli, Ellenna, Tayler, Leslie...

    Btw freedom used to go by "myboyfriendsbitch" or something like that and only changed her name when she finally left her abusive BF..So not exactly the best example of a respectable women or whatever the hell your babbling about

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    • Freedom_
      8 years ago

      *Before I left my emotionally abusive ex

      I guess it supports your point a little better when you word it that way tho

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      • TheButtholeSailor
        8 years ago

        How does that significantly change any of what I already said?

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        • TrustMeImLying
          8 years ago

          Seems like you conveniently sidestepped the obvious jestfulness in her old username. Not to mention, it's pretty darn respectable for a person stand up for themself and leave an emotionally abusive SO. Don't think anyone would disagree.

          Seems like Freedom being called respectable really hit a nerve with you though. Lyk, omg I wondar who you are now TheButtholeSailor I have absolutely no clue! ;)

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          • TheButtholeSailor
            8 years ago

            Wut?

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  • Stinky_Niggers
    8 years ago

    My name is pretty gender neutral

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    • anti-hero
      8 years ago

      So is your genitalia.

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      • Stinky_Niggers
        8 years ago

        Another weird homosexuality reference. Not surprising.

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  • Neuria
    8 years ago

    Wrap your head around this one, psychologist.

    Girls like being girly. Now give me my Nobel peace prize

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  • victorygin
    8 years ago

    I'm thinking of it like band names. If you hear of a band called "Death Pig" you're probably going to assume they're a heavy, death-metal band. And you'd probably be right. But maybe the name is ironic and they're actually a soft folk comedy trio. So after listening to their music for a while, you begin to like it. And before you know it, the name doesn't seem so brutal anymore. In fact, it now reminds you of soft, folk music.

    So look, I think it's totally normal to pre-judge someone by their username - I think that's involuntary. And then for that name to become less and less relevant as you read more of their comments. Gradually the person develops a bit more depth, and you either like them, respect them or .. you don't.

    Personally, the ultra feminine + sexualised "sexycutie69" names make me immediately sigh/cringe. I'm less likely to take those comments seriously. That's my immediate reaction, and it's definitely subject to change.

    But, I feel exactly the same way about "Hotstud82" or other obviously masculine names, so I don't know. Maybe I'm just biased against any extremely gender-based or sexualised username. I'm not defending that, or saying it's right. But I do think it might be a learned reaction based on the general quality of what people who choose those usernames tend to say.

    As for the more subtle ones; yes, I do think there's more default respect there. I feel the same towards a more subtly feminine name like "winterblue" (or something), as I would towards a completely neutral one. No difference.

    Maybe it's just because I have less trust and respect for people who are trying to draw attention to, or play on their gender? And conversely, more respect for people who want to hide their gender? I don't know.

    Maybe I just think it's douchey, simple as that.

    Just trying to think this through and be honest about my reactions! Those reactions are usually inaccurate, I don't defend them, and I try not to let them influence how I interact with people.
    But they are involuntary, so I don't really apologise for having them and being honest about it.

    Tl:dr: I do, and I think others do, have a bias against ultra-feminine (and possibly ultra masculine) usernames. Maybe because they seem less objective? Maybe because I'm suspicious of *why* they're flaunting their gender?
    I don't really know.

    But I thought this was a great question, and *was* well written. So, it deserved a more on-point response. I was just trying to be honest and think it through as I was writing; sorry it's so long-winded.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      Thanks for really thinking about this instead of just reacting emotionally to what I said like a lot of people have. I appreciate it.

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      • victorygin
        8 years ago

        Thanks for saying that. I tried, at least.. even if I got a bit confused, so thank you :)

        It was a really interesting thing to bring up. And honestly I don't know how you could have worded it any differently to avoid the kneejerk 'pounce' response thing.
        It's so hard to phrase things just right to cover for every possible misinterpretation.

        Thanks :)

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  • Anonymous200
    8 years ago

    It's a matter of taste. And I'm a woman, by the way.

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  • jr__
    8 years ago

    So what if they do?

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  • ThatCreepyGuy
    8 years ago

    Well my username suits me I'm just a creepy guy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      Thank you for illustrating one of my points for me :p

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  • Terence_the_viking
    8 years ago

    Is it normal that people do what they want?

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  • snoochieboochie
    8 years ago

    In skimming your article, the first thing that pops in my head is when i see overly sexualized nicks from girls/women where they are expecting to not be bombarded with comments or advances etc. I do not, however find a problem with nicks that are feminine. I think those things you stated about are what being a woman is about.

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  • VirgilManly
    8 years ago

    You give off the impression that you don't like being a woman.

    If a woman chooses to flaunt her femininity why is that a bad thing? I guess you're not big on diversity.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      I'd love if you'd read some of my responses to the others. I tried to clarify what I meant. Thanks

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  • PinkHairedFreak
    8 years ago

    I've had plenty of usernames over the years. PinkHairedFreak, syg, cattzilla, syg2, PHFreak, and I don't really think it has affected how people treat me at all.

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  • januarycurse
    8 years ago

    I never intended my name to sound too feminine but I guess it does. Come to think of it, most of the months are associated with femininity. The only month that sounds masculine is August.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      8 years ago

      What an interesting observation. March and October sound kind of neutral to me, but you're definitely right about AUGUSTUS THE GREAT!!! lol

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  • [Old Memory]
    8 years ago

    Mine I feel isn't really all that one way or the other. My name of course then the kaeb which means something to me.

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    • Koda
      8 years ago

      I know what "kaeb" means :)

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      • [Old Memory]
        8 years ago

        :)

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        • Koda
          8 years ago

          Killing always ends badly... JK! Keep chewin' ;)

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          • [Old Memory]
            8 years ago

            Always. I will always keep chewin. :D

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  • RainbowDischarge
    8 years ago

    *****I have a vagina and two small boobs. Looky me***** Girls with obviously female names do not bother me at all.

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    • [Old Memory]
      8 years ago

      Oh but you are so beautiful!!

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      • RainbowDischarge
        8 years ago

        3 days late (my notifications can get whacky) but, thank you!! You gorgeous thang.

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        • [Old Memory]
          8 years ago

          You are so welcome. :D

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      • shuggy-chan
        8 years ago

        Agreed

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        • RainbowDischarge
          8 years ago

          Thanks, beautiful:D

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          • shuggy-chan
            8 years ago

            :) meowy wow

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  • KeddersPrincess
    8 years ago

    Nope. People know I'm a chick (note the "princess" in username), and I get some pretty good respect on this site. I've argued my point with some respectful people in (though that was more in the past but, then again, I'm not so serious on this site as I used to be) and they tend to take me seriously and put up a real, decent, civilized argument. I've had a few people agree with me and argue my point along side me, some of which were male.

    I don't think they pick those usernames because they want someone to treat them any certain kind of way. That's jumping to conclusion, and ridiculously if you ask me. I think they choose those names simply because they like them. I chose my name because I have an evil sorcerer character named Kedder and one of the pieces of fiction I was writing a while ago, and I decided I would be his bride. Hence the name "Kedder's" Princess.

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    • Koda
      8 years ago

      You've told me about the origin of your username before. I love the story behind it. It's an evocative idea.

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      • KeddersPrincess
        8 years ago

        Thank you! :)

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  • flyingnostalgia
    8 years ago

    Guess what i am?

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    • donteatstuffoffthesidewalk
      8 years ago

      since this is the internet and peoples lie id say yallre some kinda nostalgia on wheels

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    • Stinky_Niggers
      8 years ago

      A stupid idiot?

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      • flyingnostalgia
        8 years ago

        Shut up you aspirate!

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    • RoyRogers
      8 years ago

      GIRL!

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    • KeddersPrincess
      8 years ago

      You are a flying nostalgia.

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  • TrustMeImLying
    8 years ago

    Hm. It seems like there might be a correlation. Freedom, howaminotmyself, NeuroNeptunian, modernism (probably a few more) are all neutral-named but strong/cerebral/respectable personalities. I don't recall even once either of them making those... you know those typical attention-seeking comments. Though I obv haven't read everything.

    Now that I think more about it, years ago when I used to get paid to play an online game *coughanotherwayofsayingIsecretlyplayeditatworkcough* the females in our "guild" with neutral names also happened to be the ones with strong/respectable personalities: Pandora, Cheater265, PinkFloyd. But then there were also exceptions like SkullQueen, which is not a gender neutral name but her opinions were very respected too. Although... she did post her half nekkid pics upon joining lol. Hm. Also, dogville was a neutral name but she was a very girly girl.

    Maybe some assume online communities to be male-dominated and so they pick a name to prevent the assumption they are male?

    Nice post nonetheless. I'd put it down to a definite correlation, albeit mild.

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    • Koda
      8 years ago

      I kinda see dogville (that's a really cute nick btw) as feminine, because girls often associate themselves with animals. On an old site I was on, I knew a few girls with "dog" in their nicks.

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      • TrustMeImLying
        8 years ago

        Oh that's a good point about the animal association. Are you the OP?

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