Am I a man or a woman?

Anything to do with gender and the status of women and men.

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Locked
ForCruxSake
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:48 am

Am I a man or a woman?

Post by ForCruxSake »

I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?

Clearly, I know what I am... but I'm left wondering what gender others have attributed to me?

Many have addressed me as a man. Looking back at what I have written, I don't think I've been gender specific. Is it in the way I express myself? What I choose to talk about? What is it about me that makes me a man in the way I express myself to you?

Is there a gender specific way of expressing oneself?

Just wondering...
Gary Childress
Posts: 8117
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:08 pm
Location: Retirement Home for foolosophers

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by Gary Childress »

ForCruxSake wrote:I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?

Clearly, I know what I am... but I'm left wondering what gender others have attributed to me?

Many have addressed me as a man. Looking back at what I have written, I don't think I've been gender specific. Is it in the way I express myself? What I choose to talk about? What is it about me that makes me a man in the way I express myself to you?

Is there a gender specific way of expressing oneself?

Just wondering...
Good questions. I'd be interested in the answers to them as well. Descartes is attributed with the quote: "I think, therefore I am." I wonder if that "I" is gender neutral? Would men and women think identically, were it not for certain hormones, chemicals, etc.? Is there an essential consciousness, devoid of, prior to or what not, to gender?
User avatar
vegetariantaxidermy
Posts: 13983
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:45 am
Location: Narniabiznus

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Should we care? Talk about ego. :|
Impenitent
Posts: 4329
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:04 pm

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by Impenitent »

ForCruxSake wrote:I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?
probably

-Imp
User avatar
vegetariantaxidermy
Posts: 13983
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:45 am
Location: Narniabiznus

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Impenitent wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?
probably

-Imp
That's good. :D
User avatar
vegetariantaxidermy
Posts: 13983
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:45 am
Location: Narniabiznus

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

As probably 90 percent of the posters on here are male (or say they are) then statistically a new poster is more likely to be male than female.
ForCruxSake
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:48 am

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by ForCruxSake »

Gary Childress wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?

Clearly, I know what I am... but I'm left wondering what gender others have attributed to me?

Many have addressed me as a man. Looking back at what I have written, I don't think I've been gender specific. Is it in the way I express myself? What I choose to talk about? What is it about me that makes me a man in the way I express myself to you?

Is there a gender specific way of expressing oneself?

Just wondering...
Good questions. I'd be interested in the answers to them as well. Descartes is attributed with the quote: "I think, therefore I am." I wonder if that "I" is gender neutral? Would men and women think identically, were it not for certain hormones, chemicals, etc.? Is there an essential consciousness, devoid of, prior to or what not, to gender?
I wonder that someone hasn't asked it before?

I'm sure there are tells in the choices we make, for example, were we to examine the purchases made for the last month or two... but in writing, in expressing ideas?

Last week, I heard that how the GCSE examination system changed the way it undertook marking. It attributed examinees with numbers, which is what is written on papers, instead of names, to identify those taking the exam. Examiners could not identify gender. Its been noticed that girls have consistently performed better since the change. Who'd have thought that?
Gary Childress
Posts: 8117
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:08 pm
Location: Retirement Home for foolosophers

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by Gary Childress »

ForCruxSake wrote:Last week, I heard that how the GCSE examination system changed the way it undertook marking. It attributed examinees with numbers, which is what is written on papers, instead of names, to identify those taking the exam. Examiners could not identify gender. Its been noticed that girls have consistently performed better since the change. Who'd have thought that?
That's interesting. Sounds, at least at first glance, like pretty damning evidence for some sort of discrimination on the part of examiners. :shock:
ken
Posts: 2075
Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 4:14 am

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by ken »

ForCruxSake wrote:I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?


The 'I' is not gendered.
ForCruxSake wrote:Clearly, I know what I am... but I'm left wondering what gender others have attributed to me?
You meant to say, I think I know what I am... unless of course you are already able to answer the question, Who am I?

If you clearly already know what you are, then what are 'you' exactly? And, what is the thing exactly that makes you that?
ForCruxSake wrote:Many have addressed me as a man. Looking back at what I have written, I don't think I've been gender specific. Is it in the way I express myself? What I choose to talk about? What is it about me that makes me a man in the way I express myself to you?
There is nothing in the way you express that makes you a "man".

It is not what, or how, you express but rather what others place on what, and how, you express. People's previous experiences will influence how they choose to look at what is written. Generally people will not look from the truly open Mind at what is expressed, but rather they look only from preconceptions.
ForCruxSake wrote:Is there a gender specific way of expressing oneself?
No, unless of course it is obviously stipulated.
ForCruxSake wrote:Just wondering...
Something else to ponder over, besides the physical sexual organs on the human body what other clearly defined thing makes a man a man and a woman a woman?
ForCruxSake
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:48 am

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by ForCruxSake »

Gary Childress wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:Last week, I heard that how the GCSE examination system changed the way it undertook marking. It attributed examinees with numbers, which is what is written on papers, instead of names, to identify those taking the exam. Examiners could not identify gender. Its been noticed that girls have consistently performed better since the change. Who'd have thought that?
That's interesting. Sounds, at least at first glance, like pretty damning evidence for some sort of discrimination on the part of examiners. :shock:
I don't think it's consciously deliberate or judgemental. I think it might be an ingrained response, removed when gender identification is removed.
Skip
Posts: 2820
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:34 pm

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by Skip »

People bring their own preconceptions and prejudices to every interaction. They naturally do a lot of interpreting, in both directions.
That is - they'll read the same text differently when it's written by a man, a woman, a girl or a boy, and very often they think they know which of those the writer is from the name - or pseudonym or handle.
Numbers are a very good idea on exams, but on a forum they would limit our opportunities for self-presentation. Handles often illustrate the convictions or temperament or attitude that we wish to let other poster see. So are avatars... However, I find that the picture in the little box does influence my own response to the poster. I don't really imagine that there are any participants on philosophy forums under age 5, yet a number of posters have child avatars, from which I infer that they're either proud parents of trying to convey a youthful insouciance - neither of which options particularly endears them to me. Being mindful of that small bias, I can put it aside. Some avatars, I'm attracted or repelled by - sometimes even after many encounters with that poster. Most don't affect me positively or negatively; few amuse me.
When I see a picture of a man or woman, I can't help thinking of it as a self-portrait - not in the literal sense, but of their on-line persona, which is all that matters. When responding to those posters, I tend to address the picture.
So, the label - name or face - does play a part in how I read the post, how I interpret ambiguous statements, how much allowance I make for imprecision, how much effort I put into understanding what they mean, whether I expect them to be receptive to humour, or hostile, or tolerant on particular classes of issue, etc.

Conversely, when the label is missing or neutral, the content of the poster's messages may conjure a personality. Obviously, their interest and intensity on certain topics will predispose me to think of them as some particular kind of person. Style and language also indicate age and education level. I'm not particularly concerned with either sex or gender: posters who don't show a vested interest in gender issues can be either/or, both/and; whatever.
But I've noticed many posters do make assumptions of another's sex according to the reason/emotion ratio - or what they characterize as reason and emotion. People often consider themselves logical when they're making no sense at all, so they'll consider reasonable whatever more or less agrees with their own view and irrational whatever doesn't. People often consider themselves passionate when they merely repeating popular slogans, so will accept those same slogans as profound commitment to an ideal. Whoever sounds like us, we tend to imagine as being like us - including gender. Our self-judgment being as faulty as it is, our judgment of unknown, unseen others is bound to be, as well.
User avatar
vegetariantaxidermy
Posts: 13983
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:45 am
Location: Narniabiznus

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

ForCruxSake wrote:
Gary Childress wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:I think therefore I am... but am I a man or a woman?

Clearly, I know what I am... but I'm left wondering what gender others have attributed to me?

Many have addressed me as a man. Looking back at what I have written, I don't think I've been gender specific. Is it in the way I express myself? What I choose to talk about? What is it about me that makes me a man in the way I express myself to you?

Is there a gender specific way of expressing oneself?

Just wondering...
Good questions. I'd be interested in the answers to them as well. Descartes is attributed with the quote: "I think, therefore I am." I wonder if that "I" is gender neutral? Would men and women think identically, were it not for certain hormones, chemicals, etc.? Is there an essential consciousness, devoid of, prior to or what not, to gender?
I wonder that someone hasn't asked it before?

I'm sure there are tells in the choices we make, for example, were we to examine the purchases made for the last month or two... but in writing, in expressing ideas?

Last week, I heard that how the GCSE examination system changed the way it undertook marking. It attributed examinees with numbers, which is what is written on papers, instead of names, to identify those taking the exam. Examiners could not identify gender. Its been noticed that girls have consistently performed better since the change. Who'd have thought that?


Evidence?
Gary Childress
Posts: 8117
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:08 pm
Location: Retirement Home for foolosophers

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by Gary Childress »

ForCruxSake wrote:
Gary Childress wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:Last week, I heard that how the GCSE examination system changed the way it undertook marking. It attributed examinees with numbers, which is what is written on papers, instead of names, to identify those taking the exam. Examiners could not identify gender. Its been noticed that girls have consistently performed better since the change. Who'd have thought that?
That's interesting. Sounds, at least at first glance, like pretty damning evidence for some sort of discrimination on the part of examiners. :shock:
I don't think it's consciously deliberate or judgemental. I think it might be an ingrained response, removed when gender identification is removed.
Sorry, when I said "damning" I didn't mean it to sound like I thought examiners were intentionally discriminating or conspiring to discriminate. I think most discrimination is probably unintentional. I'm pretty sure I discriminate sometimes too. But that doesn't make it any less harmful.
ForCruxSake
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:48 am

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by ForCruxSake »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:
Gary Childress wrote:
Good questions. I'd be interested in the answers to them as well. Descartes is attributed with the quote: "I think, therefore I am." I wonder if that "I" is gender neutral? Would men and women think identically, were it not for certain hormones, chemicals, etc.? Is there an essential consciousness, devoid of, prior to or what not, to gender?
I wonder that someone hasn't asked it before?

I'm sure there are tells in the choices we make, for example, were we to examine the purchases made for the last month or two... but in writing, in expressing ideas?

Last week, I heard that how the GCSE examination system changed the way it undertook marking. It attributed examinees with numbers, which is what is written on papers, instead of names, to identify those taking the exam. Examiners could not identify gender. Its been noticed that girls have consistently performed better since the change. Who'd have thought that?


Evidence?
It was said by an assistant head, at my son's school, at an official meeting. I think if you look back at my original post, it said, "Last week, I heard..." I think the fact it was said by someone with hands on experience, going back some twenty years, at a school of some repute, is enough for me, to get me wondering. I'm afraid I didn't ask for the assistant head's sources and to reiterate: I never stated it as a fact. If you're that interested, go find out for yourself.
ForCruxSake
Posts: 496
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:48 am

Re: Am I a man or a woman?

Post by ForCruxSake »

Gary Childress wrote:
ForCruxSake wrote:
Gary Childress wrote:
That's interesting. Sounds, at least at first glance, like pretty damning evidence for some sort of discrimination on the part of examiners. :shock:
I don't think it's consciously deliberate or judgemental. I think it might be an ingrained response, removed when gender identification is removed.
Sorry, when I said "damning" I didn't mean it to sound like I thought examiners were intentionally discriminating or conspiring to discriminate. I think most discrimination is probably unintentional. I'm pretty sure I discriminate sometimes too. But that doesn't make it any less harmful.
Agreed. Not everyone's intention is to attack a good intention. :)
Locked