Hey all,
I'm currently writing a research paper on Linguistic Performance of Gender in Online Communities. My focus is primarily on how gender can be manipulated in anonymous interaction on the internet. I would very much appreciate your comments and ideas. Here are my hypotheses, and some questions to shape your responses:
Hypothesis 1: People will perform their own gender most of the time, but some will occasionally perform a gender not their own to gain conversational resources (power, authority, respect, sympathy, etc.).
Hypothesis 2: The validity/believability of these performances is judged by other users in terms of both gender-stereotypical content and gendered style.
Research Questions 1: Do you ever or have you ever pretended to be a different gender online? If so, why? How did you perform the other gender? What features of your language did you change, if any, in your performance?
Research Questions 2: When a person's gender is under suspicion online, how would you attempt to discern it? What features of their language or what kind of content might you associate with women or men?
These are general questions, please feel free to respond to some of them, all of them, or none. Any response is appreciated, and I welcome all criticism.
One thing I just want to note here is the difference between the words "sex" and "gender:" sex refers to the biological/genetic difference between men and women--xy and xx chromosomes; gender is how these biological differences are shaped and given meaning in a cultural and social context.
Thank you all very much for your help. I'm happy to answer any questions.
I'm currently writing a research paper on Linguistic Performance of Gender in Online Communities. My focus is primarily on how gender can be manipulated in anonymous interaction on the internet. I would very much appreciate your comments and ideas. Here are my hypotheses, and some questions to shape your responses:
Hypothesis 1: People will perform their own gender most of the time, but some will occasionally perform a gender not their own to gain conversational resources (power, authority, respect, sympathy, etc.).
Hypothesis 2: The validity/believability of these performances is judged by other users in terms of both gender-stereotypical content and gendered style.
Research Questions 1: Do you ever or have you ever pretended to be a different gender online? If so, why? How did you perform the other gender? What features of your language did you change, if any, in your performance?
Research Questions 2: When a person's gender is under suspicion online, how would you attempt to discern it? What features of their language or what kind of content might you associate with women or men?
These are general questions, please feel free to respond to some of them, all of them, or none. Any response is appreciated, and I welcome all criticism.
One thing I just want to note here is the difference between the words "sex" and "gender:" sex refers to the biological/genetic difference between men and women--xy and xx chromosomes; gender is how these biological differences are shaped and given meaning in a cultural and social context.
Thank you all very much for your help. I'm happy to answer any questions.