Can you tell a writer's gender?

DMB · 06-10-2011, 04:46 AM

See this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/quiz...hor-s-sex-quiz

For the record, I got 7 out of 10, but I was by no means sure of all my answers.

chamekke · 06-10-2011, 04:53 AM

No.

This question always puts me in mind of the following story.

"While widely known to be a pseudonym, most people assumed [James Tiptree, Jr.] was male. Harlan Ellison introduced Tiptree's story, 'The Milk of Paradise', in Again, Dangerous Visions, saying that 'Wilhelm is the woman to beat this year, but Tiptree is the man.' Robert Silverberg described Tiptree's writing as 'ineluctibly masculine' in his 1975 introduction to Warm Worlds and Otherwise, attempting to dispel rumors that Tiptree was female. He described the notion that Tiptree was a woman as 'absurd', a notion brought about by some people who thought it impossible for a man to be as clue-ful about women as Tiptree's writing. Theodore Sturgeon described Tiptree as the male equivalent of the great new female writers of the 1970s.

"When Tiptree's mother died in 1976, Tiptree mentioned the death; enterprising fans found the obituary and outed Tiptree as Alice [Sheldon]." (feministSFwiki)

odiakkoh · 06-10-2011, 04:57 AM

5 out of 10 lol. I can't tell apparently which is surprising since I prefer male writers.

peterjmerrigan · 06-10-2011, 04:59 AM

Hmm, I didn't do quite so well as you.

Interesting concept, though. I think in bygone days it may have been easier (think Austen, etc), but these days? No, I'm no so sure it's easy.

Didn't Rowling deliberately publish as 'J.K.' in order to obscure her sexual identity?

crich70 · 06-10-2011, 05:04 AM

I got 6 of 10 right. Not bad overall, just over half.

RichL · 06-10-2011, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odiakkoh

5 out of 10 lol. I can't tell apparently which is surprising since I prefer male writers.

You can't tell but you prefer male writers?

odiakkoh · 06-10-2011, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichL

You can't tell but you prefer male writers?

Lol I don't purposely discriminate against female writers but if I made a list of my favorite books they are all written by male writers.

TenaciousBadger · 06-10-2011, 05:35 AM

4 out of 10. *shrug*
Thank God for the male writers out there or we as a civilisation would have been sunk, I tell you, sunk!
And thank God, again, that "masculine" and "tosh" are simply incompatible!

ardeegee · 06-10-2011, 05:46 AM

I picked random answers without even reading the passages. Got 6 out of 10 right.

Stitchawl · 06-10-2011, 06:25 AM

When I was in college I took a class in short story writing. One of our assignments was to write a story 'as if we were of the opposite gender.' There were some very interesting results.

Stitchawl

Maggie May · 06-10-2011, 06:29 AM

I got 8 out of 10 right.

OtterBooks · 06-10-2011, 09:14 AM

7/10. As for the examples, they may have been hand-picked for their ambiguity.

HarryT · 06-10-2011, 09:15 AM

I'm curious to know why anyone would actually care? Surely it's the story that matters, not the writer's plumbing arrangements.

DMB · 06-10-2011, 09:20 AM

Well, the genesis of this quiz was apparently the dismissive attitude of V.S. Naipaul towards women writers along with his claim that he could always tell whether a writer was male or female from the first few paragraphs.

odiakkoh · 06-10-2011, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

Well, the genesis of this quiz was apparently the dismissive attitude of V.S. Naipaul towards women writers along with his claim that he could always tell whether a writer was male or female from the first few paragraphs.

He has too much time on his hands lol.

06-10-2011, 04:46 AM	#1
DMB Old Git Posts: 958 Karma: 1840790 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Switzerland (mostly) Device: Two kindle PWs wifi, kindle fire, iPad3 wifi	Can you tell a writer's gender? See this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/quiz...hor-s-sex-quiz For the record, I got 7 out of 10, but I was by no means sure of all my answers.

06-10-2011, 04:53 AM	#2
chamekke Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 13510 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kindle 3 Wi-Fi	No. This question always puts me in mind of the following story. "While widely known to be a pseudonym, most people assumed [James Tiptree, Jr.] was male. Harlan Ellison introduced Tiptree's story, 'The Milk of Paradise', in Again, Dangerous Visions, saying that 'Wilhelm is the woman to beat this year, but Tiptree is the man.' Robert Silverberg described Tiptree's writing as 'ineluctibly masculine' in his 1975 introduction to Warm Worlds and Otherwise, attempting to dispel rumors that Tiptree was female. He described the notion that Tiptree was a woman as 'absurd', a notion brought about by some people who thought it impossible for a man to be as clue-ful about women as Tiptree's writing. Theodore Sturgeon described Tiptree as the male equivalent of the great new female writers of the 1970s. "When Tiptree's mother died in 1976, Tiptree mentioned the death; enterprising fans found the obituary and outed Tiptree as Alice [Sheldon]." (feministSFwiki) Last edited by chamekke; 06-10-2011 at 05:02 AM.

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06-10-2011, 04:57 AM	#3
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	5 out of 10 lol. I can't tell apparently which is surprising since I prefer male writers.

06-10-2011, 04:59 AM	#4
peterjmerrigan Member Posts: 17 Karma: 20000 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: West Yorkshire, England Device: Kindle	Hmm, I didn't do quite so well as you. Interesting concept, though. I think in bygone days it may have been easier (think Austen, etc), but these days? No, I'm no so sure it's easy. Didn't Rowling deliberately publish as 'J.K.' in order to obscure her sexual identity?

06-10-2011, 05:04 AM	#5
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I got 6 of 10 right. Not bad overall, just over half.

06-10-2011, 05:35 AM	#8
TenaciousBadger Mrawr? Posts: 1,109 Karma: 15039064 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: kindle 3 wifi	4 out of 10. shrug Thank God for the male writers out there or we as a civilisation would have been sunk, I tell you, sunk! And thank God, again, that "masculine" and "tosh" are simply incompatible!

06-10-2011, 05:46 AM	#9
ardeegee Maratus speciosus butt Posts: 3,292 Karma: 1162698 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: PRS-350	I picked random answers without even reading the passages. Got 6 out of 10 right.

06-10-2011, 06:25 AM	#10
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	When I was in college I took a class in short story writing. One of our assignments was to write a story 'as if we were of the opposite gender.' There were some very interesting results. Stitchawl

06-10-2011, 06:29 AM	#11
Maggie May Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,907 Karma: 87755439 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ireland Device: CYbook Gen3 and Sony PRS 3505 Kindle 3 G Nexus 7 iPad	I got 8 out of 10 right.

06-10-2011, 09:14 AM	#12
OtterBooks Wizard Posts: 1,262 Karma: 2979086 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle 4, iPad Mini/Retina	7/10. As for the examples, they may have been hand-picked for their ambiguity.

06-10-2011, 09:15 AM	#13
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,560 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I'm curious to know why anyone would actually care? Surely it's the story that matters, not the writer's plumbing arrangements.

06-10-2011, 09:20 AM	#14
DMB Old Git Posts: 958 Karma: 1840790 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Switzerland (mostly) Device: Two kindle PWs wifi, kindle fire, iPad3 wifi	Well, the genesis of this quiz was apparently the dismissive attitude of V.S. Naipaul towards women writers along with his claim that he could always tell whether a writer was male or female from the first few paragraphs.