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Gender Bending: Are Girls & Boys More Alike Than We Think?

Wed, 07/30/2008 - 6:45am by CitizenSugar
382 Views - 34 comments

I've always thought that gender is more of a sliding scale than a binary choice — you're not just one or the other, but that everyone falls somewhere in the spectrum between fairy princesses and Hulk Hogan. It's a snips, snails, and puppydog tails day in the news — gender, and our perception of it, is hot.

  • Ever wanted to know what gender your computer thinks you are? With a tiny click you can find out what your browser history says about your skirt or pant-wearing habits (gross generalization, noted.) Using data from the web demographic wizard Quantcast, the tricky program will analyze you in a second. Perhaps proving my sliding scale theory (apologies to the scientific theory) I scored 50 percent male and 50 percent female. How about you?

Really who wouldn't want a tutu and a wand? To see what else is happening in the world of gender (hint: Third-Sex toilets and naked parades!) read more.

  • A school in rural Thailand discovered that a full 10 percent of the boys consider themselves to be transsexuals, and are uncomfortable with using the boys' bathroom. The solution? A third-sex toilet was installed to serve the middle of the spectrum population. I'm sure you're wondering — the little picture on the door is split down the middle, half boy, half girl.
  • The Olympics gender-testing is underway. A throw-back to the 1960s when (gasp!) women athletes had to parade naked in front of judges to prove their girlihood. It's a scientifically dicey practice, as some women do test more masculine than others due to a chromosomal birth defect. The tests have never uncovered a gender switcheroo, but one case in the modern Olympics exists. In 1936 a German athlete was forced by the Nazis to compete as a woman. He/she scored fourth.
  • Maybe like the US is embracing the purple-state from the melding of red and blue, gender is moving lavender from the girlie pink and the little boy blue? Is that some sugar, spice, and everything nice?

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34 Comments Add a Comment

  • UnDave35's picture
    UnDave35
    1

    I don't know. Is it bad that my 3yr old son wants to wear his 4yr old sister's clothes?

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • lilkimbo's picture
    lilkimbo
    2

    I got 100% female. And with a few exceptions (Sephora, Tiffany's), my sites weren't all that "girly."

    FYI:
    The male-to female ratio for JohnMcCain.com is 1.27, for BarackObama.com it's 0.68.

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • Great Sommelier's picture
    Great Sommelier
    3

    Anyone that has children knows there are some inherent differences between boys and girls. There are many similarities too. The differences I am talking about are behavioral and cognitive. Choices in toys aside, the way they play with the toys is different.

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • zeze's picture
    zeze
    4

    I agree CS, in fact I always call things "feminine" and "masculine" and avoid the "this is for boys" "this is for girls" statements b/c society in many ways has dictated what is a male/female characteristic and people can not be 100% of something that is ever changing and subjective.

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • UnDave35's picture
    UnDave35
    5

    My wife never believed there was a difference, until we had our son. She is constantly amazed at Matthew's fascination with wheels, and how Rachel isn't

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • amybdk's picture
    amybdk
    6

    Wierd!

    Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 81%
    Likelihood of you being MALE is 19%

    Site Male-Female Ratio
    craigslist.org 1.13
    facebook.com 0.83
    popsugar.com 0.69
    religioustolerance.org 0.96
    freerice.com 0.61
    apa.org 0.63

    How come it says popsugar.com instead of citizensugar.com?

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • lovelie's picture
    lovelie
    7

    I think gender is simply a social construct. I agree with zeze, that it is good to avoid classifying toys and activities as either feminine or masculine. I think if kids grow up with neutral feelings towards stereotypically feminine or masculine activities and objects, they will have a better chance of open-mindedness as adults.

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • Great Sommelier's picture
    Great Sommelier
    9

    lovelie, that is why I said, if you give the kid the same toy, boys and girls for the most part will play with them differently.

    23 weeks 14 hours ago Report Comment
  • lovelie's picture
    lovelie
    10

    GS- I wasn't disagreeing with you..I was just trying to further zeze's point

    23 weeks 13 hours ago Report Comment
  • Jude C's picture
    Jude C
    11

    Male-to-female gender reassignment surgery is considered quite common in Thailand, and apparently Thailand is believed to have the largest number of male-to-female transsexuals in the world. I wonder why that is? Puzzled

    23 weeks 13 hours ago Report Comment
  • javsmav's picture
    javsmav
    12

    hmm, there is a 100% likelihood of me being male. So that dress I JUST bought online counts for nothing or do they think I'm a cross dresser? I wonder if my home computer is any different.

    23 weeks 13 hours ago Report Comment
  • lovelie's picture
    lovelie
    13

    Jude- Your statement just reminded me of that scene in Bridget Jones Diary 2 where daniel has that call girl come to his room..and it turns out to be a guy

    23 weeks 13 hours ago Report Comment
  • otaku's picture
    otaku
    14

    i'd love to know but there is no way i'm clicking a link that will allow a random website to access my browser history... yikes!

    23 weeks 13 hours ago Report Comment
  • raciccarone's picture
    raciccarone
    16

    According to my favorite comedian, Sinbad, girls and boys are actually quite different for hilariously different reasons!

    23 weeks 13 hours ago Report Comment
  • CoralAmber's picture
    CoralAmber
    17

    hmmm... it says I'm 65% male, I assume because of all the geek sites I frequent.

    23 weeks 12 hours ago Report Comment
  • KathleenxCouture's picture
    KathleenxCouture
    18

    hahaha mine is 100% female -

    Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 100%
    Likelihood of you being MALE is 0%

    Site Male-Female Ratio
    yahoo.com 0.9
    myspace.com 0.74
    youtube.com 1
    facebook.com 0.83
    walmart.com 0.77
    target.com 0.67
    imdb.com 1.06
    overstock.com 0.68
    fandango.com 0.82
    victoriassecret.com 0.68
    macys.com 0.59
    mtv.com 0.75
    zappos.com 0.57
    piperlime.com 0.5
    collegeboard.com 0.96
    hollisterco.com 0.87
    forever21.com 0.57
    abercrombie.com 0.82
    sephora.com 0.42
    pandora.com 0.9
    wetseal.com 0.63
    gmail.com 0.9
    hm.com 0.57
    alloy.com 0.59
    expressfashion.com 0.69
    tiffany.com 0.61
    bravotv.com 0.44
    delias.com 0.57
    the-n.com 0.59
    teamsugar.com 0.98
    ulta.com 0.44
    ninewest.com 0.39
    maccosmetics.com 0.56

    yeah I'd say that I'm pretty female lol

    23 weeks 12 hours ago Report Comment
  • KathleenxCouture's picture
    KathleenxCouture
    19

    UnDave, my little brother used to like wearing girls flare jeans when he was little because he liked how they fit LOL he was like 7 and he fought my mom when she told him he couldnt wear them. He's grown out of that though and is strictly a boy clothes wearer (he's now 13) so I think it's safe to say your son is alright.

    23 weeks 12 hours ago Report Comment
  • 356UIK's picture
    356UIK
    20

    Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 57%
    Likelihood of you being MALE is 43%

    Site Male-Female Ratio
    wikipedia.org 1.08
    ebay.com 1.11
    like.com 0.63

    23 weeks 12 hours ago Report Comment
  • 356UIK's picture
    356UIK
    21

    sake - I dont think it can access private or encrypted websites, it didnt include all of the sites that I went to today such as my email, popsugar, or my banking website. I imagine that it is blocked from those. Either way, it really isnt all that cool or intereseting Sticking out tongue

    23 weeks 12 hours ago Report Comment
  • chancleta's picture
    chancleta
    23

    I'm 97% Female Smiling

    Don't worry Liberty. Maybe the news site are counted as male?

    23 weeks 11 hours ago Report Comment
  • UnDave35's picture
    UnDave35
    24

    Likelihood of being Female is 0%
    Likelihood of being Male is 100%

    Yup, that's me.

    23 weeks 11 hours ago Report Comment
  • harmonyfrance's picture
    harmonyfrance
    27

    Sigh.

    yahoo.com
    0.9
    myspace.com
    0.74
    youtube.com
    1
    facebook.com
    0.83
    ask.com
    0.77
    cnn.com
    1.35
    flickr.com
    1.15
    people.com
    0.82
    bigfishgames.com
    0.25
    hotmail.com
    0.83
    watch-movies.net
    0.75
    hillaryclinton.com
    0.65
    usmagazine.com
    0.5
    popsugar.com
    0.69
    teamsugar.com
    0.98
    abc.com
    0.47

    Okay mine says 99% female...and while I do enjoy being a girl Eye-wink , I don't see how the websites above are 99% female. Puzzled

    23 weeks 10 hours ago Report Comment
  • hypnoticmix's picture
    hypnoticmix
    28

    You know I was just looking at the third-sex toilet. That's interesting. I've been to a lot of places myself where restrooms are uni-sex and no one seemed to mind.

    23 weeks 9 hours ago Report Comment
  • Jillz1128's picture
    Jillz1128
    29

    90% female. I did go on a search for a new hair salon, so I can see why that is the case.

    23 weeks 7 hours ago Report Comment
  • em113's picture
    em113
    30

    Mine says I'm 100% female even though I go to sites they designate male such as bestbuy and the newyorker (I guess all my online shopping cancels it out.) I found it funny that wachovia.com (my bank) was female. How can a bank favor one gender over another?

    23 weeks 6 hours ago Report Comment
  • em113's picture
    em113
    31

    oh and hypnotic, pretty much all of the bathrooms in my school's housing system are gender-neutral. For the most part it's not a big deal, but I've lived on halls with some VERY gross dudes, and I wish we had three options instead of just one gender-neutral space.

    23 weeks 6 hours ago Report Comment
  • Z E R O's picture
    Z E R O
    32

    This reminds me of a fascinating show I watched a couple of days ago on the Nat Geo channel about the acceptance of a 3rd gender in other cultures/countries. I knew about its prevalence in Thailand and India, but the show informed me of the acceptance of it in Polynesia, too. I found it interesting that this 3rd gender was even documented by the missionaries when they arrived on the islands many moons ago.

    23 weeks 57 min ago Report Comment
  • Roarman's picture
    Roarman
    33

    I just had a gender discussion with my 8 year old the other day. She was telling me that kids were calling her a tomboy and saying that she didn't like girlie things. I explained that there should not be such a thing, if she likes to play sports and get dirty but happens to be a girl so be it. And on the other side if there is a boy who is into clothes and dolls, it shouldn't be a big deal either. My daughter also likes art, dolls and clothes. She is just a well rounded individual. My one year old son plays with his sisters dolls and carries my purse around, not a big deal.

    22 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment

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