INTP gender poll

[Hadoblado]

For the fifth or sixth time I just found out that someone on this forum is a female when prior to that I moronically assumed them male. I have no idea why, but for some reason I continue to assume that everyone on here shares my sex, and I ignore all evidence to the contrary. I don't think it really matters at all, but out of curiosity I would like to know the numbers.

 

[ElvenVeil]

I admit I am not used to see gender polls, so that might be the source of my uncertainty.. But what exactly is 'other' for?

 

[cheese]

Well, since gender is taken as a psychological/social category, rather than a physical category (like sex), there are many more options. Some people don't consider themselves either gender, in that they don't identify with either and don't behave in a socially recognisable way as either. Some people go so far as to have their breasts removed (why, why!!) so they will seem as androgynous as possible. Other people consider their gender fluid. They may identify as male one day, female the next, both another, etc. And then there are transgenders, whose concept of self doesn't match their physical sex (which could be clearly male, clearly female, or indeterminate). They might choose not to designate themselves clearly either way, since their body does not match their head and they may be working through issues.

Basically, it's quite a personal issue and having the 'Other' option provides a place for minorities to be recognised.

This might help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity

There are all sorts of terms floating around in my head but I'm not sure about any of them so I'll leave you to look into this if you want. But there's a lot of very unconventional stuff out there. Still trying to wrap my head around it.

 

[cheese]

Here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderqueer

 

[Hadoblado]

I just realised I stuffed up by calling it a gender poll and then asking for sex (wow this sentence is ambiguous ).
If your sex is different to your gender, please place yourself in 'other'.

 

[Nocturne]

Hmmm... "Other"? Who would fall under the category of "other"???

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Eunuchs? People with Trisomy? Robots?

 

[boondockbabe]

Mabye "other" is a person of one "sex" who relates more to the oppisite "sex" than what they are. I have a friend who would call "herself" other - he has not gotten a sex change yet.

Once he gets his surgery I am sure he would refer to himself as "female". If he dosen't already call himself female.

 

[Jennywocky]

Some transpeople don't like to label themselves as "other." They label themselves as the gender they identify with. So Other isn't going to provide a clear-cut answer.

 

[boondockbabe]

Mabye it should be changed to preferred? like preferred female and preferred male?

 

[Trebuchet]

Even if the poll isn't perfect, it is obvious you were trying hard to be inclusive and inoffensive. People are already posting clarifications, questions, articles, and experiences, which seems like a good thing.

Besides, it is impossible to do this without offending someone. Did you see Randall Munroe's blag post about trying to find out gender for a color survey? It had to be simple, respectful, and usable for statistics. He spent a long time on it and still offended people. As he says, "gender is really complicated."

 

[Dimensional Transition]

Wow I had no idea there were 30% females on this forum, ha.

(NO OFFENSIVE STUFF MEANT)
It's ridiculous how easily people are offended, it seems like most of these 'offended' people have just been waiting for a moment to start some annoying argument without having any real argumentative base as to why the thing said by the other would be offensive or mean etc.

That is a really, really long, vague sentence, damn.

 

[crippli]

Why not use Both instead of Other? Seems more accurate. As I presume there will mostly be homo-sapience that will vote on the poll. Other seems very alien-like. Every earthling(especially mammals) capable of voting I would think should be a fe(male) to some degree.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Either-or.

 

[Bryson]

How can so many people be sure that they are males / females?
What if you end up changing your sex in the future due to a still unknown dysfunction?
Shouldn't you consider that you were x instead of y at the time you voted the poll?

 

[Puffy]

I actually expected the gender poll to be balanced, but then I doubt everyone voted, lol.

 

[Words]

How can so many people be sure that they are males / females?
What if you end up changing your sex in the future due to a still unknown dysfunction?
Shouldn't you consider that you were x instead of y at the time you voted the poll?

lol

---

The gender ratio of this "side" of the internet is already imbalanced, due to certain cultural pressures. Not that the internet as a whole isn't. Feminism and other non-male genders are continuously being repressed all over the world, but there is a certain gender attitude amongst developed countries on a "high" amount of "focus" on the internet, which is "this amount."

Then there is the possible factor of nature: Thinking preference % is higher in males than females.

Following these two premises, this poll should be evaluated critically. Not that it shouldn't be criticized without it. As people haven noted, it's already unreliable in numbers, reference, and relevance.

 

[xbox]

Does not compute.

 

[ProxyAmenRa]

I'm offended that there is not a separate gender in itself for INTJs!

 

[Deleted member 1424]

Souless mechanoid isn't a gender. I initiated a petition to rectify this, but no one would sign, instead choosing to discuss baked goods and deception.

 

[cheese]

Something that surprised me:

India and Pakistan are more progressive, gender-wise.

I suppose they've got a more recent and more transparent history of gender diversity than the west. The conservatism I associate with the gender binary is perhaps only conservative in areas with Christian history? Anyway, here's the wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender#Indian_subcontinent

 

[Jennywocky]

Even if the poll isn't perfect, it is obvious you were trying hard to be inclusive and inoffensive. People are already posting clarifications, questions, articles, and experiences, which seems like a good thing.

Besides, it is impossible to do this without offending someone. Did you see Randall Munroe's blag post about trying to find out gender for a color survey? It had to be simple, respectful, and usable for statistics. He spent a long time on it and still offended people. As he says, "gender is really complicated."

One of the first rules I've learned on the Internet (as well as in life, I guess) is that, regardless of what I do, I will manage to offend someone.

More a matter of determining which offenses I should be worried about and/or make amends for, vs which ones are a no-win no matter how they're handled.

I'm offended that there is not a separate gender in itself for INTJs!

INTJ is not a gender? oh dear.

How can so many people be sure that they are males / females?
What if you end up changing your sex in the future due to a still unknown dysfunction?

Yes, and what if you get into an accident with a chinese rice picker and lose it altogether?

That could be ugly... just not for you, but for this poll!

Shouldn't you consider that you were x instead of y at the time you voted the poll?

Spurious complication is our friend.

 

[telepathink]

the results of this poll sucks
i think we should change the background color and add some cute pictures of puppies on the front page

 

[xbox]

blasphemy back to the dungeons from where you came

 

[IzlaRoza]

im surprised that there were as many females as there are (although im sure not everyone voted)... i was starting 2 feel like i was the only one

 

[Nocturne]

Oddly, I assumed that there would be more females. ... Hehe.

 

[Melllvar]

Oddly, I assumed that there would be more females. ... Hehe.

Actually there are, but the female votes only count half.

 

[Yet]

hahahaha

 

[Minuend]

im surprised that there were as many females as there are (although im sure not everyone voted)... i was starting 2 feel like i was the only one

Oh, you aren't alone, cheese is there too.

This poll doesn't interest me enough to vote.

 

[Nocturne]

Actually there are, but the female votes only count half.

Geez. You and your male chauvinism.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I am about 105% sure that I am male, with roughly a 5% margin of error.

 

[cheese]

Oh, you aren't alone, cheese is there too.

This poll doesn't interest me enough to vote.

WHY? WHY?!?!

Also, I didn't vote female. FAIL.

 

[Jennywocky]

im surprised that there were as many females as there are (although im sure not everyone voted)... i was starting 2 feel like i was the only one

*waves* No, there's a bunch of us lurking...waiting for our moment to pounce!

 

[JLMC]

There are going to always be (interesting) biases in participation in personality-type forums. INTPs and INTJs will care about classification and online stuff, ESFJs might not bother. More heavy internet users are probably male.

I wonder if INTPs in general are 50/50 (by sex) or if it is also skewed male. Surely some psychologists have studied this?

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

There are going to always be (interesting) biases in participation in personality-type forums. INTPs and INTJs will care about classification and online stuff, ESFJs might not bother. More heavy internet users are probably male.

I wonder if INTPs in general are 50/50 (by sex) or if it is also skewed male. Surely some psychologists have studied this?

I don't think psychologists know how to properly differentiate between types. There's probably an in-built male = T, female = F bias to begin with which will skew any results.

I think there are roughly equal numbers for each, but either: there are unrelated gender differences which affect how you end up being typed, or males tend to have a better grasp of, or at least tend to use more often, their T function with the reverse being true of females, while leaving type distributions in tact.

Once an objective typing mechanism is implemented, questions like this will be quite easy to resolve.

 

[Smooch]

I debated for a while whether or not to join this forum because I'm a girl.
I assumed most of you on here would be males, which you are, and that I wouldn't... fit in.

 

[MissQuote]

For the fifth or sixth time I just found out that someone on this forum is a female when prior to that I moronically assumed them male. I have no idea why, but for some reason I continue to assume that everyone on here shares my sex, and I ignore all evidence to the contrary. I don't think it really matters at all, but out of curiosity I would like to know the numbers.

I thought you were female. hmmm

 

[walfin]

I assumed most of you on here would be males, which you are

Maybe because some of the lurkers (e.g. me) showed up to vote?
Active members, could be 50-50.

 

[MissQuote]

I really like being a girl, but I really wish I was a boy. *sometimes

 

[Cavallier]

At my new IT job we have an in office chat program we use all the time.

I've discovered that I'm not emotionally reassuring or effusive enough. Apparently I come across as much to terse. I'm a girl but I can't figure why exactly I should use 3 exclamation marks for a sentence I don't really even see the use of in the first place.

I suspect this is why INTP females are often mistaken for males on forums across the interwebs.

 

[xbox]

I debated for a while whether or not to join this forum because I'm a girl.
I assumed most of you on here would be males, which you are, and that I wouldn't... fit in.

Haha nooo welcome. I'm a girl, I think.

 

[xbox]

I really like being a girl, but I really wish I was a boy. *sometimes

I actually know what you mean, or I think I know what you mean. I haven't quite actually wished to be a boy lol. I am pretty feminine, but I did wish I can morph into a robot sometimes when speaking about intellectual matters with males especially in a business/educational environment.

At my new IT job we have an in office chat program we use all the time.

I've discovered that I'm not emotionally reassuring or effusive enough. Apparently I come across as much to terse. I'm a girl but I can't figure why exactly I should use 3 exclamation marks for a sentence I don't really even see the use of in the first place.

I suspect this is why INTP females are often mistaken for males on forums across the interwebs.

Haha kind of why I chose the screenname xbox was to see how I would be perceived (also cuz I couldnt think of anything else). I think many people referred to me as a guy in the beginning.

 

[Trebuchet]

At my new IT job we have an in office chat program we use all the time.

I've discovered that I'm not emotionally reassuring or effusive enough. Apparently I come across as much to terse. I'm a girl but I can't figure why exactly I should use 3 exclamation marks for a sentence I don't really even see the use of in the first place.

Precisely. I worked in IT for 7 years (congratulations on getting a new job, by the way) and some of the women found me weird. On the other hand, I was much, much more emotionally reassuring than my coworkers, who were INTP and INTJ but both really condescending. If you saw the "Your company's computer guy" sketch on Saturday Night Live, that would be them. So I was popular. We didn't have chat, though.

I managed "emotionally reassuring" primarily by asking "What did the computer do wrong?" instead of "What did you do wrong?"

But there were women who used the endless exclamation points, and capitals, and the ellipses - have you seen that odd behavior? - which often made it hard to figure out exactly what they needed. I can't think of any men who did that, though some of the men did need serious emotional handholding.

So what are they griefing you for that you say you aren't emotionally reassuring enough? I always enjoy your posts, so what's their problem?

 

[Melllvar]

I debated for a while whether or not to join this forum because I'm a girl.
I assumed most of you on here would be males, which you are, and that I wouldn't... fit in.

Needz moar wommenz.

Tell your friends.

Spoiler

I'm joking, of course... I think.

 

[Cavallier]

So what are they griefing you for that you say you aren't emotionally reassuring enough?

Isn't it horrible the way so many IT people can be condescending jerks? Sadly, I can see how easy it is to get jaded though. Have you seen The IT Crowd on BBC? It's hilarious.

Luckily enough most of the women are Ts and for the most part NTs so they don't go too silly with the extra characters. Also, since the company is outsourced for it's IT support the boss-man has hired many of the people I work with based on their ability to communicate effectively while also being technically savvy. The office I'm working in has been very welcoming and understanding. Yay for small start up companies!

My biggest problem is that when I really get involved in a problem I get wrapped up in explaining and understanding. I forget to add in the odd "Thank you so much!" or "Wow! You're awesome!".

Edit: What I find truly odd is that the women respond with understanding when I'm late in getting back to them with a "thank you". They say things along the lines of "oh I totally get it!" or "I forget to do that too ". However, the men get bent out of wack over it. Perhaps the women intuitively understand me enough to know that the "thank you" is implied while the men think I'm not recognizing them for going out of their way for me?

 

[Joz_helloworld]

Haha kind of why I chose the screenname xbox was to see how I would be perceived (also cuz I couldnt think of anything else). I think many people referred to me as a guy in the beginning.

I usually pose as a male on the internet, or at least, allow the assumption, as I find the conversation better, more intellectual or helpful, from both genders when I do so. Unfortunately you can't do this irl.

For some reason I decided to be more honest and open here.

 

[Trebuchet]

I forget to add in the odd "Thank you so much!" or "Wow! You're awesome!".

Shudder. Yes, I do send those, usually to women, entirely because it is the social norm and I don't have a good reason to break the social norm. But I always feel very false because the words imply they did something so amazing you can never pay it back, when probably they just did five minutes of research to answer a question. It makes it harder to be sincerely impressed. My actual compliments rarely have exclamation points.

Perhaps the women intuitively understand me enough to know that the "thank you" is implied while the men think I'm not recognizing them for going out of their way for me?

Hmmmm, I think there is an unstated gender dynamic going on. Do the men do the little exclamation points too? My guess is the men don't like being asked to forgive you for a perceived social omission. Not being a guy, I am operating on pure guesswork here. You could test it by leaving out the apology on a belated thanks and see how they react. If you get any good results, post them here.

Edit: Yes, I love "IT Crowd." Especially the one with the fire.

 

[Cavallier]

^Oh! Oh! A social experiment? I'm on it.

 

[Linsejko]

Are those explanation points?

I've definitely had this "Oh, wait, you're a woman?" moment on this forum a few times... I was consciously wondering what the deal was with you, Cavallier. Gay? Just an off-gender profile picture? Misreading something? It's really not fair, to put a guy as your profile picture. Makes it damn near impossible to accurately know.

Joz, I had up 'till now assumed you were a guy.

xbox, I hadn't thought about it, but somehow that makes more sense. A guy who would pick the name xbox would be different. Also, your use of all lowercase makes it feel a bit more feminine. XBOX seems more masculine.

 

[Tangent]

Are those explanation points?

I've definitely had this "Oh, wait, you're a woman?" moment on this forum a few times... I was consciously wondering what the deal was with you, Cavallier. Gay? Just an off-gender profile picture? Misreading something? It's really not fair, to put a guy as your profile picture. Makes it damn near impossible to accurately know.

I agree. Though sometimes a gender blurring male anime character will not sway my thoughts either way.

I am not sure whether the tapir in my avatar is male or female but I think that perhaps the use of any baby animal as an avatar indicates an abundance of estrogen coursing through the user's veins. And indeed I do have a uterus and such.