For this assignment, I posed as a male in a television-themed chatroom. Though the female designation in my profile undermined my initial attempts to feign masculinity, I quickly stripped my profile of any information that might reveal my true gender. The next step was to embrace my temporary persona, “Jonathan.”
My first chat buddy was a fifteen-year-old male from Florida. When I told him I was from New York, he told me that his crazy ex-girlfriend lived there. As “one of the guys,” I thought it my duty to sympathize and deliver a healthy dose of women-weary sentiment. After affirming that “girls are ridiculous,” I began chatting with one from Australia who seemed flattered when I suggested she probably had a cool accent. I told her that my girlfriend had always wanted a small kangaroo for a pet (by girlfriend, I really meant me), which prompted her to tell me about the kangaroo that lived in her house while her veterinarian dad took care of him. The real me would have been hard-pressed not to spew several variants of “aww, that’s so cute!” after each of her anecdotes, but “Jonathan” suppressed this urge. Instead, I conveyed a mildly detached appreciation for her pet kangaroo’s antics. When I told her I hoped to travel to Australia someday, she offered to teach me some Aussie lingo (my favorite was “lolly water” for soda). I took advantage of the opportunity to approach proficiency in down under vernacular, while simultaneously trying to appear just a little bemused, rather than overtly curious. When she asked me what I liked to do with my “mates,” I provided a fairly unisex response (“hang out, watch movies”), which allowed me to retain some honesty - honesty I promptly discarded when she asked whether I played football (soccer). I told her I played once a week, which elicited a “bonza” (equivalent to “sweet”), though I added that she was probably much better at the sport. While my friend seemed to construe this comment as a flirtatiously self-deprecating compliment, I was actually just speaking candidly about my inadequate ball-kicking capacities. Our conversation ended when the girl left for school and commented that maybe we would talk later.
During my chatroom interactions, I employed self-presentational tactics. In order to convey the impression of a 19-year-old male, I pretended that I could relate to the 15-year-old’s gripes regarding girls and told the Aussie that I played a sport. I also tried to express attitudes I thought might be fitting for a prototypical male. In order to eliminate all linguistic tip-offs to my true gender, I found myself dampening responses which might normally have been enthusiastic. For some reason, I thought my male equivalent would be believable only if I maintained a certain degree of aloof nonchalance. Despite having switched identities, however, I never strayed very far from my actual personality. It seems as though online deception can be accomplished with little more than a convincingly gender-specific username.
http://comm245brown.blogspot.com/2007/09/3-creepiest-experience-ever.html#comment-5487910199481758786
http://comm245brown.blogspot.com/2007/09/3-hi-mom-yes-mom-okay-mom-no-mom-rolls.html
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3 comments:
What originally made me read your post was its title...I will be studying abroad in Australia this spring so I was curious to see what you wrote about. I think it was cool that you spoke to someone from Australia. Although I chose the do option 2 of this assignment, if I had chosen option 1 I probably would have tried to deceive someone in the same manner you did (keeping several of your true personality traits). I agree that it is easier to deceive someone when you know about the subject matter. I enjoyed your post!
Emily,
I really enjoyed your experience – it’s very refreshing to see the point of view of a girl disguising as a male, since the opposite is far more common in most Internet spaces. I agree that it is often difficult to suppress comments that are more indicative of your natural gender. It is interesting that you mentioned the “aloof nonchalance” as an indicative attribution of the male gender, because I have often been victim of that stereotype – I usually show too much enthusiasm or friendliness online, thus misleading some people into thinking that I’m a girl (I experienced this most definitely when I did assignment 2, when the person I talked to assumed that I was a girl even though I never said anything about my gender or any stereotypically feminine subjects).
Then again, as you said, in an online space your username/handle is pretty much the dominant influence in others’ perception of your gender. The self-presentation tactics are thus only a supplemental explanation on your behavior and the response of others. Perhaps it probably would not have even mattered too much if you did express your adoration of baby kangaroos – her mind was likely already wired to the fact that you are a guy. Nonetheless, your attitude, self-description, and self-association with social/sports groups definitely reinforced your masculine image and helped to maintain your deception.
Very interesting post. Though both you and I attempted to modify our self-descriptions to make our identity more convincing, in retrospect it may not have been completely necessary. I agree with your last statement, that having an alias such as "Jonathan" or my alias "AntieAnnie" is enough to affirm gender. I wonder if everyday chatters take on the mentality that people in chat rooms are really nothing more than a nickname and an ability to converse through a keyboard. Even if you did spew "aww, that's so cute!" with a male nickname, it might only instill the slightest doubt in your chat buddy. Are those who dwell in chat rooms lonely and just looking for an interesting character to interact with?
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