Affirming gender through notification titles

[Quantumcat]

It can get kind of annoying when people call you the wrong thing. A lot of the GBATemp population have feminine avatars when they are male (probably some with masculine avatars that are female) and non-gender-specific names (or sometimes their name sounds like the opposite gender to what they are in their profile) so these mixups happen often. It results in people having to awkwardly use sentence structures that leave out the gender, or making a (sometimes incorrect) assumption.

So, this is a suggestion to subtly remind people what gender other users have labelled themselves in their profile, so such awkwardness can be reduced somewhat. Akin to having the social cues of voice and looks - nothing in your face but it just works at the back of their mind.

1. Change "[person's name] mentioned you in a post in [thread name]" to "[person's name] mentioned you in her or his post in [thread name]"
2. (In the case that the OP replies to their own thread) Change "[person's name] replied to the thread [thread name]" to "[person's name] replied to her or his thread [thread name]"

And when the person's gender is not specified in their profile, then leave it as it is now.

I can't think of any other sorts of notification titles where you could sneak a her or his in, but just these two circumstances would help.

 

[littleman]

I didn't realize you spoke for everyone...

Offense is taken, not given.

 

[SG854]

No, it is not new. I researched about it.
It is something that existed in informal spoken language since always (14th century according to wikipedia), but grammarists disliked so they told people not to write like that.
Then since the 70s it seems grammarists started to give up, and people use it for all kinds of official documents since then.

PS: Also, I will steal this quote Meaning the language changes with the people anyway, what was wrong yesterday may be right today and so. E.g. British English is slowly turning quite American in the use of "-ize" instead of "-ise" lately (according to what I've read).

Yes thats true. The English we're speaking right now was once considered lazy and uneducated compared to how people use to speak it in the past. It was until more people started to speak like this and it became the common way people talk. Also theres informal slang and thats something thats always changing. Slang is neither considered lazy nor uneducated, it follows the same grammatical rules formal english does. In language its semiotics rather than semantics that creates meaning.

 

[McWhiters9511]

Offense is taken, not given.

hope you dont mind if i add that to my signature

 

[DarkFlare69]

Why is gender such a big deal? If someone misgenders someone, correct them and move on.

 

[cvskid]

Does something like this really matter? As far as i'm concerned unless you have an actual picture of yourself as an avatar then no one truly knows what you are besides just a username, not a certain gender.

 

[Kioku]

Why is gender such a big deal? If someone misgenders someone, correct them and move on.

You're the not the first person to say this. You won't be the last.

 

[sarkwalvein]

To be honest, even though many people (I included) keep saying it would be a nice feature to have, I am almost sure if they put a poll asking "Do you really need this?" the answer would be 100% no.

 

[jt_1258]

I just default to he all the time...it hasn't seemed to have made anyone mad but I try to play safe

 

[Xanthe]

Or you know, it's such a simple thing that it doesn't matter. You are one of the 1% of people who actually care about this.

 

[SG854]

I just default to he all the time...it hasn't seemed to have made anyone mad but I try to play safe

Especially since the majority of gamers are guys, its most likely going to be a guy on here.

 

[Chary]

I'm female myself, but I always default to "he" on the Internet. If someone corrects me, I'll be more likely to remember the person's gender, rather than take the time to click their profile and ensure if they're a guy or girl before responding. Honestly even if this was changed, I'd still use they/them or just he regardless until told otherwise.

 

[Deleted member 377734]

I'm a "he" and I default to that on every site i'm on, if someone wants others to think of them as the opposite of their actual gender, fine, it's online anyway. one of the best users I know online is a CV user who defaulted as a "she" and to this day I still don't know, or care, what his/her actual gender is.

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Especially since the majority of gamers are guys, its most likely going to be a guy on here.

People still believe that the majority of gamers are guys ? ...seriously ?

 

[Mr. Elementle]

The most interesting thing this thread has shown me, is that almost every person going off in an insulting manner about they not being a singular pronoun, are non native english speakers from a romance language like spanish or french, is there something about how english is taught in romance languages that makes people think this is wrong?

it's such a strange thing that a basic grammar rule used for hundreds of years, that was correct from like the 1400's to now, used by Shakespeare and Dickinson, was considered grammatically correct (and in some cases preferred) up until about the 1980's, then all of a sudden a bunch of people started deciding this was bad grammar and you shouldn't use it, at the same time a bunch of other people started asking for people to use it for them.

hmmmm.... what a mystery/s

 

[jt_1258]

I'm female myself, but I always default to "he" on the Internet. If someone corrects me, I'll be more likely to remember the person's gender, rather than take the time to click their profile and ensure if they're a guy or girl before responding. Honestly even if this was changed, I'd still use they/them or just he regardless until told otherwise.

I'm a "he" and I default to that on every site i'm on, if someone wants others to think of them as the opposite of their actual gender, fine, it's online anyway. one of the best users I know online is a CV user who defaulted as a "she" and to this day I still don't know, or care, what his/her actual gender is.

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People still believe that the majority of gamers are guys ? ...seriously ?

I was worried about coming out with a I'll call them he till they say to call them otherwise type of ideal but I guess I'm not the only one, hmm

 

[McWhiters9511]

People still believe that the majority of gamers are guys ? ...seriously ?

people believe it still cuz its still true. phone games doesnt make you a gamer in the slightest

 

[SG854]

people believe it still cuz its still true. phone games doesnt make you a gamer in the slightest

Yes the problem with the data is that it also includes candy crush casual playing mothers. When it comes to hardcore gaming its mostly guys. This is why its mostly marketed to guys.

 

[Chary]

I'm a "he" and I default to that on every site i'm on, if someone wants others to think of them as the opposite of their actual gender, fine, it's online anyway. one of the best users I know online is a CV user who defaulted as a "she" and to this day I still don't know, or care, what his/her actual gender is.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


People still believe that the majority of gamers are guys ? ...seriously ?

From GBAtemp's perception of "gamer" and not a wide poll of "candy crush playing soccer moms are gamers" poll. Yes, most core gamers are guys. It couldn't have been more blatant at E3, as well. At least 80% of my fellow media attendees were men.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I've never been a fan of the "gamer" label and its negative connotations, so I don't call myself a gamer even though I'm overly-obsessed with games. Probably something for another thread, but seems relevant to the current discussion.

 

[Deleted member 377734]

From GBAtemp's perception of "gamer" and not a wide poll of "candy crush playing soccer moms are gamers" poll. Yes, most core gamers are guys. It couldn't have been more blatant at E3, as well. At least 80% of my fellow media attendees were men.

I was thinking in the Casual to Half-way serious terms, not GBAtemp hardcore, oh, well, I stand corrected.

 

[Stephano]

Hey, props to everyone that posted in this thread being civil. It's nice to have these conversations without wanting to murder eachother