Monday, January 4, 2010

Do I Write Like a Guy???

I just tried out Gender Genie, for which the maker created an algorythm that analyzes a writing sample and tells whether the author is male or female. I used a blog entry first and then an opening to a recent article. Both times Genie said the stuff was WRITTEN BY A MALE!!! Both times!

http://bookblog.net/gender/genie.php

I think the GUY who wrote the algorythm is sexist! Reason being words that are said to be "male" vs "female." Personal pronouns are judged to be "female," for example. Creepy! Bleh!

UPDATE: OK I wrote this several days ago. Then I did read a little more about it online and found it was actually more for fun than for real, and that the creator agreed it had no more accuracy than flipping a coin. But, he added, it was a fun approach for people to take to analyzing their writing. I am now officially forgiving him. Give it a try and see what you get. One blogger cautioned not to use this tool to help you pick out potential dates if you are picky about gender.

Oh and one more thing...this time about me. When I was told I "write like a guy," I had a teeny bit of a good feeling. As if that were a COMPLIMENT. The same thing happened to my daughter recently when a fellow musician told her she "played guitar like a man." She was playing slide at the time. She admitted feeling a little bit good about that, too. So there is sexism out there regarding the creative arts, and I am not immune myself.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mary Ann,

    I write like a guy - twice in a row. But the margin was not where I would have liked it to be. Maybe a few more ughs, grunts and bodily noises as part of my prose???

    Doug

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