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HelpRe: Preach!
in reply to a message by Aine
You're right! And how many times have we seen female names described as belonging to a woman who is "big, hefty in jeans too tight, spiky red heels, huge sprayed-out hair dyed either platinum blonde or dead-black, cigarette dangling, dragon-lady fingernails, makeup thick as paint, laughing too loud at nothing much in bars hoping some man will buy her next drink"? As an example. I don't recall ever seeing a male name described as belonging to a man who is too big, wears tacky clothes, has cheap personal grooming, smokes, laughs too loudly, and is looking for transient female companionship from which to benefit monetarily. The only thing I can recall is when I myself have described Asa or Ezra as belonging to an overweight man who wears overalls with no shirt.
Gender bias.
Gender bias.
This message was edited 1/15/2018, 3:38 PM
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Aw, I'm sad that this thread got stale before I saw it.
I've noticed that the kinds of impressions I have of feminine names are somewhat different from impressions of male names. I get a ton of sense impressions off female names, whole characters and styles come to mind - and for male names I can sometimes hardly even picture a guy or identify a style. Male names give me impressions of status and roles more than female names do, too... I try to imagine a real person, and when I do it seems the name doesn't matter that much or say that much about the individual so much as about their context. But for female names I'm able to come up with elaborate characterizations based just on a name, if I wanted to. It's ... weird.
It's gender something, but I don't see it as negative for either gender. It's just interesting how gender changes the way I interpret names. I wonder if other people experience this. Like when you're commenting on a long list of names that is broken up by gender, have you ever noticed that your responses feel different for one list than for the other?
I've noticed that the kinds of impressions I have of feminine names are somewhat different from impressions of male names. I get a ton of sense impressions off female names, whole characters and styles come to mind - and for male names I can sometimes hardly even picture a guy or identify a style. Male names give me impressions of status and roles more than female names do, too... I try to imagine a real person, and when I do it seems the name doesn't matter that much or say that much about the individual so much as about their context. But for female names I'm able to come up with elaborate characterizations based just on a name, if I wanted to. It's ... weird.
It's gender something, but I don't see it as negative for either gender. It's just interesting how gender changes the way I interpret names. I wonder if other people experience this. Like when you're commenting on a long list of names that is broken up by gender, have you ever noticed that your responses feel different for one list than for the other?
This message was edited 1/18/2018, 7:56 AM
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To be honest, I do get sense impressions from female names more than I do male names. It's just that my sense impressions are usually not negative. Usually. However, there is my oft-used Charlotte impression: "Short, frizzy mousy brown hair, thick glasses, orthopedic shoes, never been kissed." So when have we seen a male name described as lacking in height, unattractive hair, poor eyesight, bad feet, and virginal-through-lack of opportunity? I've done it too!
Obviously what I find worthy of condemnation in a female is lack of grooming, lack of a fun-loving personality, and lack of male companionship, rather than the opposite, which is the only difference between my Charlotte description and what I put in my first post.
Obviously what I find worthy of condemnation in a female is lack of grooming, lack of a fun-loving personality, and lack of male companionship, rather than the opposite, which is the only difference between my Charlotte description and what I put in my first post.
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Hit the nail on the head.
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I'm sorry...
I didn't know my comment would create such an in-depth discussion about gender bias. :/
I didn't know my comment would create such an in-depth discussion about gender bias. :/
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