Happy Atheist Forum

When a new member turns up and has no avatar and a gender neutral title what are your default preconceptions of the person?

I'll kick off, white, male, aged 17 to 25, atheist.

It really depends on what they write.  I never really think about race.  I usually don't assume gender unless they self identify in their writing as one or the other - but people usually think I'm a dude so that's probably way I'm more careful not to assume gender, and if there's no avatar I'm more likely to assume it's an older person who doesn't know how to upload an image or doesn't care to.  

I won't form an opinion until they have typed something substantial. This can be after their first post or 100th post.

But then again, what someone types here, no matter how long-winded, will never beat actually meeting them in person to really get to know them.

If someone is aggressive I assume a he if the person is more emotional I assume a she...I'm often wrong that's just how society has me programed.  I generally don't really think about gender unless I'm having to use he or she in relationship to a poster when writing something.

Most users assume I'm male....which goes to show how accurate gender assumptions are.

To me, everyone on the internet has no gender, but I'll use whatever gender they want to be identified with.

I've been around message boards/forums for years now. My initial thinking is they're a troll. This conclusion usually is justified by their posting(s) soon after the fact. It's always nice to be wrong in this sense though.

I have long since stopped even thinking about all that when first reading a person online  :P

But I'm weird like that.  

Quote from: "Davin"To me, everyone on the internet has no gender, but I'll use whatever gender they want to be identified with.

^This, IRL as well.

Puerto Rican. Why not?

It's interesting as I obviously start with a 'template' that gets modified in the light of evidence. Am I unusual in this respect?

Depends on the situation  :blush:

Quote from: "KDbeads"Depends on the situation  :blush:

That makes sense.

But if I asked you to describe the 'average forum user' what would you describe?

Well, since I've read enough of everyone so far  
educated, middle aged, 50/50 male/female ratio, with a deep liking of philosophy

Quote from: "KDbeads"Well, since I've read enough of everyone so far  
educated, middle aged, 50/50 male/female ratio, with a deep liking of philosophy

How interesting! I must have frequented a different type of forum to you!

I was thinking this forum  
If I have to classify the rest of the one's I've played in......  Mostly women, 30's to 40's, fundamentalist if not evangelical, under educated by choice.

Quote from: "KDbeads"I was thinking this forum  :rant:

If they don't have an avatar my radar will immediately go up. That's probably just because I've been a forum user for five years now and I never post anywhere avatarless. It's an important indicator to me of how important you consider your own role on the forum and if you simply don't have one it's as though you're just there to troll. This does, obviously, still depend on what they post.
The poster's name will also be important. If it's something too intense, like UberAmazingKingOfAtheists, I might think something is up. Also, and this is all of course purely contextual to forums like HAF, if it's something like Iamthelight or LoveOfTheLamb or SionaraAtheists or FundamentalistChristianEvangelistBigotPro-GunCreationistGodJesusHallelujah, I'll also think poe, generic troll, or pain in the ass annoyance not interested in having a constructive, intelligent debate.
I don't generally or easily assume a gender, but most atheists I've met online I seem to construe as white. I realised this recently when I was befriended by a black atheist on Twitter and I was completely taken aback. It might just be because I'm a South African, but I was becoming convinced that all atheists were white >.<

Quote from: "Tank"

Quote from: "KDbeads"I was thinking this forum  :rant:

It's what I get for the 'old lady' hobbies I have, quilting, sewing, and embroidery.  Most women that can swing a needle are extremely religious, SAHM's, who think you should let the man run things.  It's disgusting actually, especially when they are MY age  :upset:

Quote from: "KDbeads"

Quote from: "Tank"

Quote from: "KDbeads"I was thinking this forum  :rant:

It's what I get for the 'old lady' hobbies I have, quilting, sewing, and embroidery.  Most women that can swing a needle are extremely religious, SAHM's, who think you should let the man run things.  It's disgusting actually, especially when they are MY age  :upset:

Mutual  

*makes note to self: "must put up an avatar"*

Quote from: "KDbeads"It's what I get for the 'old lady' hobbies I have, quilting, sewing, and embroidery.  Most women that can swing a needle are extremely religious, SAHM's, who think you should let the man run things.  It's disgusting actually, especially when they are MY age  :upset:

I run into the same issue because of my love of crafting.  I don't participate in crafting forums, but I do follow a large number of craft blogs and the majority of the most talented bloggers I've found have been women with glaringly apparent religious leanings and the belief that a woman's place is at home.  I like looking past those obvious disagreements and finding a common bond with people through making stuff though.  I wish those women generally thought more of their (my) gender, but I also try to be as live and let live as I can.  I have had people actually ask me to stop following their blog once they discovered I was an atheist, which hurt my feelings a bit, but oh well right?

Quote from: "pinkocommie"I run into the same issue because of my love of crafting.  I don't participate in crafting forums, but I do follow a large number of craft blogs and the majority of the most talented bloggers I've found have been women with glaringly apparent religious leanings and the belief that a woman's place is at home.  I like looking past those obvious disagreements and finding a common bond with people through making stuff though.  I wish those women generally thought more of their (my) gender, but I also try to be as live and let live as I can.  I have had people actually ask me to stop following their blog once they discovered I was an atheist, which hurt my feelings a bit, but oh well right?

I've had to leave several forums because I just can't watch them harp on their values so much.  I'm even having trouble on a chicken board of all places due to an "anyone here non-religious?" thread I've posted on.  It's crazy how little the women think of themselves, even out here when I do things men normally do, I get strange looks.  Like when I built the displays for my quilt club's show.... that was man work and they were stuck between awe and resentment that I could do it.  Not that it was anything hard anyway (see here, http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/04 ... -show.html (http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/04/soup-and-show.html) )

I just stand back and watch and shake my head, as far as some of us have come, I fear there are just as many that have gone the other way.

Quote from: "KDbeads"that was man work and they were stuck between awe and resentment that I could do it.  Not that it was anything hard anyway (see here, http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/04 ... -show.html (http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/04/soup-and-show.html) ).

Yeah, I used to work in a machine shop for the aerospace industry and I got a lot of that same reaction - awe and resentment.  It doesn't even make any sense to be that way, I always just felt like I was being cast out because I ruined some self imposed assumption of what being a woman was supposed to mean or look like.  

I added your blog to my lists of blogs to follow, btw, I hope that's ok!

My generic view is white male, probably because I am one.

Quote from: "pinkocommie"I added your blog to my lists of blogs to follow, btw, I hope that's ok!

Cool, I probably need to start updating it more often though

Quote from: "Asmodean"My generic view is white male, probably because I am one.

Well that's what I suspected. So do people have a default view that people are like themselves until shown to be otherwise?

Quote from: "Tank"When a new member turns up and has no avatar and a gender neutral title what are your default preconceptions of the person?

I don't have preconceptions anymore. I've been on DB's and other boards for 13 years...I quit guessing. Seems that 1/2 the time I'm wrong anyway.

Very interesting thread.

I've participated in other forums, mostly natural parenting ones, so a nice mix of women in all ways (age, ethnicity, education, etc.)

As someone new here, I was expecting young (25 and under) folks.  I didn't have any gender or education expectations I guess.  The age bias come from IRL: the only people I know who are atheists, agnostics, or pantheists tend to be the younger crowd.  

Note about avatars:  I'm not too old to know how to do it, but I generally assume that it costs money.  I'm cheap.  My other reason for lack of one is that I will waste so much time trying to find a suitable one, so I just save that time.  I'm just not cool and funky enough to have a host of cool avatars at my fingertips.  

Quote from: "Tank"

Quote from: "Asmodean"My generic view is white male, probably because I am one.

Well that's what I suspected. So do people have a default view that people are like themselves until shown to be otherwise?

I tend to do that except when the screen name suggests different.

Quote from: "KDbeads"I was thinking this forum  
If I have to classify the rest of the one's I've played in......  Mostly women, 30's to 40's, fundamentalist if not evangelical, under educated by choice.

There is a poll somewhere on the forum with ages...I think most of the forum is people in their late 20s to early 40s

For a while I thought Tank was a woman.  
Don't ask me why. Generally I think of them as white males as well.

Quote from: "Cecilie"For a while I thought Tank was a woman.  :yay:  I am so pleased about that! I come over gender unspecific  

When someone posts inflammatory comments in serious discussion threads, and then turns around and posts in casual chat threads like everything is cool, I will become suspicious.