I write like...

... a guy. At least according to that Gender Genie thing.

As I mentioned in the comments below (Andrea beat it out of me), my little job on the side is as a theatre critic. So I sent some reviews through the Gender Genie, and it said male. Overwhelmingly, according to the score.

I am kind of pleased about this.

I am kind of disappointed that I'm pleased about it.

I mean, that's a little self-hating, don't you think? To be a female-type person who wants to write like a male? Which, I guess, I do.

Back in the good old days when I actually had time to read a lot of fiction, I developed something of a bias against female authors. This because I'd read a few books in a row that started out as perfectly good genre fiction (mystery, fantasy, whatever) and then all of a sudden took a turn off into a feminist tirade or bodice-ripper. And then when I checked the "About the Author" at the back of the book, I'd found that the author -- who had hidden her gender by the sneaky use of initials -- was, in fact, a woman. Hit a couple of these in a row and you start to develop a bias against women writers. (I have nothing against a perfectly good feminist tirade or bodice ripper, but there's a time and a place, you know?) So, I developed this assumption that women writers were the ones who would mess up otherwise good stories, whereas male writers would just, you know, write them. As a result, I started thinking the male voice was the "normal" one. In other words, there was no such thing as "writing like a guy" -- that was just writing. It was "writing like a girl" that had negative connotation for me.

And since, when I write reviews, I want people to think, "Hey, good review," rather then, "Review from a female perspective," I am somewhat pleased that the Gender Genie does not think my reviews are particularly female.

That's not the whole story, though. I gave the Gender Genie some entries from this journal and, although it was somewhat of a closer call than with the reviews, it decided I write like a female here.

I am also pleased about this. The journal is informal writing. Frequently stream of consciousness stuff. And if it's going to be words that fall directly from my head onto the page, I certainly hope it comes out female, because that's what I actually am.

It says this entry is male. Damn.