A Fun Little Experiment

[julia marie]

I had some mindless entertainment while doing some summer driving, but it got me thinking about stuff like the ongoing discussions "passing".
First, try this while driving, walking, jogging, biking, whatever. Look at someone who is maybe a few hundred yards ahead of you, and decide whether they are male or female (or at least how they are presenting, as we all know). When you get near them, see if you were right. I figure I'm right 75 to 90% of the time, and I'm sure you can do the same.
Now the tricky part: What is it that let you identify them correctly? Clothing (not just skirt vs pants but color and fabric)? Hair? Walking or running style? Shape (hips and butt vs big shoulders)? Several of these factors, or something else?
The group that will lower your average are bicyclists, who commonly dress the same and have many of the same motions, but even then I'll bet you can spot a woman once you get within 100 yards.
So, my new challenge is to figure out what really gives away gender at longer distances. Thoughts?

[KarenCDFL]

People watching is a wonderful thing.

In the long past when clothing was gender sliced between females and males it would have been quite easy but now we have to look at height, stride, Hair and hair color and colors of clothing to name a few.

I think the easiest thing now to tell is the way a person carries themselves and walks. In my opinion men seem to be very stiff (no pun intended) when they walk where women walk with a bounce.

As an after thought.....

Every so often my wife and I will go to the local Mall, grab a bite or go shopping and as we go we have fun playing "Would you DO him/her" Like I said, we love people watching.


Always makes for a good time!

[Debra Russell]

When out my wife and I sometimes play games especially at the airport / fake or not / guy or gal . It's fun if you have someone e to play with,.,.........Debra

[ronny0]

One business I use to go to had a ?girl? working their, often she would be less than three feet away and you still couldn't be 100% sure it wasn't a guy.
You some times just can't be sure, not that it is really any of my business, still fun to guess.

I'd suggest another option for the experiment, do it while driving, try looking at the drivers in cars and trucks.
Many times all you see is the hair / head and also IMO many times that is enough to guess and also be correct most of the time.
99% of the time if they have long hair, start off F, and for sure 99% of the time if the head is shaved or crew cut go for M.
Sometimes we see what we want to see, our mind makes a decision and tries to find as many clues to prove you are correct.

[mariehart]

Nothing to do with gender because let's face it. Spotting CDs etc is a rare thing. But reading people is great fun. Me and one of my sisters just love it. My wife can't cope with our nonsense. But I just love it. I remember sitting in a restaurant, spotting the people at the next table. Me and my sister figured it out. We decided that the older people were the parents, the man was their son and he was introducing his girlfriend to them. They were conservative country people who had spent little time in the big city and he was nervous about introducing his city girl, liberal girlfriend. My wife thought we were really bitchy. But we were just having fun. To make it worse for my slightly conservative wife is that my Mother joined in.

I really enjoy that stuff.

[julia marie]

Reading people in a restaurant like that is fun too. You have it organized. I think it's funny when you start typecasting people, and then later find out that someone at your table is doing the same thing.

[sandra-leigh]

At long distances, I am more accurate at night when my peripheral vision sees a flash of a dark someone move against a lighter background: in such cases, something in my optic system and brain quickly tosses up the person's gender at the same time it alerts me that someone is there at all. Once I focus on them and look directly at them, I have difficulty telling until they have moved enough in the light for me to be able to do better curvature and facial recognition, and eventually I can say, "Ah yes, it is a ____ after all!". There are roughly 20 times as many rods (not color sensitive) as cones (color sensitive), and rods are much much more sensitive, so it does make sense that one might perceive something in black and white that is more difficult to see in color (focusing on it.)

[Beverley Sims]

Sounds interesting, but I find it hard to concentrate on others around me when driving.
I recognize police cars instantly.
They pass. :)

[Wildaboutheels]

NO ONE can tell tell for sure the actual sex of another person unless THEY show you their body parts. I doubt if that happens very often out in the RW.

There are many here who love to claim that they can and do catch/notice folks out in the RW who are "misrepresenting" their true sex.

[julia marie]

Nope, not trying to determine their real sex (not need to see their parts). It's just fun figuring out if you can tell how they are presenting. The question for the group is what gives away someone's gender (real or presented) at a distance. Hair? Walk? Other mannerisms? Dress? Shape? Other? All of the above?

[Ericaxd]

I try this experiment once in a while during a bike ride. Joggers can be a bit harder than walkers because certainly the clothing doesn't always help (though few men jog in capri length tights as many women do.) Men sort of rock back and forth when they walk while women in general have a smoother stride and seem likely to swing their arms more. I watch them closely, of course, in my continuing effort to be like them.
People watching is great fun, of course. In the summer, it's fun to sit outside at a coffee shop or other setting and make up stories about the people going by. My favorite place to do this is Provincetown.