In following links this weekend, I discovered the Gender Genie - an algorithm designed to analyze a piece and predict the author's gender. I pasted in all my blog entries since August 27th. My score:



Words: 2019



(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)



Female Score: 2363

Male Score: 4600



The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!



Am I right? The author of this passage is actually:



male



female





Hmm - twice as male as I am female?? I politely correct the genie, and receive this comment:



That is one butch chick.



According to Koppel and Argamon, the algorithm should predict the gender of the author approximately 80% of the time.



Accuracy Results

Am I right?

yes 141997 (62.33%)

no 85825 (37.67%)

227822 total responses since September 13, 2003



Geez. I know I tend to relate better with men than women, but I'd never describe myself as "butch." I'd think my proclivity for nail polish, high heels, miniskirts, and perfume should bar me from that category. Though this does tally with some recent dating advice that I should try to come off more "soft" (read: less overtly intelligent, at least in casual conversation). So can one be "high maintenance" and "butch" at the same time?