quiz

[KatanaViolet]

[B]1. If your avatar has a character, what race, age (if applicable) and gender is it? (avatars without characters are neutral or asexual)[/B] 18 year old caucasian female.

[B]2. Would you say your avatar is masculine, feminine or both? Why?[/B] Definately feminine. It's full of pinks and purples and it's Lacus Clyne flicking her hair. I'd say that's pretty girly.

[B]3. Does it have mature or childish attributes?[/B] Maybe in between. I see it as flamboyant.

[B]4. What gender and race are you?[/B] White girl.

[B]5. When you meet someone online, unless they specify, do you feel you naturally think of them as white? (Answering yes is not racist - this is much more common than you think)[/B] Honestly I have never really thought of that. Perhaps I have and didn't realize it. Usually my main assumption is they're American.

[B]6. Do you roleplay? If yes, identify your roleplaying character in terms of race, history, gender and sexual preference (if applicable).[/B] not applicable.

[B]7. Have you ever been mistaken for another race or gender or have been asked due to the lack of detail in your profile?[/B] I think someone on this board thought I was a guy once...

[B]8. Have you mistaken others for being of another race, age or gender? How many times (if applicable)?[/B] Usually all of the above. Asians I tend to mix up. Sometimes I can distinguish Chinese from Japanese and stuff... but generally I have to ask where they are from. Age I always mix up. Gender not so much, but there have been instances.

[B]9. What does your online nickname mean or how did you come up with it?[/B] It doesn't have any particular meaning... I was trying to think of something that sounded cool. I always come up with the lamest nicknames. I think katana's are very cool, plus I met a girl who's name was Katana, and I just thought that was so unique. And purple's my favorite color, but KatanaPurple just sounds stupid, hence KatanaViolet!

[B]10. Do you think people online tend to correctly guess your age, race or gender most of the time without being told?[/B] I don't think people really care.

[B]11. Do you think people tend to correctly guess your sexual preference without being told?[/B] I think so. I like guys, I don't dig chicks.

[B]12. Would you feel threatened if people online knew your age, gender, race or sexual preference? If so, why?[/B] Whatevs, but that's the most you'll get outta me.

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]1. If your avatar has a character, what race, age (if applicable) and gender is it?

White, Appears to be 20, Female.

2. Would you say your avatar is masculine, feminine or both? Why?

Feminine. I don't sense anything masculine within the image when I look at it- it's a smirking woman, lol.

3. Does it have mature or childish attributes?

I'd say it's childish.

4. What gender and race are you?

Male, Mutt mixture of races. I look white enough.

5. When you meet someone online, unless they specify, do you feel you naturally think of them as white?

Yes.

6. Do you roleplay? If yes, identify your roleplaying character in terms of race, history, gender and sexual preference (if applicable).

The race is generally applicable to the setting of the roleplay- if it doesn't have a preference, I usually end up being White. I have no gender of sexual preference- I go with whatever seems appropriate for the character/story at hand. Or, admittedly, whatever amuses me most- I have an eccentric taste and [i]love[/i] mixing genders/personalities.

7. Have you ever been mistaken for another race or gender or have been asked due to the lack of detail in your profile?

Yes. I've been mistaken for a girl online a few times before.

8. Have you mistaken others for being of another race, age or gender? How many times (if applicable)?

Oh, man. Let's see. I've definitely done it a few times- especially people's ages. The most affluent sounding people online can turn out to be 13 years old- and the dumbest of dumbshits can turn out to be 25+. It's hard to gauge people's ages without directly asking them sometimes.

9. What does your online nickname mean or how did you come up with it?

I have numerous names I use online. 'DeathKnight' is a pretty bland story- Death Knights were major boss characters in an MMO I was playing at the time [Lineage: The Blood Pledge] and it was cool/melodramatic enough to seem like a good choice for a online screen name.

I've had strange mixtures of the following names used as screen names/character names in MMOs: Zhukov, Aleister, Arkadiy, Cadmus, Crowley, Nevri Deloras, Narna Kitan, Ashwin, Kira, Kaida and many more. Nevri/Narna are simply made up; Zhukov, Aleister and Crowley should be obvious; Cadmus/Arkadiy/Kira/Kaida/Ashwin I use[d] for what their names mean.

If you wanted to know, my real name is Kenneth Andrew Howell.

10. Do you think people online tend to correctly guess your age, race or gender most of the time without being told?

I'd hope as much. In practice, probably not. I have some pretty immature moments so I probably don't come off as being as old as I am.

11. Do you think people tend to correctly guess your sexual preference without being told?

I've never had any trouble with incorrect assumptions of my sexual preference before so I guess so.

12. Would you feel threatened if people online knew your age, gender, race or sexual preference? If so, why?

No, not really. I can't really imagine anything someone could do with that information that would really bother me- but I'm not as sly as some I guess.[/color]

[Shi no Tenshi]

Thank you so much guys, these responses have been terrific. I won't be taking any more, so this topic is now open to general discussion.

I'll also explain the concept of identity tourism online - basically where people adopt another gender, race or culture to represent themselves online i.e. I noticed a lot of people use Japanese anime icons when they themselves are western. Of course nothing wrong with this, we're all entitled to represent ourselves in whatever manner we choose. The intresting part is where people who take on another identity begin to create a 'false' stereotype of that identity.

This is a fairly new concept to me, so there are books and articles about the subject that can probably explain it better than me!