Look! Poll!

[gnomi]

In a chat last night, someone said in passing that they thought that women writing under male names is deceptive. I immediately brought up the long tradition of this (such as George Eliot, to name just one). But then I wondered how many other people felt this way, so hey -- a poll!

ETA: Question 2 Option 4 should read "No - I'm a woman writing under a male name." The management apologizes for any confusion.

[Poll #717956]

Comments

[lisafeld.livejournal.com]

It's actually fascinating: my pseudonym is initials, and when I first got it, I would reply to fanmail as "Tom" to give it a personal touch and also to see if people would treat me differently if they thought I was a man. And people who liked my stories would then clam up and not volunteer personal information or continue conversations. When I started replying with just initials, however, people were quite friendly and would banter back and forth. I think the assumption was that if I were a man on the internet, I might be a predator, but if I were a woman, I must be harmless.