Male:female readers?

[KeithD]

Guess I'm more interested in truth than you are.

 

[Naughtygirl201]

Guess I'm more interested in truth than you are.

Are you that guy that always has to have the last word.

 

[Zenith77]

Do we have any idea what the ratio of male:female readers is on Lit?

No, we don't. The End.

The honest answer to the OP's question, without any misleading mealy-mouthing, is no we don't. The End.

Guess I'm more interested in truth than you are.

Yep, I get it, I get it.

However....

If not, [my empahasis] any cicumstantial evidence to suggest your works get read more by one than the other?

Differs by category, no doubt.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Right?

It baffles me why someone would write “The End” over and over in a seeming effort to get other writers to stop talking about a subject that is obviously of interest to many people.

I don’t see a single post here claiming to have objective and verifiable numbers, just qualified speculation. Having one voice claiming they have all the answers is worthless and insulting to the others who are giving their best answers.

Really, should we just ban any new threads and shame anyone who responds to questions that have been asked and answered before?

I was actually referring to an entirely different discussion we had on AH a while back, one about Lit profits and improving the website for authors etc...
When it comes to this topic I am afraid I don't have much of an opinion really. While the benefit of posing as a female author is quite obvious, I don't really see the benefit of posing as a female reader, unless you are trying to be a troll or a creep on the forum or in chat. But still, we are likely assuming too much, and these numbers should be taken with more than a grain of salt, even if they do make sense in some categories.

 

[KeithD]

Are you that guy that always has to have the last word.

No, which can be verified by anyone who looks through the threads I post to. This is just one of those nasty "have you stopped beating your wife yet?" assertions. Just a silly, juvenile Internet game. You should try to be more adult than that.

 

[Naughtygirl201]

No, which can be verified by anyone who looks through the threads I post to. This is just one of those nasty "have you stopped beating your wife yet?" assertions. You should try to be better than that.

I was just teasing you. But seems I hit a sore spot. I'll work on improving myself as you suggested until I have no sense of humor at all.

 

[TadOverdon]

Who knows? I've had one comment that I recall that I reacted to as "Oh, this is definitely a woman," but I might have been wrong. A lot are definitely guys. Considering what I write, that just makes sense I guess.

 

[KeithD]

I was just teasing you. But seems I hit a sore spot. I'll work on improving myself as you suggested until I have no sense of humor at all.

Yes, you did hit a sore spot. Because it's a false, insidious assertion. It has nothing to do with being humorless (another false, insidious, childish assertion). It isn't funny. It's backbiting.

 

[Naughtygirl201]

Yes, you did hit a sore spot. Because it's a false, insidious assertion. It has nothing to do with being humorless (another false, insidious, childish assertion). It isn't funny. It's backbiting.

I found it funny. I think perhaps it's a matter of opinion.

 

[KeithD]

I found it funny. I think perhaps it's a matter of opinion.

Most likely because it was you doing it to someone else rather than them doing it to you.

 

[Naughtygirl201]

Most likely because it was you doing it to someone else rather than them doing it to you.

Yes. I am the Regina George of the Internet.

 

[Zenith77]

Are you that guy that always has to have the last word.

No, which can be verified by anyone who looks through the threads I post to. This is just one of those nasty "have you stopped beating your wife yet?" assertions. Just a silly, juvenile Internet game. You should try to be more adult than that.

Yes, you did hit a sore spot. Because it's a false, insidious assertion. It has nothing to do with being humorless (another false, insidious, childish assertion). It isn't funny. It's backbiting.

Most likely because it was you doing it to someone else rather than them doing it to you.

'nuff said.

 

[Athalia]

Do we have any idea what the ratio of male:female readers is on Lit?

If not, any cicumstantial evidence to suggest your works get read more by one than the other?

Differs by category, no doubt.

I haven't written enough stories, in enough categories, with enough comments to get a fix on this. But like other posters on this and similar threads, I'd say they were guys by a very large margin. A very few have indicated otherwise, with comments like "my husband and I." Similarly, the guys seem to focus on the orgasm ("That story was so hot I creamed by page two!"), and the gals focus on the emotional connection ("That rang a bell for me! I had that same experience with some loser!"). But I have no way of knowing if they were telling the truth about their gender or just making up shit.

As for authors identifying themselves by gender, I would bet that there are more female authors pretending to be male than male authors pretending to be female. As somebody pointed out, identifying yourself as a female is painting a big target on your chest and begging for people to hit on you. It doesn't happen for me on this site as it does on other sites but, believe me, it happens. (It got so bad for one of those sites that I just stopped posting there.)

I don't know why there would be an equivalent advantage for male authors to pretend to be female. Maybe they figure that if their MC is female, it enhances the reality of the story to the male reader.

 

[TheRedChamber]

As for authors identifying themselves by gender, I would bet that there are more female authors pretending to be male than male authors pretending to be female. As somebody pointed out, identifying yourself as a female is painting a big target on your chest and begging for people to hit on you. It doesn't happen for me on this site as it does on other sites but, believe me, it happens. (It got so bad for one of those sites that I just stopped posting there.)

I don't know why there would be an equivalent advantage for male authors to pretend to be female. Maybe they figure that if their MC is female, it enhances the reality of the story to the male reader.

I don't know any more than anyone else, but I think there may be more 'male pretending female' than you think.

Firstly, never downplay the attraction of female anatomy in a profile pic or even just a nice smile. Couple that with a female username with a suggestive come on in the title (eg LucileLikesToPlay) and the average male hand will be subconsciously over the story before they've even seen the title. Even if you could prove there's no increase in viewership, a lot of guys might assume there is.

Secondly, there are some guys who never get hit on, ever. Some people just like attention and pretending female is a good way to get it. I'm guessing more guys have latent gender issues than you'd think and this is a good way to explore and roleplay them.

Finally, having read a lot of stories on this site, I'd suggest that there are a lot of guys who like to create and write from the POV of their own personal fuck doll - someone they can position to do anything and everything they want with a smile. (No judgement, we all write fantasy and how many of my bombshell heroines finally decide that they do want to sleep with the quiet nerd after all.) The point is this fantasy ends up getting her own name and profile because it makes her more real.

Disclaimer: I don't have a female alt, but did consciously create this non-gendered one many years ago. While I'm openly male on the forums I'd prefer new readers to have no assumptions about my gender going into their first story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Disclaimer: I don't have a female alt, but did consciously create this no gendered one many years ago. While I'm openly male on the forums I'd prefer new readers to have no assumptions about my gender going into their first story.

I didn't consider gender at all with my account name (it was a variation of an account name on a different forum, completely unrelated to erotica), but like yours, it's gender neutral (or gender elusive). Many people, including some wandering into the AH, have thought me female, I guess because of the avatar (which is in fact a favourite book cover), although the name might have indicators I don't know about.

 

[Athalia]

Firstly, never downplay the attraction of female anatomy in a profile pic or even just a nice smile. Couple that with a female username with a suggestive come on in the title (eg LucileLikesToPlay) and the average male hand will be subconsciously over the story before they've even seen the title. Even if you could prove there's no increase in viewership, a lot of guys might assume there is.

That's a good point.

Finally, having read a lot of stories on this site, I'd suggest that there are a lot of guys who like to create and write from the POV of their own personal fuck doll - someone they can position to do anything and everything they want with a smile. (No judgement, we all write fantasy and how many of my bombshell heroines finally decide that they do want to sleep with the quiet nerd after all.) The point is this fantasy ends up getting her own name and profile because it makes her more real.

Well, that's what I do with practically every character I create. I want them to be idealized versions of me, meeting idealized versions of the people I'd like to hook up with, and experiencing an idealized denouement.