Try the Gender Genie

[Gary Chambers]

Here's a tool I've found to help figure out whether you are using language that reaches a male or female audience. The Gender Genie tests your copy using key words to decide if it was written by a male or female. I aim a lot of my work more at females, so I was happy to find that Summer Stock was rated as authored by a female by a margin of over 1,000 points. Shayden's Tower was intended to be enjoyed more equally by men or women, and the Gender Genie correctly guessed that it's author is a male, but only by about 300 points, which is okay. I have no idea how accurately the device measures reader appeal, but it's fun to try out. Just copy and paste your story or poem at this Web site (works best with compositions over 500 words):

http://www.bookblog.net/gender/genie.html

 

[wishfulthinking]

I did a test run, and typed some crap:

hi, my name is eloise, and boy, thought I would try this out.

(Don't worry, not my real name)

And apparently, 8:4, I'm male. "and" is a feminine keyword, and "is" is a masculine keyword.

They got it wrong. They say they get it right 66% of the time.

Another go:

Hi again, thought I would give this another go, you just never know

I cracked it: gender unknown. no bullshit!

It came up with this message:

The Gender Genie is completely confounded.

Ha, to all you computer geeks! It only took 2 goes. (although it is kind of fun)

 

[raphy]

I think it's very hard to tell from a simple sentence or two

 

[Lauren Hynde]

We had a thread about this months ago and got to the conclusion that it's crap and no better than a random guess. Well, most of us got to that conclusion...

 

[Dirty Slut]

It told me that I was one butch bitch. LOL

DS

 

[oggbashan]

I tried it with a short piece (for me) of 5,800 words.
Female score 7,321; Male 7,517 so it decided male - just.

Og

Edited: Then I tried it with The Worst Chain Story Ever Chap 01. Only 6,622 words.
Female score 9,134; Male 8,626 so it decided female.
Comment from system "Well, he writes like a girl!"

I agree with others. This algorithm sucks.

 

[Dirty Slut]

All of my writing life I get told to use aggressive verbs, and so on, and that makes me Butch? Oh well, if you can't beat them I say join the orgy.

DS

 

[Pure]

DS: //It told me that I was one butch bitch. LOL//

But you are!



Some of my writing came out 'female' because of the 'personalization' factor, e.g, if you say 'her' [boob] etc.

Byatt comes out male.

J.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Here are the original threads:

Your gender and your writing
The Gender Genie

 

[Pure]

A page that allows assessment of text, probably closer to Koppel's rules:

http://www33.brinkster.com/echoloc8/Default.asp

The following is Koppel's summary of the scoring, which is rather simple:

-----

NY Times, Aug 10, 2003

Take the Test

ake any piece of fiction and do the following:

1. Count the number of words in the document.

2. For each appearance in the document of the following words ADD the number of points indicated:
'the' (17)
'a' (6)
'some' (6)
any number, written in digits or in words (5)
'it' (2)

3. For each appearance in the document of the following words SUBTRACT the number of points indicated:
'with' (14)
possessives, ending in 's' (5)
possessive pronouns, such as 'mine', 'yours', 'his', 'hers', (3)
'for' (4)
'not' or any word ending with 'n't' (4)

4. If the total score (after adding and subtracting as indicated) is greater than the total number of words in the document, then the author of the document is probably a male. Otherwise, the author is probably a female.



— Courtesy of Moshe Koppel, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and Shlomo Argamon, Illinois Institute of Technology

 

[Gary Chambers]

From the previous thread (posted by Pure):
Koppel's group found that the single biggest difference is that women are far more likely than men to use personal pronouns-''I'', ''you'', ''she'', ''myself'', or ''yourself'' and the like. Men, in contrast, are more likely to use determiners-''a,'' ''the,'' ''that,'' and ''these''-as well as cardinal numbers and quantifiers like ''more'' or ''some.''

I've always been a fan of Rudolph Flesch 'The Art of Plain Talk' and 'The Art of Readable Writing' . Among other things, Flesch advocated the use of personal words such as names and pronouns which often establish gender. Flesch said these words increase human interest. As a result, if I'm aiming my work more at one gender than another, I will often give it a once over to see if my personal words appear to be more female or male. The only value I see this test having for me, is that it automates that function and delivers a quantifiable mathematical score. Beyond that it's just a toy. Sorry for repeating the thread. I haven't been a Lit member for a very long time, so I didn't see or don't recall the original version.

 

[Pure]

Welcome to Lit.

Don't be sorry. All topics remain open and threads come and go.


Alleged characteristics of 'male' and 'female' prose is not a dead issue; the bloodshed of last go-round is not necessarily the 'last word.'

Do you think 'female author' rated prose, by the Koppel test, has more appeal to females? why?

J.

 

[Boxlicker101]

This sounds like fun but I don't have time rigtht now.

 

[Black Tulip]

Well, well, well.

Words: 1799

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

Female Score: 1968
Male Score: 2747

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

But I am female!

I ran my last story from the Challenge thread.
I just write what I like to read. No specific public I try for.

Nonsense of course, but fun.

 

[whispering_surrender]

My most recent story just posted today, and I ran it through the Gender Genie....and it confirmed what my feedback has told me....

Female Score: 2787
Male Score: 1928

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

*tear* I do write sappy, romantic crap.....

Whisper

 

[mtnman2003]

My Try

Wondering how I would be viewed, I submitted Homecoming Ch 02.

Results:
Words: 3506

Female Score: 3768
Male Score: 3720

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

Excuse me............ all male.

Mtn

 

[Lauren Hynde]

My Letters from Pohjola story (first person POV, female), with 5384 words, scored:

Female Score: 7322
Male Score: 5778



My ongoing story Plastic Love (third person OL, male lead), now with 6469, scored:

Female Score: 6244
Male Score: 6982

 

[Boxlicker101]

This is very interesting. I just ran four stories through the Gender Genie with these results:

I Visit Judy: 1,695 words. 2,238 female and 1,784 male.

I Dine with Izabella: 3,341 words. 5,559 female and 3,341 male.

I Call on Jill and Mary: 2,870 words. 4,758 female and 2,811 male.

Karen's Birthday (all six chapters): 22,629 words. 34,060 female and 25,409 male.

Even though I am a man, the Gender Genie thought a woman had written all four stories. This is also very gratifying because I started by trying to write for women, and I still try to write for women, and this program says I am succeeding.

 

[Gary Chambers]

Answers and observations

Even though I am a man, the Gender Genie thought a woman had written all four stories. This is also very gratifying because I started by trying to write for women, and I still try to write for women, and this program says I am succeeding.

If the genie is reasonably accurate then you are able to write as a woman. That’s exactly why I think the tool may be useful.

Do you think 'female author' rated prose, by the Koppel test, has more appeal to females? why?

J.

Yes I do, because of my theory about the basic differences between men and women. I was talking with a radical feminist friend about it yesterday, and I told her how I perceive that difference in the most succinct terms possible: “A man wants to fill the world with himself, while a woman wants to fill herself with the world.” This is a figurative and not a literal statement, of course. A woman is not a glutton by virtue of her gender, and a man is not a megalomaniac by virtue of his. On a figurative level my feminist friend agreed with the basic homolog.

Since these two views of the world are at the same time similar yet totally different, while we can make ourselves understood to each other, we cannot always identify or empathise with each other. That’s okay on a one to one level in a relationship, because there are bonds like loyalty, trust, shared material goals and sex that keep us on the same page. In writing and reading fiction, however, I think we all tend to be more easily entertained by someone who speaks to our basic psyche.

I’m not willing to undergo a sex change to achieve that level of communication, but I am willing to use more feminine terms when I want to aim a piece at female readers. I don’t have to edit to do it as a rule, however. I just try to think like a woman as I write, and like Boxlicker, when I do that it seems the genie thinks I’m a woman. My little universe is unfolding as it should, or rather I am unfolding into it to fill it with myself.

My most recent story just posted today, and I ran it through the Gender Genie....and it confirmed what my feedback has told me....

Female Score: 2787
Male Score: 1928

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

*tear* I do write sappy, romantic crap.....

Whisper

I just read A Tingle of Awareness, and no it isn’t what I would call sappy romantic crap, but then I don’t think romance is crap or that it must be foolish or aimed at foolish readers. There’s nothing wrong with being a female, surely. Now if you are consciously trying to sound like a man and get that genie result despite your efforts, then perhaps you need to work on the problem, but otherwise I see no reason for the *tear*, Whisper.

One day when I have the time, or when someone else starts the ball rolling, I’d love to discuss what I see as the difference between a vignette and a short story. To me A Tingle of Awareness is a vignette, not a short story, though well written and very enjoyable in part because of your natural awareness of the way females experience sex. No matter how many female words I use, and no matter how hard I try to understand the female psyche, I will never be able to create a female character’s sensual, emotional or intellectual experiences based purely on my own.

Vignette’s seem to work well in the erotica genre, but I sometimes wonder with some efforts whether the writer actually intended to create a short story and missed the mark. I didn’t get that impression from A Tingle of Awareness, except for some confusion over the references to performance in the lead paras. But this whole issue of vignettes vs short stories is something I’d like to discuss one day. In the meantime, I wouldn’t worry about being sappy, Whisper. Romance is part of the essence of a happy life regardless of anyone’s gender and, your romantic portraits are not sappy.

Perhaps worthy of note:

Last I heard, Penthouse magazine was refusing to buy any fiction by male authors, which seems odd for a publication that calls itself ‘the international magazine for men’. So apart from reaching out to female readers, it may be necessary to acquire a feminine voice to float anything over the transom at some publishing houses.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Oh boy... here we go again... *sigh*

 

[Wills]

I tried to check the first part of Manipulation, didn't give me a answer. Have I been neutered?

Will's

 

[Black Tulip]

Gary,

You assume the Genie is speaking words of wisdom.

I refuse to believe I am more of a freak than the rest of us here at Lit [ no hitting on the head please] but, ...
I am female and I just write what I like to read.
That turns out to be male, according to the Genie. I checked a few of my stories.

Most stories I like are written by males.

So, do I have a problem? Not to me, I don't.
I like a lot of things about males. [now I am grinning big time]

Funny thing is, I would be accepted by magazines because I am female? (provided the writing is not too crappy of course)
According to this little program that would be male writing though.

Never mind, I like me.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I have run about 14 stories through Gender Genie and they all come out the same. It thinks I am a woman. Sometimes the female score was almost twice as much as the male.

Gary also said:

Perhaps worthy of note:

Last I heard, Penthouse magazine was refusing to buy any fiction by male authors, which seems odd for a publication that calls itself ‘the international magazine for men’. So apart from reaching out to female readers, it may be necessary to acquire a feminine voice to float anything over the transom at some publishing houses.

This is interesting to me because I submitted some stories to Penthouse earlier this month and I haven't heard back from them yet. If they screen stories by Gender Genie that might be good news for me. My stories are 100% smut, not the least romantic but I try to write gently and show the characters as really caring for each other. I have always written like that because I believe that is a good partial description of the best kind of sex.

 

[Pure]

The Letters from Pohjola, intended as letters from a female, who's traveling, to her male lover, show a refined, prose artistry; that of the author LH, is, as it were, shifted to the character, Sophie. Sophie the narrator/letter-writer becomes attracted to and involved with another woman during her stay in Helsinki.

By the algorithm, the fictional letters are, taken as a whole, classed as female-written prose; and further, we know the author, herself female, intended them to have plausibility as written by the female character.

To show the variations of results, though, I've contrasted two erotic passages, the first and third, with the second, describing the writer's arrival in Helsinki. See the tabulations at the end.

Conclusion: Oddly, it was NOT the "the" and "a" count that made the difference; Koppel's algorithm gives a lot of weight to these terms.

Rather, the difference seems to lie in use of the term "with." In the later part of the third excerpt, I've bolded the test and taken the liberty of highlighting 'with' in caps. One can see how its frequent employment contributes to the lyrical flow of the passage, which has a moving, erotic intensity.

Those who've mastered literarcy prose are likely *not counting their employment of individual words like 'with.' Nor do I think LH's biochemistry predisposes, somehow, to use of that word. At the same time, however, the expert word selection is carried out --most likely-- with intuition, and an apt sense of how to achieve the desired goal-- with entire succees, imo.

Letters from Pohjola (by Lauren Hynde) , excerpts,

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=119502


#1

Instead, I have wasted the last three weeks, almost to the day, jumping from train to train, from country to country, trying all the time to persuade myself I really was enjoying this eastward slogging about cities old and new.

Instead, I have found myself in places like Père Lachaise or the banks of Saint Martin Canal. I met a group of friends from university and followed them to Amsterdam and in and out of coffee shops, where the coffee was shit but no one seemed to be drinking any anyway. I got lost somewhere by the Keizersgracht and got to Central Station. Then there I was in Berlin, strolling along Leipziger Str. and amongst the new high-tech buildings of Potsdamer Platz, still in a haze.

I kept buying tickets for trains like the EUROSTAR and THALYS and EuroCity.

I just kept moving east.

All through this, you were the only thing in my mind, robbing me of my usually flawless rationality.

Locked in these old trains' micro-lavatories, I relived that last night in my mind and on the tips of my fingers.

I would sit naked on little counters with my panties stretched down between my knees and all of my other clothes neatly folded next to me, feeling the cold surface of mirrors on the warm, moist skin of my back, and pressing the soles of my feet hard against these dull grey doors covered with Czech obscenities in black ink.

I would grasp onto countertops with my left hand, knuckles white and trembling with the increased pressure. My breath would be rising, falling in time with my heartbeat, in time with the vibration of the diesel engines, in time with the two fingers sawing at my cunt.

I would be teasing my clitoris with the pad of my right-hand thumb while sinking my fingers deeper in me, throwing my head back, my hips thrashing violently.

I would moan and call out your name, and at times someone would rap at the door or try the knob despite the Busy sign and I would start calculating the odds of that person being you, and as I felt my orgasm building up, I would think 1 to 6 thousand millions would be worth it and next time I would leave the door unlocked, maybe, the sign would say Vacant, would say Available to you, maybe next time. Maybe.

I reached Warsaw before I lost control, though. I forced myself to stop, to breathe, to just think clearly.

I waited for you the whole summer; I can wait few weeks more.

It was not too late, yet. I could tell my editor I had decided to take a short vacation before sinking my teeth into the job.

So. Again. Here I am now, decidedly on my way to do what, after all, I'm being paid to do. I made a few calls and I'm meeting her in six days. Until then I have more than enough time to check into a nice hotel and pull myself together.

That pale sun I was telling you about is now setting. You can almost taste the cold stillness in the air.

Please don't worry about me; I will be fine. Another six, seven weeks at the most, and I'll be on my way back home, back to you.

The train should reach St. Petersburg early in the morning and I will mail this letter first thing. Your reply can probably beat me to Helsinki if you send it right away.

Verdict: Female!
Words: 588; Total=480. (Breakdown: Thes:31 As:5 Somes:0 Numbers:9 Its:3
Withs:8 s-Possessives:0 Possessive Pronouns:0 Fors:2 Nots:2)


=====
#2

I only arrived to Helsinki's sub-zero temperatures last Sunday because I decided to play the tourist. Once I got to St. Petersburg, I had to. All that neo-Byzantine 18th-century decadent opulence was too glamorous to resist. There's something terribly alluring in State-sponsored self-indulgence. It's like going back through time to the years of Imperial Rome, in a way.The sheer scale of it all... the richness of the architecture, the museums and the long promenades, the canals. You can truly feel the history in a place like this. It's not only about the age of things; it's the weight they carry.Anyway, after a few days of cultural debauchery, I was ready for that legendary ice-coated Finnish Spartanism.My first day in Helsinki: Monday morning, as soon as I stepped out of the hotel lobby, it felt as if I had landed on some freakish planet populated by humanoid robots. You could almost hear the low hum coming out of their clockwork viscera. Ok, I'm exaggerating. Probably. But let me tell you: for people like you and I, not even used to being fully awake before ten, all this activity at offensively early hours seemed extremely suspicious, at the very least.Still, I spent that morning strolling about, exploring. The best thing about this place, I thought, isn't the technology, the profusion of cultural equipment or the general neatness, impressive as those things may be. There is something else. Nature is all around us, here. The sea is everywhere. You can feel it with you all the time, even in a town of this magnitude.And the light! Oh, Victor, the light is just amazing. You would love it here. You should visit, sometime. Really! Wouldn't that be great?I met Liisa, my editor, for lunch -- at 11.30 AM, for fuck's sake! What a sweetheart. She helped me to plan out my stay and a work routine that would suit us both and, that afternoon, introduced me to everyone at the Aalto Foundation, the Academy, and the Archive, effectively cutting off every opportunity for procrastination.Then we just talked and talked. I told her all about you, about us. She was very supportive. Being on my own for the most part of a month, I had almost forgotten what was like to have an intelligent conversation. It was so invigorating.Over the last few days, then, I have been progressively adapting to this new mindset, to work -- the research, interviews, the occasional fair copy paragraph -- and to life.Liisa is taking me to a party tonight, on some club by the South Harbour, and introducing me to Helsinki's weekend nightlife. I am almost looking forward to it.

(Permissive rules allow variant forms like "an," "it's" and "without.")
Literal rules Permissive rules
Verdict: Male!
Words: 448; Total=508. (Breakdown: Thes:30 As:8 Somes:2 Numbers:3 Its:6
Withs:1 s-Possessives:7 Possessive Pronouns:0 Fors:6 Nots:4)

===
#3
Last time I was here, three days ago, something happened, and I don't know if I can explain it, or even if I'm ready to do so.Maybe I'm changing. With this increased efficiency, this ability to remain focused on a task, I am also becoming somewhat more reckless. More impulsive.Three days ago, I sat in this same sofa, listening to the soothing water and the cheerful chirrups, watching the snow fall outside, unwinding after an entire week of solid work. I felt more and more relaxed, sensual.I felt the fabric of my clothes clinging to my skin, tantalizing. Through closed eyes, I saw you in front of me, your confident smile, your eyes scorching with* desire and anticipation. My heart quickened.Where I was didn't matter anymore.My face felt hot when I touched it and it were your fingers that touched my lips, my neck, trailed down my body. You squeezed my breasts roughly through the fabric of my blouse, and my nipples hardened against the palms of my hands, against the palms of your hands.There was no way back from there.I curled one leg under my skirt and felt the warmth and moisture permeating my satiny panties. I moaned softly, as my calf rubbed against my aroused clitoris, my slick labia, my mons pubis. Awareness as the ultimate aphrodisiac.On the conservatory glass wall I saw myself reflected, the exposed, sweat-covered skin of my thighs gleaming under the hot yellow lights, a portrait of lasciviousness and dissoluteness.And then I saw her. A slender figure drawn against the backdrop of bright white snow, a gorgeous young woman stood there, clad in a white, pinch-waist, full-length coat, with* her back to the glass and wrought-iron structure. Her hair was golden, her skin pale and unblemished, her lips full and curling into an inscrutable smile, her eyes the deep blue of a thousand lakes.I should have frozen, but I didn't. I couldn't.I slowly started to undo the first few buttons of my blouse, tilting my head forward and a little to the side, coyly.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her move a hesitant right hand down over her body to one thigh, then back up to her face, to her ablaze hair. We danced. I relaxed back to the sofa and threw my head back *WITH* an audible sigh, and ran my left hand along my neckline and down to my cleavage. My right hand played *WITH* the hem of my skirt and caressed the soft skin of my inner thigh.Time stood still as I peeled the damp fabric of my panties to the side, exposing the glistening, puffy folds of my cunt to her and slowly slid two fingers inside.I could feel my whole body trembling *WITH* excitement and lust.She struggled for breath, her hands lost in the folds of her garb, her hips moving fluidly, her eyes fixed on mine, iridescent diamonds piercing me, branding my soul.I closed my eyes. My breath came in ragged gasps, every breath a moan. I let go of myself, my body drowning in the stream of sensations, my hips thrashing uncontrollably *WITH* the first ripples of my orgasm.I lay languidly on the sofa, afterward, the leather wet and warm and glossy *WITH* my juices.By the time I opened my eyes again, she had vanished.If you ask me why I did it, or why didn't I stop when I saw her standing there watching me, I wouldn't be able to answer. I can't even understand what am I doing here again now or why did I feel the need to tell you about it.

(see tabulation at the end)


First example:
Verdict: Female!
Words: 588; Total=480. (Breakdown: Thes:31 As:5 Somes:0 Numbers:9 Its:3
Withs:8 s-Possessives:0 Possessive Pronouns:0 Fors:2 Nots:2)

---
Second example:

Verdict: Male!
Words: 448; Total=508. (Breakdown: Thes:30 As:8 Somes:2 Numbers:3 Its:6
Withs:1 s-Possessives:7 Possessive Pronouns:0 Fors:6 Nots:4)


Third example:

Verdict: Female!
Words: 619; Total=474. (Breakdown: Thes:31 As:9 Somes:0 Numbers:6 Its:5
Withs:8 s-Possessives:0 Possessive Pronouns:1 Fors:1 Nots:7)

[third example, last, bolded, part]
Verdict: Female!
Words: 236; Total=147. (Breakdown: Thes:13 As:1 Somes:0 Numbers:1 Its:2
Withs:5 s-Possessives:0 Possessive Pronouns:1 Fors:1 Nots:3)

 

[Pure]

Box said,

//Last I heard, Penthouse magazine was refusing to buy any fiction by male authors,//

Last I heard, Penthouse was bankrupt, and its last issue is due soon.

J.