I read your blog because you are a woman with the voice of clarity that you have - and yes one with an edge sharp enough to cut through crap. You help me as I have similar reactions to my presence as some have to your words and I feel empowered by your blog as you can fight if you must but actually you prefer to play.

Your voice is decidedly female, but not as in gender as there are others whose words spark me that are male…..and I am into the words not the politics of them. But still if you were a male with these words I would respond very differently and I don’t really know why.

I voted yes. I equate this to the fact that I also choose women doctors and I have a female minister as well.

As a woman, I just want help and advice from someone that knows what it feels like to be a woman.

Yes, it would. I’m very discriminative of the sexes for better or worse, I confess.
I don’t know if I would be so interested in a man’s blog on Astrology, but that would obviously depend in the content. But generally I’m more interested in female wisdom.

Nope. Nobody really cares what sex you are on the internet - if it weren’t for the videos, you could be a mirage. The comments would be from different people with a different set of attitudes if they thought you were male, or younger or older or with blonde straight hair, but the results would still be the same. People don’t like any opinions but their own, and anyone with a blog-journal and a following is going to get comment/mail drama.

You should see my wife and her sisters [and anyone else who catches their enthusiasm] line dance to Shania Twain’s ‘Man I feel like a woman’-It’s a hoot!

you’d make a weird man.
way too thoughtful on focused on emotional nuance, and way too likely to suggest to women that they take responsibility for their lives.

but the fierceness would be less unique.
but that’s one of the primary reasons i like you… that uniqueness.

I’m glad you’re not a man. if you were a man you’d make my heart go pitty pat. and that’s not good for anyone.

Matthew, I think that women have a different experience of the world because they are women. Regardless of how things should be, this is how they are. I don’t think either gender has it easier than the other, but there is without a doubt a difference.

I don’t think it’s necessarily prejudice or at least it isn’t for me. To say there is a difference in perspective for a woman versus a man is not to say one is better than the other.

The vibe I get is: if I’m a woman, what a man says won’t be nearly as important as what a woman says, and vice versa… when they’re really two sides of the same coin. If you’re looking for input, why eliminate sources from the get-go?

A man will give different information than a woman would, but it will probably be just as applicable. Different angles, same object or, different objectives, same outcome.

People seem to be confusing gender with sex, here.

“…if I’m a woman, what a man says won’t be nearly as important as what a woman says..”

Rob, if you are getting that vibe from me, it is the wrong vibe. I don’t feel that way at all, however I can’t go into it because I am working on something else intently but I did want to state this..

Sure, women have a different perspective than men… if I dare risk generalizing. But why would your perception of what Elsa have to change if she were a he?

More to the point: if YOUR perception of what she has to say changes based on her gender, who does that say more about: her, or YOU?

It’s like watching analysts on Fox News drooling over how all those Hillary voters will now flock to Palin because she’s a woman… never mind that politically they are two very different creatures.

Suppose Elsa was black instead of white…

Those of you that know me know I’m one of the biggest gender-equality proponants there are…you knew I’d be around sooner or later to post a really long comment, dintcha?? Here goes….

Some of our gender-specific perceptions and responses are based in biology, sure, but many more are based in cultural conditioning; how do we know which are which, and why should we care? I doubt there’s one simple answer to either question, but here’s mine, for what it’s worth.

When we choose or reject major political candidates based on some measure of their acceptability on a (supposedly) legally and philosophically outdated scale of “proper feminine behavior,” there’s obviously something wrong.

Is it the laws that are wrong? They clearly state that women are entitled to professional equality with men, and yet women who exhibit the traits necessary to make it as top political candidates face instant societal retribution, and are rejected with labels like “unfeminine” and much worse. Regardless of politics, this election business has been a nightmare of gender role stereotyping, in more ways than one.

Is it our culture that is wrong? We encourage our daughters to “be all that they can be,” while simultaneously conditioning them to reject such traits as aggressiveness, cunning, and outspokenness. We still covertly support many gender stereotypes that would probably make us cringe if we had to openly admit to them!

Is it me who is wrong? Sometimes I wish we could get rid of gender altogether, or add three or four more categories, or…something. I feel like there’s a hidden (not-so-hidden right now) interplay of gender politics that places intolerable limits on individual achievement and growth. It’s inside me, too…I had to honestly answer “yes” on the poll, because it’s the truth: my perceptions are biased based on gender.

I know that this bias doesn’t originate with my own beliefs, because I know better, both intellectually and experientially, but how to get rid of it, either personally or culturally? Is it even wise to get rid of such biases, in the long run? Who’s supposed to answer these questions?

I just don’t know.

i don’t know if i would’ve clicked on the link “frankfrank” !

the video response makes sense. seeing a video really drives home the point that there is a human being on the other end. there can be such a disconnect between bloggers and readers on the internet. people treat others with much less consideration on messageboards / blogs / etc than they ever would in person.

This reminds me of the soldier talking about something along the lines of men being men and women being women. Notions of gender being socially constructed, inorganic, and fluid are popular with liberal academics now. That you are born with body parts, but nothing automatically makes you a man or a woman. I wonder what you and the soldier think of it. Is there anything fundamental that makes a man a man and a woman a woman? Does astrology have any sort of take on this?

When I think of you, Elsa, I think I can feel that yours is a blog written by a woman with the energy of a woman. However to me, you can get away with the things you say not because you are a woman, but because you’re you. The more I learn about you, the more I expect that you tell the whole story no matter what. The more I expect to not understand you or fail at understanding you. I think the soldier’s voice is very different, that the difference of testosterone is palpable, and that you can still feel or guess if something is written by a man or a woman on the internet. It doesn’t hurt to know who it is, though. Because often, like guessing somebody’s sun sign, your guess can be way off base.

It wouldn’t make a difference to me, although I’d probably raise the same amount of eyebrows at different topics.