I’m always puzzled when websites ask for my gender on registration forms. I’m not sure why or how my gender is important to a company, other than marketing-research purposes. Am I going to be greeted with a “What’s up, dude?” when I visit the site if I check “Male”? Or is there some sort of hidden, secret world of internet happenings if I click “Female”? It’s not like anyone can really check what I select and compare it to, say, my drivers license or birth certificate or passport or other forms I’ve filled out in my life. So why use it?
Then I was dinking around the website Good Old Games, which features old-school PC games you can download. I registered for the site on a whim, and went through the usual form asking for a username, password, etc. The “Gender:” drop-down box came up, and here’s what they listed:
Guy
Dude
Gentleman
Chap
Bredda
Bad Bwai
Lady
Girl
Hottie
Chixor
Grrl
Missy
Dawta
Funky Monkey
Xippie
Pirate
Ninja
Jedi
Female
Male
Definitely unexpected that a gender box would be this playful. I chose “Ninja”. 
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A blog post! No way!
Also, cool list! That is pretty surprisingly playful!
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I’m going with Chixor. For this interview (with a person who identified as male) I broke down and bought mascara, lip gloss, a functioning bra and hair dye — just in case my chixorness wasn’t apparent. I say that if they have to have damn boxes, at least put in a third, “other.”
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I like this. I would chose Jedi. I hate all these sites that insist you have to choose between 2.
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