Blogger James Chartrand revealed this week that "he" is actually a she and deliberately took up the name after finding it impossible to make a living as a female blogger and facing ridicule and dismissal. It's hard to tell whether female bloggers were more disgusted that pretending to be a misogynist jerk actually worked or depressed that nothing has changed about the contempt for "ladies" who write.

Feministing put the revelation into the context of the "pale/stale/male-ness of the media" as a whole and pointed to a study by the University of Maryland demonstrating the disproportionate threats women face online when identified by gender.

Salon's coverage also focused on the safety issue:

[T]he vicious harassment of tech blogger Kathy Sierra sparked a national conversation about the dangers of writing under a female name on the internet; it's not just about the unfair differences in remuneration and respect, but about the threats of murder and rape.

There was a lot of shock and amazement that things are still this bad; as much as we feminists like to point out the unending line of daily degradations that are part of popular culture, we do kind of assume that things have become a little better. But there was also an easy acceptance accompanied by a sigh, too. What woman hasn't had the experience of a male co-worker receiving praise for an idea she thought up? There were a lot of sleeve rolling, let's get back to work on this equality thing, attitudes tinged with a bit of bitterness.

I found it interesting, too, that many of my friends immediately voiced the possibility of further revelations: either that the story was a fake and "he" really is a guy (ha ha! Fooled you!) or that the tale of woe was exaggerated, perhaps even manufactured all together. Yeah, I have cynical friends.

I must not be the only one. Mamapundit likewise expresses doubt:

If this story isn’t true, as I suspect, it’s much like a (far less important, meaningful or impact-laden) fake rape accusation. It gives ammunition to the anti-feminists of the world who want to discredit the REAL gender bias issues that working women still face today. And that irritates me. I am happy for any freelancer who is able to support her family with her work, as Mr./Ms. Chartrand is apparently able to do. I suspect, however, that any success she has achieved is due to the quality of her work, and has nothing to do with whether her name is “James” or “Julie” Chartrand.

It's hard to tell how people read gender performances. Certainly the process has changed over time and people are more conscious of the ways they perform, too, and on the whole are more playful about it.

Of course my response was to change my name on Facebook to something absurdly male after taking recommendations from my friends: Hardwick Crevasse (note to self: do not allow friends to make important decisions). 

I feel more manly and confident, but the dollars have not yet begun to pour in. I give it a week, but then I'm back to my traditional gender assignment and low pay. It's tiring enough creating all this sparkling prose without having to create a second life.

Image via Show History