I think it is more just for kicks...it is funny to see the true fabric of guys because they already know what it is....perverted and disgusting....at least guys looking for women on the internet

It usually has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Being online and anonymous gives you the freedom to do, be, and say anything you want. Think about some of the things you've said to people online. Would you speak that way in real life? Maybe in your case the answer is yes, but many people use their newfound freedom to act in a manner that they wouldn't dare in real life. I've heard it justified that it's OK to pretend you're the other sex just to throw people off of your real identity. Is it unusual? Sure. Is it wrong? Only if it's used in a manner that causes someone else harm.

FUN

I did it once to mess with a friend, pretended to be his girlfriend and freaked him out pretty bad. I guess it's for kicks

I believe in part it's guys who are either homosexual or bisexual and it allows them to "come on" to men online without having to admit their sexuality. I knew a guy called Burl who constantly pretended to be a woman online. He often flirted with men, including one 15 year old. Burl rationalized it as "role playing".

Because they have bad motives, because they are gay or bi, because they are weird, many reasons. You never know who you are talking to on the internet and that is why you need to be very careful.

Speaking from personal experience... i've done it... televestite(?) is probably right. I'm definately gay... in this case a lesbian in a man's body. (no joke) Of that I have no doubt. I would not cross dress.. frankly i'd make one butt ugly woman :) but acting out online... anominously... is a release... i get to pretend for a while... fantasize...i'm not out to hurt anyone and when i'm online i feel like a woman... talking with a woman's voice. i have yet to trade nude pictures or graphic shots... its all about the chat... with good chat... pics just aren't required.

because it's easier to make friends with the ladies that way. :0 who knows, it's fun.

To be funny. Maybe to get women to talk about sex.

I was into a lot of online gaming (MMORPG). I've pretended to be female before. I did it just to get ahead. The majority of online gamers are male and I knew that being female would give me an advantage- and it definitely did. People sell you stuff for a lot lower, they help you out even when you don't ask for help and it's easier to obtain things when you have an army of horny men at your disposal. After I get what I want I either stomp all over them or keep them around for future use. It might seem cruel to step on their emotions but hey, online gaming's a competitive world. I like to think of it as preparing them for real life. At least I'm crushing them online where they can think of it as practice. In real life I'd trade being a guy with being a hot chick any day. Looks and gender does matter, people who say it doesn't just don't realize their own prejudice. ~~~~~~ Looks and gender do matter. Being a hot female ENHANCES all your other qualities. Take Beyonce for example. She can dance, and she can sing. But would it be the same if she was a hairy old man? Those who say gender and looks don't matter don't realize they're prejudice at all. It's a harsh reality, we as human beings are shallow.

I have no idea. To me, lying online is the same as lying face to face.

I have no idea. I've always pretended to be a guy here on Answerbag...

Yeah, I'm really a man. Got the picture off google and that. You know. But seriously. Erm. Just for the fun of it? I don't know.

Maybe they figure everyone will treat them more sympathetically and respectfully. They probably also feel that the female persona will lessen the chances of getting involved in confrontations. I consider that to be pretty chickenshit if all of the above are the reasons why somebody would do something like this. Also, to live this sort of lie. There lies the real rub.

I guess the same reason they post pictures that aren't really them....AHH!! the fantasie Life Maybe they want to be someone there not!!

No idea!I can safely say that when I looked in the mirror this morning I was definitely a woman,maybe its a silent dream of theirs.

To have a look on other men secrets. How to charm girls. What do they do.

In the end, does it really matter? I'm really a woman signed up as a man. You still get input from PEOPLE. Just kidding about that man woman thing:)

Some of them are looking for answers by women, that all.

Mostly well, they have like 3 pictures or so and in my case i know because they have no web cam and give them a public phone number in front of my house instead of my cel. and still they never call because thou i am not there the whole time i tell them they did not call me and they say they can't with many different excuses and all they want is for me to put the cam or send pictures of mw usually spicy or naked ones. I am bisexual and sometimes i even play with their minds.

Because there secretly gay

Ew. They do? I never thought of something like that but I suppose you could be right. Oooooooooo...I'm going to see if I can spot um...how would I find out if my hunch is right? I'm over the curiousity to do that now. Thanks for your help.

I also coined the term "televestite" on Compucations BBS in 1985. The sysop now runs a website in Big Bear. I used to use chat rooms on AOL and "men" (ßeta males) would very often piss off other men because they were hiding behind a monitor screen. There was a punk named "BchLivin27" who in Summer of 1996 who, together with a bimbo named "Discobroad" were taunting me. She since then left AOL and because I remembered his and her screen name, I assumed her screen name and let him think I was her. I tricked him into giving HIS phone number and address to me. I never acted on it. The Germans in WW2 used female spies because male allies would easily have given up information to them, in fact much more easily than they would under torture. So, I used this same tactic against Brad because this "man" (a ßeta male pretending to be an alpha male) Men on AOL chat rooms in the 1990's were so desperate to be "with a woman" that they would tell a woman anything to get into her pants. I actually talked to a guy at an AOL function at Foxfire in Anaheim Hills who had used the same tactic against another ßeta male. He then broadcast his phone number in the chat room. So to sum it up: Men might be a televestite as an interrogation tactic.