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Viewer Gender Confusion (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:viewergenderconfusion.jpg|link=Final Fantasy IX|frame|Hey everyone, it's time to play "Guy or Girl?"<ref>There's even a character that not even the creators have a definite answer for, but in this case, [[White-Haired (VideoPretty Game)Boy|rightguy]].</ref>]]
[[caption-width-right:288:<small>Hey everyone, it's time to play "Guy or Girl?"</small><ref> There's even a character that not even the creators have a definite answer for, but in this case, [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|guy]]. </ref>
 
{{quote|'''Snake:''' [Yoshi] lays eggs and throws them, right?... Then it must be female.<br />
'''Otacon:''' ... Actually, it's a "he". At least, that's what it says.<br />
|'''Snake's Codec conversation on Yoshi''', ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl''}}
 
{{quote|''"'''BOY''' or '''GIRL!?!?'''"''|'''[["Weird Al" Yankovic (Music)|Weird Al Yankovic]]''' ([[Running Gag|repeatedly]]), ''[[RifftraxRiff Trax]]'' of ''[[Jurassic Park]]''}}
 
You have been watching this series for a while, be it since childhood or since yesterday. You are just in the middle of an exciting scene where [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Miss Lovecuddles]] reveals that she was actually [[The Man Behind the Man|behind everything that]]... wait a minute, ''Miss''? He's not a ''boy''?
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Congratulations, you've just become a happy victim of Viewer Gender Confusion!
 
Sometimes this is because a cheap dub uses badly [[Cross -Dressing Voices]], sometimes because the language you're enjoying your story in [[Lost in Translation|doesn't have gender differentiated pronouns]], or because they have a [[Gender Blender Name|name rarely used for that gender]], or it was clear from the beginning and you were just holding the [[Idiot Ball]] for the day and missed it fabulously.
 
Compare [[She's a Man In Japan]], where the character's gender actually ''was'' changed while adapting, and [[Bifauxnen]] and [[Samus Is a Girl]], where you are expected to be mistaken at first. Contrast (or compare?) [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]], when it's other characters who are confused.
 
See also [[Ambiguous Gender]] for characters who have no canonically stated gender. May be solved with the use (or lack) of [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]]. Can be seen as the viewer-perspective version of [[Unsettling Gender Reveal]]. Anything that makes the character's sex obvious may act as a [[Gender Reveal]].
{{examples}}
 
* [[Viewer Gender Confusion/Anime and Manga|Anime and Manga]]
* [[Viewer Gender Confusion/Video Games|Video Games]]
* [[Viewer Gender Confusion/Webcomics|Webcomics]]
* [[Viewer Gender Confusion/Western Animation|Western Animation]]
* [[Viewer Gender Confusion/Real Life|Real Life]]
 
== Art ==
* Nearly any modern portrayal of Mori Ranmaru falls heavily into this if you aren't already aware of the historical figure. Historical artwork of him is a bit better.
* Recent artwork of Hindu gods or goddesses tends to portray them all as quite [[Bishonen]]. This is only partly true for historical depictions; while male figures were still drawn or sculpted as lithe, slender, and smooth-skinned, the secondary sexual characteristics of ''females'' were... much less ambiguous.
* Renaissance- era depictions of The Beloved Disciple (John) and sometimes even John the Baptist (!) show beardless pretty boys who could be taken for girls. This is probably the reason for the [[Dan Browned|well-known]] claim that May Magdalena appears in Leonardo's ''Last Supper''.
 
 
== Comics ==
* ''[[Krazy Kat]]'' never displayed a specific gender trait of any type, but was in an ongoing love triangle of sorts between two identifiably male characters.
 
 
== Films -- Animation ==
* One of the strangest examples is the title character of ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]''. Fans are pretty evenly split between "the Toaster is male" and "the Toaster is female". You never hear anyone referring to Toaster by a pronoun (except for a single line of dialogue -- yelled over a roaring waterfall) and Toaster's personality is fairly gender-neutral, unlike any of the other characters. And thanks to [[Cross Dressing Voices]], the fact that Toaster's voiced by a female is no help. And ''we're still talking about a machine''.
** Blanky is just as bad. The fact that he/she/it is [[The Chick]] in the Toaster's [[Five-Man Band]] doesn't help.
** The toaster is the perfect example of a gender-neutral character. The voice acting, dialogue, (most of) the pronoun references, actions, attitudes, fears, thoughts, character development, none of that suggests any particular gender, but it doesn't suggest [[Ambiguous Gender|It's Pat-style androgyny]] or [[No Biological Sex|a robot]] either. With Slippy Toad the demeanor and voiceover begs the question, but the only reason you'd consider the toaster's gender is if you think about it years after watching, or if someone else brings up the question.
** In the book, not only is the toaster explicitly without gender, this is something of a plot point when the group encounters a mated pair of squirrels that cannot conceive of a genderless being. The toaster ultimately convinces both of them separately that it is the same gender as they (male for the male and female for the female) -- but really it's just to spare their feelings.
* In ''[[Bambi (Disney)|Bambi]]'', who really can be mistaken for female is Flower, the skunk. When he is a child, his voice and speech patterns sound nothing like a male, he acts shy and bashful, is very fluffy, and spends much of his time smelling flowers. A couple years after his introduction, when Bambi meets him again, his voice has deepened and he gets an only slightly more effeminate girlfriend.
** There is the picture book of the Disney movie that actually called Flower a female, and [[Mister Seahorse|made "her" a ''mother!'']]
* The leader of the Blue Meanies from ''[[Yellow Submarine]]''.
* The makers of ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'' themselves seem to be confused over the gender of Insectosaurus. A behind-the-scenes book labels the creature as a "she" while, within the canon of the actual film, the monster is a "he".
* The twin dolls 3 and 4 in ''[[9 (Animation)|9]]'' look completely identical (save for their stamped-on numbers), [[Single-Minded Twins|act alike]], and never speak, making it completely ambiguous as to what gender either of them is. This is compounded by the fact that, as ''living ragdolls'', they don't have any external characteristics indicative of sex. The creator has urged fans to come up with their own theories regarding the two.
* In the Chinese animated film ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'' (1979), the title character is a little boy but he looks and acts more like a little girl -- the hair style, clothing, and voice don't help either.
* The starfish, Peach, in ''[[Finding Nemo]]''. Its voice actor is a woman, but her voice is just masculine enough to make it sound like a guy.
** Conceivably intentional, as some varieties of starfish are hermaphroditic.
* ''[[Tarzan (Disney)|Tarzan]]'': Anybody else have to be reminded that the gorilla Terk (voiced by Rosie O'Donnell) is female?
** Lampshaded by Tantor in ''[[The Legend of Tarzan (Animation)|The Legend of Tarzan]]''.
** Likewise Sabor, the leopard. [[Word of God]] states that Sabor is female, but even ''[[Kingdom Hearts (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'' labeled it as male.
* A large number of viewers of trailers for ''[[Kung Fu Panda (Animation)|Kung Fu Panda]]'', who were unaware of just whom [[Angelina Jolie]] had been cast as, were in for a shock when they finally saw the film and Master ''Tigress'' spoke for the first time. In everyone's defense, not only did the lack of [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]] make it very hard to tell her gender, even her voice actress originally assumed, when the casting call was made public, that [[Jackie Chan]] would be playing the tiger. This confusion only added to the [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]] associated with the character ([[Girls Love|although for some viewers]] it didn't lessen the appeal).
* Not many people would have thought Kazuma from ''[[Summer Wars (Anime)|Summer Wars]]'' was a guy, given both his hair-style, [[Cross Dressing Voice]] and [[Vague Age]], which all fits somewhat perfectly for a [[Gamer Chick]] stereotype.
* Two of the background race cars from '[[Western Animation]]/'[[Cars]]'': According to their toy bios, the pink race car sponsoring Tank Coat is actually male, and the blue race car sponsoring [[Rev N Go]] is actually female.
* Laverne, one of [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)|Quasimodo]]'s gargoyle friends is apparently female (as far as stone can have a gender).
* Remember the alligator from ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]''? You always thought it was a female, right? WRONG. It's male.
* Rolly from ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Disney)|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]''. He's been given blue collars the animated series and his cameo in ''[[House of Mouse]]'', which only the female puppies wear, which can cause this. Oddly he's the only one to be given a blue collar..
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* Many a viewer of the original ''[[Stargate (Film)|Stargate]]'' genuinely thought Ra was a woman; Jaye Davidson is [[Bishonen|just that pretty]].
* This trope is [[Attractive Bent Gender|purposely]] and [[All There Is to Know About "The Crying Game"|famously]] exploited in Neil Jordan's ''[[The Crying Game]]'', also by Jaye Davidson.
* [[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah|Destoroyah]] from the ''[[Godzilla]]'' franchise is officially a male Kaiju. However, that hasn't stopped fans from thinking he's a female due to the fact that some aspects of his body structure are similiar to that of female crabs.
** And, then there's also Mothra Leo from the [[Spin-Off|Mothra Film Trilogy]]. For the record, Leo is a boy. Yes, you heard me. A Male Mothra. (Mothrus?)
*** Even the dub of the films had trouble with this and constantly referred to Leo as both a "he" and a "she" and even an "it".
** And then there's the 1998 remake where that version of Godzilla could [[Truly Single Parent|reproduce asexually]].
** An interesting variation of this occurs with the monster Rodan. In the original 1956 film ''[[Rodan]]'', both a male and a female Rodan are featured. Since then, fans have argued whether or not the Rodans(?) featured in later films are male or female.
*** The Showa Rodan is a male. Likewise, so is Fire Rodan from the 1993 film ''Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla II''. On the other hand, it's never made clear which gender the ''Final Wars'' Rodan is.
** Some people have mistaken Gigan, a male cyborg kaiju, for a female due to his high-pitched roar.
** Battra, Mothra's [[Evil Twin]], has also been mistaken for a female.
** And it doesn't end there, with Kroiga from ''Latitude Zero''. With the brain of a human female, but the body of a male lion.
* There are people out there who think the Newborn from ''Alien Resurrection'' is a female. For the record, it's a hermaphrodite. The actual prop used for the film had both ''male and female'' genitalia. This actually applies to all members of the [[Fan Nickname|Xenomorph]] species, even the Queen. H.R. Giger intended the Aliens to be neither male nor female, but an unsettling blur of both sexes.
* Some viewers of ''[[The Year Of Living Dangerously]]'' were surprised to learn that Billy Kwan was played by a woman, Linda Hunt. She's the only actor to receive an Academy Award for playing a character of a different sex.
* Legolas from the 1978 ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' film. And ''how''!
** Aragorn being confused about Legolas' gender is a [[Running Gag]] in ''[[DM of the Rings]]''.
* [[Jodie Foster]]'s daughter in ''[[Panic Room]]'' (played by the then 11-year old [[Kristen Stewart]]) has a fairly gender neutral haircut, somewhat androgynus looks and wears uni-sex pyjamas and can easily be mistaken for a boy on first viewing.
* In ''[[I Am Legend]]'', Sam the German shepherd isn't revealed to be female until she gets hurt, at which point Will Smith calls her by her full name of Samantha.
** The daughter Marley is this for some viewers. Whenever we see her she has a fairly short hairstyle and gender neutral clothes. It isn't actually said whether or not she's a girl until about an hour into the film.
* ''[[Vidocq]]'' intentionally leaves the true sex of the Alchemist vague for most of the film. The character is covered in loose black robes and wears a head-covering mask. The letters written by the Alchemist vary from demonic threats to feminine coyness, and the character's shrill, metallic voice sometimes has a distinctly feminine edge, especially the moans in some battle sequences. {{spoiler|All these are Red Herrings. The Alchemist is male.}}
* In ''[[Heroic Trio]]'', the [[Big Bad]] looks like an effeminate male but has a female voice. This confusion might only be thr Western audiences who might not be as familiar with Chinese legends concerning eunuchs making for extremely powerful soldiers while simultaneously making them evil and manipulative.
* Many fans thought Buckwheat from the [[The Little Rascals|Our Gang/Little Rascals]] shorts was a girl.
** That's because initially the character *was* a girl, played by Matthew (Stymie) Beard's real-life sister Carlena. Even after male actor Billie Thomas inherited the role, the character continued to be [[Crosscast Role|portrayed as a girl]] for several shorts.
* Alexa in ''[[Fifty First Dates]]'', which is intentional on the part of the movie.
* Robin Williams' daughter in ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'' is very androgynous, and it's perfectly possible to go through most of the movie thinking she's a boy.
* Dennis, the kid who wanted [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|pancakes]], from ''[[Cabin Fever]]''. He has very long hair, a somewhat feminine face, has a gender neutral voice, and is prepubescent from the looks of it.
* Angel from [[Rent]] has some of this, but it's not due to androgyny- it's more like Ambiguous Gender Identity, since they are biologically male, dating a gay man, wear women's clothes, usually get alled she, and at least one character is unsure what pronoun to call them by. Interpretions vary between crossdresser, [[Mt F]], [[Drag Queen]], genderqueer, and everything else.
 
 
== Literature ==
* In Hungarian, pronouns aren't gender based, leading generations of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' readers thinking that the Witch-king was killed by Merry, not Eowyn. And coincidentally, neither the appendices nor the prophecy (No man shall kill him -- it was a Hobbit!) contradicts this. But it's clear in the original.
* For a long time, half of the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fandom thought Blaise Zabini was a girl, since he's just a name until book 6. (Specifically, a name which is masculine in Europe but usually feminine in the United States.) Some who wanted more Slytherin girls used "her" extensively as an [[OC Stand In]] in [[Fanfic]]. It's now known that "she's" a he.
* If you're well-informed enough to know that the Groke of the ''Moomin'' series is female, try figuring out Thingumy and Bob, or the Fillyjonk's children from the anime. Too-ticky can also be misleading because of her appearance, but it's pretty clear she's a woman.
** Too-ticky is at least partly based on Jansson's sculptor girlfriend, which may account for her relative butchness.
** In the original Swedish, the Groke is called ''Mårran'' which manages to sound both feminine and threatening.
** Thingummy and Bob wear dresses, and in the original are named Tofslan and Vifslan -- so there is no "Bob" to confuse people. (Their particular way of speaking is an in-joke on the lingo Jansson and a female friend used. "Tove" becomes "Tofslan" when you speak like that...)
*** Actually, that "female friend" was her first girlfriend, Vivica Bandler. The whole plot about the Ruby and the Groke is a metaphor for them having to hide their relationship back in the days homosexuality was still a crime and taboo in Finland.
* A milder form of this occurs in ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]''. The Royal Manticoran Navy has nearly 50-50 gender equality, and many characters are referred to as their title, i.e. Admiral, Captain, Exec., etc. To compound this, many of the women are given masculine nicknames, like Michelle becoming "Mike", while some men are given female nicknames, such as a Gervais becoming "Gwen". You may need to take notes.
* Max, from the ''[[Maximum Ride]]'' series. Considering that the book is written entirely in first person and her masculine name, it's no wonder. It's not clear at all that she's female until at least about fifty pages into the first novel, when she is finally referred to with a female pronoun.
* ''[[Discworld]]'' dwarfs. Most of them look male, but that doesn't mean they are.
** This is expanded upon with Cherri Littlebottom, a feminist in a race where discovering the other's gender is part of the mating ritual. She would wear makeup, but refused to shave her beard because to do so would deny being a dwarf.
** Many characters in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]'' are very convincing crossdressers.
* In the kid's magazine ''Muse'', four New Muses are guys, four New Muses are girls...and nobody can agree what gender Egyptian-born Pwt (pronounced "pwit" is. [[Word of God]] confirmed that Pwt is a male, but some readers still think he's a girl.
* In ''Goblin Moon'', the anthropomorphized Nine Seasons are the setting's equivalent of gods. Four are male, four are female, and one (corresponding to mid-spring, a changeable season) is depicted as androgynous in religious art.
* The first two chapters of ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' leave Scout's gender very much in question. (She's a girl.)
* The [[Timothy Zahn]] novella ''[[Cascade Point]]'' is told in the first person, and the narrator's name is not gendered. Only the cover art assigns a gender.
 
 
== Live-Action TV ==
* Data's cat Spot from ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]''. Spot was always referred to using male pronouns. Then Spot [[Your Tomcat Is Pregnant|got pregnant]]. She later gave birth to a healthy litter -- despite being de-evolved into a lizardlike creature at the moment ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) ([[Hollywood Evolution|well]], [[Makes Just As Much Sense in Context|not really]], [[MST3K Mantra|but whatever]]).
** Of course, Spot also changes breeds a few times, so changing gender was probably all in a day's work.
*** One fan theory is that Data had multiple cats over the years and Data being Data, named them all Spot.
* Grace Polk from ''[[Joan of Arcadia]]'', although it was addressed in the first episode when the character got mistaken for a "very rude boy" by another character.
* George from the British kids TV show ''Rainbow''. Despite being pink with long eyelashes, having an effeminate voice and being the girly one of the group ("ooh, you ''are'' naughty!"), the character was male. The name should have been a clue, but the hugely popular kiddie book series ''The Famous Five'' did feature a girl called George, as does the Nancy Drew series...
* ''[[I Carly]]'': In-show example in ''iWin A Date''. While Spencer was looking at the emails sent to him by ladies from whynotdateme.com, he remarks that the most recent email sender is 'kinda pretty'. Carly then points out to him that she's really a dude.
* Snoop from ''[[The Wire]]'' confused a lot of viewers. She dresses exactly like the men, hides her braided hair under baseball caps, [[Butch Lesbian|makes suggestive comments about other women]], has a very gravely voice, and generally makes her way as a stone killer in a man's world. The only time she wears feminine clothes in the entire series, she's also wearing a face-convering motorcycle helmet on a drive-by shooting. Marlo's first words to her are, "Your turn, girl", however, so the series is never trying to deliberately confuse the audience.
* Alpha Centauri, in the classic series ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' serial "The Curse of Peladon" (and "The Monster of Peladon", its sequel). A bit different, given its not even vaguely human. But both stories generally depict it as being female.... it doesn't help that the voice and body mannerisms are all very definitely feminine.... when, in actual fact, its an "it" (it has no specific gender). Further viewer confusion is gained by nearly every character refering to it as either "he" or "him", despite the visual and aural indicators being for the opposite.
* Trippitaka from ''[[Journey to The West|Monkey]]''. She's played by a very pretty Japanese actress, has a pretty female voice in the English dub, and basically apears in every way to be a female, However, all the other characters refer to her as a "Him", and on the reare occasions when she sins (she IS a Budhist monk) she comes on to women. It's not even like, "Is that a girl? Is it a boy?" It's more like [[Informed Attribute|"That's a woman!]] but everyone's calling her a man for some reason.
** Actually, that was done deliberately. It's less genderbending and more to display the gender neutrality of Buddha. The character is male, and played by a female actress.
** Random, utterly pointless, note. Did anyone else read "That's a woman!" in [[Red vs. Blue|Simmons']] voice?
* Though it's quickly apparent if you watch the show, many people who hear of ''[[Angel]]'' assume it stars a woman, thanks to his [[Gender Blender Name]]. (The show ''[[Dark Angel]]'' probably didn't help.) Lampshaded by Cordelia in Season 2 when She says "She could have been Angel because its kind of a Girly name"
** He's also a vampire, just to make the name ''more'' confusing.
*** Though this is on purpose he is quite deliberately the demon with the face of an angel.
*** The funny thing about "Angel" being a [[Gender Blender]] name for a man is that all the angels mentioned as having any sort of gender in [[The Bible]] are male.
*** Also Angel (pronounced "ON-hel") is a fairly common men's name in Spanish-speaking cultures.
* The title character of ''[[Skippy the Bush Kangaroo]]'' was female -- people tend to mistakenly refer to her as a "he" (then again, ''Skippy'' is nowadays primarily known through [[Popcultural Osmosis]]). Major clue that Skippy is a girl: she has a pouch.
* Uni Sax from ''[[Superhjaltejul|Super Hero Christmas]]''. Even in the illustrations that accompanied the credits, she could be either or. Then again, this is largely justified, considering her goal was to make everyone look and seem the same, which includes having nothing to define who or what you are.
* Big Bird from ''[[Sesame Street]]''.
** For the record, he's voiced by a man...who has the first name of "Caroll".
* This is the whole entire point of the "Man or Woman?" episodes in ''[[Maury]]''.
* Coach Bieste from ''[[Glee]]''. Many viewers believed, or still believe, she is played by a male actor. (She is, in fact, played by Dot Jones.)
** And then there's Kurt. The combination of his [[Vocal Dissonance|very high-pitched voice]], [[Camp Gay]] mannerisms, elaborate outfits, and [[Bishonen]], sometimes outright [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|feminine]] appearance make it easy to mistake him for a girl at first, or at least a [[Bifauxnen]]. The actor's going through puberty helped to alleviate this... somewhat.
* [[Saturday Night Live|Pat]], anyone?!
* Perry in "Kevin and Perry" is played by a woman.
 
 
== Music ==
* Victoria Lengrand from [[Beach House]] has been mistaken for a man on multiple ocassions due to the tone of her voice.
* Taylor Hanson from the teen pop group [[Hanson]]: ambiguously pitched voice, long hair, and gender-neutral name.d closer, and realized it was himself!
* Kalan Porter from Canadian Idol definitely confused many people.
* Pick a J-rock band. Particularly male jrockers that dress in Goth Loli, like Mana.
* Pick any J-Pop boyband, especially those under Johnny's Jimusho. Those guys make prettier girls than most of their fans.
** One such example: [http://asianoyoru.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/yuri.jpg Chinen][http://media.photobucket.com/image/chinen%20yuuri/franzpurple/jun_matsumoto/japanese%20101/yuuri2.jpg Yuuri.]
** [http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/Nyaonity/Tegoshi.jpg Tegoshi] [http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt347/Nyaonity/10-11calendartegoshi03.jpg Yuya].
* Back when the Culture Club was all new, a good few people assumed Boy George was female.
* Similarly, during one of the episodes of ''I Love the 80's'', when discussing the Dead or Alive video "You Spin Me Round", one of the commentators said that growing up he thought Pete Burns was either the prettiest man or the ugliest woman he'd ever seen. Either way, [[It Got Worse]].
* [http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff143/Heart_Candy/Tokio%20Hotel/Bill%20Kaulitz/BillKaulitz17.jpg Bill Kaulitz] of Tokio Hotel is this trope personified.
* Many were surprised to find out that Noodle of [[Gorillaz]] was a girl. Less so once she started being depicted as a teenager who sometimes sports makeup and more feminine clothing, though she still leaves a few confused.
** Less so in Phase 3, where she has some very [[Hartman Hips|feminine]] [[She's Got Legs|characteristics]].
* Jody "I'm not a girl" McBrayer fits this trope nicely. He must definitely looks masculine, but if you don't know who's singing... Well, just listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[[Rb 8 kgaa 3 Xsg]]
* Tracy Chapman. Judging by her voice, rather muscular physique, and most pictures, it can be pretty tricky to tell. Her gender-neutral name doesn't help.
* The lead singer of [[Placebo]], Brian Molko, has confused many with his highly effeminate appearance. Pictures like [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070117045210/uncyclopedia/images/3/39/Briana.jpg this] and [http://laurganism.com/wp-images/brianlips.jpg this] definitely do not help.
* An anecdote from the early days of [[ABBA]] relates how Bjorn Ulvaeus initially got a number of letters from fans who thought he was female. The explanation he gave was that the letters had come from Eastern European countries, where photo quality broke down through multiple copying, leaving his defining characteristics as his androgynous clothing and long hair. But it probably didn't help that he dressed more effeminately than Benny usually did, either...
* [[Marilyn Manson]]: This trope is actually one of his trademarks.
* [http://iheartfx.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/e00747654b6a8fc1c6ba3.jpg?w=960&h=640 Amber] from the Korean pop band ''f(x)'' to the point where her group members even thought she was a boy at first. It doesn't help that she's "pretty" enough to look like most male pop stars or that SM Entertainment always puts her in masculine clothing, such as a [http://iheartfx.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/25f6ebc13c7c61e495b5b67959b23d0e.jpg?w=574&h=436 boy's school uniform] or a [http://iheartfx.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/chuseokamber.jpg?w=400&h=500 male hanbok].
* [http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/29858825/A+Skylit+Drive+jag.jpg Michael Jagmin] of A Skylit Drive tends to have this effect on people: long hair, girly voice, short stature.
* Japanese goth/electronic/visual kei/[[Genre Busting|oh who knows]] vocalist Selia (one half of Seileen, along with DJ Sisen) falls into this all too easily. He looks like a woman, but in Japanese music this isn't anything new. No, the real confusion comes when he starts [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIhYiMJQmcs singing].
* The same goes for Arch Enemy vocalist Angela Gossow, who's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZM-d2qD15E death vocals] cause many to mistake her for a man at first listen.
* The Silversun Pickups's lead vocalist Brian Aubert has a somewhat effeminate voice when singing, leading to some confusion--especially since even when you know he ''is'' a guy he looks ''nothing'' like you'd expect for a guy with that singing voice. His speaking voice is unquestionably male, though.
* [[Justin Bieber (Music)|Justin Bieber]]. He's made his career over the fact that he's a teenage boy whose voice hasn't cracked, so this is a given. If you just listen to his music and don't know his name, you might think he's a lesbian. The amount of [[Viewer Gender Confusion]] has become memetic due to his [[Hatedom]].
* There are ''a lot'' of K-Pop idols that fall under this. [[Super Junior]]'s [http://yurigoodoo.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/157578330.jpg Heechul] and [[SHI Nee]]'s [http://neomuyeppeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/20100708_taemin_1-460x612.jpg Taemin] are two of the worst offenders. Even the more masculine ones are prone to this... Shinee's [http://www.asianpopcorn.com/battle_images/SHINee_Minho_LUCIFER__28012011235651.jpg Minho] was once mistaken for a labelmate's girlfriend.
* [[wikipedia:JD Samson|JD Samson]] of [[wikipedia:Le Tigre|Le Tigre]]. An out lesbian who identifies as female, she nonetheless uses a very macho variation of her given name (Jocelyn Samson), dresses in traditional male clothes, maintains an extremely masculine appearance, and proudly sports close-cropped hair and a ''robust natural [[Badass Mustache|mustache]]''. Even when you know she's a gal, [http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqtpzu773T1qzdfbno1_400.jpg seeing] [http://www.pagesdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/jdflower.jpg pictures] [http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfade/JD01.jpg like] [http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0pbv4NN2O1qbbqcuo1_500.jpg these] makes it pretty tough to grasp.
* Shelly West (daughter of Dottie West) has a rather low, rough voice for a female, particularly on her [[Signature Song]] "José Cuervo". If you didn't know the artist's name, you'd certainly be forgiven for thinking a man sang that song.
* [http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/23653/ryan-ross-punk-style.jpg Ryan Ross], especially in the early years of [[Panic At the Disco|Panic! at the Disco]].
 
 
== Puppet Shows ==
* Big Bird from ''[[Sesame Street]]'' is a ''boy''?
** This may be because of his voice actor's [[Gender Blender Name]]. Yes, Carroll Spinney is male.
** The Dutch version of ''Sesame Street'' features a blue Big Bird called Pino, who started out being played by a man. When he retired a woman got the role, there was actually some debate among the creators about whether they should make the bird a pink girl and rename her Pina. In the end they chose gender confusion over gender bending.
** The German version once got a snail called "Fienchen" <ref> "chen" is a German diminutive -- i.e. literally means little/small, can be used in nicknames as an expression of endearment</ref>. Fienchen started out beeing male, but due to his "cute" name and high pitched voice, he caused so much gender confusion, they actually changed him into a girl.
*** That's the one case where gender confusion would be ''appropriate''. Snails are hermaphrodites.
 
 
== Toys ==
* ''[[Bionicle]]''. Period. The toys have little room for [[Tertiary Sexual Characteristics]] due to their modular nature (it is a [[LEGO]] product line), so the only reliable way to pick out which one is the girl is the series' [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|color-coding]] (the blue ones - at least the blue ''heroes'' - were the girls). Same thing in-story, but at least the characters can use voice and body language to tell genders apart. Roodaka, despite wearing black instead of blue, is the only woman with an actual feminine figure - but we've never seen males of her race, so for all we know they cause confusion in the ''other'' direction.
** Actually, we have seen males -- they looked exactly like her! The comic colorist tried to color-code the male by painting him green, but [[Word of God]] says that picture is non-canon, and all of the members of Roodaka's species (the Vortixx) have the exact same colors. Yes, even the males have huge breast-plates, wide hips, a ponytail, walk around in high-heeled boots, and not one of them has any variation in their coloring. The only way you can identify the genders is that if you see a Vortixx suffering or doing some incredibly tedious and tiring work, it's a male.
** Things wouldn't be so difficult if the female sets had been designed to look the part. Jaller Inika, for instance, was the manly leader of his group, yet he was the only one who looked at least a bit feminine -- the real girl, Hahli, received a huge chin, a bald head, and a mustache and goatee in the form of breathing tubes! The Inika were of course a [[Deconstruction]] of certain Toa-related tropes, but only in the story. Sets could have followed a more conventional approach. Although there is nothing to suggest this wasn't the result of test groups' dissatisfaction with female-looking toys.
*** Hahli's infamous tube-stache wasn't the first instance of a female character receiving a misleading mask. There was Macku, who had this long, pharaoh-beard like structure on the underside of her mask. The first movie redesigned that mask-type so that it would have a mechanical "beard". Macku's movie-mask got a shortened version, but it still looked off.
** One prime example was with the "Mistika" characters, as [[Word of God]] had said one of the three Makuta in the set was to be female, and since none of those three were blue the color code wasn't going to be any help. When the fanbase got pictures, many guessed it was Krika, a sleek white character with a feminine-ish name and an elongated head/mask reminiscent of a ponytail. It turned out that the female was actually Gorast; a short, squat, green-and-black hag with four arms.
** And did we mention that when the series got [[Retool|ReTooled]] with a new setting, the color code ceased to apply to gender? (The girl is still blue, but there's also a male blue character.)
*** But at least that one single female character was designed to actually have some feminine physical characteristics, like a slender body, and... wait, that was it.
** There are some subtle hints sometimes though, such as Nokama Metru's smoother mask design, Hahli Mahri's sleeker mask and her angel wings, and Gali Mata's inverted legs and extra chest-piece. But that's as helpful as it can go.
** Bionicle's successor [[Hero Factory]] has Breez, who is female despite looking just as manly as the others.
*** It helps that her full name is ''Natalie'' Breez, though others mostly just call her Breez anyway. As for her looks, her helmet's eye-holes at least looked feminine at first. Then, she switched them to a generic design, along with adapting this huge, manly chin underneath.
* The ''Beanie Baby'' Erin. Paired up with the Princess Diana bear. Green, as opposed to Diana's more feminine purple. Especially if you were unaware of the differences between Aaron and Erin (phonetically identical) as a child.
* The toyline-only character Sonar from Beast Wars is considered female by some fans due to the lack of gender-specific pronouns on the toy's bio.
** Confirmed in the comics, which took advantage of the lack of pronouns to add another female to the ranks.
 
 
== Web Original ==
* One of the quote on top of the page comes from the ''[[Rifftrax]]'' of ''[[Jurassic Park]]''. Weird Al repeatedly stops commenting what's actually going on in the movie to ponder what is the gender of the kid seen at the beginning of the movie (the one Grant threatens with a Raptor claw).
* Heyoka, of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]''. Heyoka ''used'' to be a girl before manifesting as a mutant who can change shape when absorbing a spirit and its power. Normally very attractive and very androgynous, Heyoka has looked very feminine, and very masculine, at different times. [[Word of God|even the authors]] have trouble with the pronouns.
* In ''[[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]]'' review of "Nickcoms", he plays a game called "Boy or Girl" with the kids from ''You Can't Do That On Television''.
* The titular ''[[Salad Fingers]]''.
* This is sometimes done in Web RP.
* Minky Steve from [http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Parsley+Boobs+ep1/ Parsley Boobs]. He/she is either a slightly masculine-looking woman or a very [[Camp Gay]] man.
* In ''[[The Guild]]'', Bladezz's adolescent sister has long hair, but it just makes her look even more like her brother. She has a husky voice for a girl and is first seen wearing a baseball cap and rather gender-neutral clothing.
* Flaky from ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'' is thought to be a boy because, unlike Giggles and Petunia, Flaky doesn't have eyelashes but is given a distinct feminine voice, it shows neutral characteristics for any gender but the voice actor suggests female, even the creators are undecided. It's even lampshaded a few times.
** Cuddles can even be mistaken for female by some who are watching the show for the first time.
 
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[[Category:Gender Reveal]]
[[Category:Gender Blending Tropes]]
[[Category:Audience Reactions]]
[[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]]
[[Category:Viewer Gender Confusion]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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