rhiannon, there used to be a former member here, who I wont name of course, who would always say to me, and other people, things like "Unless you see the person on webcam, or hear their voice, you have to assume fake female, and that they are really a guy, posing as a girl". That used to tick me off to no end. This person and I were good friends when I first joined the forum, but, after a long time of that behavior, it became grating, and wore on our friendship.
I try not to put too much thought into it. I'm not naive to think that people dont misrepresent themselves on the internet, because I know they do, but, in my eight years here, if a profile said "Female", and I wanted to try and talk to that person, I did, without putting too much thought into it. My view is, if you put too much thought into everyone you talk to on the internet, you'll be spending more time doing that, and less time what one should be doing, having fun and getting to know people.
Mitch