Ah, I'm glad to read some very reasonable statements here. While they're all true in everyone's own thinking, I still don't seem to understand why for most people, the very first choice of an avatar to represent one's self is a 12 year old looking girl while there are a billion choices out there.
I'm truly not against people who do this, I'm just very curious about this huge trend (you can't deny it's not) going on in any kind of website that is closely related to anime/manga.
I guess some people would think unconsciously that girls are far more easy to relate in terms of feelings as they express themselves far more easier than men, therefore being easy to identify themselves with but guys are quite interesting and sometimes complicated, making them look a bit more intriguing, it seems to me. I mean this in no homosexual way (nor do I intend to throw off gay men, I just don't kick in that direction) and I just want to clarify this as I feel that media has also created, along the years, a stereotypical view that male friends are quite odd and therefore men should surround mostly with women. Although this is a very instinctive behavior as both genders attract each other naturally, I don't see what's the deal with men leaving men aside the road.
