As I already wrote: few care how the "author is explicitly identified", and many don't even read the original post (much less check out the author).

This has been established in meta-HN discussions, with many people saying they come straight to the comments.

Even more so, "Alexis" the author's name, even if one bothered to check it, can be both male and female, depending on the country.

I like how this thread started as a 'HN is no better than twitter' opinion which very quickly descended into an emotional argument about something utterly unrelated, somewhat proving the point. I happen to agree with one of you, and I would've taken up the argument in the past, but I'm starting to come around to the idea that it's so pointless trying to discuss these kinds of political/social topics online that we should just avoid them altogether.