[substitute]

Just goes to show how much variation there is between people in the same type, huh?

Maybe it has something to do with expectations socially on males being different to females. In my thread about T women and F men, I wanted to explore that sort of thing, how it might cause the same temperament characteristics to manifest in different ways, so that perhaps my brother reacts more kinda defensively against himself. As a man, he knows he's expected to be certain, sure, confident, bold and assertive, but perhaps as an Fi type he knows that really he's quite sensitive and even insecure. It could be that social conditioning has caused him to feel embarrassed about his own tendencies, whilst maybe a female might be more willing to embrace them or simply own up to them. I don't know, this is pure speculation, but it'd be fascinating to thrash it out and see what others might make of the concept.

I think this might also be one reason why female ENTP's don't seem perhaps as "superficial" as male ones, because they could feel more comfortable with balancing things with a bit of feeling, whilst men might worry that doing so makes them weak. A female ENTP would possibly be more willing to show the passion behind the "superficial" joking and casual theorizing, whilst at least in British culture that's just not really cricket for a man to do. So you're right - there is an element of hiding something more complex and deep behind the jester facade.