I would like to say that it should not come as a surprise to anyone who has ever been on the internet in some social capasity that some people claim to be female to garner attention and/or gifts of some form. It has been happening since the advent of the internet and I am afraid it is not going anywhere anytime soon. I would say that it has a lot to do with attention, the men who pretend to be female get more attention and find it easier to talk to other females (let's ignore for the time being that they are probably just talking to other guys), it is usually expected that the man make the first move and these men are most likely socially inept/awkward so it is easier for them to not initiate conversation but have someone else begin it. I would also like to give some food for thought: Anima In the male unconscious there is the concept of Anima, the inner feminine feelings/thoughts of the male, so it could be in some cases that the men pretending to be female are just either exploring their own psyche, their Anima, most likely unknowingly, or their Anima has possibly somehow got out of control to some extent. It's kinda late when I'm writing this so my apologies if it makes absolutely no sense.