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Facebook Debuts New Gender Options, Pronoun Choices
beaverdownunder writes "Facebook has recognized it's a gender-diverse world — at least in the U.S. In addition to Male or Female, Facebook now lets U.S. users choose among some 50 additional options such as 'transgender,' 'cisgender,' 'gender fluid,' 'intersex' and 'neither.' 'Users also now have the ability to choose the pronoun they would like to be referred to publicly: he/his, she/her, or the gender-neutral they/their.' A post on Facebook's Diversity page said, 'When you come to Facebook to connect with the people, causes, and organizations you care about, we want you to feel comfortable being your true, authentic self. An important part of this is the expression of gender, especially when it extends beyond the definitions of just "male" or "female." ...We also have added the ability for people to control the audience with whom they want to share their custom gender. We recognize that some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way.'"
I don't know, but it seems important enough to some people to make the distinction, and it's reasonably easy to accommodate them if they ask, so why not just roll with it?
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
Transgender vs. Transsexual generally refer to someone who hasn't had surgery, and someone who has, respectively.
An androgynous person doesn't present as one gender or another.
Gender questioning is pretty obvious, with the individual in the process of working out inner feelings and unsure how they're presenting.
Bigender, I'm not sure of. Maybe someone who is comfortable switching gender roles in a culture with 2 or more genders. (Some cultures have several)
Pangender sounds like a lot of work.
Honestly, what is the difference
Obviously, you are one of the 50-odd varieties of insensitive clod!
But what I want to know is, what does "Neither" mean when there are 50 other choices?
or:
3. You have ambiguous genitalia
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Gender is not the same as Sex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...
No, "they/their" is plural. Using it as gender neutral for a single person is just stupid and bad grammar.
You should try to get in the habit of looking things up, just to be sure, before engaging in ad hominem. From dictionary.com's entry for "They":
Usage note
Long before the use of generic he was condemned as sexist, the pronouns they, their, and them were used in educated speech and in all but the most formal writing to refer to indefinite pronouns and to singular nouns of general personal reference, probably because such nouns are often not felt to be exclusively singular: If anyone calls, tell them I'll be back at six. Everyone began looking for their books at once. Such use is not a recent development, nor is it a mark of ignorance.
Because the thing that allows language to be a communicative tool is that words have the same meaning for almost everyone. Rather than providing clarification, this glut of undefined terms destroy the ability of language to convey meaning.
"It" is used exclusively to refer to nonhuman objects, and has a long history in writing as a way of emphasising that something ostensibly or previously human is not. If you can't see the reason for offense, you either don't read much or don't encounter human beings very often.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
It can mean a variety of things. It can often mean that the external genitalia between a person's legs seems to be something between a vulva/vagina and a penis. This can take the form of, for example, what appears to be a vulva with very swollen labia majora and a very large clitoris that can physically resemble a very small penis.
Such persons are referred to as 'intersex' and while it's still a minority of humans, it's more common than I thought it was. The condition exist in degrees, and due to social expectations, relatively few intersex people advertise that fact if they can "pass" as one sex or the other.
To be blunt, they can't perform demographic analysis for advertising on the basis of a free text field.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Or how about:
3. The rest of us really don't want to know any details about your reproductive anatomy.
Better known as 318230.
I have ambitious genitalia.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
True. Proof: Everyone here has a gender. Very few have sex.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"Not your fucking business"
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Not much. None of them like beta, that's for sure.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
It's called intersexed, and here is some stats and more information on it. For years, doctors would just say "well, we can't tell, so take your pick boy or girl, and then the kid grows up and says 'WTF?' " because it was an arbitrary choice.
For some people, gender identity is a little more complicated than "penis or no penis" -- I've known a couple of trans people over the years, and once had a co-worker who began the process after I'd known him as 'he' for several years.
Trust me, nobody would go through all of that stuff (the reaction of people, the hormones, the discrimination, the cost, the upheaval to your life, the surgeries, people telling you you're going through a phase) unless they were REALLY certain that was what they needed.
I won't claim to understand it fully, or even be able to explain it well. But I do know these are real things, and that the people going through them have to deal with a lot of stuff which I sure as hell wouldn't wish on anybody.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Ambiguous genitals can mean a lot of things. They can be just variations on what we often refer to as 'regular' genitals, as in female or male, with a gradual transition between these two extremes.
:)
There's also hermaphroditism - a sub-set of intersex - whereby both types of genitals are partially or fully present. Basically put this means having both a penis and vagina as well as a certain selection of internal reproductive organs.
Coincidentally I'm also a hermaphrodite, and although I used to have both testicles and ovaries at the same time, I was born fully infertile without a womb. You can find more details about my situation on my (easy to find) site
As for how often it actually occurs, intersex as an umbrella term is something in the order of 1:1,000 to 1:150 individuals who are born with an intersex condition.
Site & blog: http://www.mayaposch.com
I have a friend that is a true chimera. She has about 50% male cells and 50% female cells, and that included the cells that developed into genitalia and gonads. She has one ovary and one testicle, and a mix of hormones that wreak havoc on her.
At birth, the doctors assigned a male gender on paper, expecting that the female parts would be easier to remove later, but that hasn't been the case. At puberty her hormones changed more toward female, making a male gender probably lethal. She now considers herself female, and is just waiting to have a bit of invasive surgery.
That's about the most extreme form of ambiguous genitalia you can have, having developed from an ambiguous genome. Like most extremes, it's exceptionally rare, with only a few dozen people currently living. Less-extreme examples however, like 90%/10% splits, are relatively common, with a few hundred thousand such people worldwide. Some of those present visible symptoms, and some do not. Of course, that's only genetics. What someone associates as is another complicated issue.
As a society, we like to classify things in easy categories, like "male" or "female", but reality rarely supports such a clear distinction.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Except that some people don't feel that their gender matches their biology, and never have. To them, the plumbing has no relation to their identify as they experience it.
And then it becomes much more complicated.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Ok, everybody. Self-classification is gross, because misexistentialist says so.
In the interest of public decency, you are now "poor" if you're unable to afford food or clothing, and everyone else is "rich". There is to be no further differentiation, so we can forget all of that "middle class" nonsense.
It you were born within the bounds of the United States of America, you are an American. Everyone else is a foreigner, regardless of immigration, heritage, or temporary circumstances.
Whenever the ambient temperature is above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, it is "warm", and for the sake of avoiding disgusting differentiation, everyone must wear their state-issued "warm" clothes. At 32 degrees Fahrenheit and below, it is "cold", and we all must wear the appropriate "cold" clothing.
Of course, not everyone will want to follow these new rules, but we have a suitable and tasteful classification for that as well. Those who conform will be considered "comrades", and those who violate these basic rules for a civil society will be deemed "unpersons" and will no longer be welcome here.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
The hell I didn't.
The second link provides statistics on how many people with the various types by births and was identified as such.
I'll note that you didn't read the links. But if you need it spoon fed to you:
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Because people want to know your gender for a reason, not just as an abstract set of meaningless adjectives you wish applied to you.
In most cases, I really don't care about your gender. If I bother to look it up or ask, though, I damned well want an answer like "male", "female", "indeterminate", or "undisclosed". And if I bother to inquire about it, I want your answer of "male" to mean the genotype XY, not "it's complicated but I tend to wear men's clothing and take top during sex". In that case, just go with "undisclosed".
And yes, before some pedant chimes in, I know the difference between genotype and social gender identity - I just don't care if your self-image involves referring to yourself as a translucent cloud of neon green glitter.
[ ] Male
[ ] Female
[ ] Likely To Be Offended
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