• Facebook adding new gender options, preferred pronoun choices for users
    254 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Manibogi;43901823]"When I tell someone a joke they laugh" I don't get what's so wrong about it.[/QUOTE] Because technically "they" is plural, and aren't supposed to use it when referring to a single person, it's meant for a group of people. Again, any normal person will just say they, but I was being intentionally technical about it for the sake of a joke.
[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43901814]As far as people are concerned "they" is correct now, but grammar textbooks will still teach that it's unfavorable to "When I tell someone a joke 'he or she' laughs" or "When I tell someone a joke 'it' laughs."[/QUOTE] i didn't realize facebook was a college english class where you have to post APA format.
[QUOTE=Kyle902;43901860]i didn't realize facebook was a college english class where you have to post APA format.[/QUOTE] It's almost as if it was a joke. I suppose you thought I was really going to sue Facebook for mental anguish too?
I identify as xir you fucking fascists
[QUOTE=mac338;43901838]Can you define yourself as 'it' on Facebook now? EDIT: Say for instance that I'm not a man or a woman but I'm an inter-dimensional predatory creature that can transform myself into a clown. Can I be 'it' then?[/QUOTE] Hope Cthulu has a damn good lawyer.
[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43901837]A term that people invented to promote gender neutrality in the same vein as something like "hir." Basically meaningless but for some reason using "she" or "he" is evil to some people now.[/QUOTE] lol its not evil. there's no reason to act like people who identify as genderqueer or bigender are needlessly demonizing he or she as a term
[QUOTE=l337k1ll4;43901875]It's almost as if it was a joke. I suppose you thought I was really going to sue Facebook for mental anguish too?[/QUOTE] it's almost as if I reached for a leg to pull but found air instead
"They" works fine as a gender-neutral pronoun, I pretty much always use it when I'm talking about people online that I don't know personally
Quite honestly I believe that you should always use the word that gives the sentence the best flow, therefore I would only use "they" if it didn't make the sentence sound awkward
[QUOTE=Lukeo;43899158]Can I identify as a carrot? [t]http://i.imgur.com/3FiofsF.png[/t][/QUOTE] This must be the first thing originating from that dreadful place I actually enjoyed.
[QUOTE=Hellsten;43901975]This must be the first thing originating from that dreadful place I actually enjoyed.[/QUOTE] that's a shame
There's got to be a point where you're just making shit up. Like it can understand identifying as the opposite gender, because there's probably some biological stuff where the gender of the brain doesn't match the sex of the body, but sometimes it seems like people just have an obsession with being very specifically labeled.
[QUOTE=Mingebox;43902033]There's got to be a point where you're just making shit up. Like it can understand identifying as the opposite gender, because there's probably some biological stuff where the gender of the brain doesn't match the sex of the body, but sometimes it seems like people just have an obsession with being very specifically labeled.[/QUOTE] Gender can literally be anything though. Gender is a social thing that doesn't really have much to do with biology.
[QUOTE=Mingebox;43902033]There's got to be a point where you're just making shit up. Like it can understand identifying as the opposite gender, because there's probably some biological stuff where the gender of the brain doesn't match the sex of the body, but sometimes it seems like people just have an obsession with being very specifically labeled.[/QUOTE] or people have an "obsession" with being able to express how they feel about themselves or their gender in this instance through words. you don't know how good of a feeling it is when this confusing thing has been building up inside you for a long time then you finally find a name for it. its absolutely liberating
I will go by "enigmatic entity".
[QUOTE=Kyle902;43902080]Gender can literally be anything though. Gender is a social thing that doesn't really have much to do with biology.[/QUOTE] But if it can be literally anything, doesn't that make it pretty meaningless? If there isn't some deeper, quintessential sense of being male or female that goes beyond a rough set of personality traits, then what is it but some arbitrary label on the level of zodiac signs?
[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;43902341]Do we even really need gender then? It seems more of a forced thing in our society, not a necessary one.[/QUOTE] I was just thinking that. Wouldn't it be more simple to just remove gender entirely? Ideally, it's totally irrelevant.
lol everyone who's been making farces of transgenderism is an asshole. don't even make jokes like "OH X PERSON IDENTIFIES AS Y GENDER DOES THAT MEAN I CAN IDENTIFY AS A CAT" like holy shit also gender is a personal thing that's integral to humans on a social level. it has inherent meaning. humans have had gender identities for a long time (and not just binary man/woman genders, either; there have been multiple societies which had different identities). in most of the world, society expects everybody to upkeep the gender binary, which is actually truly detrimental to people - if something as simple as your gender isn't accepted, then how will the rest of you be accepted? facebook is making the right step with this. nonbinary people exist, some people are proud of their transgenderism and wish to express it, etc., and the more people and places and organizations who support trans and nb people the better.
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;43902474]I was just thinking that. Wouldn't it be more simple to just remove gender entirely? Ideally, it's totally irrelevant.[/QUOTE] but people can identify as genderless
[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;43902693]Society expects a lot of things that they shouldn't. I'm asking as if society didn't care, are genders even necessary? Genders are entirely made up by society. A "woman" in one society might be the man in the other. It's all subjective.[/QUOTE] genders are not gender roles. people do have some sort of... thing in their overall identity, their essence, that is their gender. in most of society, that is typically "man" or "woman". however, what men and women (and other people) are expected to do under the purview of society is NOT part of their gender. it is the gender roles they have, and those are entirely social constructs.
[QUOTE=Kyle902;43902080]Gender can literally be anything though. [/QUOTE] I feel this idea is one that's mainly shared in the LBGT community and not as much with the outside world. It's kind of annoying when you say it like it's just a fact. [editline]14th February 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Judas;43902624]but people can identify as genderless[/QUOTE] this is why there should just be an Other option. In a few years who knows what people will have decided their labels are. Hopefully they won't need to label themselves at all but pf
[QUOTE=Hellsten;43901975]This must be the first thing originating from that dreadful place I actually enjoyed.[/QUOTE] yeah i know this is tangential but why is cheekily referencing [i]a literal white supremacist board[/i] super in right now? We certainly don't pay any attention to stormfront
... What? [editline]14th February 2014[/editline] That's 4chan though, or am I missing something here. [editline]14th February 2014[/editline] OH, because there's a fylfot in my avatar right? stormfront? haha that's funny you're funny
I like that this is accommodating to more people, maybe in time this will become widely accepted. I can only hope that tumblr doesn't have a hissy fit over this, for whatever reason.
People who get mad over the pronouns or think it's dumb probably aren't the target audience of this new addition. To those who it is relevant to, this'll mean a lot to them and sometimes, you need to remember that not everyone in the world sees things from your perspective and that should be respected.
[QUOTE=Appox;43902809]I feel this idea is one that's mainly shared in the LBGT community and not as much with the outside world. It's kind of annoying when you say it like it's just a fact. [editline]14th February 2014[/editline] this is why it should there should just be an Other option. In a few years who knows what people will have decided their labels are. Hopefully they won't need to label themselves at all but pf[/QUOTE] you know, your first statement is incredibly othering. LGBT people - in fact, all GSRM (gender, sex/sexuality, romance minority) people live in the real world. anyway, appox. gender variance is a thing. the english language is severely lacking in pronouns for the major alternative gender variants (so far, the "they" set is the only neutral pronoun set in english). you can't just mark every single nonbinary person down as "other". that's degendering and to an extent dehumanizing.
[QUOTE=Arctic-Zone;43902931] anyway, appox. gender variance is a thing. the english language is severely lacking in pronouns for the major alternative gender variants (so far, the "they" set is the only neutral pronoun set in english). you can't just mark every single nonbinary person down as "other". that's degendering and to an extent dehumanizing.[/QUOTE] I think there should be 'other' and you can enter whatever. Why have a big list of terms if gender is now this open thing? Come up with your own label, be the one in control. When it was just Male and Female at least you could then define what you actually felt of yourself with the content you posted, which overall is all anyone cares about anyway.
as long as shklee and shkler are represented, as well as shklim. honestly the terms some people will invent for themselves defies logic though, if you hate english pronouns that much don't use them!
[QUOTE=TAU!;43902904]I like that this is accommodating to more people, maybe in time this will become widely accepted. I can only hope that tumblr doesn't have a hissy fit over this, for whatever reason.[/QUOTE] because tumblr is going to have a hissyfit over something that a large collective part of the userbase has been asking facebook to do for a very long time yes tumblr is going to do that
[QUOTE=Sableye;43903002]as long as shklee and shkler are represented, as well as shklim. honestly the terms some people will invent for themselves defies logic though, if you hate english pronouns that much don't use them![/QUOTE] i'm not seeing the point you're trying to make - non-binary people DO try to construct pronouns for themselves and others. i hope soon there is actually a set or two of pronouns for nb people, but lack of standardization and prescription for gender is the kicker for them. the most likely contenders for getting into wider-spread use in english right now are the spivak pronouns, and it's not hard to make good pronouns (as long as you follow grammar rules and common sense when making them).
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