Should MLP Forums have more Gender options?

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

A text box if Other is selected should suffice. It would allow those who identify as bigender to apply that there. (As just one example of the implementation)

Why are we just TOO LAZY to say it in the About Me box? Rhetorical question.

[Guest]

Why are we just TOO LAZY to say it in the About Me box? Rhetorical question.

Don't bother fighting it man, it's a wasted effort. I don't understand all these new gender identities either, and personally I feel people make too big a deal about them, but it's gotten to the point where the best thing to do is smile, nod, and just let it happen. Nothing is going to stop the push for them, so might as well just accept that people will have them and continue on your day. Trust me, you'll have a lot less stress that way.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

Don't bother fighting it man, it's a wasted effort. I don't understand all these new gender identities either, and personally I feel people make too big a deal about them, but it's gotten to the point where the best thing to do is smile, nod, and just let it happen. Nothing is going to stop the push for them, so might as well just accept that people will have them and continue on your day. Trust me, you'll have a lot less stress that way.

Well at least i know what i will do if someone next to me says this pile of horsepoop. Mock them in their face and not behind my keyboard. At least i am going to be a genuine person that doesnt strive for counterfeit social justice by angrily typing 24 letters.

[Shift 4,271]

Have you been on that side of tumblr? I love tumblr to death but I only go on the fandom part...

 

We already have enough gender options and there's an 'other' if you're dissatisfied, and if you want to let others known what 'other' means for you

 

PUT IT IN BIG BOLD LETTERS IN YOUR ABOUT ME

 

SEE? EVERYBODY WINS!

[Revy ~ Two Hands 862]

Have you been on that side of tumblr? I love tumblr to death but I only go on the fandom part...

 

We already have enough gender options and there's an 'other' if you're dissatisfied, and if you want to let others known what 'other' means for you

 

PUT IT IN BIG BOLD LETTERS IN YOUR ABOUT ME

 

SEE? EVERYBODY WINS!

As a site suggestion it's already viable so vitriol is pointless. Also the irony that you choose a LGBT promoting MLP fan game avatar to make this comment.

[Shift 4,271]

@,

 

Yay somebody gets my avatar

 

But seriously, vitriol is pointless? This is in site suggestions, you're SUPPOSED to get criticized by the community. We already have enough gender options and 'other' suits your needs just fine. BTW I do support LGBT myself and this thread isn't about sexuality anyway, so that gets rid of the LGB part of the irony and we already have two transgender options so there goes the T part.

 

Dude, we already have enough gender options, I don't support this.

[Guest]

As a site suggestion it's already viable so vitriol is pointless. Also the irony that you choose a LGBT promoting MLP fan game avatar to make this comment.

Actually the game was never made for that purpose. It was literally just made because the creator likes shipping. He said himself he wasn't trying to make any kind of LGBT promotion, just a game about shipping. That's beside the point though.

 

Either way, I say just let it happen. Even if people disagree with it, fighting it is almost pointless. If the suggestion gets rejected, we all know that it'll just keep getting fought for until it gets implemented. I've seen this before, it's better to just let them have it and keep the peace. If people don't like people with different gender identities, think of it this way: It'll be like a warning symbol on their profile to know not to talk to them. Everyone wins. I'm not really "crazy" about this whole gender identity movement that's going on right now, but I recognize that arguing against it is almost a waste of time, because no one is going to convince anyone to just "not" be genderfluid/pangender/etc. Might as well just give them what they want so that people can stop kicking up a fuss about it. I'd rather just give people what they want to avoid the unneeded drama it will cause by trying to deny them of it, because really there is no ACTUAL grounds to deny it, just that people don't agree with it.

[Banul 3,831]

I don't feel that strongly about it, but I don't see why not. I can see how an irregular gender identity could be a big part of a person's self image. We don't really lose anything by allowing them to express that and it seems like it should be easy to implement.

 

I'd say go for it.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

I don't feel that strongly about it, but I don't see why not. I can see how an irregular gender identity could be a big part of a person's self image. We don't really lose anything by allowing them to express that and it seems like it should be easy to implement.

 

I'd say go for it.

There's a difference between gender and gender identity.

 

I say different boxes.

[Revy ~ Two Hands 862]

I don't feel that strongly about it, but I don't see why not. I can see how an irregular gender identity could be a big part of a person's self image. We don't really lose anything by allowing them to express that and it seems like it should be easy to implement.

 

I'd say go for it.

My sentiments exactly who is hurt by more freedom over your profile with a change that is relatively simple to make on this software.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

Also do you guys comprehend the term "identity"? Identity would be what your identity card says. The rest should be going to the about me page otherwise official identities should include "transgendered" on them.

 

Do they? I dont know you tell me.

[Jeric 46,835]

I say different boxes.

Hmm, screen real estate needs to be considered. We had no problem with adding the transgendered IIRC.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

Hmm, screen real estate needs to be considered. We had no problem with adding the transgendered IIRC.

2 questions. What does IIRC stand for and what do you mean screen real estate?

[Guest]

2 questions. What does IIRC stand for and what do you mean screen real estate?

"If I recall correctly."

 

He is referring to space taken up. In this case he is using real estate to refer to the fact that adding more boxes may make the profile section a bit too cluttered.

[Jeric 46,835]

2 questions. What does IIRC stand for and what do you mean screen real estate?

1. If I recall correctly

2. The amount of viable space in the section. Web designers typically hate clutter. I'm one of them.

 

Again, this is a viable suggestion, whether it is implemented is up to other people. It is also not something that should be a priority over other needs. But it was a good suggestion since it follows several principles like "will it hurt or negatively impact other members, will it add to the user experience, will it be easy to implement".

 

I think that the SJW complaints are secondary and serve to make the thread a debate topic on another broader issue outside the scope of the suggestion to be perfectly honest.

[SCS 7,444]

I don't see any harm in adding this. Whether or not you support people having different gender identities and such is completely irrelevant. It's not going to hurt you if someone types Pangender into their Gender field on their profile. If you don't like it, you can ignore it.
 
Gender is a personal thing. The point of profiles is to be able to express yourself. If the current drop-down box is limiting your expression, then I think editing it to make it a more useful feature is certainly a viable course of action.
 
My one concern is that people would abuse this by typing in random shit that has nothing to do with gender, which sometimes happens with the profile field for sharing your favorite pony. When I think about it, though, it doesn't really matter. People who would actually want to express their gender would do so, and people who would prefer to put random shit in there could do so. Neither option would hurt anyone.
 
Also, the fact that we have other tasks going on with a higher priority is a non-issue. It would literally take me about 2 seconds to do this. I won't, however, until I'm sure a majority of people want it to be done.

[Felix 1,363]

It would give people the full inclusion to explain their gender with no limits. Wether people think it's unnecessary or not there are people who have a legit point of view on their gender and what they should be. I don't think it's a bad idea to widen the option you have for choosing your gender. It wouldn't hurt anyone. People who want to use it will use it and those who don't won't. No affect on those who don't deem it necessary.

 

Plus, if it doesn't work out after all, at least the suggestion was attempted. They can then feel free to remove the option.

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

@@SCS,So long as it's clear whether i call you a "he" or a "she" i could give less of a damn. 

[Guest]

I will say this as an amusing observation: Many sites do not even have the Transgender or Pangender options. They also do not have "other" either. I always find it funny because I ALWAYS say this on ANY site where this issue is brought up. Nine times out of ten the site only allows male and female, and someone will come along saying there should be something for other gender identities, and I propose the argument that eventually people will want more and more options and there would be no end to it. Then someone will come along and say that as long as they have "other" they will be satisfied. Sure enough after they add more options, couple of months later someone will come along wanting even more.

 

It always happens. Enough is never enough, I say give them the textbox, let them fill in whatever they want so they don't keep coming back asking for more.

[Guest90210 3,567]

Don't bother fighting it man, it's a wasted effort. I don't understand all these new gender identities either, and personally I feel people make too big a deal about them, but it's gotten to the point where the best thing to do is smile, nod, and just let it happen. Nothing is going to stop the push for them, so might as well just accept that people will have them and continue on your day. Trust me, you'll have a lot less stress that way.

 

Pretty much this. I think it's largely pointless, but whatever, it isn't a big deal. 

Edited September 22, 2014 by Rivendare

[RWB 229]

The point is however that the majority of tittles available for gender dont describe the gender in itself but rather how they feel about it.

 

 

The problem with this argument is that gender is psychological, and the thing you are talking about is the sex(Female, Male, Hermaphrodite).

 

[IridscentNionios 1,420]

The problem with this argument is that gender is psychological, and the thing you are talking about is the sex(Female, Male, Hermaphrodite).

 

Gender identity is psychological. Gender IS the sex.

[Jennabun 1,578]

 

 

The gender box for me is something that tells me you are xy or xx or what you have in your crotch area... Not something that tells me what you feel about it.

Actually, gender is a social phenomenon separate from biological sex. Gender is whether you're mentally a man, woman, or otherwise; biological sex is whether you're male, female, or intersex. So, if the forums is asking for our genders (which it should... it's never really anyone's business what your genitals look like, after all...), more options besides male/female should exist because more genders besides male/female exist.

 

 

 

I'm probably gonna get called closed-minded for this (which, maybe I am) but the majority of genders other than Male and Female were created by attention whores on tumblr

I would avoid using hard words like "attention whores" to describe people who are going through some sort of gender confusion. You not understanding the process of gender questioning doesn't mean that anyone who goes through something like that deserves your condescension. 

 

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I think the OP makes a very reasonable request that would make a lot of users happy. Being able to type anything you want into the gender box means that all identities can be accounted for. Sure, some people will probably use the gender box to type in silly things like "pancake" or "antigenderificness", but honestly... who cares? I think ultimately we should value inclusion as a community instead of using "but people are going to be weird!" or "but people are going to type in gender labels that I don't personally understand!" as an excuse to label people incorrectly.

[Jeric 46,835]

Actually, gender is a social phenomenon separate from biological sex. Gender is whether you're mentally a man, woman, or otherwise; biological sex is whether you're male, female, or intersex. So, if the forums is asking for our genders (which it should... it's never really anyone's business what your genitals look like, after all...), more options besides male/female should exist because more genders besides male/female exist.

 

Yes, as illustrated in my earlier vlogbrothers vid. Two further points I want to key off of and add to your post Jenna. This is not a new concept. This idea of gender not being exclusively a biological function  was born in 1955 - the same year as my mother. I felt that is a valid point since there were some not so subtle comments about a certain social movement that keeps cropping up in these discussions. This was not created and profligated on a blog platform.

 

Secondly, as far as the drop down being used to hide or not display someones biological sex I have only two words - 'Not Telling'

[Nohbdy 4,108]

The decision to implement a user-defined gender option isn't based on how we define gender identity or whether we perceive such gender identities to be the result of SJWs. Rather, it's primarily a question of whether the decision results in a net gain in the user experience. Although MLP Forums aims to maintain an inclusive, welcoming environment for its members, the general user experience is also of critical importance. 

 

I don't imagine that MLP Forums has a particularly high representation of those who identify outside of the provided gender options. As the system currently stands, we have the standard gender set, male and female, in addition to transgender and pangender. Anecdotally speaking, I haven't observed many who fall outside of these selections. The Other option, when used alongside the About Me, should be sufficient for most outlier cases. 

 

While implementation of the text box itself is a trivial task, I must wonder whether it's worth the sacrifice of a convenient drop-down menu and the addition of more content for our already-overextended moderators to track. This is especially important if we consider that significant opposition does exist (relatively speaking, as a dozen or so proponents and opponents aren't representative of the community as a whole).

 

For the reasons outlined above, I personally say nay to this proposal.