Duplicate Add Transgender and Intersexual to gender options

[Alpha1]

Transgender and Intersexual people feel the available gender options in xenforo are not applicable to them and therefore xenforo has no suited gender options. I would like to offer such gender options to them.

Please add this simple function to xenforo.

Mods: please consider that the only other suggestion related to gender asks for permissions and has multiple suggestions in the same thread. So please let this one stand.

 

[xIsabel38]

I remember a discussion about this a while ago but I guess I'm a little confused. Like isn't a transgender now identifying themselves as the opposite sex? So for example if a male became a female wouldn't he (she) choose female as the gender? And vice versa for women whom become men?

 

[Alpha1]

A completely changed transgender could identify with the opposite sex. But there seem to be many shades of grey. So anyone not completely changed to a specific m/f gender is neither male nor female.

 

[xIsabel38]

I would just assume that if they are changing (albeit not there yet) that they would simply choose the gender they will ultimately be, or hope for.

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I knew I had a conversation about this before:

On a light Background it should work fine, if you need a dark background version we would have to black matte it.

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This add-on provides a way to visually deal with this topic if that is something that may interest you. Obviously, you'd have to do some work for your members that don't identify but maybe it can help for now since XF doesn't have the option?

 

[Amaury]

This can already be accomplished with custom user fields.

Although since we're on the subject, I personally feel XenForo should change the gender phrase to sex. Sex is your biological form while gender is what you identify as. When people choose male or female on places like forums, Facebook, etc., I think it's a fair bet they're referring to their biological form. There's nothing wrong with using gender for a person's biological form, and a lot of places do that, but sex is more accurate.

I may make a suggestion about the phrase at some point, actually.

 

[mistypants]

I remember a discussion about this a while ago but I guess I'm a little confused. Like isn't a transgender now identifying themselves as the opposite sex? So for example if a male became a female wouldn't he (she) choose female as the gender? And vice versa for women whom become men?

Yes, that is true. Many trans people do choose to hold the trans identifier (e.g. someone may choose to identify as a transwoman or simply as a woman, or both). This is why, when being more inclusive with gender options, there is usually no simple "male" or "female." For those whose gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth, you would say they are a cisgender male or cisgender female.

I personally feel XenForo should change the gender phrase to sex. Sex is your biological form while gender is what you identify as. When people choose male or female on places like forums, Facebook, etc., I think it's a fair bet they're referring to their biological form. There's nothing wrong with using gender for a person's biological form, and a lot of places do that, but sex is more accurate.

I may make a suggestion about the phrase at some point, actually.

You are supporting a cisgender normative here, which by nature others trans, intersex, genderfluid, etc. people. When a website asks you for your gender, they are asking you for your gender. Not your sex. If a person misunderstands the terms, well, that's unfortunate, but that's not the forum software's fault or inaccuracy. Unless you're running a medical forum, it's probably not important for you to know a person's sex (though I suppose if you really want to give your users the option to specify that, you could make a custom field for it). Gender is different. Gender affects how we see ourselves and how others perceive us, socially -- hence, it is asked for, and displayed, on a social website (like a forum).

Disclaimer: I am cisgendered and though I am involved in gender/women's studies, I may have an incorrect understanding of these things -- so anyone please feel free to correct me.

 

[Amaury]

You are supporting a cisgender normative here, which by nature others trans, intersex, genderfluid, etc. people. When a website asks you for your gender, they are asking you for your gender. Not your sex. If a person misunderstands the terms, well, that's unfortunate, but that's not the forum software's fault or inaccuracy. Unless you're running a medical forum, it's probably not important for you to know a person's sex (though I suppose if you really want to give your users the option to specify that, you could make a custom field for it). Gender is different. Gender affects how we see ourselves and how others perceive us, socially -- hence, it is asked for, and displayed, on a social website (like a forum).

So all these years I've been wrong. Thanks for the correction.

I mean, I and many others (like yourself) know the difference between sex and gender, but I always thought that they were using gender interchangeably in the cases of forums, social websites, etc., actually (a small correction to what I previously said). Like, people will see "male" on my profile and automatically assume I am a male, if that makes sense, but it was actually people understanding it wrong from reading your post.

 

[xIsabel38]

I didn't know the difference. I always just thought a man was a man and a woman was a woman.

 

[tyteen4a03]

I didn't know the difference. I always just thought a man was a man and a woman was a woman.

Some may identify to neither. As @mistypants explained, sexual identity != gender identity, but people use them interchangeably.

 

[Jeremy]

Let's leave the discussion of gender identity out of this.

 

[xIsabel38]

It's just interesting to learn that there is so much more to it than what I had originally thought. I guess knowing all of this now, it would make sense to expand the options of the core software to suit. I can't imagine it would be a major addition.

 

[Paul B]

This has already been suggested.

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/gender-options.77005/

 

[Lisa]

Personally, I'd be more inclined to remove the Gender option completely. 99% of sites don't care if you're male, female, in transition from one or the other, want to be one but are the other, are both, are neither (did I cover everything?) all they care about is that you have an interest in the subject you're registering at the site for. I know I don't want to have to trawl through a million options to pick my gender, I'd rather just not bother at all.

 

[Martok]

Personally, I'd be more inclined to remove the Gender option completely. 99% of sites don't care if you're male, female, in transition from one or the other, want to be one but are the other, are both, are neither (did I cover everything?) all they care about is that you have an interest in the subject you're registering at the site for. I know I don't want to have to trawl through a million options to pick my gender, I'd rather just not bother at all.

Some sites will want it though, I've read a few posts on these forums over the last year where people have commented on how they use them.

I think the best option, if this were to be implemented, would be to ship with the current gender options but allow for configuration in the ACP for those who need a wider range as well as the ability to switch it off altogether for those who don't want it.

 

[Lisa]

Some sites will want it though, I've read a few posts on these forums over the last year where people have commented on how they use them.

That's kinda my point. Some sites - but 99% of them won't. Gender is irrelevant on most forums. Hell, I often discuss things with people on here that I think are one gender and then they'll say something which makes me realise they're the other. Do I go rushing to check which option they've checked? Nope. Would it change how I spoke to them if I found out they were something other than the standard generic option of Male or Female? Nope.

I think the best option, if this were to be implemented, would be to ship with the current gender options but allow for configuration in the ACP for those who need a wider range as well as the ability to switch it off altogether for those who don't want it.

I just don't see the point - if people want to add it (and the sites who do are in the minority) then they can already do so with custom options.

 

[Martok]

I just don't see the point - if people want to add it (and the sites who do are in the minority) then they can already do so with custom options.

If gender options weren't already built into XenForo then that would be fair enough to argue that they shouldn't be added. However they are already there, so to me it seems to make more sense to enhance the options than to remove them. I think we should leave removing XenForo features to others.

 

[Lisa]

If gender options weren't already built into XenForo then that would be fair enough to argue that they shouldn't be added. However they are already there, so to me it seems to make more sense to enhance the options than to remove them. I think we should leave removing XenForo features to others.

The problem with adding to the options is where does it end? Once you've added the multitude of genders that seem to be getting added to year after year, will we then see demands for Ethnicity and other irrelevant things? Where does it end? I don't know about you but I want to register at a forum, not fill in what will end up looking like some government form.

 

[Martok]

The problem with adding to the options is where does it end? Once you've added the multitude of genders that seem to be getting added to year after year, will we then see demands for Ethnicity and other irrelevant things? Where does it end? I don't know about you but I want to register at a forum, not fill in what will end up looking like some government form.

Which is why I have suggested making it configurable. Keep it as it is but with the option for those admins who want to to add additional gender options plus the option for other admins like you to be able to turn the whole thing off.

 

[Lisa]

Which is why I have suggested making it configurable. Keep it as it is but with the option for those admins who want to to add additional gender options plus the option for other admins like you to be able to turn the whole thing off.

Custom Fields... tada.. the option is already there if someone wants the additional options badly enough

 

[Martok]

Custom Fields... tada.. the option is already there if someone wants the additional options badly enough

The option to switch it off entirely isn't though.