Facebook adds new gender option for users: fill in the blank


Facebook users who don't fit any of the 58 gender identity options offered by the social media giant are now being given a rather big 59th option: fill in the blank.
"Now, if you do not identify with the pre-populated list of gender identities, you are able to add your own," said a Facebook announcement published online Thursday morning and shared in advance with The Associated Press.
Facebook software engineer Ari Chivukula, who identifies as transgender and was part of the team that made the free-form option, thinks the change will lead to more widespread acceptance of people who don't identify themselves as a man or woman.
"We're hoping this will open up the dialogue," Chivukula said.
Alison C.K. Fogarty, a gender identity researcher at Stanford University, said giving users control over the words describing their gender is a significant step in social recognition of a growing trans community, especially coming from the world's largest social media company.
"People are still fighting to make room for gender identity within the socially constructed binary of male and female," Fogarty said. "Labels and identities are powerful in that they give a sense of community, a way of articulating one's experience."
In February 2014, Facebook expanded gender identity from male and female to a list of dozens of options, including Androgyne, Gender Fluid, Intersex, Neither and Transgender. Those choices will all still be available.
People who choose a custom gender can also choose the pronoun they would like to be referred to publicly: he/his, she/her or they/their.
Facebook has a setting for users to control the audience who sees their gender.
Last year's changes created an online stir, with thousands of comments — some grateful, others confused or hostile. But staff at Facebook said there was full support to take it even further this year, from CEO Mark Zuckerberg on down.
As of Thursday, the free-form option rolled out to U.S. users, while the custom gender identity option with a list of words was available in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Argentina and Denmark.
One thing that has not changed is an "interested in" option for Facebook users to define whom they might want to date. That option still only allows men or women, but users can click both options, one option or neither option. They can also hide it entirely.
Facebook, which has 1.23 billion active monthly users around the world, would not release how many users have chosen gender identity options beyond man or woman, citing privacy concerns and a general practice of not sharing user information.
The Williams Institute, a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles, estimates there are at least 700,000 people in the U.S. who identify as transgender, an umbrella term that includes people who live as a gender different from the one assigned to them at birth.
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of the advocacy group GLAAD, said that the past few years have brought "real movement in trans visibility" and that Facebook has been a leader in making that happen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I Wake Up Early (And 9 Reasons You Should Do So Too)

Here are 9 reasons why I say this: 1. Get a head start When you wake up at 5am, you start your day earlier than 99.9% of the world — hence giving you a head start in your day. This creates a feel-good factor, which, while psychological, creates a host of positive effects (especially for reasons #2 and #3 in the list). After all, a good start is half the battle won. It will motivate you to stay ahead so you can maintain or even widen the lead. For example, my modus operandi when I wake up early is to work on the high-impact tasks right away, as opposed to the small, easy but unimportant tasks. I will also think and work effectively, and strive to end my day earlier so that I can have an early sleep, wake up early the next day, and continue my “head start.” On the whole, I’d say that I’m more forward thinking and proactive in managing my tasks — since I have a head start in my day, I naturally think about how I can be ahead in my work too. On the other hand, when I wake up ...
Read more
Image
How to Get Chromecast Wallpapers on PC and Android Ads by Google Chromecast is great for streaming all kinds of online and local media . Even when you’re not using it, Chromecast can serve as a digital frame of sorts, with awesome photographs, images from satellites, and even your personal photos. Without any setup, Chromecast will cycle through its curated collection of wallpapers . There aren’t many (less than 1000), but each one of them is awesome. I love this about Chromecast and I’m not alone. If you’ve ever thought to have those wallpapers on your desktop, Android or any device really, today is your lucky day. For I’m going to tell you how to spread the Chromecast wallpaper love across all the screens you own. 1. Download Chromecast Wallpapers for Desktop Alex Meub has created a website that curates the Chromecast wallpapers in question. You can browse through all of them and download the ones that particularly strike your fancy. There’s also ...
Read more

NASA unveils seasonal dust storm pattern on Mars

Image
NASA unveils seasonal dust storm pattern on Mars Improving the ability to predict large-scale, potentially hazardous dust storms on Mars would have safety benefits for planning robotic and human missions to the planet's surface. NASA's Mars orbiters have unveiled a pattern of large regional dust storms occurring at about the same times each year, an advance that may help predict these hazardous events during future robotic and human missions to the red planet. After decades of research to discern seasonal patterns in Martian dust storms from images showing the dust, but the clearest pattern appears to be captured by measuring the temperature of the red planet's atmosphere. For six recent Martian years, temperature records from NASA Mars orbiters reveal a pattern of three types of large regional dust storms occurring in sequence at about the same times each year during the southern hemisphere spring and summer. Each Martian year lasts about two Ea...
Read more