Facebook Win!

[siead_lietrathua]

figured i'd shove in grab bag since it's not really a negative thing, but still fairly cool.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/82...to-choose-from

you can now pick your gender on FB beyond male and female. you can pick cisgender if you want, but there's tons of variations of Trans, genderqueer, etc.
pretty damn cool.

[Ladeeda]

I believe you can also choose your preferred pronoun, regardless of chosen gender.

[cindybubbles]

Wow, so many choices now! I just stuck to plain old "female", though.

[telecom_goddess]

Mine hasn't changed over yet but I did see that on there and I think it's fantastic. Now they need to add more relationship statuses and it will be perfect.

[siead_lietrathua]

I believe you can also choose your preferred pronoun, regardless of chosen gender.

yep, you can pick he, she or they.

[patiokitty]

So far the change only seems to appear when you select 'English US' as your language. It will also change the way the top bar displays too. I usually leave mine set to 'English UK' as most Canadians spell things the same way as in the UK.

[Andara Bledin]

It's currently only active in the English US site with no estimate of when it might roll out to other languages or locations.

[Rapscallion]

I've got no problem with FB offering these options. I don't tend to look at how someone's profile is set up anyway - I deal with them as they present themselves.

However, I feel a bit odd. I'm 44 and thus over halfway past my expected lifespan (immortality serum - hurry up and be developed!). For all that time, at least since I became aware of the situation, I've happily regarded myself as male.

Someone else feels they are different and it's cool that they want their own terminology with which they can be comfortable. My problem is that I've now sort of been redefined with an extra syllable. Was that really necessary, or did I miss something in the process?

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

You haven't been redefined, Raps. They just gave it a more specific name for conversations where the old (and inadequate) binary was insufficient.

[Kheldarson]

You haven't been redefined, Raps. They just gave it a more specific name for conversations where the old (and inadequate) binary was insufficient.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think anybody really cares if you use the binary terms instead of the cis- terms as long as you don't treat them as the only terms?

[Rapscallion]

Trust me on this, Kheldarson, there will be people taking offence.

I just don't see the need to change the established term. It's more specific, but unnecessary.

Rapscallion

[siead_lietrathua]

you don't have to change it. cis is usually just used conversationally. it's less offensive to use cis-people instead of "normal people". if using male or female offends someone you meet, give'em a slap for me .
male and female are still the facebook defaults. it's only when you go into "other" you get the options.
cis is like trans, it's just an adjective.

[SongsOfDragons]

I wonder what the etymology is? The prefix has only entered my consciousness recently (though I must have heard it before) and now I'm seeing it everywhere. I swear there's a thing about that XD

[TheHuckster]

I wonder what the etymology is? The prefix has only entered my consciousness recently (though I must have heard it before) and now I'm seeing it everywhere. I swear there's a thing about that XD

This (Wikipedia) might be part of the story, but I'm not sure.

[Andara Bledin]

I just don't see the need to change the established term. It's more specific, but unnecessary.

First, the established term hasn't changed. It's just gained a prefix for when you need more precision.

It's a means by which to demarginalize trans-genders in society. In situations where it matters, if it's always assumed that male equals cis-male and you only ever need to specify when talking about those who are trans-male, then you end up highlighting all trans-males for special treatment, both good and bad. It sets them apart and is, ultimately, not to be desired if you don't want to participate in casual and ingrained discrimination.