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New gender options for Facebook users

18 Comments
By MARTHA MENDOZA

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18 Comments
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Will it have "Otaku". new-haafu, reptilians, geeks? You name it.

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

The guy from Focus on the Family (what is that?) does not grasp the difference between "biological sex" and "gender". There is also "orientation". You can be biologically male, identify as a male gender, and be gay in orientation. There are all kinds of variation in combination of these three (and maybe more), and to different degrees of gender and orientation identification. Life is complicated, so try grasping it in all its complexity to live successfully.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Many people are amazed to hear that there are more than two. Bit of an educational eye-opener for them, then. It's a big world out there with lots of people in't.

I went to have a look at the list. There isn't one available to me.

However, under the Basic Information section, I'm allowed to fill in my own answer about religion and politics, but relationship status is unacceptably limited, "interested in" is limited to 2 (men or women; if they're going to be impertinent enough to ask me about my sexual preferences in the first place, they should at least let me answer it myself), as is gender. It is pretty unfair, really.

But the thing is, all this hoo-ha isn't because there will be any changes at all to your own FB page. It's not like when they introduced the Timeline, when everything was turned upside down. This change doesn't affect anyone's FB experience one teeny tiny miniscule bit, if they don't use the feature.

The media are making a fuss because people think, simplistically, it's about sex.

I don't see why anyone would have any reason to be bothered by it. Whether there are 2 or 10 or 50 will only bother you if yours hasn't been included.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Options: 1)he, 2)she, 3) 99,99% of the population.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I hate to say it, but the time will come when people start campaigns to allow marriage to their pets. And actually, if that is how they feel, then I say yes let it come, it's going to happen sooner or later. I support all human interaction with this universe except that which damages the ecosphere.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

I hate to say it, but the time will come when people start campaigns to allow marriage to their pets.

Comparing a Facebook option change to bestiality. Where have we heard this 'argument' before?

. . .

Oh yeah, from ignorant people.

2 ( +10 / -8 )

the time will come when people start campaigns to allow marriage to their pets.

I'm not sure why you would ever think this, but it's doubtful for the simple reason that pets cannot give consent.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Weird. It is almost getting shameful to say you are from the USA. Sounds like a bunch of confused people trying to convince the world that you are not what you are. Along with the push for abortion and SSM, we are looking very much like some decadent country.

However, I find many people in the US are very good, kind and not confused. We have more in common with the traditional cultures of Asia and Africa. We just want to raise our children educated with proper traditional morals.

Actually, Facebook is hardly (not often) used by my teens. They have moved on to other apps. Their friends are just normal teens. I am sure they will have a laugh at all this. They know our American culture values of the common man are not the same as the priests of the media.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

So, Facebook gets more metadata to parse out under the guise of trying to look like it's more socially aware? How about a write-in block for "Relationship Status"? The handful of choices there limit my self-expression.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Ridiculous is all I can say. You are in a public area and need to use the restroom. Which one do you go into? Answer solved.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Ridiculous is all I can say. You are in a public area and need to use the restroom. Which one do you go into? Answer solved.

Yes, that's a very good example of how we'll describe how the old fogies used to talk back before we became civilized towards homosexuals. It's like when we describe out racist grandparent's thinking nowadays. Good example!

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

So, Facebook gets more metadata to parse out under the guise of trying to look like it's more socially aware?

This exactly. Can't believe more people aren't recognizing that.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Facebook is a private entity so they should do whatever they want so long as they do not infringe upon someone's rights. This is however another indication of America's decline in shared values. A large number of young people still do not buy into the Libertarian world of sex and gender political correctness. However a whole lot do.

@Marie:

Oh yeah, from ignorant people

You may not appreciate this but there actually are people that were born attracted to animals. To them it is not just another lifestyle choice. There are all kinds of people in this world. Someday society will move beyond this kind of intolerance. That said, such non-traditional sexual behaviors are not my cup of tea. Like so many other trendy sexual behaviors of the modern age those who are intolerant towards others will just have to learn to be more tolerant.

@Strangerland:

I'm not sure why you would ever think this, but it's doubtful for the simple reason that pets cannot give consent

A cow doesn't consent to be eaten so why would he/she need to give consent to marriage? Marriage is no longer the narrowly defined as you want it to be. Open your mind there is a big world out there.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

A cow doesn't consent to be eaten so why would he/she need to give consent to marriage?

Because being eaten is something that happens with food, and being married is something that happens between consenting adults.

Please tell me you were trying to be funny or something with your comment, and that you realize there is a difference between food and marriage. Because the alternative is disturbing.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

FB is like an old worn out whatever slapping on more blush and lipstick to stand out in the crowd as their market share erodes away to more interesting social media sites. If FB had a 1000 gender bender choices, someone will whine about their gender version not being represented. All this diversity is making society spiral downwards with no end in sight. Its unfortunate when companies or it's owners with unimagineable financial resources, waste it on this manure to catch the news and not make the world a better place for the 99.9% that know who and what we are.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Why does it even need to be a dropdown menu? Just let people fill in the blank as they see fit. It's like picking a religion, most have none and some have multiple religions.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

A drop-down menu allows Facebook to have a specific set of options from which advertisers can select the specific groups they want to advertise to.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Because being eaten is something that happens with food, and being married is something that happens between consenting adults.

No, marriage used to be between a consenting adult man and woman. That is no longer true. Things change; you are thinking like an old man now.

Please tell me you were trying to be funny or something with your comment, and that you realize there is a difference between food and marriage. Because the alternative is disturbing.

I was going mostly for sarcasm. That said it's still a valid point. Think about it, 30 years ago homosexual marriage was considered absurd. Marriage is wide open now. The argument for homosexual marriage makes it impossible to logically stop there. Where is the equality for a bisexual man to marry a woman and another man? This is something that the LGBT community will move on to eventually. Thinking about it, there are very few logical and defensible limits to who can marry now. If the foundational rule of marriage that it be between a man and woman is no longer operable, than why not reduce the age of consent to say 16? Why not allow two people who are related marry to one another - as long as they are consenting adults. Marriage as it is defined in America now has been trivialized and it will only get more so - logic demands it now.

Eventually Facebook will be adding a long drop-down list of marriage types as well to their website.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

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