I've been thinking about this for a while now. Why is the option Transgender - MtF/FtM written like that? Wouldn't something like Transman/Transwoman, FtM/MtF or Male/Female (trans*) be more accurate? Transgender is an umbrella term, not a gender, and it seems kind of odd to me to have the word Transgender first and the actual gender second. I do know that there is this neat little box in which anyone can type what they prefer (and it's awesome, guys, really!) but I can't help but wish that it'd be changed. Am I alone on that?
Honestly, the reason it is that way is because I pulled it out of thin air about 4 years ago after the previous setting was criticised. It was previously displayed in the 'orientation' box as a sexual identity, and when the flaw in that was pointed out to me I quickly came up with the setting that you've commented on above. Unfortunately, at that time I didn't have an ounce of the knowledge on gender identity support that I currently have (still far from perfect at this point too), nor did EC have an established Trans* block in its membership base who could have assisted the staff team in developing appropriate 'labels' for these options. Thankfully the open text box has bridged that gap, but if the current gender labels for Trans* identities aren't appropriate and can be improved then I'm all ears. Tisn't a difficult change to implement, so if members can agree on an appropriate solution to the issue then we can certainly look at getting it implemented, whether that be the suggestion above or another agreed variation.
A poll would certainly be useful, but there'll need to be some sort of consultation beforehand so that people can suggest any alternative ideas for how to go about solving the issue. You don't, after all, want to get halfway through polling your idea just to have somebody else post a new idea that others support. At least if there's a collection of ideas in one poll following a consultation then we have a much clearer understanding of what the general consensus is amongst the site from that poll result.
I agree with making a change. For a number of reasons, perhaps chief among them the fact that I oppose the terms FTM and MTF in general. They aren't genders, they describe a process, and for people to label themselves as ftm or mtf instead of simply male or female makes me feel as if they're being forced to reject the idea of actually being men and women, having to be 'almost men' and 'almost' women. I do concede that is looking quite deeply into the terms, and I know that isn't what is intended by their use here, but you get what I mean, or at least I hope you do. The above is what led me to writing my own gender as I do, Male (trans), and then some people did the same. I'd support that format being used, or something similar. As the OP said, I know there is a custom gender box, which is awesome and very necessary, but I still feel that the presets should be amended, because I feel that the language we are given to describe ourselves is important.
I don't mind someone using my idea so long as everything goes well. I will make a poll in the Chit Chat thread asking people whether they'd like to see the options changed and ask them to suggest ideas if so.
^ This 100%. I'm eternally thankful for the custom box, but the default choices need to be updated for the reasons Hexagon stated.
Yeah. I'm with all of this. Could we also add other genders such as bigender, trigender, pangender, androgyne, agender, and possibly Hijra?
If it was changed to, say "trans male" and "trans female", would some people feel like we're declaring them "less than" male or female, or something like that? There's definitely nothing stopping a trans* person from selecting the simple "male"/"female" option rather than "trans male"/"trans female". I just want to find out what's most reasonable and least othering or offensive for everyone.
Personally, I wouldn't be offended. I myself fully identify as male but feel that making the distinction I'm transgender is integral to my identity and helps clarify to other users that I'm not coming from a cismale perspective. But again, just me. I'm sure there are plenty of transgender users on EC who simply select "male"/"female" (and know a couple) as opposed to making that distinction.
Well, like you said, there's always an option for us to chose just vanilla male or female. And leaving it as Trans* does cover Transgender and Transsexual. I think a lot of us choose to identify as a Trans* male/female while on here to help other Trans* people identify that they can talk to us about gender stuff.
If I had my way I would change the Male/Female options to Boy/Girl or Man/Woman, because I like to keep Male and Female reserved for referring to sex, and having distinct terms for gender. I'm probably the only one who thinks this though.
