Facebook introduced new gender options , making the site more user-friendly to people who don’t identify strictly as male or female. They were also given the option of not answering or keeping their gender private.User’s can now select a “custom” gender option.allowing people to identify themselves as something other than male or female.
Facebook worked closely with LGBT activist groups to compile the new list of gender-identity options. Facebook also added a new privacy option that lets users select who sees their gender:
“We also have added the ability for people to control the audience with whom they want to share their custom gender. We recognize that some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way.”
This lets users block certain less tolerant people from seeing their gender identity.
LGBT community in India can use this as one more additional leverage to force the government to amend the section 377 of IPC.
LGBTQ-Friendly Gender Identity
Here’s what Facebook’s new gender options mean.
Agender: Also known as “genderless,” “non-gender” or “neutrois,” agender describes a person who is internally ungendered or does not have a felt sense of gender identity.
Androgyne: A person appearing and/or identifying as neither man nor woman, presenting a gender that’s either mixed or neutral. This is actually one of our older terms for talking about gender: The first known use was in 1651. It’s a combination of the Greek words for “man” and “woman”; interestingly, queen — a term that also has connotations for gender and sexuality — comes from similar Greek roots.
Bigender: Also called “gender fluid,” a person who alternates between identification with male, female and mixed gender states.
Cis/cisgender: A person who identifies with the gender assigned at birth. According to Cristan Williams, the editor-in-chief of TransAdvocate and a researcher of trans history, the “cis” prefix, as applied to gender, has been in use (albeit obscure use) since the early 20th century. It comes from a Latin term meaning “on this side.”
Female to male/FTM: A person who is transitioning from female to male, in terms of gender, sex or both.
Gender fluid: A person whose gender identification shifts.
Gender Nonconforming/Variant: A person who doesn’t conform to social expectations of gender expression.
Gender Questioning: A person who is unsure of their gender identification, or who is experimenting with different genders.
Genderqueer: A person whose gender identity is neither man nor woman, is between or beyond genders, or is some combination of genders. “Queer” is an old word — dating back to the early 16th century — and its early application to LGBT people was often derogatory, as in its original meaning: “Differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal.” In the past 20 years, however, the term has been reclaimed by advocates — though Merriam-Webster cautions that some academics still find it offensive.
Intersex: People who are born with sexual characteristics (sex chromosomes, “sex chromosomes,” external genitalia, or internal reproductive systems) that aren’t considered “standard” for either male or female. The first known use was in 1866.
Male to Female/MTF: A person who is transitioning from male to female, in terms of gender, sex or both.
Non-binary: An umbrella term used to describe gender experiences, expressions and identities that fall outside of the male/female gender binary.
Pangender: A person whose gender identity is comprised of all or many gender expressions.
Trans: An umbrella term for gender identities that aren’t cis, including transsexuals, transvestites, genderqueers and others. Trans as a gender identifier entered the vernacular in the late 1950s; the prefix, which comes from the Latin term for “across” or “beyond,” was previously in wide usage elsewhere.
Transgender: A person whose gender identity differs from the social expectations for the physical sex they were born with.
Trans Man/Male: Trans individuals who identify as men, and were not assigned a male gender identity at birth.
Trans woman/female: Trans individuals who identify as women, and were not assigned a female gender identity at birth.
Transfeminine: Trans individuals who identify with femininity, and may or may not identify as (trans) women.
Transmasculine: Trans individuals who identify with masculinity, and may or may not identify as (trans) men.
Transsexual: A person who experiences a mismatch of the sex they were born as, and the sex they identify as. Some, but not all, transsexuals undergo medical treatment to match their physical sex and gender identity.
Two-Spirit: A Native American or First Nation person who has the attributes of both men and women. Historically, two-spirit people have distinct gender and social roles in their tribes. While the term “two-spirit” was only reclaimed by Native American activists in the 1990s, Walter Williams — a historian and anthropologist who has written a book on two-spirit people — says their role dates back to pre-European times.
Here’s a List of 50+ Gender Options for Facebook Users
- Agender
- Androgyne
- Androgynous
- Bigender
- Cis
- Cisgender
- Cis Female
- Cis Male
- Cis Man
- Cis Woman
- Cisgender Female
- Cisgender Male
- Cisgender Man
- Cisgender Woman
- Female to Male
- FTM
- Gender Fluid
- Gender Nonconforming
- Gender Questioning
- Gender Variant
- Genderqueer
- Intersex
- Male to Female
- MTF
- Neither
- Neutrois
- Non-binary
- Other
- Pangender
- Trans
- Trans*
- Trans Female
- Trans* Female
- Trans Male
- Trans* Male
- Trans Man
- Trans* Man
- Trans Person
- Trans* Person
- Trans Woman
- Trans* Woman
- Transfeminine
- Transgender
- Transgender Female
- Transgender Male
- Transgender Man
- Transgender Person
- Transgender Woman
- Transmasculine
- Transsexual
- Transsexual Female
- Transsexual Male
- Transsexual Man
- Transsexual Person
- Transsexual Woman
- Two-Spirit
Sources : wdtprs.com. Techcrunch. Washington Post. Time. Indianexpress