On Feb. 13, Facebook announced more than 50 new options that users can set as their gender on Facebook. In addition, there are options of neutral pronouns — they, theirs and them — that the site can use in reference to each user.
The new options, which include trans, agender, genderqueer, gender fluid, cisgender and more, are a result of a project from Facebook engineer Brielle Harrison, who is currently undergoing a male-to-female transition.
Kim Hackford-Peer, a U professor in gender studies, thinks the changes were a long time coming.
“My first reaction is ‘it’s about time,’ ” Hackford-Peer said. “It’s clear that in society the two options of male and female just simply don’t work for everyone.”
Hackford-Peer also thinks the change is a good step toward social justice. She said Facebook is often used as a tool to actively engage in the community, but not having the options to identify oneself is “problematic.”
Some people have problems with the newly available gender pronouns. Christen Lane, a junior in gender studies, does not think the options are enough.
“I think it’s cool. I think it’s a good step towards visibility and knowledge and such. I don’t think it’s perfect, though,” Lane said.
Kay Jenson, a senior in psychology, thinks the changes are progressive but is upset about the lack of options in the profile section “interested in,” which is used to identify who a user is attracted to.
“I thought it was very freeing, but it still [has] limitations,” Jenson said. “The day that it came out, I looked at it and changed my gender option, but it says, ‘What are you interested in?’ And it still just has male or female.”
David Gandy, a sophomore in computer science, does not understand why there are so many options. He said the 50 choices seem like “a lot.”
“I don’t know what all the options are, so I’m probably not going to change mine,” Gandy said. “Plus, I don’t want to have to pick through 50 … It’s interesting to see what options there are.”
Hackford-Peer believes the changes will bring much more publicity to those who identify outside of the gender binary of male or female.
“Seeing all these other options available is an invitation to stop and think about what you take for granted or what you don’t know about the world, or maybe what you do know but haven’t ever really thought about,” she said. “I’ve heard some really good conversations among people that have kind of grown out of that announcement.”
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