My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

What the hell does this mean?

50 replies

PJPanther · 12/05/2020 16:28

More of a WWYD than AIBU.

Completing manadatory government sign in online and instead of sex the question asked is gender (give me strength) BUT the options available are as follows;
Male
Female
Prefer not to say
Prefer to Self-Describe

They are in that order with that exact weirdness of capitalisation/punctuation.

I am leaning towards Self-Describe except it is all tick box and there is no place to write one's description.

AIBU to want somewhere to write how I describe myself in the absence of an actual definitive sex tick box?

OP posts:
Report

Am I being unreasonable?

92 votes. Final results.

POLL
You are being unreasonable
68%
You are NOT being unreasonable
32%
Pelleas · 12/05/2020 16:47

Just tick the 'self describe' option if none of the others fit. They can contact you if they need to know what your self-description is.

Report
AvoidingRealHumans · 12/05/2020 17:56

I would tick male or female depending on what I was 🤷🏼‍♀️ could tick prefer not to say if I was feeling difficult. I don't understand what is meant by self describe Confused

Report
FlamingoAndJohn · 12/05/2020 18:00

I have no problem with the first three options but what does the last one mean and how is it different to prefer not to say.

Report
PlanDeRaccordement · 12/05/2020 18:00

If the question was gender instead of sex, I’d personally, for me, tick prefer not to say.

If the question is for sex, I’d tick female

The self-describe is useless without a fill in box

Report
zscaler · 12/05/2020 18:00

It’s a catch-all term for people who aren’t male or female (agender, gender fluid, nonbinary etc.)

If one of those applies to you, use that box. If you’re male or female, use whichever of those is appropriate. If you prefer not to say, use that box.

Report
senua · 12/05/2020 18:08

I usually tick the 'prefer not to say' and then find the free-type comments box to have a rant about sex v. gender.

In this case I think that 'prefer not to say' is the answer. 'Prefer to Self-Describe' implies that you are buying into the charade.

Report
LochJessMonster · 12/05/2020 18:10

Don’t be that person

Do you identify as
Male
Female
Non binary /gender fluid
Or would you prefer not to say.

It’s really not that difficult.

Report
InfiniteSheldon · 12/05/2020 18:21

My sex is female I don't have a gender

Report
Livelovebehappy · 12/05/2020 18:22

I really couldn’t imagine giving something like this too much headspace. Guess whatever you tick isn’t probably even going to be read, or make any difference to the end result of completing the form?

Report
LochJessMonster · 12/05/2020 18:23

@InfiniteSheldon if you don’t identity with a gender then you put self describe. If you don’t wish to say, you put prefer not to say.

Report
stophuggingme · 12/05/2020 18:24

Is this for real?

Only you know what the answer really is anyway Hmm

Report
BritWifeinUSA · 12/05/2020 18:27

If “prefer not to say” is an answer then the question is obviously not important. It clearly doesn’t matter to them what gender anyone puts on the form if an acceptable answer is “pass”. So why do they bother with the question?

Report
opticaldelusion · 12/05/2020 18:44

Literally no one gives a fuck. It's just data for data's sake. Tick all four.

Report
MintyMabel · 12/05/2020 18:45

So tick prefer not to say and move on.

Report
MadamBatty · 12/05/2020 18:46

i have no gender. i am of the female sex

Report
Likethebattle · 12/05/2020 19:08

Did people start saying gender as they were a bit too genteel to say Sex? I can imagine my mil doing this.

Report
JemimaPuddleCat · 12/05/2020 19:20

I did a survey with these options earlier today - from the Child Poverty Action Group Scotland.

Report
InfiniteSheldon · 12/05/2020 19:26

Nope self describe isn't right my biology determines my sex not my opinions

Report
jellyfrizz · 12/05/2020 19:27

What is the point of collecting information about gender identity though? Why is that useful in any way? Sex, or gender reassignment yes, as they are protected characteristics and public organisations have a duty to monitor them but gender as in self-description rather than actual sex?

Report
Goatinthegarden · 12/05/2020 19:31

But, they didn’t ask what your sex is. They asked what your gender is.

Therefore, they probably don’t care about your biology.

Report
Clymene · 12/05/2020 19:38

What's the point in the question then @Goatinthegarden?

Report
LochJessMonster · 12/05/2020 19:44

Nope self describe isn't right my biology determines my sex not my opinions but they didn’t ask about your sex. They asked about your gender which is determined by opinion.
In your opinion, are you male, female, neither or other?

And its standard to gather this information for analysis of demographics.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

IcyWind · 12/05/2020 19:48

Tick prefer not to say

Report
Frlrlrubert · 12/05/2020 19:48

It's a bit like being asked for religion when you're an Atheist and the options being

Christian
Muslim
Prefer not to say
Other faith

You want to say 'none' but it doesn't quite fit anywhere.

I'd probably go with 'prefer not to say' if there was no free text box.

Report
Stingeray · 12/05/2020 19:50

Its just there so people dont get annoyedthst they have to choose between male and female. Your input wont even be included in the analysis unless there are massive numbers as there will be too few people ticking that box to make any kind of meaningful statistical analysis. Basically it doesn't matter and get over yourself.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.