Dearest MNHQ, please please please would you...

It's sex.

Use the proper word, MNHQ, don't be squeamish.

Yes, please change it.

It's a pointless question, surely.

It doesn't matter what gender someone is, as the word is completely meaningless these days. Well, at best.

At worst, it reinforces ridiculous stereotypes, perpetuated by advertising companies, and the trans community.

Given that my two are now 51 and 48 I won't be filling that section in, but I'm another who won't respond to any question which talks about gender. SEX is observed at birth and that should be enough.

I agree ErrolTheDragon, but it doesn’t take much to offend the woke.

We all know MNHQ are constantly being harassed by the TRAs, so it makes sense that they don’t want to be accused of ‘transphobia’, by using the word SEX! 🙄

Yes, but there's no reason at all to use the word 'gender' which is seriously offensive to many regular MNers. They've nicely worked out how to avoid using either for the poster - it just says 'I am' with a choice (iirc female/Male/prefer not to say) - so, surely not impossible to do something similar for the children section?
Heading 'they are', then choices (f/m/PNTS, or G/B/PNTS) and 'born'...

We all know MNHQ are constantly being harassed by the TRAs, so it makes sense that they don’t want to be accused of ‘transphobia’, by using the word SEX! 🙄

@LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD

Unless they put an open text box there (I’m ‘superspacevixen’ gender - well today anyway).

Green-eyed with !!!

ps. SEX not gender!

Are MNHQ going to comment on this? Have reported my post as totally agree gender is meaningless and sex is real

Targetted ads aimed at kids based on 'gender' would be a very poor show, not sure there are many sex specific products either other than some brands of nappies

And me.

Yeah, its a bit odd given how many discussions there are about the difference between gender and sex, that MN ask for your gender. I mean, I don't really see what relevance your sex has to an online forum but I see even less relevance in them asking which stereotypes you follow. Unless its for targetted advertising or something! Gender = fmeinine, bam thousands of makeup and dress adverts.

My youngest has SN and still understands that gender is a thing that makes girls feel like they can’t do boys things, but are expected to do things like wear makeup, dresses etc. She thinks it’s ‘silly’ because she can do the same as boys. She does, however, know what SEX she is. Now that’s embarrassing MNHQ. A child with special needs recognises the difference between sex and gender, but you don’t?

Me too #Sexmatters. Sex is real.

Gender id, meh - a set of beliefs that could fluctuate by the minute.

I'm agender but by tomorrow morning could be veering towards two spirit, who knows?..... As for my kids, hoping they'll understand biological reality but they could turn out to be Wokey McWokeFace with a set of gender ids not yet made up discovered. How could I predict? So what info exactly are you trying to gather MNHQ?..

Surely if we give any info on whether our DC are girls or boys, & they are too young to have decided for themselves, we could be "violently misgendering them"? Obviously we don't want to do that, do we. So either we need to be able to give the biological sex information, or at the very least, it needs to be acknowledged that MN don't actually need to know this information about our DC.

And me #Sexmatters

Count me in. #sexmatters

It should be sex.

Not that I'm giving Mumsnet any fucking info on my children anyway though. :)

Agreed.. not everyone has a gender. But everyone has a sex.

Agreed. I change all paper forms from gender to sex as a matter of principle.

#sexmatters

(its unusable data MN and needs to be 'sex' (M/F) plus if you think its relevent, 'gender identity' with an open box (because there are many gender identities & n/a option for those children who do not have one)

I agree. Sex not gender!

Me please too.

Waiting to hear back from my local NHS service that asked on a form "What gender were you assigned at birth?" I've complained and have been told a manager will respond to me.....

I’m crossing our gender and replacing it with sex all over the place. Most recently at the hospital yesterday, where the HCA actually rolled her eyes and sighed. When I very politely asked what the problem was, she said she’d had quite a few women do that and she was supposed to note it down somewhere grin

Brilliant! It's getting noticed as long as it's not a heretics list. Well done all you ladies sending up for women.

AND yes @MNHQ, any chance of using biology instead of stereotypes? Pretty please.