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Original poster

Mumsnet registration ‘male’ ‘female’ ‘UNSPECIFIED’ ‘prefer not to say’

61 replies

Fuchsiaplant · 05/08/2023 08:23

Been lurking for a while, and registered to comment on another thread.

However, was slightly horrified when I went to register.

How can you be “Unspecified”?

You are either male or female.

Come on mumsnet. You can do better than this. For a site that is called ‘Mumsnet’, it must surely understand that you are either male or female.

If it wants to fall down the sex/ gender rabbit hole, have two sections on registration.

ie,
sex - male or female

gender / what you identify as - male, female, cat, pigeon etc

Was horrified that Mumsnet has fallen on the first hurdle.

(Taking bets on how long this thread will stay up)

Mumsnet registration ‘male’ ‘female’ ‘UNSPECIFIED’ ‘prefer not to say’
OP posts:
AnSolas · 05/08/2023 08:24

Bump😁

RaidFlySpray · 05/08/2023 08:25

Oh for God's sake, unclench. How someone else identifies on a registration form that is completely anonymous has absolutely no bearing on your life.

clary · 05/08/2023 08:26

Also why is male listed first? Alphabetical? Nope. Most common? Er, nope. Especially not on this site. Most important? Ah there it is!

This a big bugbear of mine.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families
pbdr · 05/08/2023 08:28

To be honest I find it hard to get worked up about this. Unspecified just means you're not specifying a gender. That might be because you don't feel your gender fits into one of the two standard options, but it might also just be because you don't feel it is relevant to a Mumsnet registration and would prefer not to specify. Presumably a trans person would just choose the gender that they identified with rather than unspecified.

Locutus2000 · 05/08/2023 08:31

It's entirely optional and no different to the demographic data all companies collect.

GrumpyPanda · 05/08/2023 08:37

pbdr · 05/08/2023 08:28

To be honest I find it hard to get worked up about this. Unspecified just means you're not specifying a gender. That might be because you don't feel your gender fits into one of the two standard options, but it might also just be because you don't feel it is relevant to a Mumsnet registration and would prefer not to specify. Presumably a trans person would just choose the gender that they identified with rather than unspecified.

What you say would make sense if it weren't for the fact that there are separate "unspecified" and "prefer not to say" options.

coreas · 05/08/2023 08:37

How can you be “Unspecified”?

You are either male or female.

It's a choice, surely?

They are not suggesting ones sex is unspecified. The option is there for people who choose not to specify their sex when signing up.

ZiriForEver · 05/08/2023 08:47

pbdr · 05/08/2023 08:28

To be honest I find it hard to get worked up about this. Unspecified just means you're not specifying a gender. That might be because you don't feel your gender fits into one of the two standard options, but it might also just be because you don't feel it is relevant to a Mumsnet registration and would prefer not to specify. Presumably a trans person would just choose the gender that they identified with rather than unspecified.

The form isn't asking about gender.
You can have as complex relationship with concept of gender as you wish, but you still know your sex.

Prefer not to specify is literally the option number four.

Vitriolinsanity · 05/08/2023 08:48

How will you get through your day OP?

But jolly well done for finding a fault on your first try. Have 🎖️

ohtobeme · 05/08/2023 09:26

Think it's a great way of giving options to people who are not comfortable with their sex or don't want to announce it everyday ?

Original poster
Fuchsiaplant · 05/08/2023 09:49

GrumpyPanda · 05/08/2023 08:37

What you say would make sense if it weren't for the fact that there are separate "unspecified" and "prefer not to say" options.

Show quote history

This.

if you don’t want to announce your sex/gender use the ‘ prefer not to say’ option.

what does ‘unspecified’ mean in this sense?

OP posts:
Charlotteowensdodgydad · 05/08/2023 09:57

Sorry but who really cares ?
And you know what it means so stop with the faux naivety.

SoupDragon · 05/08/2023 10:03

Fuchsiaplant · 05/08/2023 09:49

This.

if you don’t want to announce your sex/gender use the ‘ prefer not to say’ option.

what does ‘unspecified’ mean in this sense?

Show quote history

Why do you care? If you don't know what it means then it isn't the option for you.

RumandSpinach · 05/08/2023 10:04

It's a form on the internet, not entry to a women's refuge.

Given its a parenting site I'd guess most 'unspecified' are going to be females who identify as a man/non binary but are parents and want sleep advice at 3am.

SoupDragon · 05/08/2023 10:09

ZiriForEver · 05/08/2023 08:47

The form isn't asking about gender.
You can have as complex relationship with concept of gender as you wish, but you still know your sex.

Prefer not to specify is literally the option number four.

Show quote history

Where does it say that it is asking about your sex?

ohtobeme · 05/08/2023 10:13

Why should anyone have to state their sex ?

I mean it helps MN perhaps understand the user base which helps get advertisers but it's bloody irrelevant and I am so pissed off with people who think it has relevance i when it doesn't

In my experience they Tend to be people who make assumptions based on sex

80sMum · 05/08/2023 10:20

They could perhaps ask two questions.

  1. Which sex were you assigned at birth? Male/Female/Prefer not to say
  2. Which gender do you identify with now? Man/Woman/Non Binary/Prefer not to say

I think the name of the site is historical, in that it was originally aimed at mothers. Nowadays, it takes all sorts!

SoupDragon · 05/08/2023 10:26

Nowadays, it takes all sorts!

It has always accepted everyone, whatever their sex.

AlisonDonut · 05/08/2023 10:26

One of Mumsnet's directors is also director of the Good Law [Laugh] Project, which is unquestioningly down the rabbit hole, and taking other people's money to pay themselves to try and prove it [and relentlessly paying themselves to fail, again relentlessly].

BriocheForBreakfast · 05/08/2023 10:26

Where does it say that it is asking about your sex?

We know it is asking about sex because male and female are sex categories.

ohtobeme · 05/08/2023 10:30

But they don't need to ask two questions

And I am actually glad they don't bother asking about gender

Charlotteowensdodgydad · 05/08/2023 12:09

@AlisonDonut don’t use the site then if you have moral objections.

SoupDragon · 05/08/2023 12:31

BriocheForBreakfast · 05/08/2023 10:26

Where does it say that it is asking about your sex?

We know it is asking about sex because male and female are sex categories.

They are also gender categories.

VeridicalVagabond · 05/08/2023 12:35

Really. You were "horrified" by this? I'm GC but you must be a really delicate flower to find this horrifying.

ZiriForEver · 05/08/2023 12:39

SoupDragon · 05/08/2023 10:09

Where does it say that it is asking about your sex?

Show quote history

Male and female are words describing sex based categories, they are used for all biological kinds, not only humans.

Women and men are used for gender.

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