Calling out use of "gender"

[drspouse]

Two instances today:
Booking travel through work - I booked a hotel room (just for me) and was asked what my "gender" was. I chose "no response" or "undeclared" or whatever it was.
I am assuming that in some circumstances I might be asked to share a room (e.g. if 10s of people from the same site are going to the same conference). I do NOT want to be asked to share a room with someone biologically male.

Applying for a holiday club for DS who is 6. Asks what gender he identifies with. I changed it (Word form) to SEX and put Male.
Little acts of rebellion...

I change all the paper forms I can from gender to sex.
It’s insidious. Gives me the rage.

I am totally with you on this I correct every form I can and everyone who asks in person or over the phone

I completed a paper form at my dentists the other day.
Sex: check box Male or check box Female

So simple but so rare!

I filled out a form at the doctor's a few months ago. 'Gender: female (includes trans women) or male (includes trans men).'
Interestingly though, on the final page, there was a section entitled 'women only' which was about pregnancy, periods, smear tests and hysterectomies. Clearly my surgery only half fell down the rabbit hole. Pity the trans men though, who thought that the form would adopt the trans ideology throughout, and immediately skipped a section that is hugely important to their overall health.

I went to the theatre last week and afterwards was sent a feedback form. I said I appreciated that they had 3 set of toilets, male female and unisex, but I didn't have a gender and my sex is female.

They are probably confused as the feedback form was emailed to DH, and his name is clearly male

I never seem to have to complete paper forms, just online ones so can’t cross out “Gender”. Instead, I’m putting “other” instead of “female”, on the basis that I don’t have a gender identity. My university recently completed it annual staff survey process, and I’m told that the senior management is scratching its collective head as to why so many people have ticked the “other” box this year for the gender question. I guess there are a lot of TERFy women amongst us! Not that anyone working in a university would dare to declare themselves gender critical these days.

I've just done an online form (a university) which had "Gender: M/F" and then lower down "Is your gender identity the same as the gender you were originally assigned at birth: Y/N/Prefer Not To Say".

They're compulsory fields, so I've done F and then Prefer Not To Say.

If only I could take a Sharpie to the computer screen.

I leave comments on YouGov polls - they ask"what is your gender? Male or female".

I explain to them what they actually want to know is my SEX.

HTH

MNHQ should actually address this themselves, if you look on your account page

On behalf of HQ

Oh that's bad red

Shall I post on Site Stuff?

I'm glad it's not just me. Today was my first day of doing this, I changed it on a form from 'Gender' to 'Sex'.

I also spoke with my child's school recently as, when telling us about the PSHE stuff, they referred to gender. She told me they do it as they refer to actual sex as sex and it would confuse. I can see that but then perhaps they should refer to sex as sexual intercourse. Anyway I have started educating my 2 on all this so they will understand sex and gender perfectly well.

Actually it would really mess up figures everywhere if all women started putting 'would rather not say' or 'other'.

My friends are getting very fed up with me going on at them with "don't say gender when you mean sex." But they have started correcting themselves...

I leave no gender box unsexed and have now taken to not only writing 'sex' on forms but explaining why.

I'm escalating

I change paper forms all the time

I sometimes write in an entirely unrelated field.

I’ve just applied for a new passport.

Both the paper form and the online form ask for “gender”, yet the physical passport still says “sex”.

I phoned the passport office to ask them about this. I said I don’t have a gender so if I were to check the “gender: female” box it would be a lie. The person I spoke to was very nice and he said I could leave the box blank because my current passport says “sex: female” so they already know I’m female.

He also said if a man identifies as female and ticks the “gender: female” box it is then converted to “sex: female” on their passport.

I asked how this could be, as it would be a lie and the passport is a legal document. He said it’s primarily a document for identification purposes so having “sex female” on your passport is fine if you’re a TIM.

I suppose they might reply that they actually are asking about gender? To which there needs to be a third box saying "it's a made up construct".

As my favourite lecturer used to tell us: words have gender, people have sex

Last week, I picked up a leaflet in the local pharmacy that explained how, amongst other things, gender affects your risk of high blood pressure.

It certainly affects mine

Last week, I picked up a leaflet in the local pharmacy that explained how, amongst other things, gender affects your risk of high blood pressure

It certainly affects mine

Mine too

I correct it to sex where I can, and if asked what I identify as, I write "I don't identify as anything, but I am a woman".

I worry that selecting "other" and "prefer not to say" just encourages it to proliferate. But hard to know how else to tackle it...

We've become a nation of "oooh they said sex" 😂😂😂.

So we use gender instead of sex so people aren't "embarrassed".

I filled out a form at the doctor's a few months ago. 'Gender: female (includes trans women) or male (includes trans men).'

I asked how this could be, as it would be a lie and the passport is a legal document. He said it’s primarily a document for identification purposes so having “sex female” on your passport is fine if you’re a TIM.

I can (almost) not believe the fucking doctors and passport office do not want to know if we are male or female.

Yup. Crossed out 'Gender' and wrote out 'Sex' on my Ante-natal clinic forms the other day. Had to do it about 5 times too.

Was impressed with DC's school admission form which did have 'Sex'

I'm pretty sure DS' DLA form had Sex.