Am I going to look like a complete eejit?

[ButterflyBitch]

I was trying to set up a profile for my daughter on the Zoe covid reporting app. My son has tested positive for covid and wanted to add the whole family as symptomatic etc
They asked what sex she was assigned at birth and I saw red and stopped setting it up and emailed them to say it was a ridiculous question as sex is observed. May have ranted slightly. They’re going to think I’m bonkers aren’t they? So fed up with this shit though. Just feeling a bit embarrassed now and I don’t feel well so I’m all doom and gloom.

I doubt Tim was hands on in designing the app, especially the profile set up questions which is where this inaccuracy resides. Probably delegated to some super woke post graduates who were long since indoctrinated to be afraid to ask people’s sex lest it is seen as offensive. Yet they work in the field of medical research. What a world.

I'm sure you're right iheartjennimurray (so do I!) Tim definitely knows that the sex matters in medical resesrch.

Maybe if pandering to the identity lobby doesn't give you the easy life you'd hoped for people will stop doing it and design questions that are accessible to both gender believers and nonbelievers.

Think this is true. The reason so much goes against women is because there are a small number of fanatical men, and a larger number of hypervigilant teens following their lead, who delight in kicking up a huge fuss every single time. For most of us, it goes against the grain to kick up a fuss, but we have to stand together and do it because what we do have is numbers.

And yes, its a pity that useful studies are being messed up, but it’s the same as in women’s sport. If we don’t object, the situation will get worse.

So thank you OP. Hope you feel better soon and sorry the system is letting you down.

Thanks everyone. Reggiano We’ve all had tests and waiting on the results, I will put results on the test and trace app and I will record my result on Zoe app as I’m already on there. I just won’t add my daughter on to Zoe app

@ButterflyBitch

Thanks everyone. Reggiano We’ve all had tests and waiting on the results, I will put results on the test and trace app and I will record my result on Zoe app as I’m already on there. I just won’t add my daughter on to Zoe app

As long as you're all safe that's what matters. Didn't realise the zoe app was just a study, so excuse my ignorance there

@AdultHumanFemale

I was shocked to see 'gender' on my DC's flu vaccination consent forms recently. I rang school and emailed the company to register my objection. I think it's important to make the point.

I had this too recently. I emailed in to question it complain and got the following response:

"To ensure the safe provision of any medical treatment such as an immunisation, we have checks in place to confirm that we have correctly identified the person in question. This is usually done by ensuring that the child’s name, date of birth, sex/gender matches the information stored on their health record. For example, we may have more than one patient called Sam Bloggs (which could be a male or female name) and ensuring the name, gender and date of birth all match provides a safeguard that we have correctly identified the patient in question."

I couldn't even be bothered to reply after that.

Oh dear, that's not going to help much

I was going to sign up too.
I believe and so does my GP that I had Covid19 in March/April.
I wasn't ill enough to need to be hospitalised treatment and there weren't any tests in the community. We were too scared to leave the house as I work with communities that were high risk.

I have been left with lots of symptoms, (still can't taste or small properly) so I thought that the Zoe app might be interesting and useful.

When I saw that question I had to stop the process, I emailed pointing out the biological realities of life and the importance of acknowledging those realities when you are dealing with bodily sickness.

Like everyone else I too was ignored.

Why ask the question if it’s not going to give statistically significant results?

I love all of you who are 'making a fuss' over this issue. Asking about 'gender' not sex, and even worse, 'sex assigned at birth' ON A MEDICAL FORM FFS is beyond stupid. I always cross out 'gender' and write 'sex' on forms. I think it's really important to challenge this lazy nonsense whenever we come across it

Tried to sign up on app today, wasn't happy with wording, and I see others here were put off as well. Looking into it sent me down a rabbit hole. It seems that in order to be "open source" the makers of the app had to sign up to a code of conduct, and that "assigned at birth" and the gender questions might have been written that way to fulfill something or other. www.contributor-covenant.org/

The questions are: Who wrote the code of conduct? How is it being interpreted? Which is more important, the Code, or the data?

My complaint letter to Prof. Spector at kcl, in part:

I am fully on board with including marginalised groups. The guidance you have signed up for and follow also says "open source projects suffer from a startling lack of diversity, with dramatically low representation by women, people of color, and other marginalised populations."

I belong to one of those groups that are described as dramatically under represented. I am not able to participate in this study because your cack-handed attempt at inclusivity makes me question your ability to go, without fear or favour, where and only where the evidence leads.

Assigned is a very particular and unhelpful wording. I prefer ‘recorded’ because it’s a neutral term. No trans person could be offended since it was recorded via a birth registration.

@thinkingaboutLangCleg

So the creators of this app, which could support the health service and protect people’s health, are willing to lose potential uptake and possibly skew their results by ignoring biology. Brilliant. OP, you’re not the eejit.

It probably never even occurred to them that some people would rather win an argument over how something is phrased than sign up to a research project that's intended to help save lives in the middle of a global emergency.

Women die because disaggregated sex data is not properly used so I think it is pretty important even during a pandemic.

In fact probably even more important now as we all know who is way down the food chain when it comes to importance in any emergency ; the ones who used to have a name to call themselves. What was it again ?

The app originally just asked for sex, I think, without the "assigned". Then it changed, I wonder why? Someone complained I guess.

It almost looks like some people would rather win an argument over how something is phrased than sign up to a research project... Imagine doing that during a global pandemic.

@334bu

Women die because disaggregated sex data is not properly used so I think it is pretty important even during a pandemic.

I don't see how using assigned as will make any difference to whether they can aggregate sex data. I get it annoys you, but surely saving lives is the priority at times like this.

I don't see how using assigned as will make any difference to whether they can aggregate sex data. I get it annoys you, but surely saving lives is the priority at times like this.

I just heard a radio ad asking men to donate blood if they've had Covid.

It didn't say, if you identify as a man, male bodied, or assigned male as birth.

Saving lives is the priority and your biological sex is relevant to that, in the research and in how the virus affects men and women. The ad didn't ask for women. Trans men could apply but they don't meet the criteria.

It probably never even occurred to them that some people would rather win an argument over how something is phrased than sign up to a research project that's intended to help save lives in the middle of a global emergency.

Research scientists engaging with the public don't consider how use of language affects results?

This was taught in the first few weeks of my degree!

What a bizarre claim.

It is not specifically asking for biological sex.

It is actually a 2 questions so if you find a way of dealing with the phrasing of one question, you will not be able to with the other, and vice versa.

I had the same issue - I report daily (and joined before they added this stupid question). I started the process to add all the other family members but ditched it when I got to the gender assigned at birth bollocks and I messaged them (received no response). So they are missing out on me reporting for a further three people every day in order to keep some blokes happy.

So they are missing out on me reporting for a further three people every day in order to keep some blokes happy.

Good for you, who cares if people die, owning the trans is the real priority here.

@MrsFogi

I had the same issue - I report daily (and joined before they added this stupid question). I started the process to add all the other family members but ditched it when I got to the gender assigned at birth bollocks and I messaged them (received no response). So they are missing out on me reporting for a further three people every day in order to keep some blokes happy.

Me too. The question asked me what gender my DS was assigned at birth. I was there at the time and he definitely wasn't assigned a gender. Stupid. The estimated figures the app shows are wildly inaccurate. I soon came to the conclusion it's a bit of a vanity project.

People aren't dying because of this silly app! What a load of hyperbole.