Emailed HR

[Mumteedum]

I was asked to update personal details this morning.

I had two options regarding sex and gender. What is your gender identity? Options I think were male/female/prefer not to say. And does your gender identity match the sex assigned at birth? Yes/no/prefer not to say.

I sent a very polite email asking them to consider an alternative as this does not represent me accurately. It's a bit nerve wracking. So far our university has been fairly balanced but watch this space 🙈

Good question.

@LizaBizza, can you answer it?

I was watching over my eldest child’s shoulder as they completed the online registration form for their uni course last week and was pleased to see it asked for sex, not gender. It is a Stonewalled university which has previously been in the media for related issues. I hope it is a sign the adults are taking back control of the room.

Brilliant update! Well done for pointing out their “mistake”.

Most people do not have a gender identity. They have a sex. So how can you answer this question if not by implying you agree with gender identity?

Can you just have a gender?
Does it have to be an identity?
My sex is female/woman
My gender is female.

I completed a form today which asked for gender (not gender identity).

Yes you (can and do) have a gender, but only if 'gender' means the same as 'sex'.

If 'gender' doesn't mean 'sex', then no, gender is not anything you can have.

Of course there is a sense of 'gender' which is not synonymous with 'sex'. (Check OED or another dictionary.) That's what seems to confuse people. But - I reiterate - if you want to use this other sense of 'gender', you make no sense if you talk of having a gender in anything like the way you have a sex.