LINGUIST List 25.1041
Mon
Mar 03 2014
Media: More genders on
Facebook, still the same pronouns
Editor for this issue:
Malgorzata Cavar <gosialinguistlist.org>
Date: 03-Mar-2014
From: Dennis Baron
<debaron
illinois.edu>
Subject: More genders on
Facebook, still the same pronouns
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For years Facebook has allowed users to mark
their relationship status as “single,”
“married,” and “it’s complicated.” They could
identify as male or female or keep their gender
private. Now, acknowledging that gender can
also be complicated, the social media giant is
letting users choose among male, female, and 56
additional custom genders, including a gender,
cis, gender variant, intersex, trans person,
and two-spirit.
Facebook users now have so many gender choices
that a single drop-down box can’t hold them
all. And they’re free to pick more than one.
But to refer to this set of 58 genders Facebook
offers only three tired, conventional pronouns:
he, she, and they. A Facebook user can now
identify as a genderqueer, neutrois, cis male,
androgynous other, but Facebook friends can
only wish him, her, or them a happy
birthday.
Read the whole post on the Web of Language:
http://bit.ly/weblan
Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics
Page Updated: 03-Mar-2014