I should start a thread (like, here!
) of good and bad ways to ask for gender data in surveys
My qualifications for this thread: I'm a linguist who studies grammatical gender, a trans and non-binary person, a trans/non-binary sensitivity reader, and an academic who gathers data

My qualifications for this thread: I'm a linguist who studies grammatical gender, a trans and non-binary person, a trans/non-binary sensitivity reader, and an academic who gathers data
I saw this two months ago and loved it! I like how it’s multiple choice and it acknowledges the complexity of gender. My followers REALLY liked the “questioning/unsure” option, even followers who usually tick that they’re cis and binary.+ https://twitter.com/AlfredoIEli/status/1328965074707505155
A reminder, esp. for non-anglo friends, that “questioning” is a perfectly valid gender/sexuality identity, and it falls under the queer umbrella. I don’t know if any Spanish-speaking countries have it as an identity, but it’s a very important and valid one! You are valid! 


This, on the other hand: horrible, awful, F--
Think through this for a second. Do you want all binary trans people, men and women, in the same category? Why? Why should a trans man choose “transgender” over “male?” And why add “transgender” but not “cisgender?” https://twitter.com/sarahshulist/status/1321075419030978560
Think through this for a second. Do you want all binary trans people, men and women, in the same category? Why? Why should a trans man choose “transgender” over “male?” And why add “transgender” but not “cisgender?” https://twitter.com/sarahshulist/status/1321075419030978560
Think that you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you do this. When you get your results, you have no way to know how many of those “male” people are cis or trans, but you can’t tell how many of the “transgender” respondents are male. Your data is instantly dirty and useless.
This is also bad and also dirties your data. What should a non-binary person choose? If you’re gathering our data, shouldn’t you... give us the option of giving you that data? https://twitter.com/yndajas/status/1099306686483968001
Otro ejemplo de cómo NO hacer estos formularios. Las opciones hombre/mujer/trans te lo ensucian todo. ¿Las muj. trans eligen "mujer" o "trans"? Así acabas con un grupo de h. y muj. trans, otro de h. trans y cis y otro de muj. trans y cis. https://twitter.com/rosegoldxiety/status/1329041357248360449
While it is thorough and tries to be inclusive, the assigned at birth question 1. feels unnecessary and too personal, and 2. excludes intersex people whose birth certificates read e.g., unknown. I also take issue with "male" w/o "cis." cc @PointFoundation https://twitter.com/noj_bel/status/1329111060285014016
To be clear (because character limit), the issue I have with male without cis is that there's a "male" on its own and a "trans male" with "trans," but no option with "cis." This places "cis" as the default, and "trans" as the abnormal.
I think the only way to make this better, from a gender POV, would be to add a "fill in the blank." But it's so good!
https://twitter.com/LauraBailo/status/1330828227917602816

Short entertainment break for HOW does Akinator have better options than some of these? (Definitely still not perfect)
I forgot I had an old minithread about why you should be thinking about these things. It's not specifically about research, I think this one was because my stepdad, sister and I wanted to order tacos but the site demanded to know our one (1) gender. https://twitter.com/queerterpreter/status/1172569905385934850
Es que cómo que "prefiero no decir", de verdad. ¿Para qué nos lo preguntas si no nos dejas contestar? https://twitter.com/021_natsu/status/1261718467385925635
I'm in awe of how BAD this is.
1) "male" v "trans male"
2) "non-binary" v "gender non-conforming"
3) "non-binary" v "trans non-binary" ?????? I AM SCREAMING?????
4) why are all of these single choice (can't choose more than one) https://twitter.com/WordNerdKnitter/status/1335952954365521921
1) "male" v "trans male"
2) "non-binary" v "gender non-conforming"
3) "non-binary" v "trans non-binary" ?????? I AM SCREAMING?????
4) why are all of these single choice (can't choose more than one) https://twitter.com/WordNerdKnitter/status/1335952954365521921
I mean, NON-BINARY V TRANS NON-BINARY
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
Esta encuesta incluye esta aberración de opciones y mira, no.
Basta ya de presentar las identidades no binarias como mezclas de dos géneros binarios. +
https://twitter.com/MissPeriquita/status/1105444968351625216
Basta ya de presentar las identidades no binarias como mezclas de dos géneros binarios. +
https://twitter.com/MissPeriquita/status/1105444968351625216
Esta última pregunta es como si preguntaran
Orientación sexual:
Hetero
Bi con preferencia por les rubies
Bi
Bi con preferencia por les morenes
Gay/lesbiana
Orientación sexual:
Hetero
Bi con preferencia por les rubies
Bi
Bi con preferencia por les morenes
Gay/lesbiana
Perdón, que también incluye esta SOBERANA RIDICULEZ.
1: si no te has hecho la prueba de cariotipo no sabes tu sexo cromosómico. De verdad. Te lo juro.
2: Hay tantísimos factores en el "sexo biológico" que no se puede contestar así.
3: Qué coño es intersex con tendencia a F/M
+
1: si no te has hecho la prueba de cariotipo no sabes tu sexo cromosómico. De verdad. Te lo juro.
2: Hay tantísimos factores en el "sexo biológico" que no se puede contestar así.
3: Qué coño es intersex con tendencia a F/M
+
4: ¿Cómo combinan gónadas y hormonas en la misma pregunta si tienen un mínimo de conciencia de que existimos las personas trans en hormonas?
5: Lo que os digo siempre: ¿por qué hacen esta pregunta? ¿Para qué quieren saberlo? Si es necesario tienen que explicarlo, pero NO LO ES
5: Lo que os digo siempre: ¿por qué hacen esta pregunta? ¿Para qué quieren saberlo? Si es necesario tienen que explicarlo, pero NO LO ES
Here's a positive example to even out the thread. I really enjoyed the way a survey this week (under @VerbingNouns' supervision) asked for the respondents' gender.
I love love love leaving a freewrite field instead of giving closed options for people to choose from. +
I love love love leaving a freewrite field instead of giving closed options for people to choose from. +
And I also dig that it asks for f-nity/m-nity/genderlessness separately from gender (you can be, e.g., a man who's more feminine than masculine, but you're still a man!) and that there's three separate axes rather than one binary M-F spectrum.
A+ questions!
A+ questions!
Adding two cool articles about this into the thread!
Here's one...
https://twitter.com/ultrazool/status/1341052239046127616
Here's one...
https://twitter.com/ultrazool/status/1341052239046127616
And here's the second, by @kirbyconrod and a forever retweet https://medium.com/@kconrod/title-language-gender-and-harm-e2491de4cf42
This is obviously an error but, like, here’s an example of what I mean about dirtying the data. What results do you think they’ll get? Think any women will tap “house” for funsies? Or that any men/non-binary people will prefer “woman” to “house?” https://twitter.com/frekkhet/status/1341147044162007047
https://twitter.com/NatTowsen/status/1341813679625543680
I keep talking about dirtying your data. I'll probably wind up writing an article about it. I would be just as likely to pick any of those three options, so they're probably not very useful!
Also: let me say I'm non-binary. I want to give you that info!
I keep talking about dirtying your data. I'll probably wind up writing an article about it. I would be just as likely to pick any of those three options, so they're probably not very useful!
Also: let me say I'm non-binary. I want to give you that info!
Ah, yes, the three genders (via @estrilo)
To be fair, clicking "custom" prompts you to specify, but this setup still others non-binary people. I always recommend at least three written (F/M/NB) and then "other" or however you word it, since it normalizes non-binary genders
To be fair, clicking "custom" prompts you to specify, but this setup still others non-binary people. I always recommend at least three written (F/M/NB) and then "other" or however you word it, since it normalizes non-binary genders
You’d think this would be obvious, but apparently it is not.
1) “trans” is not an honorific
2) by adding it here they are, once again, gatekeeping gender and asking us to choose “trans” over our actual honorific
3) the non-binary honorific is “Mx.”
https://twitter.com/transscribe/status/867427654206705664
1) “trans” is not an honorific
2) by adding it here they are, once again, gatekeeping gender and asking us to choose “trans” over our actual honorific
3) the non-binary honorific is “Mx.”
