Facebook Given Better Gender Option For Users

In today’s society, there are a wide range of genders that the public would class themselves as. Facebook‘s official diversity account has now announced a new feature to the gender input process, where users can now choose a custom gender which allows them to enter whatever they want into the box. This feature would give the user more freedom when describing themselves if they feel they do not fit within the genders groups previously given. The box also has a drop down menu if the user wishes to choose a preset option suggested by Facebook.

“We recognize that some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way,” the unnamed Diversity account holder said.

This update follows a decision made last year by Facebook to expand its gender options; previously set to male, female and no response. Facebook did introduce an ‘other’ box, but this only allowed the user to choose from a wider range of terms suggested from terms entered into this box. This new descriptor can then be set to be viewed in their profile publicly, by friends or hidden (which sort of defeats the use of this box). The user can also choose a preferred pronoun from the list: him, her or they/them.

Well done to Facebook for giving this freedom to its users, another set closer to gender equality.

Thanks to ArsTechnica for this information