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Gender: Why Are You Asking About It?

We鈥檝e all filled out those fields on forms - First name, Last name, Address, Gender - without thinking about the information.

Imagine what it is like not to be able to put the right information down. It鈥檚 like you鈥檙e a Cat, and the options are Dog and Penguin - there is not only no option to identify as yourself, the two options you鈥檙e given don鈥檛 reflect you at all.

Gender is a social construct (see for a good basic explanation), that we are socialized in from birth (or before) and exists separate to our biology. If you still identify as the gender you were assigned at birth, you are Cis-gendered. The opposite is Trans- where you no longer identify with the gender you were assigned at birth.

Some people remain in the gender binary (man or woman) without ever having to think about it, other people decide to change their gender, either across the gender binary, or reject the gender binary all together.

When someone makes the small change to include you and your gender, that is a big thing for the gender non-binary customer. The appearance (or not) of a gender option can completely change their engagement with a brand. How many times have you signed up for the coolest hip start-up, and been asked your gender? How many of those gave an option beyond the binary? Imagine what you could do with a cohort of customers who are enthusiastic about your brand, active on social media, and engaged with brands.

Why care so much about Gender?

These changes that need to be made to be truly inclusive are quite small, but they have a big impact. The percentage of the population which identifies outside of the Gender Binary is growing, some 36% of people under 25鈥檚 know someone who identifies as non-binary [see from J. Walter Thompson Intelligence]. This group may be small in number, but if you are on the leading edge and show that you cater to them, they become engaged with your brand.

Gender is a social construct. Based on looking at genitalia at birth (or before) we assign characteristics, purchase toys and clothes, and define acceptable behaviour to a person.

Gender: Why are you asking about it?
How do you make room for other options?

Firstly, why are you asking about Gender?

Is it to address someone with the correct pronoun?
If you want to personalize your marketing material with 鈥渉e鈥 or 鈥渟he鈥, ask for the person鈥檚 preferred pronoun. Do not infer it from their gender.

Is it to choose their title?
If we want to move beyond 鈥淪ir/Madam鈥, there are several options. Allow the choice of a formal title, and use Title [Surname] to address a letter. This can sound very formal, and may be off putting.

The list of titles can be overwhelming, although a simplified version with radio buttons and options for Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Mx, Other (free text) will cover all eventualities with minimal fuss. It has also become quite acceptable to use Hi [First Name] in most correspondence.

Why ask about pronouns?
First, understand that some people may use more than one pronoun. As an example, Rowan uses both 鈥楽he鈥 and 鈥楾hey鈥 pronouns. They use 'she' because that鈥檚 how many people guess their pronoun at first glance. She also uses 'they' because she tends to use more gender neutral language.

There are some people who use a mix of 鈥榟e鈥 and 鈥榮he鈥 as a pronoun, swapping fluidly between the two.

Most people might use one. But again, giving people the chance to correctly identify their pronouns is seemingly a small thing, but might feel like a big thing for the customer when you can do it right.

In practice, how can you ask this question?
Asking pronouns online is much the same as in face to face meetings. Keep it simple and unobtrusive -鈥Which pronoun do you prefer?鈥.

The options we use within 魅影直播 are tick boxes for the most common (He, She and They) as people can use one or more than one, and a free text box that can cater to anyone who selects 鈥淥ther鈥, which means people using 鈥榋ie鈥, 鈥楬ir鈥, 鈥業t鈥, and other pronouns.

Don鈥檛 make pronouns a radio button because people will use more than one.

If you have people selecting multiple pronouns, either use them both alternating, as we did when talking about Rowan, switching between 鈥榮he鈥 and 鈥榯hey鈥, or use 鈥榯hey鈥 as a default. This may be complex to to implement in systems, but wins over customer loyalty and satisfaction when done right.

Writing in a gender neutral fashion by using 鈥榯hey鈥 in the singular is not only possible, but also grammatically correct. Most of the world will not notice, and again, those who do, will be pleased, and increase their emotional engagement with your brand.
Gender: Why are you asking about it?
We group things easily, even when they are irregular forms

Is it for marketing? So you can segment your audience correctly?

Gender is an obvious way to start to segment an audience, and in some cases there are good reasons to split your market by gender. Men are far less likely to be purchasing tampons (although there are some men, both cis and trans, who may purchase these for themselves or others), women are less likely to be buying an after shave (although again, there are variations within that, some women prefer after shave over a perfume).

I鈥檓 marketing to Men and Women, so do I need to ask about any more genders?
Most definitely yes. The notion of a sex divide as a biological construct is nowhere near as binary as our basic text books would have you believe. We don鈥檛 base our world views on the school books we read at 10 years old, so why suppose you were taught then all you needed to know about sexual dimorphism in humans at that point of your schooling? For more details there is an excellent on the spectrum of biological sexual characteristics.

How do I do this without making life hard for all the people who are Men or Women?
You want to make it easy for everyone, not just for those who are privileged to identify within the gender binary.

There are a couple of options. Remember that 鈥減refer not to say鈥 is not a good catch all option for genders outside the binary - people may want to say, but don鈥檛 have an option which reflects their gender identity.

Option 1 - A Free text box
A free text box - that requires everyone to type in their gender. This is good for people who identify outside of the binary, but can be a bit daunting for people within the gender binary. It also means you need to be comfortable grouping free text entries (such as 鈥淢ale, Man, Mail鈥) in your data.

Option 2 - Radio buttons
Radio button options for genders, with four options - Man, Woman, Non-Binary, Prefer not to say - this allows people to define their gender, or not say. The reason for using Man and Woman over Male or Female is to acknowledge gender as a social construct. Radio buttons make the data collation easy, ensuring that your data is easily grouped and examined.

Option 3 - Radio buttons with a 鈥淪pecify鈥 option
Radio button for genders with two options, Man and Woman, and then a button for Specify, where there is a free text box to enter gender. Make it optional, and you don鈥檛 have to have 鈥淧refer not to say鈥 as an option.

This is what we use in 魅影直播 internally within our systems for identifying Gender. It gives good clean data, and allows anyone outside of the Gender Binary to express their identity clearly.

So how do I group these genders?

Ok, you鈥檙e now bought into the idea of asking about more than two genders, but you鈥檝e got all of this data to pull together for your diversity reports. How should you group this wonderful new data?

There are a couple of suggestions for the grouping - the one we use at 魅影直播 is:聽
  • Men
  • Women
  • Non-Binary (includes those who chose 鈥淧refer not to say鈥)
There are other options for Non-Binary, you can use Non-Conforming, or GenderQueer - all of these are both specific genders and a way of grouping genders.

Why don鈥檛 I just use 鈥淥ther鈥?
Using 鈥淥ther鈥 as a descriptor for Gender, gives a sense of dismissing anyone who identifies outside of the gender binary. It does not feel like you are included in the options at all. This may feel a small thing, but these micro-aggressions against your chosen gender build barriers and a sense of disengagement. The difference between being listed as 鈥淥ther鈥 and as 鈥淣on-Binary鈥 will be noticed by anyone reading your reports and graphs who identifies outside of the binary, and your staff and customers will feel more engaged as a result.

Gender: Why are you asking about it?
At first glance there are two types, as you look closer, more types appear.

So what鈥檚 the benefit for me for doing this?

These changes are all quite small, but they have a big impact. We are starting to see companies reap the benefit of making these changes, and as always the early adopters are getting the big wins. Because if you鈥檙e a Cat in a Dog and Penguin world, being able to say you are a Cat is an unexpected delight.

Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the positions of 魅影直播.

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