I was filling out some medical forms the other day. On one it asked for my "sex", so I marked female. On the other it asked for "gender". I hesitated a bit before amending the title of the box: "gender/sex" and marking female. I pride myself on my honesty, and marking "female" in the gender box would be as much a lie as marking "male" in the sex box.

I really hate it when people use these words interchangeably, but this is the norm, isn't it? Every day I come across odd things in every day life that don't make sense because they are based on a rigid binary system. Frankly, it sucks.

On an online application to join the New Zealand  equivalent of the US Army Reserves, it asked me my gender. I put female.
Because of this, the form ajusted itself and later asked in the medical section: "Have your periods ever been irregular".
I was stumped.
I could've answer "Yes" as in, I don't have them, so that's rather irregular or I could've answered "No" as in, they have never been irregular, since I've never had one.
In the end I selected "No" since it would cause less problems.

Under the sex box, I mark "Yes Please!" and then giggle. It might be why I never get called for job interviews.

It might be why I never get called for job interviews.

Ya think?

Quote from: ilikepotatoes on May 12, 2009, 04:35:33 PM
Under the sex box, I mark "Yes Please!" and then giggle. It might be why I never get called for job interviews.

Try marking "often" instead of "Yes Please" next time. 

I filled out a student survey earlier offering the gender choices; Male, Female, Transgender.

I picked Female, as it happens.

Quote from: Blueflare on May 12, 2009, 05:36:20 PM
I picked Female, as it happens.

I always do too.

I don't ever choose what to put based on whether it says sex or gender, unless it's a form from a group or organization that I know is educated on GLBT issues. I tend to assume that on most forms, sex and gender mean the same thing. "What's in your pants?" I choose what to mark based on context. If it's something legal, I'll usually put female. If it's like..signing up for a website or something, I put male, whether it says sex or gender.

Quote from: Blueflare on May 12, 2009, 05:36:20 PM
I filled out a student survey earlier offering the gender choices; Male, Female, Transgender.

I picked Female, as it happens.

Same thing happened to me last semester with a campus housing survey. Of the three choices, I had to choose female. Male would've confused them, as I live in an "all girls" dorm and had to mark my dorm on the survey as well, and transgender, well...that "anonymous" survey would have suddenly been the exact opposite of anonymous, as the director of housing knows I'm trans.

Quote from: gravitysrainbow on May 16, 2009, 01:09:34 PM
I choose what to mark based on context. If it's something legal, I'll usually put female.

I check female on everything, and so does my doctor, no matter what it is.....

Bev

I always pick female when signing up for a website or something like that. On job applications I just choose "prefer not to answer"