User pronouns - Any/All and Specify field
3 years ago
New Jersey, USA

I saw that a feature was recently added to allow users to specify their pronouns on their profile. This is great! However, I do find it somewhat strange that the only options are "He/Him", "She/Her", and "They/Them". I think it would be better and more inclusive to have at least 2 additional options: "Any/All" and an "Other" or "Specify" field with a short textbox allowing users to specify their own pronouns, whatever those may be. Alternatively, the checkbox options could be removed entirely, and replaced with just a text field. This is, for example, how GDQ handles pronouns.

Xeevaleev, stllr and 7 others like this
Scotland

Yup, don't understand why it isn't a freetype text box.

Auride likes this
Germany

I kind of agree with Taru that there is too much abuse potential. In the case of GDQ it's less of a problem since there are much less submissions than there are users here. For now a workaround for "Any/All" could be to toggle all 3 checkboxes which is then displayed as (He/Him, She/Her, They/Them). A long-term solution could be to collect pronouns, have a vote on them to determine the order and then putting them into a dropdown list to choose from (maybe also an option to add a second set of pronouns? no idea how many people could be interested in that).

Avasam, Quivico, and Symystery like this
Netherlands

Why doesn't speedrun.com allow me to identify the way I want to be? An Apache helicopter.

Edited by the author 3 years ago
Gamebuster1990, Tristoppy and 6 others like this
New Jersey, USA

I see no reason people shouldn't be able to use whatever pronouns they sincerely prefer. Moderating what options people are given is the opposite of the solution, in my eyes. Mods shouldn't have the authority to tell a user what pronouns they can and cannot prefer for themselves. Instead of assuming a user will use the textbox to troll, and trying to protect them from themselves, we should directly address the few instances when a malicious uses the field to troll, and ban or otherwise punish those users. A simple profanity filter would be a sufficient preemptive measure otherwise.

In other words, give people the benefit of the doubt to freely set their own pronouns. If someone mishandles that freedom, take it away from that user specifically.

The issue of "abuse potential" is equally present with usernames (among other things), but we don't make people choose their username from a pre-approved list. We allow people to identify how they choose and ban, punish, or censor those who use that freedom to harm others. Why should pronouns be any different?

1, XeroGoFast and 2 others like this
Netherlands

I love that I can select my pronouns now ^^ I get that some people want other pronouns, however one thing to remember is that having this feature is still better then not having it.

Czech Republic

As Auride already touched upon, there's potential of abuse in pretty much every single input field that isn't a search bar. Yet AFAIK, stuff like forum posts doesn't need to be approved by mods either. If there's already some kind of filter on forum posts and usernames, then I don't see why it couldn't be extended to any other input field, perhaps with some minor changes. You can also just use someone's name, if you aren't comfortable with using whatever pronouns they put in.

Auride, Pear and 2 others like this
Canada

Yeah, I honestly think @Auride brought up some very good points. I'm really looking forward to a textbox-like option, and I hope something like this gets added to the future.

Auride likes this
Netherlands

I don't see a lot of other pronouns in the wild, but I remember that FF9 runner Luzbelheim wanting luz/luz pronouns (unsure how serious this is), so I guess there is some. But just like our Apache Helicopter @Daravae mentioned, an open textbox is easily abusable.

An idea would be a dropdown menu, with the standards, and possibly others getting verified by sending an email somewhere?

Hako likes this
Netherlands

Apache hater.

MrMonsh, happycamper_ and 2 others like this
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Jokes aside, are there seriously any other pronouns other than he, she, and they? Because I'm still not convinced that this should be a thing. "All/Any" is pointless since you can select all three that are already there.

United States

@Hako Another relatively common one is ze/hir or ze/zir.

Netherlands

Of course there are others. And people should be able to identify how they want. Don't worry so much about people abusing a textbox. There are a thousand places on this site you could abuse a textbox. That's why you have moderation, profanity filters and other things to combat abuse. And I mean, if it gets out of hand, then the site learned that it's users are not yet ready for such freedom. Which I really don't expect.

Edited by the author 3 years ago
MrMonsh, ckellyspeedruns and 2 others like this
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

[quote]ze/hir or ze/zir[/quote]

What are those??

Netherlands

It's a gender neutral pronoun.

Walgrey and Pear like this
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Isn't that just they/them?

unfried likes this
United States

@Hako , they're distinct. I suggest you do some reading on the topic, but in short, the point of choosing pronouns is to use what feels comfortable, and they/them doesn't feel comfortable for some individuals. (They/them is popular in comparison to other neopronouns, so it's understandable to not be familiar.)

XeroGoFast, Pear and 2 others like this
New Jersey, USA

Neopronouns are legitimate, valid, and have a long history, even if they seem new to many. People should have the freedom to use them if desired. That said, even if you didn't know or understand that (though you now should), the case could still be made that the current 3-checkbox solution doesn't serve everyone. For many people, there is an important difference between, for example, she/they and they/she. People may prefer one pronoun set but accept others. Users should be able to communicate those (or any other) preferences naturally, as they would on nearly any other platform.

While even a textbox cannot capture the full nuance of gender expression, it would be a significant improvement over checkboxes or dropdown menus.

(I want to be clear about this: nobody should have to go through an administrative process to have their desired pronouns "approved" and added to a list, when we have a simpler alternative. That would be frustrating and possibly demeaning.)

XandoToaster, Quivico and 2 others like this
Washington, USA
EmeraldAly
She/Her, They/Them
3 years ago

Yes to a text box entry. If people decide to be shitty with it, maybe just don't give them the attention they're looking for?

Imaproshaman, ckellyspeedruns and 2 others like this
Netherlands

Nobody is whining here so that was completely unnecessary.

Pear likes this