Facebook’s gender settings are now more flexible, but have they gone far enough? In addition to male and female, users now have a customizable option with about 50 different terms people can use to identify their gender, as well as three preferred pronoun choices: him, her or them. A Carleton expert is available to discuss the changes and their impact:
Rena Bivens
Banting Fellow, School of Journalism and Communication
Phone: 613-520-2600 ext. 2904
Email: rena.bivens@gmail.com
Bivens is a sociologist with expertise in the areas of new media (particularly social media), gender and sexuality, cultural studies, media and communications, journalism, critical social theory, feminist theory, and science and technology studies.
“Facebook’s change to their gender options is a clear step forward but it is still not enough,” says Bivens. “Despite these positive changes, Facebook’s software is still based on an understanding of gender that is rooted in very traditional, restrictive ideas. The tension between this traditional understanding of gender as only about males and females and a more flexible understanding of gender as a spectrum is at the heart of this issue and societal problems like gender-based violence. Software plays an increasingly important role in society and this change reflects the ongoing exchange between society and technology.”
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