Please include gender in every post

Amanda Murphy26 said:I spend most of my time scrolling through the news sites and the Men's Club, and I’ve noticed there are a ton of posters where you can't tell if they're even male or female just by looking at their handle. It’s kind of a pain, honestly. I’ll be halfway through some massive wall of text, totally invested, and then I realize at the very end that I was actually reading some woman ramble on. Maybe they should just put their gender right under their username or something.

On top of that, this whole discussion about an apparently vital practical matter seems to have spiraled out of control because of an opening post that felt—well, a little sexist and trollish, to be honest.

It feels like someone with actual substance has finally stepped up to contribute something coherent to the conversation.
I’ve honestly reached a point where I’m starting to bore myself just by repeating the same tired arguments over and over again...
And don't even get me started on how exhausting it is dealing with these constant, redundant "innovations" they keep pushing.
If we actually entertained every single suggestion thrown our way, this entire forum would end up looking like a chaotic, garish mess of unnecessary bells and whistles.
The truth is, the forum is perfectly fine exactly the way it stands right now.

Lisa Hernandez3 said:It’s certainly not a crime—though I suppose it isn't strictly necessary either. If I were to address you as a woman right now, what specific injury would you actually suffer from that mistake?

I've mentioned before that I don't really react when these kinds of errors are directed at me. Honestly, the only ones who seem bothered are the younger crowd, especially women, who tend to take offense and turn threads into off-topic discussions about getting to know one another. For everyone else, it's pretty much irrelevant—if someone gets confused, they'll see the gendered tone of the conversation and just correct themselves.

Besides, that sort of thing doesn't really fit the spirit of communicating on an online forum. The whole concept of identity on the internet is arguably too complex for such a small technical gesture to be seen as anything more than a way to signal flirtatiousness. In reality, it's just prioritizing practicality over complexity (there was a witty post once about the nuance of gender identity, but I think it was deleted—probably dismissed as off-topic trolling, since with these types of questions, technology usually exists to bypass any "philosophy").

Would clearer labels mean we have to pay closer attention to who is who? Maybe. Perhaps those who focus more on the content than the author might find themselves getting tripped up.

Sure, but that info is already available on the profile. Nobody should be looking any harder than they already are. Personally, I check the profile if I'm unsure. It’s quite a hassle when the site starts lagging—which happens almost constantly.

So, your logic is basically this:
- Gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: NO -> fine
- Gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: YES -> bad

That makes zero sense. I might understand if you were arguing to remove gender from both the profile and the posts entirely. But if it's listed on the profile, there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't show up on the posts too.

I suspect most people wouldn't find it bothersome to share their thoughts—though, for those who might feel uncomfortable, we should certainly provide an option to "decline to comment." 🙂

Jacob Foster11 said:It isn't always obvious. Especially if the conversation is short and you don't know the person. I shouldn't have to list examples for you.

And apparently, having gender listed next to names on posts is a massive crime, right?

And it's more than that—you've got users who switch genders constantly, like that Unknown guy. 🙄 One minute he’s a dude, then by the afternoon he’s a woman, so how am I supposed to know where to put him? 🙄🤷

It's total nonsense, seriously, it's just wrong. They should honestly just ban that stuff. At the end of the day, we live in a Catholic country where most people don't buy into this nonsense. For us—the majority—it actually matters. Because if you guys truly don't care who's driving the bus, who's writing, or who's teaching, then just go... just go... move to Mexico or something.

Jacob Foster11 said:Sure, but that info is already available on the profile. Nobody should be looking any harder than they already are. Personally, I check the profile if I'm unsure. It’s quite a hassle when the site starts lagging—which happens almost constantly.

So, your logic is basically this:
- Gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: NO -> fine
- Gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: YES -> bad

That makes zero sense. I might understand if you were arguing to remove gender from both the profile and the posts entirely. But if it's listed on the profile, there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't show up on the posts too.

Like I mentioned before—I think the current layout works quite well, specifically the nickname "description," things like your interests, location, or signature.

For anyone who wants to dig deeper—to check gender, websites, age, birthdates, or contact info—well, there’s the profile for that.

If we really wanted to overanalyze why having gender listed next to posts might be seen as undesirable, I suppose one could attempt a somewhat forced interpretation. Maybe it's that the forum is trying to encourage a) viewing posts through a gendered lens, b) practicing political correctness regarding how people address one another, or perhaps c) deciding that certain private user data is more relevant to communication than others.

I still don't see how this makes sense:
- gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: NO -> fine
- gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: YES -> bad
🤷

Now, I can actually see the logic behind this:
- gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: NO -> okay
- gender on profile: YES; gender on posts: YES -> better

But whatever. I don't have the energy to argue over trivialities. Everyone has made their point. We can just agree to disagree. 😉

Maybe look at it this way—why would whoever designed the post layout and those little captions next to them overlook how much gender matters for this specific section of the forum? And yet, they still left the option to include it in the private settings—within the user profile.

I never actually said that displaying gender alongside posts was inherently bad or strictly negative; I just meant it’s prone to all sorts of interpretations—which is pretty obvious—especially when the prompt for a discussion is an opening post like the one we have here, which isn't exactly witty, even if that might have been the author's intention. Unknown recently decided to chime in with the complaint that some (lesser) female writers find solace in their gender—which, I suppose, is just a slightly more "sophisticated" version of the same kind of provocation.

Lisa Hernandez3 said:Maybe look at it this way—why would whoever designed the post layout and those little captions next to them overlook how much gender matters for this specific section of the forum? And yet, they still left the option to include it in the private settings—within the user profile.

I never actually said that displaying gender alongside posts was inherently bad or strictly negative; I just meant it’s prone to all sorts of interpretations—which is pretty obvious—especially when the prompt for a discussion is an opening post like the one we have here, which isn't exactly witty, even if that might have been the author's intention. Unknown recently decided to chime in with the complaint that some (lesser) female writers find solace in their gender—which, I suppose, is just a slightly more "sophisticated" version of the same kind of provocation.

It's because the developers of this app are from English-speaking countries where gender doesn't change how you write things, unlike here in America. It's the same reason why other parts of the app aren't properly adjusted for American grammar, specifically regarding cases and plurals. 😉

BTW, I don't consider my gender to be private information. It makes zero sense to hide it. When someone sees me out on the street, they know immediately. I don't need to go out of my way to point it out.

Jacob Foster11 said:It's because the developers of this app are from English-speaking countries where gender doesn't change how you write things, unlike here in America. It's the same reason why other parts of the app aren't properly adjusted for American grammar, specifically regarding cases and plurals. 😉

BTW, I don't consider my gender to be private information. It makes zero sense to hide it. When someone sees me out on the street, they know immediately. I don't need to go out of my way to point it out.

But since the app was translated into American English, it was supposedly tailored for users in our linguistic region (though I'm not entirely sure which specific parts still feel off, but those are minor details). So, whoever handled the localization probably didn't anticipate that gender would be such a factor within the post itself. Maybe they weren't being intentional, or maybe they were just following standard industry practice.

Btw, regarding that instance where a moderator couldn't tell which gender a user belonged to—honestly, I doubt it would have helped even if their gender had been clearly labeled. Confusion in addressing people happens regardless of whether you underline or highlight their gender a hundred times. And, in my opinion, these little mix-ups are less offensive or significant—they're mostly just communication hiccups—compared to the issues that might arise if the forum were viewed as a population strictly divided into men, women, and non-binary individuals. Why? Well, just look at the original post again.

But hey, it’s fine if you don't see things through that lens.

Lisa Hernandez3 said:But since the app was translated into American English, it was supposedly tailored for users in our linguistic region (though I'm not entirely sure which specific parts still feel off, but those are minor details). So, whoever handled the localization probably didn't anticipate that gender would be such a factor within the post itself. Maybe they weren't being intentional, or maybe they were just following standard industry practice.

Btw, regarding that instance where a moderator couldn't tell which gender a user belonged to—honestly, I doubt it would have helped even if their gender had been clearly labeled. Confusion in addressing people happens regardless of whether you underline or highlight their gender a hundred times. And, in my opinion, these little mix-ups are less offensive or significant—they're mostly just communication hiccups—compared to the issues that might arise if the forum were viewed as a population strictly divided into men, women, and non-binary individuals. Why? Well, just look at the original post again.

But hey, it’s fine if you don't see things through that lens.

Whoever did the localization did a sloppy, rushed job just so it would superficially look like American English. The evidence is everywhere. Just look at how some controls are in English while others are translated.

Those things are easy enough to fix. The issues I'm talking about are much harder because the app's design doesn't account for them. The reason is that American English grammar has fundamental differences compared to how we structure things here.

Here are two quick examples:
"The number of messages in Inbox is 17."
"Inbox (17 Messages)"

In the first example—incorrect grammar. The app's architecture doesn't support proper declension.

In the second, there isn't support for different plural forms which exist in our language but not in English. And it goes deeper than that. Even singular nouns can appear in plural contexts.
(1 messages, 2 messages, 3 messages, 4 messages, 5 messages, ..., 21 messages, 22 messages, ...)
Essentially, these aren't just different plural forms. It's about how the case changes based on the number. With 1, you need a specific form; with 2, 3, and 4, it's one thing; and with 5 through 10 or 11 through 14, it's another. This happens regardless of the digit preceding it. But I'll leave the linguistics to the experts... Regardless, it's fundamentally different from English, where everything after 1 is simply plural.

It is impossible to fix these issues without digging deep into the app's core code.

Anyway, back to the point. 😁 We clearly see this differently, so let's just leave it at that. 🙂

It’s a pretty weak idea.
If I’m interested, I’ll look into it.
Otherwise, I don't really need anything ☕.
When someone uses the wrong gendered language with me, I'll correct them. It's not like it happens often—maybe three or four times every couple of years. 🤷

Honestly, I don't really care. It’s not like it’s a huge ordeal for me to just click on someone's profile if I can't tell whether they're a man or a woman.