Ah, yes, the [complex plane coordinates] genders

December 13, 2022 10:57 AM

Get all your baffling gender-selection webforms at genders.wtf. Curated by effy.
posted by cortex (37 comments total)

That is hilarious.
posted by NotLost at 11:03 AM on December 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

I remember when no one identified as deciduous or coniferous. I feel old.
posted by adamrice at 11:04 AM on December 13, 2022 [6 favorites]

Hot Bread!

Venezuela!

Canada Only!
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:07 AM on December 13, 2022 [5 favorites]

"Unk"

... honestly, we've all been there.
posted by feckless at 11:14 AM on December 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

Software developers would rather Venezuela than make gender a freeform text field.

Related: Carina C. Zona - Schemas for the Real World PyCon 2015
posted by AlSweigart at 11:16 AM on December 13, 2022 [4 favorites]

My favorite example of this is in the old roguelike Omega, which when creating a character asked players their gender, which could be "m" or "f," but secretly, also accepted "y" and "n," which had their own gameplay implications.
posted by JHarris at 11:17 AM on December 13, 2022 [9 favorites]

"No."
posted by mhoye at 11:21 AM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Boycotting till I can be VENEZUELA (CANADA ONLY).
posted by zompist at 11:30 AM on December 13, 2022 [7 favorites]

Hot Bread! on some days.

Hot Garbage! on others.
posted by Splunge at 11:37 AM on December 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

Oh god, my favorite ex-girlfriend is "Mrs Prof Dr" now. Resisting the temptation to send this to her. And yes, Doctor Mrs the Monarch reminds me of her too.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:54 AM on December 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

My favorite so far:
May we inquire whether you are a gentleman or a lady?
-A lady
-A gentleman
-My dear sir, there are individuals roaming the streets of Fallen London at this very moment with the faces of squid! Squid! Do you ask them their gender? And yet you waste our time asking me trifling and impertinent questions about mine?

posted by daisystomper at 11:56 AM on December 13, 2022 [9 favorites]

but where is '); drop table genders;-- ?
posted by mr vino at 11:56 AM on December 13, 2022 [13 favorites]

I had a student (not a native English speaker) start the year emailing me with the heading "Mr.", realized his mistake at some point and switch to "Mrs.," realize his further mistake and switch to "Mrs. Dr."
posted by daisystomper at 11:59 AM on December 13, 2022 [7 favorites]

"I have no plans to purchase a new vehicle"
posted by Gorgik at 11:59 AM on December 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

I remember when marriage was between an "I have no plans to purchase a new vehicle" and an "I have plans to purchase a new vehicle but have not decided what type". The good ol' days.
posted by Gorgik at 12:03 PM on December 13, 2022 [7 favorites]

Oh Em Gee. These made me laugh until I was crying and gasping for breath. Thank you.
posted by medusa at 12:04 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

that should be

Doctor(Male)
Doctor(Female)
Doctor(The)
posted by Clowder of bats at 12:12 PM on December 13, 2022 [5 favorites]

I'm just delighted that someone thought of how Kogepan would want to identify.
posted by phooky at 12:13 PM on December 13, 2022

See, it's not us queer people who are always making up new genders. It's software developers.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:14 PM on December 13, 2022 [9 favorites]

Please Select

• Queer Person
• Software Developer

posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:20 PM on December 13, 2022 [12 favorites]

This is free form, go nuts.
posted by nickmark at 12:21 PM on December 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

This is great! I wonder what happens to people who choose Hardcore.
posted by Spike Glee at 12:23 PM on December 13, 2022

My favorite so far:
May we inquire whether you are a gentleman or a lady?
-A lady
-A gentleman
-My dear sir, there are individuals roaming the streets of Fallen London at this very moment with the faces of squid! Squid! Do you ask them their gender? And yet you waste our time asking me trifling and impertinent questions about mine?

Seeing as that comes from Fallen London, that seems like a perfectly acceptable option given the grim-kooky Victorian eldritch-horror-esque setting the world of Failbetter's Fallen London, Sunless Sea, and Sunless Skies are set in.
posted by Clever User Name at 12:31 PM on December 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

Spike Glee: "I wonder what happens to people who choose Hardcore."

Presumably they wind up with hardcore taters.
posted by adamrice at 12:53 PM on December 13, 2022

Doctor(Worm)<sup>*

*</sup> I'm not a real doctor, but I am a real worm
posted by kirkaracha at 1:04 PM on December 13, 2022 [17 favorites]

I loved this and it made me laugh thoroughly, like when I first read Cake Wrecks.
posted by brainwane at 1:13 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

I remember opting to be a "person of mysterious and indistinct gender" in Echo Bazaar, the precursor to / earlier version of Fallen London.
posted by eruonna at 1:23 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Mrs Prof Dr

For when you're married to The Monarch.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:52 PM on December 13, 2022 [4 favorites]

Oh gosh, this is good. So much LOL.

My dogs are both sterilized but I assure you they are NOT gentlemen.
posted by obfuscation at 2:52 PM on December 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

There's just something about the complete nonsensicalness, it's really beautiful. I used to think about Herr, Frau, or Hallo a lot.
posted by automatic cabinet at 3:02 PM on December 13, 2022

International High School Visit at Ho Chi Minh City at March 19
posted by Chef Flamboyardee at 3:32 PM on December 13, 2022

the Fallen London one is absolutely intentional, and informed their approach to handling player character gender going forward (the game itself doesn't handle it as well as it could; some of the older content has most characters call you 'Sir.. er... Miss... um...' which isn't great.)

Their later games, Sunless Seas and Sunless Skies, allowed you to choose a title rather than a gender, 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.' were on the list, but so was 'Captain', 'Professor', and a few more fun ones.
posted by Merus at 4:48 PM on December 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

"Hot bread" is amazing.
posted by edencosmic at 6:03 PM on December 13, 2022

Unselect!


I remember opting to be a "person of mysterious and indistinct gender" in Echo Bazaar, the precursor to / earlier version of Fallen London.

I have the t-shirt. :D
posted by Foosnark at 7:32 PM on December 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Doctor(Male)
Doctor(Female)
Doctor(The)

"Maybe. Who am I to judge?"
posted by mhoye at 8:09 PM on December 13, 2022

Funny site, and thought-provoking.

My medical school course on Human Anatomy & Embryology was [gasp!] 35 years ago and I am extremely fuzzy on the details but fetal development of the sexual organs is very complicated which means that it can go awry in many ways. Every fetus has the potential to appear male or female, or somewhere in between, or a mixture of the two.

I wish people would have some understanding of that before opining about gender, gender identity, or sexual preference.

I happen to have developed with a very clear gender and my mental gender identity is congruent with my anatomy. I feel lucky. If your situation is a struggle, godspeed to you. Regardless of where you fall in the complex plane of phenotype & identity, I'm happy to support you however you need.
posted by neuron at 9:00 AM on December 14, 2022

The one which starts by asking whether your pet may be a gentleman and clarifies that with a picture of a pipe, is surely set to become the gold design standard.
posted by rongorongo at 9:57 AM on December 14, 2022 [1 favorite]