Male, Female, or Custom

It’s been said that the most effective way of finally making something acceptable is to stop talking about it. This has been applied to race, homosexuality and even disabilities. Yet, there seems to always be some kind of advancement and adjustment to make what’s supposed to be normal more noticeable.

For example, Missouri’s Michael Sam recently came out to the public that he identifies as gay. If he’s drafted, Sam will be the first openly gay man in the NFL. It’s true that every first brings some rarity, and he just happened to catch the most of the media. However, should it be news that a man declares himself as gay? This is just one societal question that may take just a few minutes of thinking to answer. Here’s another thought to chew on.

Facebook added a “custom” option for gender on profiles on Thursday, according to CNN. This means that a user is no longer limited to being just labeled as male or female. To some this may mean nothing, and to some it means everything.

This is just one adjustment that has to be made in order for full acceptance to be achieved. What Facebook did was allow a transgender male or a transgender female or any other type of gender to fully express who they are to others. It also allows a preferred pronoun option, should you customize your gender. Should this be a trend that other social networks follow?

On the one hand, this is just one addition to other profile adjustments made, such as the “interested in” option. A few years ago, this would’ve been seen as encouragement to diverge from the “norm.” Facebook has given the widest range for profile information to meet the needs of all its users. What this means is acceptance and respect for those who want to be rightly represented. No other popular social network site has given so many options to pinpoint an accurate description of themselves.

The other thing about this new addition to the site is that it is completely optional. No one says that you must select a specific gender or even which sex you’re attracted to. It is for those who would truly prefer to be accurately represented.

Society has become so diverse in the modern age that cookie cutter stigmas no longer apply to a large subset of people. No longer are we just white or black, young or old, normal or abnormal. Now, we are not even limited to male or female.