Why am I in one, and how do I get out of it?
Once upon a time, this site restricted women to the Aes Sedai path and men to the Gaidin path. There was a Sedai and a Gaidin forum, which were effectively female and male forums. Then integration happened, and those forums were renamed and expressly gendered.
They're great for people who want them. I don't advocate getting rid of them.
But it makes me extremely uncomfortable being in one, not because I have no interest in those discussions but because my actual gender is being deligitimized. My personal details page, which has an option for gender, is set to unspecified. I imagine in my case this forum access might be a relic from past versions of the boards, where people kept access to wherever they originally had and so I would still be in what used to be the Aes Sedai forum because I never demoted. But how is that handled for new members? I know I'm not the only genderqueer member on the site, and I know some of them joined after integration. Is there an opt-in, an opt-out? If so, how can members opt out? This doesn't just affect folx who were pre-integration, but also anyone who might come out as trans or genderqueer in the future.
I don't personally care if we create a Genderqueer Forum (for those of us who are genderfluid, nonbinary, agender, etc), because I personally rarely venture out of Brown. Although it would be a nice gesture, and maybe there are others out there who actually do wish such a forum existed. Also, there's a South Pacific Events forum which is essentially a ghost town, but is still recognized as a part of the site because of the possibility that folx might need it. So, if people want to discuss the idea of creating one, feel free.
Thanks.
Once upon a time, this site restricted women to the Aes Sedai path and men to the Gaidin path. There was a Sedai and a Gaidin forum, which were effectively female and male forums. Then integration happened, and those forums were renamed and expressly gendered.
They're great for people who want them. I don't advocate getting rid of them.
But it makes me extremely uncomfortable being in one, not because I have no interest in those discussions but because my actual gender is being deligitimized. My personal details page, which has an option for gender, is set to unspecified. I imagine in my case this forum access might be a relic from past versions of the boards, where people kept access to wherever they originally had and so I would still be in what used to be the Aes Sedai forum because I never demoted. But how is that handled for new members? I know I'm not the only genderqueer member on the site, and I know some of them joined after integration. Is there an opt-in, an opt-out? If so, how can members opt out? This doesn't just affect folx who were pre-integration, but also anyone who might come out as trans or genderqueer in the future.
I don't personally care if we create a Genderqueer Forum (for those of us who are genderfluid, nonbinary, agender, etc), because I personally rarely venture out of Brown. Although it would be a nice gesture, and maybe there are others out there who actually do wish such a forum existed. Also, there's a South Pacific Events forum which is essentially a ghost town, but is still recognized as a part of the site because of the possibility that folx might need it. So, if people want to discuss the idea of creating one, feel free.
Thanks.