BBC Learning English

Words in the News

Facebook allows gender choices
14 February 2014
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Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2014
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com



American users on the social network Facebook can now choose a variety of different
terms to define their gender other than just male or female. The company said it wanted
its users to feel comfortable being their true selves.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead reports from California.

Up until now, Facebook's 1.2 billion or so users have had only two choices to define
themselves: male or female, but now social networkers, initially just in the US, have a
wider range of options.

The company said it worked with gay and transgender advocacy groups to select
around 50 terms, including "transsexual", "bi-gender" and "androgynous". Users can
also choose whether to be referred to as "he", "she" or "they."

One of Facebook's software engineers who worked on the project is going through a male
to female sex change. Brielle Harrison said while it won't mean much to a lot of people,
"for the few it does impact, it will mean the world".

It reflects the growing influence of the transgender rights movement in the US, which is
demanding similar civil rights to the gay community.

Facebook's move has been welcomed by activists who said they "applaud Facebook for
making it possible for people to be their authentic selves online."



Words in the News British Broadcasting Corporation 2014
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com


Vocabulary and definitions

to define (here) to describe
transgender someone who feels their true sex is not the same as their
physical characteristics
advocacy groups groups of people who strongly and publicly support an idea
transsexual a man who wants to become a woman, or a woman who
wants to become a man
androgynous of an undefined sex neither male nor female
civil rights people's entitlements while living in society, such as the right
to marriage, education etc.
authentic real, true, genuine



Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2014/02/140214_witn_gender_choices.shtml

Related story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26177050