Quick hit: Dr Martens get it right

[alexbrett]

What Dr Martens have done here is - as the title suggests - got it right, in two simple but important ways:

1. Gender is optional.
   
2. Four options are provided: male, female, other, blank (i.e. prefer not to say).

Is it ideal? Well, no: in my perfect world, gender would be write-in - and potentially set up to suggest popular options in situations where data cleanliness is important. By this I mean that somebody typing "f" would have top options beginning with f suggested, a la word clouds or indeed Google Smartsearch. The only places I've found that actually achieve this are, well, Disapora (add me! I have invitations!), and, oddly enough, Caltech's Student Faculty Programme application system - though note that Caltech falls into the fallacy that it's only people outside the gender binary who self-identify.

Honourable mentions do go to both Dreamwidth and Blogger: both offer four options, but Dreamwidth has the slight edge at least from my point of view that reporting gender is entirely optional.

Well, what about it?

• I've fired off an e-mail to Dr Martens to thank them - and to ask if they'd be willing to give me their stats on how many people tick "other".
  
• transfinite has compiled a list of places that get it wrong. Where else do you know that gets it right? We'll get the list up on the main website in due course. :-)

Comments

[liv]

Cool. I like the "don't bother asking people their gender when it's totally irrelevant to your data" option better than the write-in option, but yeah. And I was really taken with the Diaspora article when it was doing the rounds. If you have invitations I'd really like one; livredor [at] justemail [dot] net works.

[alexbrett]

Sorry, yes: the TOTB material says "One, don't ask for gender; two, do you really need to ask for gender? Three, fine, phrase the question like this" and I was coming from that context. Should've been clearer. :-)

[karen2205]

Can I have a Disapora invitation please? karen@wonderfuldreams.me.uk

[alexbrett]

The Green Party membership form gives "male, female, other" as gender options.