I am curious as to the percentage of men that are participating on this site.

Nonviolent Studies aims to combat:

Domestic Violence (for ALL PEOPLE)

Stalking

Violence in Schools (school shootings, bullying, etc.)

Discrimination (based on race or ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, etc.)

and Sexual Abuse (for children as well as adults)

And yes, Nonviolent Studies are also feminist because feminists believe that ALL PEOPLE (young, old, men, women, intersexed, gays, lesbians, *I could go on forever) have a basic human right to feel safe and free from harm.

That sounds like an amazing program! It should be mandatory for everyone, freshman year!

I'd love to know what your intention was to provide an "other" category in the poll. Were you being facetious or genuinely being considerate?

i pretty much took the inclusion of "something else" title as facetious/immature. he would have worded it differently if he was genuinely interested in those who are transgendered.

I'd love to know what your intention was to provide an "other" category in the poll. Were you being facetious or genuinely being considerate?

I guess the answer is D, All of the above.

Both reasons you gave and I wanted to give an outlet for those that wanted to be counted but didn't feel like answering honestly.

I don't think I have to genuinely care to be courteous, do I?

MOTG,

Please refrain from using the term immature when describing me or my actions. I am a 45 year old man. I am way past the point of immature.

Below is a list of acceptable terms:

abusive, bad-mannered, barbaric, barbarous, blunt, boorish, brusque, brutish, cheeky, churlish, coarse, crude, curt, discourteous, graceless, gross, gruff, ignorant, impertinent, impolite, impudent, inconsiderate, insolent, insulting, loutish, low, obscene, offhand, peremptory, raw, savage, scurrilous, surly, uncivilized, uncouth, uncultured, ungracious, unmannerly, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar, wild

I must admit, I had a good chuckle to myself at work today after reading this thread this morning.

Oh so many replys came to mind!

btrieger, I'm glad you are enjoying it too!

I didn't think you added the "other" choice literally for those with dual equipment and such. I figured you were just trying to keep things light-hearted.

This morning I was thinking you left out a couple choices.

A. Men

B. Women

C. Boys

D. Girls

Actually it's from Psychology of Women, Sociology of Women, and the Social Construction of Sex (among many other relevant courses I've taken). They are mostly 500-600 level courses, god knows I haven't taken an introductory 200 level course in years!

Oh MY ! 500-600 LEVEL Wooooeee. you er gettin' yerself a good education girl! What you are lackin' is life experience and maturity. re: "let me educate you."

and then quoting yer little text book to teach what you just learned.

But I won't hold that against you. It is just one of several "journies" yer on ! Life's journey. yer little classes aren't teachin' u how to treat people very well, but you'll learn after about 20 more years of real life.

I guess the answer is D, All of the above.

Both reasons you gave and I wanted to give an outlet for those that wanted to be counted but didn't feel like answering honestly.

I don't think I have to genuinely care to be courteous, do I?

MOTG,

Please refrain from using the term immature when describing me or my actions. I am a 45 year old man. I am way past the point of immature.

Below is a list of acceptable terms:

abusive, bad-mannered, barbaric, barbarous, blunt, boorish, brusque, brutish, cheeky, churlish, coarse, crude, curt, discourteous, graceless, gross, gruff, ignorant, impertinent, impolite, impudent, inconsiderate, insolent, insulting, loutish, low, obscene, offhand, peremptory, raw, savage, scurrilous, surly, uncivilized, uncouth, uncultured, ungracious, unmannerly, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar, wild

no, it is not you who is immature.

Cheeky ? hmm, not so sure on that one.

I like you btrieger ! I really do :thumbup:

Oh MY ! 500-600 LEVEL Wooooeee. you er gettin' yerself a good education girl! What you are lackin' is life experience and maturity. re: "let me educate you."

and then quoting yer little text book to teach what you just learned.

But I won't hold that against you. It is just one of several "journies" yer on ! Life's journey. yer little classes aren't teachin' u how to treat people very well, but you'll learn after about 20 more years of real life.

Yeah, because you treat people respectfuly and maturely? Your complete lack of knowledge and experience in this exact topic of the social construction of gender is a perfect example of the "journey" that you have yet to understand. You sound like a complete idiot! Just because you are older than I am, it does NOT mean that you are more intelligent or have more life experiences than I do...I'm pretty sure I have you beat in the intellectual abilities and life skills category.

I can guarantee when you reply to this, you will demonstrate once again your lack of respect and competence in reguards to this subject.

You are all welcome to dispute the ideas with one another, and each offer your opinions on the subjects at hand. Personal attacks are not allowed on the board.

At the bottom left hand side you will find the forum rules....

If the poll offends you, or the wording of the poll offends you, no one is requiring you to respond in it.

It is very hard in a forum such as this to "get" humor. We cannot see a raised eyebrow or a grin that might go along with a post, so tend to read everything very seriously.

It is pretty obvious that there are many more women than men here, but maybe through a thread such as this, some of the men will get together for some support.

If the poll offends you, or the wording of the poll offends you, no one is requiring you to respond in it.

that certainly is one way to look at it....

i choose to look at it more globally and towards a better world....how do you know that there is not a trangendered member of this community? a person who has grown up being called "it" or "other" their whole life? expecting a little sensitivity or maturity from others in this community goes beyond being "offended" and not responding to polls. and quite frankly, regardless of the "rules", i think it something that is worthy of calling someone out for if their behavior or wording can make some feel detached from this community as a whole.

just like racist, religious or misogynistic slurs or delineations would not be tolerated...neither should "other". fyi, transgendered discrimination is probably the most accepted forms of discrimination -- right up there with fat discrimination -- in this country today... and i don't need to consult a book to verify that....it is part of my family, my community and my passion.

I think everyone just needs to relax. Is there any way to block certain users who you do not care to see their posts? Just curious. :thumbup:

As 2 people so far have already voted on the 'other' category,they obviously didnt mind! lol

Im sure it was a way of being 'Politically Correct' not to assume just men or women use lapband talk.

lol ... OH, I gotta hear this !

I'm sorry, it's my own fault. I shouldn't have encouraged it in the first place. The response is not at all what I expected. I guess it's a good example of 'be careful what you ask for.'

I'm very sorry for my part in messing up the thread/poll.

I've never encountered an issue where the word "other" resulted in such a passionate response.

I have. Imagine when it is used in the context, "Who's that other guy with your wife?"

what if you have to get excited to exceed size requirements?

And yes, Nonviolent Studies are also feminist because feminists believe that ALL PEOPLE (young, old, men, women, intersexed, gays, lesbians, *I could go on forever) have a basic human right to feel safe and free from harm.

But the official pro-feminism line is pro choice, so it's not really ALL PEOPLE. I'm not trying to start up a thread that belongs on Rants & Raves RE: feminism, but merely trying to illustrate that issues are complex. I think we all can see the intent of the poll (heck, btrieger stated the purpose in post #1), so maybe we should all take it @ face value, and not hijack a thread to advocate or "educate" on a topic related to the original by a tangent at best.

I think everyone just needs to relax. Is there any way to block certain users who you do not care to see their posts? Just curious. :thumbup:

Yes. Good point. If somebody is getting under one's skin that much, a good solution is to block their posts.

First let's start with some basics.

*Sex - biological characteristics (XX=female, XY=male)

*Gender - socially constructed ideals about males and females

*Transgender - an individual who feels that they are neither male or female OR a male who subscribes to stereotypical female gendered scripts OR a female who identifies with male gender roles

*Transexual - an individual who has reconstructive surgery to alter their reproductive organs to identify with a male or female

*Intersexual - an individual who has intermingled male/female sex characteristics (previously "hermaphroditism")

- This occurs in 1.7% of live human births (Almost 2 out of every 100 babies born)

-How? Typically when a baby is born the genitalia clearly identify the baby as either a male or female, but there are measurements that a doctor can do to check as well. Believe it or not, the clitoris is the equvalent of the penis (external genitalia) (I can explain this too if you'd like).

.5-1cm external genitalia is considered a clitoris (female)

2.5-4.5cm external genitalia is considered a penis (male)

So what about the gap in between?? = INTERSEXUALITY

Many things can cause this to happen:

Turner Syndrome (XO chromosomes) =1 in 2,500 female births (the uterus and ovaries are missing)

Klinefelter Syndrome (XXY chromosomes) 1 in 600 births (small penis/testes, feminized hips, small breasts)

XYY Syndrome = 1 in 1,000 births (males are taller than average)

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) = adrenal glands produce abnormally high amounts of androgens (male hormones) (the individual has a uterus and either a large clitoris or small penis)

Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) = genetic males cannot utilize androgen (they don't have internal reproductive organs, but they do have a small penis)

5 Alpha-Reductase Deficiency = prevents prenatal differentiation of the external genetalia tissue into a penis (there is no penis but the individual has facial hair, deep voice, broad shoulders)

Many times when there is any speculation as to a baby's sex, the doctors perform a surgery that shapes the genitalia into a clitoris, whether or not that baby had ovaries or not....leaving many males with clitorises.

That's a lot of good theory, but in the end, most (granted....not all, but most) of people with the above listed conditions will identify with one gender more than another, regardless of chromosomal make-up or anatomy.

So as you can see, it IS possible for an individual to be neither a male or a female. And who's to say they have to choose?

They'd have to choose in certain situations (places with male / female designated bathrooms only, job applications, census, etc). Again, that's not saying they choose a personal designation for their LIFE, but sometimes they do have to pick. In that context, I think this poll is ok, whether or not the "other" option was genuine concern or snark.