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[–] 12 points 3 months ago (1 child)

I don’t like it by association, because most of the time I hear it used by intolerant people (like right wing assholes on the “news”). Sometimes, though, I hear it used without malice, presumably because people don’t know what else to say.

Pardon my ignorance, but what term would you suggest instead? Birth sex? Assigned sex? Something else?

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I’m not the person you asked, but ‘assigned sex’ is fine. The common one is ‘assigned gender at birth’.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    The common one is ‘assigned gender at birth’.

    *assigned sex

    gender is assigned at birth by society, sex is assigned at birth by biology

    usually they match, but sometimes they dont (hard-to-detect intersex conditions (which are never noticed), easy-to-detect intersex conditions (that get you mutilated))

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    sex is assigned at birth by biology

    Minor unimportant correction: Sex is usually assigned at birth by nurses. It's occasionally incorrect because it's usually decided by what the baby's crotch looks like rather than a blood test.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    no, assigned sex is assigned by biology

    nurses failing to notice that youre intersex doesnt make you not intersex

    nurses attempt to discern the birth-assigned sex; they do not decide it

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    The word "assigned" is used exactly to describe a decision by a second party (the nurse) based on the limited information they have at the time.

    Midwives relatively frequently incorrectly assign intersex people at birth.

    Your actual sex isn't assigned by anybody, and certainly isn't decided at birth, but rather at conception.

    Timeline:

    1. Conception: chromosomes determined.
    2. Womb: hormonal context influences gender characteristics.
    3. Birth: nurse assigns male or female.
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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    The word “assigned” is used exactly to describe a decision by a second party (the nurse) based on the limited information they have at the time.

    no

    i'm using it to mean "gotten without having chosen it"

    the sex they have gotten, without having chosen it, from the dna lottery

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    And you believe this happens at birth?! Nonsense!

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    "at birth" is an oversimplification, not meant to be accurate

    its probably used so commonly because the not-yet-born human is usually not really considered

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    afab and amab are commonly used abbreviations in the trans community. They stand for Assigned Female at Birth and Assigned Male at Birth.

    Cis men don't describe themselves as "amab" they just describe themselves as men.

    Absolutely "assigned” is used to describe a potentially imperfect decision by the nurse to label a baby male or female, based on the limited information they have at the time.

    There's a lot more to gender than just what the nurse sees when you pop out, even for cis people, but what gets written down doesn't take anything else into account.

    Trans people have typically thought this stuff through a lot and are using words carefully, whereas you seem resistant both to the meaning of the verb "assigned" and the context "at birth".

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    not really sure what point ur trying to make

    also

    Trans people [...] whereas you [...]

    i am trans, specifically agender

    the pride flag is in my profile picture and my bio says they/them

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    not really sure what point ur trying to make

    It was a minor correction over the meaning of the word assigned. And whilst quibbling over that word, I misused another more important one, so I'm being hypocritical, I see.

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