Male, Female or.... Other?

[~Stargazer~]

So.. A random question that's bothered me for a while. When you sign up for a social media site (YouTube, deviantART, etc.) Why is there an option for other under gender..?
I mean... what is other?
Did I miss something?

[Anathema]

That option is there for transgender people, people that were born as one gender and later on switched to the other. There's also hermaphrodites, people whom biologically qualify as both genders; sometimes 'other' is also used by people whom don't wish to specify their gender - and that's fine too, sometimes I do that myself even though I'm actually a guy.

[Dire Night Wolf]

And here's even more information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgyny
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangender
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigender
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigender
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderqueer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity

[Vask]

Maybe they're aliens

[Lady_Alizarin]

Perhaps the "other" option is there for people who are both genders; hermaphordites. Or for those who are genderless. You may think there is no such thing as a person being born without a gender, but it's very VERY rare and they do exist. I can't remember what the term for a genderless person is, but I'm sure there is one.

[~Stargazer~]

Oh, that makes a lot more sense x3 Thanks!

[WolfQueen]

Other is for people who are hermaphrodites or emotionally both genders, people who are biologically and emotionally no genders, et cetera.

[miikarenn]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Slow down everyone.  This is your friendly neighborhood transgender person speaking.

The third option is for nonbinary people, or "genderqueer" people.  People who don't identify as either.  It's not for your everyday transgender person.

A transgender person is someone who was essentially "born in the wrong body."  I'm a man that was born female. 

Please don't call us "aliens."  That's pretty offensive, but I'm sure you didn't mean it that way.  Just be careful what you say in the future.

I'm open to questions about this topic, if you feel comfortable asking!

[darkknight]

As stated by a few people before, some people are either transgender, do not wish to be identified with a specific gender, and so on. However, it's often complicated to explain on a regular basis because its such a social (in some other cases physical) phenomenon. 

On the subject with the "other" option, there's nothing wrong complicated about it, it's simply the option to be taken as a male, female, or other (no gender, both, trans). On the internet, it's common to be one gender in the real world and be identified by another. In real terms, it's more complex and takes time to understand if you are not familiar with the "other" gender.

[AeropostaleWolf]

Maybe they're aliens

That's what I always thought. xD