Comment 26 for bug 272826

While I am definately -1 on making identifying gender a *mandatory* thing, I'm as yet unconvinced that gender can't be an *optional* field.

For those of us who are (and please pardon the revolting terminology) 'thick-skinned' enough to put up with the crap it entails, it might help to at least reinforce that there are females in the midsts and make them less of a novelty when one is 'found'. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/print/17/27 is a great reference point for that particular argument.

However, the topic of changing the term to a gender-neutral suffix is something that would likely need the consultation of a linguistic expert to find a situation amenable to most, but even then I doubt there's a perfect suffix that everyone from everywhere will agree on.