Crayola now has a line of gender-fluid makeup

[Rita_Lynn]

Gender fluid is also an established term, just perhaps not in your vernacular.

[Franko]

thank you. (and to @Celandine_Crane as well). i looked too quickly.

[anon30760835]

@anon50609448

Let’s keep “gender fluid” as an adjective.

What if we renamed it?

Salad Cream renamed

[Grey_Devil]

It is, i identify as gender queer. Unisex has been in the lexicon for much longer, has it not?

[anotherone]

@Rita_Lynn

Gender fluid is also an established term

Yes and is only inclusive to those who are gender fluid making it a poor descriptor of the product.

@Rita_Lynn

Unisex still has the word “sex” in it, implying that sex and gender are synonymous.

That implication is entirely in your head and is not representative of objective reality.

[Celandine_Crane]

@Grey_Devil

I don’t particularly care if they get triggered or not, just saying that Unisex has that advantage of already being an established word

@Grey_Devil

i think it has the advantage of not being a charged word. Some people wouldnt think twice about it but would be triggered at hearing non-gendered.

Consistency, how does one do it?

[anon30760835]

@Grey_Devil

unisex succinctly describes non-gendered and other terms that are commonly used.

by respecting the nuance, right? Human covers all those same bases you describe.

@Grey_Devil

Additionally unisex has been used for quite a long time and i think it has the advantage of not being a charged word.

It’s never been charged by the ones who are being spoken of. That ‘charge’ isn’t the reasonable responsibility of the person whose identity is causing you discomfort, for existing.

@Grey_Devil

Some people wouldnt think twice about it but would be triggered at hearing non-gendered.

Triggers are the responsibility of the one holding the dangerous weapon, and not the target.

[Rita_Lynn]

I don’t feel that because a term has been around for a long time means it’s the best term to use in any given situation.

[anon30760835]

Other people should do what they want v. Other people should do as I say.

[anotherone]

@Rita_Lynn

I don’t feel that because a term has been around for a long time means it’s the best term to use in any given situation.

I totally agree. Which is why gender fluid is not the best term to use here. Gender fluid is not inclusive of everyone and everyone is who this product is for. Unisex however is inclusive of everyone which makes it a much more accurate term.

[KathyPartdeux]

I would buy that action figure. And go on a date with it.

[Grey_Devil]

@anon30760835

Human covers all those same bases you describe.

In terms of clothing and products Human vs Unisex i’d say that the former is more adequate. But hey, snark right?

[Celandine_Crane]

@anotherone

Gender fluid is not inclusive of everyone and everyone is who this product is for. Unisex however is inclusive of everyone which makes it a much more accurate term.

Ahhh, here’s an argument with actual merit. Gender-fluid is a specific subset of non-binary identity. That being said, I think that Rita’s remark about the use of unisex (in this context, at least) implying an inherent link between gender and sex is also a fair point. The categories used on Asos’ website are “Men” and “Women”, after all, not “Male” and “Female”.

Personally speaking, if I were asked to pick a term in this case I would probably use “gender-neutral” or “ungendered”.

[KathyPartdeux]

@Grey_Devil

I don’t particularly care if they get triggered or not, just saying that Unisex has that advantage of already being an established word

Take a cue from our restrooms at work - which have a sign that says “All Gender”.

[anon30760835]

@Grey_Devil

Unisex has been in the lexicon for much longer, has it not?

So has retarded. Is that your argument?

[anon30760835]

@anotherone

Unisex however is inclusive of everyone which makes it a much more accurate term.

If one designs bathrooms in the 1980s, sure.

[anotherone]

This sort of thing is why it’s important to avoid the use of jargon and gender fluid is certainly jargon. While I agree that ungendered is a functional non jargon term to describe a product designed without regard to sex or gender, I also understand that most people will not immediately recognize the intent of the term when applied to what society has been labeling unisex for decades. If communicating an idea to the public is your goal, then it seems to me unisex would be your best option. If your goal is working towards a society where jargon now used by a small subset of society becomes the normative mode of communication, then a term like ungendered or even gender fluid may be your best option. Considering that this is a product for sale to the public, I’d imagine the former is going to be the goal rather than the latter.

[anon59592690]

“Hello Captain”
Pet him like a kitty, right?

[RedFury]

@ChuckV

But will it be as difficult to get out of your eyebrows as lipstick?

In case you need more Halloween candy, wad up some Wonder bread and use it as an eraser. If you went for the full ‘IT’ clown face greasepaint, you’ll use the entire loaf.

I’ve needed Halloween candy a few times, too.

Edit: The Wonder bread eraser trick works to get lipstick/greasepaint mostly out of clothing, too. You’ll need to finish up with something soapy. It has to be Wonder bread because it’s not a real foodstuff - so no trying to substitute Artisanal Small-Batch Multi-Grain Gluten-Free Hippie Bread.

[Celandine_Crane]

@anotherone

While I agree that ungendered is a functional non jargon term to describe a product designed without regard to sex or gender, I also understand that most people will not immediately recognize the intent of the term when applied to what society has been labeling unisex for decades.

Do you really think anyone would be confused by the term “ungendered”? Perhaps I have too much faith in the intelligence of the average person (though that would be a first) but I really can’t imagine anyone not understanding the meaning of the word in that context.

@anotherone

If communicating an idea to the public is your goal, then it seems to me unisex would be your best option. If your goal is working towards a society where jargon now used by a small subset of society becomes the normative mode of communication, then a term like ungendered or even gender fluid may be your best option.

Jargon becomes vernacular by dint of wide usage. It gains wide usage when it serves a linguistic purpose that is not served by existing words in the vernacular. Whether or not that is the case here is certainly up for debate, but I don’t think “a word is currently jargon” is a particularly convincing reason to avoid its usage in se.

Edit: also, a Google Ngrams search shows that “gender-neutral” became more common terminology than “unisex” in 1990, so…