How to Edit Your Gender Identity on Facebook

Custom gender options and pronouns are available

by
Leslie Walker
Writer
Former Lifewire writer Leslie Walker is a multimedia journalism professor who covers social media, web publishing, and internet technologies.
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Leslie Walker
Updated on January 18, 2021

When signing up for a Facebook account, people typically choose a gender while filling out their basic information. Gender options on Facebook used to be limited to "male" or "female" (which are actually sexes, not genders). Now, Facebook offers dozens of options. It's easy to edit your current gender option or add a new one if you never set it. Here's how.

Multiple Gender-Identity Options

In 2014, Facebook worked with advocates from LGBTQ groups to add additional gender options to accommodate users who don't identify as either male or female.

At that time, Facebook rolled out more than 50 different gender options, including Bigender and Gender Fluid. The social platform also lets users decide what pronoun is most appropriate for them, for example, she, he, or they.

Facebook has added more gender options since its initial 50 were created. It hasn't released a comprehensive list, but as many as 71 options have been counted.

How to Add or Change Your Facebook Gender Option

To change or edit gender options on Facebook:

  1. Log into Facebook and go to your personal page.

  2. Select the About tab.

    A Facebook page with the About tab highlighted

  3. Select Contact and Basic Info.

    A Facebook profile with the Contact and Basic Info option highlighted

  4. Select the Edit icon next to your gender. This opens a drop-down menu with three options: Female, Male, and Custom.

    Facebook contact info page with custom gender options highlighted

  5. If you choose Custom, a text field appears. Selecting it opens another drop-down menu with many options to choose from. Pick the ones you want to add them to your profile. Additionally, you can specify which pronouns you want to use.

  6. Use the Facebook privacy button to designate who can see your gender on your profile. You can choose to make it public, make it viewable for friends only, and more.

    You can choose to make your gender publicly viewable (or not) with Facebook's privacy options.

  7. Select Save to keep your changes.

Examples of Facebook Gender Options

Facebook's gender options include:

  • Agender
  • Androgynous
  • Bigender
  • Cis
  • Cis Woman
  • Cis Man
  • Non-binary
  • Gender Fluid
  • Gender Questioning
  • Trans
  • Trans Woman
  • Trans Man
  • Transgender Person
  • Two-Spirit

Gender and sex differ, but they are often conflated. While "male" and "female" were originally Facebook's only "gender" options, these words indicate sex and allude to sexual characteristics someone may have. Gender is a socially and culturally constructed phenomenon that is not linked to any particular sexual characteristics.

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