Jason BeetsIf you enjoy this thread, consider supporting me on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/MeticulousMusings
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Today, we will examine the performance of Man, Woman, Boy, and Girl in the Gender Census.
https://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2026/01/man-and-woman-boy-and-girl.html
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But wait!
The Gender Census is a global annual online survey of people with a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female.
Doesn’t that mean Man, Woman, Boy, and Girl are wrong answers?
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We will begin by discussing these terms in the context of nonbinary identity, before exploring how these terms have performed in the Gender Census.
We will also use a pairing analysis to determine the other words most commonly chosen by respondents who selected these terms.
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Section: Discussion
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Most people have a gender that is either exclusively male or female.
But some people have a gender that isn’t exclusively male or female, and they’re known as nonbinary.
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So what are Man, Woman, Boy, and Girl doing in a survey of nonbinary genders?
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While these terms aren’t inherently nonbinary genders, they can be part of someone’s larger nonbinary identity.
You may have encountered the compound terms Nonbinary Man, Nonbinary Woman, Nonbinary Trans Man, or Nonbinary Trans Woman.
One of the ways you could interpret these compound terms is that someone has a gender that’s between male and female, but closer to one side or the other.
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What about demiboy and demigirl?
We will discuss those terms in the next article. We already have more than enough on our plate for today.
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For reasons I will explore in this article and the next, I consider Man, Woman, Boy, and Girl to be valid choices in the Gender Census.
Examining the other words most commonly chosen by respondents who selected these terms will help determine whether or not this is true.
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Whether you consider these options to be right or wrong answers, within the context of the Gender Census, could affect how you interpret the results we will discuss in this article, and the ones that follow.
While I believe they are correct answers, it might be worth keeping both possibilities in mind for now.
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First, we’ll examine the performance of Woman and Girl in the Gender Census.
Next, we’ll examine the performance of Man and Boy in the survey.
Then, we’ll explore the other identities most commonly chosen by respondents who selected Woman, Girl, Man, and Boy.
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Section: Woman
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The wording of the checkbox for woman has changed several times in the Gender Census.
Woman appeared as a checkbox in the Gender Census from 2015 to 2023.
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In 2015, “Woman” appeared as a checkbox, and “Girl” did not.
From 2016 to 2019, the checkbox was “Woman (or girl if younger)”.
From 2020 to 2022, Woman and Girl appeared as separate checkboxes.
In 2023, “Woman” appeared as a checkbox, and “Girl” did not.
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Woman has appeared in the Gender Census, in one form or another, nine times.
Its minimum was 10.6% in 2021, and its maximum was 15.6% in 2015.
Woman’s average is 12.7%, and woman’s range is 5%.
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This ongoing thread can be read as an article on my blog, Meticulous Musings.
https://jasonbeets.blogspot.com/2026/01/man-and-woman-boy-and-girl.html
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Section: Girl
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Girl appeared, on its own, in the Gender Census, three times, from 2020 to 2022.
In 2020, Girl received 9.1%.
In 2021, Girl received 9.7%.
In 2022, Girl received 11.1%.
Girl’s average is 10%.
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Section: Woman and Girl
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Woman performed better than girl in two of the three years when they appeared as separate checkbox options in the Gender Census.
Girl performed better than woman in one of the three years when they appeared as separate checkboxes.
In the three years girl appeared as a separate checkbox, woman was chosen by a smaller percentage of respondents than in other years.
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Section: Man
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The wording of the checkbox for man has changed several times in the Gender Census.
Man appeared as a checkbox in the Gender Census from 2015 to 2023.
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In 2015, “Man” appeared as a checkbox, and “Boy” did not.
From 2016 to 2019, the checkbox was “Man (or boy if younger)”.
From 2020 to 2022, Man and Boy appeared as separate checkboxes.
In 2023, “Man” appeared as a checkbox, and “Boy” did not.
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Man has appeared in the Gender Census, in one form or another, nine times.
Man’s minimum was 7.6% in 2016.
Man’s maximum was 16.1% in 2023.
Man’s average is 10.5%, and Man’s range is 8.5%.
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Section: Boy
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Boy appeared as a checkbox, on its own, in the Gender Census, three times, from 2020 to 2022.
In 2020, Boy received 9.5%.
In 2021, Boy received 11%.
In 2022, Boy received 14.7%.
Boy’s average is 11.7%.
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If you enjoy this thread, consider supporting my blog, Meticulous Musings, on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/cw/MeticulousMusings
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