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There is a question about ways to dress in winter to preserve "business-casual" look.

The first version of my answer addressed the question from POV of a cisgendered male dress tradition in the US. I realized that this question is relevant and applicable to larger range of people. Interestingly, it didn't change the core of my answer, but I did add another image to illustrate my point.

Is it appropriate to encourage authors to edit their question/answer to be more inclusive?

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    "Is it appropriate to encourage authors to edit their question/answer to be more inclusive?" - tough call. Sounds rather like nagging to me. I can see some contexts where it might be important.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 23:16
  • @JoeStrazzere i can see how "write better answer" would be appropriate response
    – aaaaa says reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 23:18
  • Hmm. "Write better answer" seems like a nag to me. Hopefully it would seldom be needed. And when it's actually needed the comment would be worded a bit better than that.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 23:34
  • @JoeStrazzere i meant following conversation: aaa:"please include gender-neutral option in your answer" bbb: "write better answer"
    – aaaaa says reinstate Monica
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 23:53
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    One can always suggest an edit of a question or answer, people do it to mine once in a while, I usually go with it unless the edit makes no sense to me.
    – Kilisi Mod
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 23:55
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    @aaaaaa - hopefully that comment will only appear for questions/answers that really need it, and not often. For me, it would make sense if the OP requested a gender-neutral answer and one wasn't provided. Otherwise, not so much. For the "clothing-layer" question, (shrug). Your answer was US-centric. I'd hate to see comments like "please include country-neutral option in your answer" there.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 23:58
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    I think this is fine, where appropriate. We don't want to drive anyone off if they don't want to include gender information.
    – Neo
    Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 12:31

1 Answer 1

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The issue here is that this site thrives and works best on specificity. When we answer questions, the more context that the OP's provide, the better the answers that we give.

If someone is asking a question and gender is somehow an issue that is relevant, you have two options:

  1. Provide an answer that covers the possible answers. Your personal example seemed fairly reasonable.
  2. Ask the OP for more details. Clarifying comments are one of the main uses of comments after all.

But your question is about if you see someone else's answer. Well I would apply the idea behind the two points above and do the following:

  1. You can provide an answer of your own covering the missing info. Something along the lines of...

Answer X gave a great suggestion on how to handle this if you are male. Here is my solution if you are female...

You could also suggest that as an edit to the original answer if you are feeling generous. (courtesy of Kilisi)

  1. You can ask the OP for clarification. If the OP then confirms that the answer and they align, then move on. If the clarifications makes the answer irrelevant then point the answerer toward the clarification and ask them to adjust the answer accordingly.
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    Yes, it seems appropriate here to ask the questioner for clarification here by using comments. "The language here seems to imply that you're male, is this correct? This will greatly help the appropriateness of the answers". Questioners often forget to include basic information - it's ok to ask them for it.
    – user44108
    Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 7:18
  • @Snow but what if they get offended at you assuming they're male? Or perhaps the other way around 'The language here seems to imply that you're male biologically but something else mentally, is this correct?
    – Kilisi Mod
    Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 7:36
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    No, they're not likely to be offended at someone assuming male from a context that implies that any more than a woman would be. The offense comes when they declare that they're non-binary and you subsequently ignore that. We're not assuming that everyone is non-binary except when proven otherwise.
    – user44108
    Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 7:51
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    ok, now I got to go look up what non binary means, hopefully it doesn't make me queasy
    – Kilisi Mod
    Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 7:53
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    @Kilisi It's like how a database field can usually accept 0 or 1, but can also set to NULL. It's not that simple (because humans are complex), but that's the general concept and the easiest way of understanding it.
    – user44108
    Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 10:09

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