Google+ is introducing "infinite" ways to define gender, letting users describe themselves using whichever terms they feel comfortable with rather than relying on the ternary "Male," "Female," or "Other" system.

"Now the gender field on your profile will contain four entries, ‘Male,’ ‘Female,’ ‘Decline to state,’ and ‘Custom,’" writes Google software engineer Rachel Bennett. "When 'Custom' is selected, a freeform text field and a pronoun field will appear. You can still limit who can see your gender, just like you can now."

The new gender options follow Facebook's lead earlier this year

The move follows Facebook’s launch of custom gender options earlier this year, with the rival social network introducing more than 70 different gender definitions (including less well-known terms such as ‘Gender Fluid’ and ‘Non-binary’) to better embrace its varied user base.

A screenshot of the new gender options on Google+.

To many users these sorts of changes will go completely unnoticed, but to those individuals that don't conform to the expected definitions, a slight tweak to a drop-down menu can make the difference between feeling rejected and welcomed. More than ever now, social networks play a powerful role in defining society's norms: giving people the option to define their gender for themselves is the least we can do.