本文件规定了信息交换中人类性别的统一表示。其目的是: —？减少记录和/或格式化性别表示和传输相应数据所需的时间； —？提高交换的清晰度和准确性； —？尽量减少沟通性别代表性所需的人为干预；和 —？降低成本。 本文件未规定在其实现中使用的文件序列、存储介质、编程语言或其他信息处理功能。 本文档满足大多数需要编码人类性别的应用程序的要求。它没有提供特定医学和科学应用中可能需要的性别代码，也没有提供需要为人类以外的性别信息编码的应用程序中可能需要的性别代码。 它也没有提供其他应用中可能需要的人类性别身份代码。 本文件并不取代国家性别编码标准，这些标准是根据不同语言中的性别名称代码设计的（例如英语中“M”代表“男性”，而“F”代表“女性”）。它提供了独立于语言衍生代码的数字代码，因此旨在为包含人类性别数据元素的信息的国际交换提供一个共同基础。

This document specifies a uniform representation of human sexes for the interchange of information. It is intended to: —？reduce the time required to record and/or format the representation of sexes and transmit the corresponding data; —？improve clarity and accuracy of interchange; —？minimize the amount of human intervention required for communicating the representation of sexes; and —？reduce costs. This document does not prescribe file sequences, storage media, programming languages, or other features of information processing to be used in its implementation. This document meets the requirements of most applications that need to code human sexes. It does not provide codes for sexes that can be required in specific medical and scientific applications or in applications that need to code sex information other than for human beings. It also does not provide codes for human gender identities that can be required in other applications. This document does not supplant national standards for coding sexes that are designed based upon codes derived from names of sexes in the various languages (for example “M” for “male” and “F” for “female” in the English language). It provides a numeric code that is independent of language-derived codes and as such is intended to provide a common basis for the international exchange of information containing human sex data elements.