Dropdownlistfor returns null value - asp.net-mvc

Question

I have a customer class with a property Gender. I created a list of Gender type which contains and id number and Gender type. When form is submitted, I am getting null value.
View
#model MovieRentals.ViewModel.CustomerView
<div class="form-group">
<h4>#Html.LabelFor(l => l.Customer.BirthDate)</h4>
#Html.DropDownListFor(l => l.CustomerGender, new SelectList(Model.CustomerGender, "GenderId", "GenderType"), "Select Gender", new { #class = "form-control" })
</div>
Model
public class CustomerView
{
public IEnumerable<MembershipType> MembershipTypes{ get; set; }
public Customer Customer { get; set; }
public List<GenderClass> CustomerGender{ get; set; }
}
public class GenderClass
{
public int GenderId { get; set; }
public string GenderType { get; set; }
}
Controller
public ActionResult New()
{
var MembershipTy = _context.MemebershipType.ToList();
var ViewModel = new CustomerView();
ViewModel.CustomerGender = new List<GenderClass>()
{
new GenderClass(){ GenderId = 1, GenderType = "Male"},
new GenderClass() { GenderId = 2, GenderType = "Female"}
};
ViewModel.MembershipTypes = MembershipTy;
return View(ViewModel);
}

Answer 1

You need two properties: one to hold the selected value and one to hold the options. The one that holds the options should be IEnumerable<SelectListItem>. Your GenderClass class is completely superfluous.
Also, using an integer id as the value doesn't make sense when the meaning of that value is not obvious. Here, the fact that 1 means Male only exists in the New action. Anywhere else, you will then have to repeat this logic (which introduces opportunities for errors, e.g. was male 1 or 0). Further, if you decide to change those values, you must remember to change them everywhere. If you want to use an integer id, then you should abstract away the meaning somewhere, be it an enum, static class, database table, etc. The far better choice is to just keep it a string, and use the dropdown merely to enforce normalization of that string value.
public string CustomerGender { get; set; }
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> CustomerGenderChoices
{
get
{
return new List<SelectListItem>
{
new SelectListItem { Value = "Male", Text = "Male" },
new SelectListItem { Value = "Female", Text = "Female" }
}
}
}
Then, in your view:
#Html.DropDownListFor(m => m.CustomerGender, Model.CustomerGenderChoices, "Select Gender", new { #class = "form-control" })
Alternatively, if you were to use an enum:
public enum Genders
{
Male = 1,
Female = 2
}
Then, in your view model, you would only need one property, just to store the value:
public Genders CustomerGender { get; set; }
Then, in your view, you can make use of EnumDropDownListFor:
#Html.EnumDropDownListFor(m => m.CustomerGender, "Select Gender", new { #class = "form-control" })
As an enum, the value stored would be an int, but the benefit here is that you have a strongly-typed association between those integer values and what they mean. For example, rather than doing something like:
if (customer.CustomerGender == 1) // Male
You can do:
if (customer.CustomerGender == Genders.Male)
Obviously, the second version is much more obvious in meaning.