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Culture May 5, 2020
Some answers to non-binary gender questions you may have.
“Non-Binary Gender,” can mean many different things. In a nutshell, it means one isn’t exclusively male or female.
According to Healthline, “Some people who are non-binary experience their gender as both male and female. Others experience their gender as neither male nor female.”
Since “non-binary” can cover a variety of gender identities, it can be pretty confusing.
You can be agender, bigender, genderfluid, or genderqueer.
Pronouns can be the hardest thing for cisgender people to understand. Since non-binary people don’t exclusively associate themselves with one gender, addressing them can be tricky.
Some common pronouns non-binary gender people associate with are, “Them/they/theirs” or “Ze/hir,” but not everyone who falls under the non-binary umbrella uses those.
You don’t want to insult anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable. The only way you will truly know how to address someone, is to just ask. In a HuffingtonPost article written by genderqueer writer Sassafrass Lowrey, ze states, “Make asking pronouns as natural as asking what someone’s name is when you meet.”
Although this may seem uncomfortable, it can avoid a lot of awkward situations.
Don’t ever assume how someone wants to be called. Just because they dress according to a society’s standards of how a man or woman should dress doesn’t mean they identify as a man or woman.
“Gender presentation isn’t the same as gender identity,” Lowrey said.
Since gender is such a confusing topic, some people may relate transgender to non-binary gender.
According to Healthline, “Nonbinary gender has to do with who someone knows themself to be.”
Since it’s all about how you identify yourself, a transgender person can be non-binary (if that’s how they identify themselves).
Healthline also states, “A nonbinary person who doesn’t identify as trans may partially identify with the sex assigned at birth, as well as have a gender identity that can’t be categorized as strictly male or female.”
Gender can be very confusing, and it’s okay if you don’t get it right off the bat. It’s going to take some time to remember anything and everything about gender.
Since gender identity has nothing to do with outer appearance, what a non-binary person wears depends on their personal style.
This goes back to the idea that you can’t assume a person’s gender, so you should always ask. People who are gender fluid may switch up their styles every day and just wear whatever they want!
Buzzfeed created a video that focuses on non-binary people, and how they choose to dress. A lot of people in the video described their style as being “creative,” “confident,” “masculine,” and “sexy.” Everyone in that video had an amazing sense of style, it was truly beautiful.
If you do classify yourself as being non-binary, here are a few quizzes you can take that are both fun and informative!
Remember that only you can only define who you are! Live your life for yourself and no one else.
