38 upvotes, 7 direct replies (showing 7)
View submission: Do non-binary identities reenforce gender stereotypes?
I agree with you. When people describe themselves as non-binary, my question is, what do they associate with the category of woman or man that they feel doesn’t apply to them, outside of being male or female? In my opinion any characteristic that people associate with the female group of humans, for example, outside of their being female, is ascribing a stereotype.
Comment by poli_trial at 12/01/2025 at 08:44 UTC
55 upvotes, 3 direct replies
I interact with a lot of teens at work. I'm European and wear more form fitting clothes. A few of them now have commented that skinny jeans should not be worn by men/boys, but if I were queer or non-binary, they'd have no problem with it. Thus, instead of expanding their idea of what's possible for men, to them, I'd have to change my actual gender expression for them to accept my own self-expression. IMO, this is not progress.
Comment by Virtual_Perception18 at 13/01/2025 at 03:37 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We’ve progressed so much as a society that we’re starting to regress
Comment by PastelWraith at 12/01/2025 at 13:37 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
For me I've always seen myself as just a person first. Certain behaviors/interests got pushed out and I had to relearn who I was and get rid of the outside influence dictating what I should be. Certain body parts felt natural but my overall self felt off. I've never experienced phantom limb but I imagine it's a little something like that where what you feel doesn't match what you see.
Comment by I_Am_Become_Dream at 12/01/2025 at 13:05 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
to me the one exception is people who have gender dysphoria, especially those who had some gender-affirming care, be it hormones or surgery.
Comment by Oriin690 at 14/01/2025 at 15:49 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
As a nonbinary person I don’t really associate anything specific with being a woman or a man. Gender is an individualistic experience so what one woman or man makes them feel like a women or man can be different.
Take feminine men and masculine women. They still feel like men and women right? Not because of any gender stereotypes they’re fulfilling, they have some sort of internal identity. When people mistake them for the other gender they might feel a wrongness, like they’re being seen as something they are not.
Nonbinary people don’t feel like men or women. They feel like nothing (agender) or maybe a little like a man or women or maybe they’re gender-fluid etc. their sense of internal identity is just not in that binary. They can masculine feminine androgynous and as a nonbinary person I know nonbinary people of all presentations.
And yes these senses can be tied to stereotypes. Many men find it gender affirming to do masculine Things and many women can find it affirming to to do feminine things and what those things are is societal. But you can also have say a masculine women wear a tuxedo and say she feels like a powerful woman. It’s like individualistic.
Perhaps it’s disconcerting or confusing to understand that much of society is feeling some sort of internal sense with no strict definition besides itself. But that’s how it be.
Comment by bigboymanny at 12/01/2025 at 16:47 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
If may offer another perspective as a nonbinary person. Man and woman are archetypes that have been developing for thousands of years. Because of the culture we were raised most if not all people have some internal sense of the ideal man and woman. Everyone has different ideas about what said ideal is but they all tie back to a greater concept that exists outside the individual and can never be fully understood by the individual. A man in my opinion is someone who's interested in pursuing the ideal of man and vice versa. A nonbinary person is someone who's disinterested in pursuing either ideal like myself. I have no interest or investment in the idea of being a man or transitioning and trying to be a woman. There are other ideals that I value and base my identity around instead.
Comment by redroserequiems at 12/01/2025 at 20:56 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Nothing in particular. I just, personally, feel happiest being called by every pronoun. Does that make sense? Defining myself by gender euphoria.