15 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Do non-binary identities reenforce gender stereotypes?
I can understand that perspective. But I feel that’s leading us down a path to confusion. We all need to have a shared understanding of words and categories in order to have a functioning society, especially when it comes to protected classes. If one person defines a category one way, and another person defines it a different way, that’s incoherent. If one person believes a man is anyone who is stereotypically masculine, and another person believes a man is anyone who is male, it’s not a coherent category. Those are two overlapping, but not mutually inclusive groups of people. That incoherence, and each group not accepting the other group’s definition, is what I think causes so much tension around this topic.
Comment by BluuberryBee at 12/01/2025 at 09:59 UTC
6 upvotes, 4 direct replies
PhDs have been debating this for decades, cultures have come to many varying conclusions - there isn't one answer for the subjective experience. There are MANY examples of that. It isn't unique to this. And if you try to define woman by anything other than a persons own self identification, you'll come to the same issue. Breast? Some removed. Babies? Some sterile, unsafe for pregnancy, etc. on and on. Stressing about it just isn't necessary. Words evolve. So do people and cultures. Protected classes getting mixed up is less of issue than many would have you believe, simply because trans people are also a vulnerable class. Trans women have a much greater likelihood of facing violence than cis women, for example.
Comment by UNisopod at 12/01/2025 at 16:23 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You're just describing any change in linguistic usage over time. Confusion exists during periods of differing usage, it's nothing particularly special in this case.