3 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Do non-binary identities reenforce gender stereotypes?
"To me it's clear that people who choose a nonbinary label intend to do so from with the purpose of creating more expansive/accepting forms view of self-expression."
That's not the point of "choosing a nonbinary label"/being nonbinary. That's the point of advocating for the expansion of acceptable self-expression, a thing that many nonbinary people are also actively doing. But being nonbinary isn't about how we express externally. I was raised by a very gender-nonconforming woman; I've never had any issues with self-expression and would have very happily and confidently lived as a soft butch woman *if I were a woman.* But I'm not.
The point of the nonbinary label is to bring to modern English the vocabulary for an experience that has been known across many times and many cultures, that is, not fitting neatly into the categories "man" and "woman".
Also, if you think that the direction we're going is TOWARDS "siloing ourselves from others"... have you paid any attention to what things were like in the 50s? We have made SO much progress in that respect. And gender nonconformity has only become more normalized since the 2010s. A man wore a dress on the cover of Vogue. Tom Holland did drag and it wasn't even treated as that big of a deal. The only back-tracking has been pushed by the people who hate nonbinary people to begin with.
Like, I'm sorry that the people in your personal experience haven't been great, but that doesn't change the overall flow of social change, or the causes that the larger community are pushing for.
Comment by poli_trial at 12/01/2025 at 12:42 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Wait what? You realize this is 50s vs modern society thing you're bringing up comes down towards loosening of social rules and is in essence an off-shoot of the deeper struggle between individualism vs collectivism, right?
How we approach this shift matters a lot. Individualism through labels seems to push people towards boxes one puts oneself and ourselves into. Leaning into identity groups will inevitably pit one against other identity groups.
Personally, I'm in favor of personal freedom without this labeling tendency as I think the better approach is to emphasizes common humanity. IMO, the universalist approach is a better common ground between collectivism vs individualism, identifying that we need retain individuality at a personal level, while also functioning as part of society (and not just fighting for our identity group or its perceived allies).