2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Do non-binary identities reenforce gender stereotypes?
Thus, being non-binary in theory helps with expansiveness and self-expression, but in practice now you have to stand outside of social norms and deal with what an expression such as this means. The people who will choose this path are likely those that have rather strong feelings about gender ideology.
You're not understanding at all. Think of it like "choosing" to be gay. Could you suddenly choose to be a lesbian - or if you are one, choose to be straight? In the same way, a non-binary or trans person is not choosing this identity, it's simply who they are. If someone asks people to use the pronouns they are more comfortable with, that's not choosing to be trans or non-binary, that's simply letting people know their preference.
I didn't even know the word gender, much less have any ideology, when I first came to terms, as best I could, with my identity.
Comment by poli_trial at 12/01/2025 at 13:01 UTC
7 upvotes, 4 direct replies
You're not understanding at all. Think of it like "choosing" to be gay. Could you suddenly choose to be a lesbian - or if you are one, choose to be straight? In the same way, a non-binary or trans person is not choosing this identity, it's simply who they are. If someone asks people to use the pronouns they are more comfortable with, that's not choosing to be trans or non-binary, that's simply letting people know their preference.
Are you serious? Is this how they teach gender these days? I have my criticism of Butler, but she is generally the one who people refer to on this and she clearly states that gender is constructed[1]. Constructions require you to actively participate, which is an act of choice.
1: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/genderandsex/modules/butlergendersex.html
But forget Butler. In general, your gender expression is tied to questions of identity. Identity is self-conceptualization and thus by definition a result of your internal psychological state and your experiences. Unless you have absolutely zero free will, you must acknowledge identity as something you choose.
I didn't even know the word gender, much less have any ideology, when I first came to terms, as best I could, with my identity.
Also, how could this not have ideology behind it? Gender didn't even exist 50 years ago. How it's explained now is not how it will be conceptualized in 50 years. The way we think about all this is based upon the concepts of individuals who brought these ideas into existence. It's like... the most clear-cut case of ideology I can think of. The same way any human-made explanation of human behavior is by definition based on ideology, since it uses a person or group of people's perspective of why we believe something is or isn't!