Introducing The Next Generation Of Leaders And Thinkers

Gender Isn’t Real- but it is Important

imageTo those less experienced with the LGBTQ community, the statement “gender isn’t real” might sound completely ludicrous at its base.

Of course gender is real! Everyone has a penis or a vagina right?”

This is a common refrain for those who disagree, or just aren’t very familiar with the LGBTQ community, but the important thing to know is that gender is NOT the same thing as sex.

Sex is the anatomical presence of a penis, vagina, or a combination of these two in the case of intersex people. Sex relates strictly to the biology of a human and has nothing to do with social conventions or self expression. Gender, however, is a much more nuanced and self-determined concept that has been confused as the same thing for far too long.

Gender, at least in the way that our society views it, is a very Western idea. Prior to European colonization many advanced civilizations had much different and more fluid interpretations of gender.

Most Native American tribes had a respected and common third gender category now known as Two Spirit. Two Spirit individuals displayed interest and proficiency in jobs and roles of the “opposite” gender. They were not seen as men or women by their tribes and often had unique styles of dress and temperament.

Indigenous Zapotec people in Mexico have a long history of “Muxes”, or people assigned male at birth who realize that they feel more like women and pursue female roles in society. Muxes date back to pre-Colombian Mexico, where Aztec priests were known to cross-dress and many Mayan gods were worshiped who were believed to be male and female at the same time.

The notion of two strict genders is obviously not a universal one, and for good reason. When we assign gender to someone based on their sex, we are not only assigning a title, but a whole list of life expectations. Our definitions of gender dictate fashion, careers, mannerisms, even the colors you are supposed to like. This is extremely limiting, and to place these expectations on someone based solely on their genitalia and not their own personal preferences and strengths is ridiculous.

Gender is not the genitalia you are born with, it is this appallingly long list of societal conventions and expectations that we assign to people. Gender is a social construct, and therefore it is not essentially real, at least not in a naturally occurring way. This means that gender can be shaped and evolve based on the people affected by it. Humans have the inherent right to not only determine their gender, but to determine what gender even means in the first place.

We have seen people redefine gender in the past, with early feminism declaring that women’s roles were not only that of the caretaker, but that they could also have jobs and be professionals like men. On the other side we have seen it become more socially acceptable for a man to care about fashion and his appearance even though that may be a somewhat “feminine” trait.

This shows that gender is a malleable and constantly changing concept, that is in no way naturally defined and enforced. It is made by humans, and is in many ways divisive and unnecessary- however it has become much too deeply entrenched in our society for it to be eliminated anytime soon.

Since gender is inevitably a part of our society, then everyone has the right to define it for themselves. Simply refusing to adhere to gender roles does not necessarily make someone trans, however if someone is uncomfortable with the expectations and roles attached to them by their assigned gender, then they have the right to change that gender. If someone doesn’t want to be restricted by any artificial social conventions they can choose to have no gender, or to have a gender not on the male and female binary.

It is our right as humans to choose our own means of expression, and to redefine the social roles we are bound to. Gender may be a definitive part of our society, but it does not have to restrict us, and it certainly doesn’t have to be the same for everybody.

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