Defining the (False) Gender Binary

Peyton LaBauve

Defining the (False) Gender Binary A little boy sits in protest as his father puts his son’s selected toy back on the shelf. The reason for his objection is due to the color of the toy: pink, a girl’s color. The little boy is told to pick out another toy from a different aisle. The previous scenario is an over-simplified example of the norms and standards society has implemented on itself. The father is raising his son in accordance to the gender binary. The gender binary has always been an entity that I found irresistibly interesting. I was never captivated with it regarding its definition but rather its application. I wanted to know why people are so generally consumed with fitting inside the cubicle defined as the gender binary. Trying to meet the accepted requirements of what defines a woman or man seems to be an unnecessary exhaustion of will. The facet of gender binarism that is exceedingly fascinating to me is how people believe in it and proceed to build their lives on the premise of a made up list of stifling rules and regulations passed down in one of the most regressive traditions I can think of. The gender binary is an outdated ideology that places limitations on personality and expression that concerns biological and cultural characteristics completely unique to an individual. Not knowing the definition of terms has caused the creation of stigmas and stereotypes that reveal more than just the obvious logical fallacy in the mindset of the modern global society. Gender is a simple concept to understand if it is considered without previous influence from respective cultures. Gender is defined by The Gender Book as “Part of a person’s identity. Specific attributes can be gendered like behavior, voice, clothing, haircut, and social roles…We get messages about what it means to be masculine or feminine from our society. These change over