Gender binary

The gender binary, also referred to as gender binarism (sometimes shortened to just binarism),[1][2][3] is the classification of sex and gender into two distinct, opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine. Gender binary is one general type of a gender system. Sometimes in this binary model, "sex", "gender" and "sexuality" are assumed by default to align. For example, when a male is born, gender binarism assumes the male will be masculine in appearance, character traits, and behavior, including having a heterosexual attraction to females.[4]

Overview

The term gender binary describes the system in which a society splits its members into one of two sets of gender roles, gender identities and attributes based on the shape of genitalia.[5] In the case of people born with organs that fall outside this system (intersex people), enforcement of the binary often includes coercive surgical gender reassignment.[6][7] Gender roles are a major aspect of the gender binary. Gender roles shape and constrain people's life experiences, impacting aspects of self-expression ranging from clothing choices to occupation.[8][9] Traditional gender roles continue to be enforced by the media, religion, mainstream education, political and other cultural and social systems.[10] Major religions such as Islam and Catholicism, in particular, act as authorities for gender roles. Islam, for example, teaches that mothers are the primary care givers to their children and Catholics only allow cisgender men to serve as priests.

Worldwide, there are many individuals and even several subcultures that can be considered exceptions to the gender binary or specific transgender identities. In addition to individuals whose bodies are naturally intersex, there are also specific social roles that involve aspects of both or neither of the binary genders. These include the Two-Spirited Native Americans and hijra of India. In the contemporary West, genderqueer people break the gender binary by refusing terms like "male" and "female". Transgender people have a unique place in relation to the gender binary. In some cases, their gender expression aligns with their sex. Attempting to conform to societal expectations for their gender, transsexual individuals may opt for surgery, hormones, or both, which can be difficult if the individual does not "pass" as cisgender.[11]

According to Thomas Keith in Masculinities in Contemporary American Culture, the longstanding cultural assumption that male–female dualities are "natural and immutable" partly explains the persistence of systems of patriarchy and male privilege in modern society.[12]

Limitations

Some feminist scholars have contested the existence of a clear gender binary. Judith Lorber explains the problem of failing to question dividing people into these two groups “even though they often find more significant within-group differences than between-group differences.”[13] Lorber argues that this corroborates the fact that the gender binary is arbitrary and leads to false expectations of both men and women. Instead, there is growing support for the possibility of utilizing additional categories that compare people without "prior assumptions about who is like whom".[13] By allowing for a more fluid approach to gender, people will be able to better identify themselves however they choose and scholarly research will find different similarities and differences.

Rejection

Anne Fausto-Sterling suggests a classification of 23 sexes and a move away from the socially constructed gender binary classification of male and female. In her paper "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough", she discusses the existence of intersex people, individuals possessing a combination of male and female sexual characteristics, who are seen as deviations from the norm and who frequently undergo coercive surgery at a very young age in order to maintain the two-gender system. The existence of these individuals challenges the standards of gender binaries and put into question society's role in constructing gender.[14] Fausto-Sterling indicates that modern practitioners encourage the idea that gender is a cultural construct and concludes that, "we are moving from an era of sexual dimorphism to one of variety beyond the number 2."[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Marjorie Garber (25 November 1997). Vested Interests: Cross-dressing and Cultural Anxiety. Psychology Press. pp. 2, 10, 14–16, 47. ISBN 978-0-415-91951-7. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Claudia Card (1994). Adventures in Lesbian Philosophy. Indiana University Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-253-20899-6. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  3. ↑ Rosenblum, Darren (2000). "'Trapped' in Sing-Sing: Transgendered Prisoners Caught in the Gender Binarism". Michigan Journal of Gender & Law. 6. SSRN 897562.
  4. ↑ Keating, Anne. "glbtq >> literature >> Gender". www.glbtq.com. glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Judith., Lorber, (2007). Gendered bodies : feminist perspectives. Moore, Lisa Jean, 1967-. Los Angeles, Calif.: Roxbury Pub. Co. p. 2. ISBN 1933220414. OCLC 64453299.
  6. ↑ Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2000). "The Five Sexes, Revisited". The Sciences. New York Academy of Sciences. 40 (4): 18–23. doi:10.1002/j.2326-1951.2000.tb03504.x. PMID 12569934.
  7. ↑ Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2000). Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality (1st ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465077144. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  8. ↑ D'Innocenzio, Anne. "Breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids clothing". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2017-03-11.
  9. ↑ Bank., World (2011-01-01). World development report 2012 : Gender equality and development. World Bank. ISBN 9780821388129. OCLC 799022013.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Joy; Repta, Robin (2002). "Sex and Gender: Beyond the Binaries" (PDF). Designing and conducting gender, sex, & health research: 17–39. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Cromwell, Jason (1999). Transmen and FTMs: Identities, Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities. Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois. p. 511. ISBN 978-0252068256.
  12. ↑ Keith, Thomas (2017). Masculinities in Contemporary American Culture: An Intersectional Approach to the Complexities and Challenges of Male Identity. Routledge. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-31-759534-2.
  13. 1 2 Lorber, Judith. "Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology." In The Gendered Society Reader, edited by Michael S. Kimmel, Amy Aronson, and Amy Kaler, 11-18. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press, 2011.
  14. ↑ Morgan Holmes (2008). Intersex: A Perilous Difference. Associated University Presse. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-575-91117-5. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  15. ↑ Fausto-Sterling, Anne (March–April 1993). The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough. The Sciences. pp. 20–24.

Further reading

  • binaohan, b. decolonizing trans/gender 101. biyuti publishing, 2014. ISBN 9780993793516
  • GenderQueer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary (Alyson), (Joan Nestle, Clair Howell Co-Editors) 2002 ISBN 1-55583-730-1
  • "Pregnant males and pseudopenises: complex sex in the animal kingdom". Ars Technica.
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