In, Beyond The Gender Binary by Alok V. Manon, the excerpt states “We are taught that masculinity belongs to men, femininity belongs to women, and these are the only two options for self-expression.”
I chose my snapshot because I feel it best reflects the quotes I used, as well as the artist’s intent in the painting shown, which demonstrates that everyone’s character possesses both masculine and feminine characteristics.
Many people assume or act as if women can’t have more masculine characteristics or that men can’t have feminine characteristics when, in fact, they can. It also shows that as a society, we tend to place people in boxes, especially based on their looks.
I believe that as a society, we need to be more accepting and not place people in boxes or assume an individual’s gender solely based on appearance. We need to be less critical of others, as well because not everyone fits cleanly into the categories of “man” or “woman.” Some individuals, for example, have a gender that combines aspects of both male and female genders, or a gender that is neither male nor female. Anyone, in my opinion, should be able to identify or express themselves in whatever way they want, whether it’s how they dress, what fragrances they wear, how they walk, how they dance, how they speak to other people, through make-up and accessories and more.
Manon also states, “I was feminine to be a boy and then to Masculine to be a girl.” This demonstrates that many non-binary people, I believe, struggle, particularly when others try to fit them into categories that they don’t fit into. People either want non-binary people to act as a male or they want them to be more feminine.
This is because many individuals have a mentality of categorizing people and classifying them to a certain gender based on their appearance. “If it quacks like a duck, it looks like a duck,” Which is a quote a lot of people believe. I feel that not only is it disrespectful but it is ignorant since we should be more accepting and open to asking what people’s pronouns are.
Ultimately, a person should be able to dress more masculinely and wear their hair short if they want to. It’s also okay if they have long hair and like to dress more femininely, but it doesn’t indicate their desire to identify as a woman or a man.
Gender identity should be determined by a person’s desire to identify as that gender and how they express it. It doesn’t matter who we are; we can choose to match our sex at birth or to be different. However, someone expresses themselves is none of our concern since it does not really affect us. I wish we paid more attention to the things that matter the most rather than concentrating on what someone chooses to identify as. Instead, we should concentrate on people’s actions or behavior, as well as their intentions as a person.
