In Beyond the Gender Binary by Alox Vaid Manon, Alox is asking that the world acknowledge people that are nonbinary and gender nonconforming along with society’s status quo of the binary population. They also encourage us to do it in a way where we are engaging with these populations so as to end all of the misinformation and lies which have only posed as distraction to the realities faced by gender nonconforming individuals. They are asking for the basic human right to EXIST. Society is systematically continuing to pushing the norm of only man and woman existing and actively attempting to ban any information to the public regarding nonbinary and gender nonconforming individuals which is limiting their access to basic rights and needs such as public accommodations, legal protection in the work place, and healthcare. As a cisgendered heterosexual woman, I am already looked down upon in society as inferior to man because of the Patriarchal ideology yet at least I can say that I’m allowed to “just be” in my daily life. It is painful to confront that part of myself that I’ve allowed to follow the norm of man and women because I envision a life such as Alox described where every single thing they do in public is scrutinized and in my whole being, I know this is not right. We don’t realize how much we let ourselves be brainwashed with information through educational and cultural settings and how we then in turn take those findings and just assume what is convenient.

As mentioned in one of the excerpts, things such as science and culture are constantly changing and we research and test these outcomes and update whatever was previously there but in biology with nonbinary and gender nonconforming people we are relentless to accept change. “They used to define sex as what was reflected on an individuals birth certificate. Once that was changeable, they made the definition our genitalia. Once we could change those, the definition changed to chromosomes. Now that there is increasing evidence that chromosomes don’t always necessarily align with sex, they are suggesting genetic testing. This is not about science- this is about targeted prejudice.” (Manon 50,51). I really appreciate how Alox deliberately debunked so many of the common assumptions used against the gender nonconforming community like this one. They are right in saying that it is discriminatory which is why even I felt held accountable for what I’ve chosen to believe without actively seeking this very understandable knowledge about how so many fellow humans do not feel safe and free to be themselves in the world. Life is hard enough as it is with all that is required to accomplish goals and dreams. It is ridiculous that this community of people have to endure feeling inferior to other humans. After this reading, I feel changed to make a difference at least with how I process information on this topic because it is what nonbinary and gender nonconforming people need from everyone- understanding.