A Penis and a Dress: Why the Gender Binary Needs to Go Away →

If your genitalia don’t match the gender you most identify with, the American Psychiatric Association slaps you with the weighted label “gender identity disorder.” There’s current dialogue around changing the label to “gender incongruence,” but it still boils down to the same ignorance: Society is placing judgment on you because you don’t play by the rules.

What kind of message are we continuing to send to pregnant people everywhere? We live in such a deeply gendered society that our kids have no fighting chance when it comes to freedom of gender expression. Mainstream voices continue to use the wrong dialogue to talk about those who transcend gender norms; the recent Washington Postpiece “Transgender at five” is a perfect example. By using language like “gender identity problems” and “condition” to describe a child who doesn’t want to dress, act, or play like a girl just because this child was born with a vagina, the piece reinforces the existing model rather than poking holes in it. Our tunnel-visioned, outmoded landscape needs a fresh, fundamental critique. We’re looking at biological sex and gender in all the wrong ways.

The solution? We need to raze the binary gender system entirely.

(Source: queerascat)