The Gender Binary

Olivia Fleischer
Jul 17, 2022
9 min read

Updated: Jul 18, 2022

A few important definitions:

Gender Binary: a cultural classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine; boy and girl; man and woman
Cisgender (cis): denoting or relating to a person whose sense of gender identity corresponds with the sex the person was identified as having at birth
Transgender (trans): denoting or relating to a person whose sense of gender identity differs from the sex the person was identified as having at birth
Gender non-binary: denoting or relating to a person who does not identify explicitly as male or female
Gender non-conforming: behavior or gender expression that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms; any person of any gender can be gender non-conforming; ex: Billy Porter and Harry Styles wearing dresses on the red carpet

Biological Sex

First and foremost in this post, I want to give a quick (and hopefully interesting) biology lesson when it comes to sex. There is an age-old argument that a person's gender identity should always be what was originally determined at birth, and should always be binary (male or female). This is based on the claim that biological sex is always binary. This claim is false. While most people are born being one of two sexes, not all people are. Biologically, most people are born with two sex chromosomes, which are long DNA macromolecules that hold the genetic information necessary for the body to create our reproductive systems. During fetal development, an individual with two "X" chromosomes (XX) typically forms ovaries and other female characteristics. If an individual has one "X" and one "Y" chromosome (XY), the "Y" chromosome will prompt the fetus to produce male hormones called androgens that ultimately form testes and other typical male characteristics. As with all things in the natural world though, human biology is rich with diversity. Some individuals do not fit neatly into either of these two aforementioned sex categories, but rather they fall under the umbrella term of "intersex." Here are just a few examples:

Five-Alpha-Reductase Deficiency is a condition that can occur in XY (genetically male) individuals, and means that they are missing an enzyme that is supposed to convert testosterone into a chemical that is crucial for the development of the male sex organs. Without this enzyme, a person who is genetically male may be born with very ambiguous genitalia. Some physicians will advise parents to raise this biological male as a female simply because the surgery involved in making an individual appear more female is easier than that of constructing a penis to appear more male. Some physicians also advise this due to their belief that nurture (or how a person is raised) will outweigh nature (or how a person is born). In other words, they assume that if a child is raised like a girl, they will act like a girl. This is not true in all cases of this condition. In fact, this approach can lead to extreme confusion for affected children.
Androgen Insensitivity Disorder is a condition that can occur in XY (genetically male) individuals, and simply means that the body cannot recognize testosterone even when it is being produced by the individual's male sex organs. This disorder can occur on a spectrum: those with partial or mild forms of the disorder may have external genitalia that look anywhere between completely male, ambiguous, or more female, while those with the complete disorder will have female external genitalia and other sex characteristics, but will not have a uterus for menstruation or child-bearing.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia is a condition that can occur in XX (genetically female) individuals, and causes them to have very high levels of testosterone which ultimately leads to ambiguous external genitalia. Again, this disorder can occur on a spectrum.

These conditions are examples of a biological diversity that extends beyond "male" and "female". Each individual's hormonal make-up can also help to illustrate this middle ground: no two people's hormone productions are exactly the same. The human body is unbelievably complex, and sex is not always black and white. It therefore follows that pregnancy is not exclusive to those who identify as female.

It is for this reason that the Biden administration recently used the phrase "birthing people" instead of "women" or "mothers" when discussing public health funding. This wording was very intentional: not only is it more inclusive to those who are not cis women but can still become pregnant, but it is also more sensitive to cis women who cannot become pregnant. Not all those who are born female can reproduce naturally, and bearing children is not a requirement of womanhood. This is not to say that women who bear children should not feel proud and "womanly" for reproducing - if that is how you define womanhood for yourself, then that is perfectly acceptable and even beautiful. Rather, this is to say that reproduction is not the only way to be a woman. Womanhood is in the eyes of the beholder.

This is also the reason why Ketanji Brown Jackson did not define the word "woman" in her recent Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearing. Jackson is a highly educated woman - I'm sure she could have come up with a definition if she wanted to. But she did not want to. She did not want to limit what it means to be a woman, which would have effectively excluded many who identify as such from the conversation. By not answering the question, she was simply demonstrating her willingness to accept and support all those who identify as women equally.

Gender

If biological sex is objectively more diverse than a traditional binary classification, why too shouldn't gender choice and/or expression be fluid? As I alluded to in earlier posts about why we need feminism, western culture has created two opposite sets of criteria for what it means to be a man versus a woman. We have been taught that these criteria are innate aspects of our biology - but are they really? Why are men not supposed to paint their fingernails or wear skirts (which actually make more sense than pants considering male genitalia, and are worn by men in other parts of the world)? Why aren't men typically thought of as nurturers or encouraged to be sensitive? And why are women considered difficult when they are outspoken and assertive? Why can't women wear suits or sport short haircuts without being considered butch? Why is body hair considered wrong on a woman, but not on a man? Gender expression and expectations are cultural inventions almost never based in biology. Yet we continue to abide by them and stop in our tracks to stare at and invalidate individuals who break the status quo.

As ALOK says in their book Beyond The Gender Binary, "the real crisis is not that gender non-conforming people exist, it's that we have been taught to believe in only two genders in the first place." ALOK then goes on to discuss their painful childhood of not fitting in to either of the traditional gender boxes. They explain some of the harassments that gender non-conforming people endure on a daily basis, including being gawked at, being photographed without their consent, being emotionally abused, and even being physically assaulted for their choice of expression. For those who are just now learning about what it means to be gender non-binary and want a bit more information on gender as a social construct, I highly recommend listening to ALOK's episode on the mental health podcast iWeigh (linked below). It is both informative and full of love and acceptance.

Alongside those who are gender non-binary, individuals who are transgender also endure a great deal of abuse in this society. One recent example of this abuse against the trans community was the fabrication of the 2016 bathroom predator myth: lawmakers tried to exclude transgender individuals from using the public restrooms of their choosing on the grounds that it would put women and children at risk of assault because transgender individuals can be dangerous, or because men could then pose as transgender women in order to assault cis women. These claims were not evidence-based in any way, and only created fear among those who do not understand the experiences of transgender individuals. 21 states and over 300 cities in America have nondiscrimination protections in place for LGBTQ+ people, and none have seen an increase in public safety incidents in restrooms. The reality is that transgender people are much more likely to experience violence themselves than they are to take part in it.

Another example of the attempted invalidation of transgender individuals is the argument that transgender women should not be allowed to compete in sports against cisgender women because it gives them an unfair physical advantage. This is another false claim about the experiences of most transgender women, and is again not based on empirical evidence. If you have consumed only one side of the debate against trans women in sports, I would encourage you to find other reliable perspectives and sources on the issue, starting with the sources I have used to write this post (linked below). Here is an abridged version of some myths and facts about transgender women in sports from said sources:

Myth: Transgender women have an unfair physical advantage over cisgender women in sports because they were born with male bodies.
Facts: First, it should be noted that the idea that all transgender women's bodies look and function like cisgender male bodies is an incorrect stereotype: just as there is a great deal of physical variation among cisgender women's bodies, there is a great deal of variation among transgender women's bodies. It is also an incorrect stereotype that men are always larger, stronger, and more skilled in sports than women: not all male bodies dominate over female bodies. Additionally (and very importantly), after about one year of the testosterone-suppressing therapy that many transgender women undergo as part of their transition, any physical advantages they may have arguably had over cisgender women (such as strength, speed, endurance, and oxygen-carrying capacity) dissipates. When the testosterone levels of transgender women in sports are similar to that of cisgender women, there is a much more level playing field. This is why the NCAA created an inclusion policy in 2011, which allowed transgender women to participate in college sports as long as they had undergone hormone therapy for at least one year. Most trans athletes did not oppose this single requirement, as hormone therapy is often desired among those transitioning anyway. And finally, the lack of statistics for transgender women competing in and dominating in sports further proves that no unfair advantage exists over cisgender women. Only 0.6% of Americans identify as transgender, and the percent of transgender athletes competing in NCAA sports is even lower than this, meaning they are underrepresented in college sports and almost never dominate in them. Additionally, since the first 2004 policy allowing transgender athletes to participate in Olympic sports, only 2 out of 63,000 athletes have been transgender women, and none have ever made it to Olympic-level swimming.

Myth: Allowing transgender women to participate in women's sports takes away from the rights of cisgender women.
Facts: First off, transgender women are women too, whether you choose to accept this or not. Additionally, misguided policies excluding and/or limiting transgender women from women's sports are actually harmful to women's rights. Excluding transgender women does not protect cisgender women, but rather allows for an invasion of their privacy and bodily autonomy. Instead of subjecting women in sports to invasive inspections of their bodies to confirm their gender, we ought to be focusing on issues that actually harm women in sports, such as sexual misconduct, funding discrepancies, etc.

Myth: Cisgender men may pose as transgender women in order to compete and win in women's sports competitions.
Fact: In the entire 40 years of history of procedures meant to verify the sex of athletes in international sports competitions, no instances of this fraud have ever been revealed. Again, these bodily inspections have only invaded people's privacy and have even been misused to unfairly exclude and shame individuals with rare intersex conditions.

Conclusion

Once you take a deeper look into the gender binary and begin to acknowledge the personal experiences of those who either cross it (transgender individuals) or reject it (non-binary individuals), it becomes clear that those who struggle with their gender identity are not only subject to internal conflict about who they are, but are then met with hostility and a societal push to erase them from existence once they do finally gain the courage to express themselves. My only question is: Why? Why do we as a society feel the need to police other people's choice and expression of gender? Why do we ignore the obvious pain and damage that we are adding to these individual's lives by continuing to spread false narratives about them? Why can't we just accept people for who they say they are and carry on with our own lives, instead of perpetuating more harm and supporting discriminatory legislature against them?

Supporting the gender pride or lack-there-of of transgender and non-binary individuals does not take anything away from cisgender women. Accepting these individuals into our community should only strengthen it. Again, transgender women are women. Attempting to take that identity away from them does nothing to increase the womanhood of a cisgender woman. It is not a competition. Rather, transgender and non-binary individuals have actually been around and have been supporting feminism and the woman's rights movement for far longer than most people realize. They have been lifting us up. So why can't we reciprocate? We are all human. It can't possibly hurt to say so and to accept all types of women into our community.