Editing Gender binary

The '''gender binary''' is a model of gender that classifies all people into one of two genders. Under the binary model, gender is seen as a rigid binary option, like one or zero. The gender binary says there can be no more than two genders, with no "shades of grey" between the two. A person can only be one or other option, not even [[Bigender|both]], [[Aporagender|something outside the two]], something between the two, or [[Agender|nothing]]. The gender binary, as described, is largely a part of Western culture and thought. Many [[ethnicity and culture|cultures]] give recognition to a slightly or significantly different system of genders. They can have [[gender-variant identities worldwide|more (nonbinary) gender roles]], and flexibility for individuals who don't fit into one role. Western colonialism puts pressure on other cultures to conform to its own form of the gender binary. This form of [[ethnicity and culture#Racism and cultural discrimination|racist]] and [[sexism|sexist]] discrimination is called [[binarism]]. There are individuals whose gender identity doesn't fit within this gender binary, who don't fit strictly into the "female" box or the "male" box. They are [[nonbinary]]. The gender binary makes problems for nonbinary people in the forms of oppression and discrimination such as [[Nonbinary erasure|non binary erasure]].  

One of the main arguments for the gender binary is the fact that someone who fits inside the binary system can have a gender expression or personality which differs from the Western<ref>European and North American</ref> binary system.<ref>A somewhat misinformed argument arguing this: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/16/drop-gender-stereotypes-we-are-all-non-binary</ref> This argument is misinformed, since it is based on the single-cultural assumption that gender identity is the same thing as personality. For example, if two people identifying with the same [[binary gender]] who both lived in cultures with gender stereotypes completely alien from each other met, they would both still want to be known as their real [[Gender identity|gender identities]], not something culturally assumed from behaviour and expression.

[[Category:Concepts]][[Category:Identities]]