Does society need the gender binaries?

Tis a necessary, albeit ill-enforced, aspect of society.

I don't think it is inherently harmful to have a gender binary, so long as people realize and respect the exceptions. Gender expression, however, should not be mandated. If a woman wants to be masculine or vice versa, this is totally acceptable. To hell with gender stereotypes. And also, we need to move past the rigid biological outlook on what constitutes males and females and appreciate the variety within the spectrum of gender. So in reality, gender is more like a spectrum with the so-called binary being the opposite endpoints.

Though it is notable that most people are perfectly happy to be a man or be a woman, along with all that society associates with that role. Trans-people (binary) are no exception, as it is quite empowering to be recognized as our congruent gender. I cannot speak for non-binaries, but I think that while the male/female differentiation has it's place, there must be openness and full respect to non-binary identities.

 

In my opinion that would be weird because "reproductive organ" just idk :/

 

I can imagine a risqué place having the following signs on bathroom doors: "Enter here if you can send a dick pic;" "Enter here if you ever experienced that time of the month."

 

If by binary you mean traditional gender roles then no I don't think we need them anymore.

 

Lol, it would probably be a little less blunt if it became a thing.

 

I think that the binary is very harmful, both to cis people and to trans people (and especially to non-binary people).
It's the binary which says, for example, these things
- You are what's in your pants
- If you're a man you must be strong and not show your emotions. If you do, you're not a real man
- If you're a woman, you have to be submissive and give care to everyone. Otherwise, you're a failure as a woman
- You can't be anything else than a man or a woman

The gender binary is extremely oppressive and harmful. That isn't to say that there cannot be gendered pronouns or so, I mean, there are more important things to worry about. But really, the short answer to your question from me would be no, society would be better off deconstructing the binary.

 

To better explain my last post better and to agree with some things being said...

The gender binary in and of itself is not a bad thing. A lot of cis and trans individuals fall into the male or female label.
But what I do find outdated is this belief some people have that there is only a binary, and having binary bathroom system is also outdated and not very inclusive to those who are non-binary.

From what I've read so far a lot of people see gender binary and immediately go to gender expression.

Gender expression and gender identity are not the same thing. Since the start of the feminist movement sticking to rigid gender roles and expression has been on the decline. Though it is largely one sides as it seems even feminist think men shouldn't wear skirts and dresses.

I believe Eveline has explained it better than me.

Do not get rid of the gender binary, but do not ignore non-binary genders either. When I see people talk about getting rid of the gender binary its like they are saying, at least to me, let's get rid of males and females.

I believe the binary to be a neutral thing, but how people choose to enforce them is what gives it that negative or positive spin. But then that is the nature of all things. It starts out neutral till humans get their hands on it, then it becomes a rather negative thing half the time.

 

By this definition of gender binary (as in, identity not expression), I don't think it needs to go but it shouldn't be enforced either.

 

It makes sense as a biological classification, and over 99% of the people fit into it, so I don't have a problem w/ it. Gender roles should be gone, and non-binary people should be accepted, but there's no reason to abolish it entirely.

 

Yeah, it fits the majority of people so it's gonna stay. But obviously there will be more tolerance and provisions for non binary people. But it's never gonna go away as far as I see it. And tbh I don't see that as bad.

 

I'm apparently wrong for the way I am because of this, so I think it's all dumb.

 

Pretty much this.

 

I think we need to start educating more people/having more people know that gender is not binary, and it is okay for people to not fit into two arbitrary boxes based upon what genitals you have or sex you were assigned at birth. As someone who is GNC, the binary was really harmful to me growing up because I thought that it was wrong for me to be into things such as women's clothing and having a more androgynous appearance(when I did go for that look)/personality, but once I learned about seeing past the binary and that things such as GNC people and NB people exist, it helped me greatly. As someone pointed out above, the gender binary hurts cis and trans people alike, it's just that some cis people don't see that.

 

Yes they do and it's not outdated. It's based on the common traits and characteristics that are dominant in a person's biological sex. While there are exceptions to it, women and men are very different and have distinctive traits and it's all because of our evolution as a species.

 

I just really, really dislike being stereotyped based on my gender. I get annoyed when people talk about something and they just haaave to mix gender into the converation like it has anything to do with whatever is discussed.

I don't see myself as simply being male because I have a penis. I don't like to limit myself based on my gender. The world is not that simple that you can just label every single inanimate thing or action or idea or whatever as male/female, and live accordingly.

I'm also annoyed by the fact that a lot of men are so incredibly scared of coming across as feminine, like as if being feminine is inferior to being masculine. It's just stupid. I celebrate those people who embrace their own personality without these dumb gender restrictions. I know how hard it can be.

 

In the US, I feel the "gender binary" is almost nonexistant. The only places I still see it really existing is Southern schools and religious buildings. I don't think binaries are needed, but I don't think that it's wrong to assume the majority of one sex will have some behavior that differs from the opposite sex. For example, girls are more likely to be turned on by reading something erotic than guys are, and girls are more likely to care about how they appear to potential mates than boys are. Those are genetic fact, and I think ignoring genetic facts for the sake of inclusion is silly. Granted, it's also genetic fact that there are "out-liers" who won't have certain behaviors that are more common for their sex, and some whose brains differ so much from their sex that even their gender identity has to be that of the opposite sex, because their brain is closer to that gender than the one they were assigned at birth. My opinion is that you shouldn't assume an individual's behavior will be dictated by their sex, especially when a lot of choices we make as people have nothing to do with their sex, but we shouldn't ignore Science either: If Science discovers another difference between the sexes, we should recognize it's there for a lot of people, but what we shouldn't do is assume that individuals are going to behave a certain way, just because the majority does... I have an issue with people telling men to act this way and women to act this way, especially since a lot of people refer to me by my sex and not my gender, thus telling me to act like a "woman" even when I'm a boy. Still, an interesting thing I've noticed is that it's often not men telling women to act one way, or women telling men to act one way, but it's women telling women how to act, and men telling men how to act. Of course, this is a personal observation, and it's probably not true in all parts of the world, but I'd love to hear if anyone else has experienced this.

 

Basically this.

Gender roles are the harmful stereotypes that dictate that people have to look/act a certain way to be real men/women, or even sometimes now 'real non-binary' - based on presenting and acting perfectly androgynously.

Generalising groups is a very Human thing to do because it's less mentally taxing than treating people as individuals and accepting them as such. Still gender roles shouldn't be enforced and we shouldn't pressure people to fit them.

Yes I've noticed the same. There are certainly exceptions and I've personally encountered some exceptions, but it does seem that 'gender policing' is mostly done by people of one sex to others of their sex.

 

I think society does definitely need the gender binary. As someone said earlier, it makes the world go round. Gender roles are beginning to be ignored right now, and feminism is working its magic slowly but surely, but the gender binary is a necessity for humanity at the minute.

If the concept of gender were to be completely eradicated, I believe that it would lead humanity to be the cause of their own apocalypse. You can decide for yourself how that'd turn out, but gender provides structure to peoples' lives and there are tons of places in the East which heavily rely on sex and gender in how they rule their countries. Granted, in places like Saudi Arabia, womens' rights are definitely not the best, but if these countries experienced the loss of the gender binary right now, or even in 30 years, you can imagine what the world would come to following that.

I don't know whether it's just me being cynical, but I can't see much good coming from losing the gender binary. If the majority of people were non-binary then I'd come at this from a positive angle, but humans need gender. We aren't animals. Maybe in a couple hundred years, but definitely not within this century at least.

What do people who believe it's pointless, imagine the world to look like if it were gone?

 

If you strip away all the fluff and dust, there's actually no real benefit of having it except to make some people's lives a misery :dry: I always wonder how different the distinction between men and woman would be if there was no binary, and whether people would care about bathrooms, schools, friends, marriage or anything. Right now it seems to affect everything in some way, and it only causes problems.

 

I find gender roles really outdated and in some ways things are getting better in that aspect. As for accepting people who are transgender (and non-binary trans people in particular), that's gonna take quite a while I think.