One Word Wednesday: "Nonbinary"

When I first started grad school, I heard people floating the word “binary” all the time, and it intimidated me. If only I had calmed down and looked it up. All it means is that there are ONLY two parts. And, when you think about it, there are not ONLY two parts of anything.

Examples of binaries:

• man / woman
• bad / good
• Republican / Democrat

You get my drift. Here’s another binary you will recognize:

• male / female

Nonbinary people are neither male nor female. They may look female but use “male” pronouns like “he/him.” They may have top surgery because they do not want breasts, but they may not want to be fully “male.”

As you can see, the entire notion — or, dare I say, philosophy — of being nonbinary embraces the spectrum of gender and is not a monolith — in other words, it cannot be strictly defined because it is fluid and various.

As such, it entirely resists cis notions of gender.

JJ says that “nonbinary” falls under the umbrella of trans. That being nonbinary is inherently trans.