The term non-binary refers to people who do not perceive themselves as belonging to one gender exclusively. This means that your gender identity and gender expression are not limited to male and female.
Also called genderqueer, people who consider themselves non-binary may not recognize themselves with the gender identity of male or female - absence of gender - or may characterize themselves as a mixture between the two. That is, despite having the genitals of a particular sex, they do not fully recognize themselves with that gender.
non-binarity history
Although it seems a recent phenomenon, non-binarity is very common in human history. Several civilizations, at different times in history and in different regions of the world, recognized the existence of other gender possibilities besides male and female.
One example is the Polynesian "Mahu", who are people with an ambiguous gender identity. They have both male and female characteristics, that is, they are a mixture of the two and can be called the third sex. It is an ancient culture, but there are still "Mahus" on the Tahitian island - today the term is also used in reference to transsexuals.
Another example of non-binarity is the Native American peoples of North America. It was common in the tribes of the region to find people recognized as Two Spirit (Two Spirits), who, in his belief, had the male and female spirits in the same body.
Gender Identity and Gender Expression
As already mentioned, a non-binary person is one who does not have their gender identity and expression limited to male and female. Understand what each of these concepts means:
gender identity
Gender identity refers to the relationship that people have with their own gender, that is, whether the gender they identify is the same as the biological sex. In this sense, people can be cis or trans.
Cis people are those who recognize themselves in the same gender as the biological sex. Transsexuals, also called transsexuals, are those who have a different gender identity from those attributed to them for biological reasons.
Gender identity is different from sexual orientation. While gender identity is about the person's recognition of their own sex, sexual orientation is related to a person's sexual desire.
gender expression
Gender expression is how people show themselves to the world, how they express their femininity or masculinity. It is usually an extension of gender identity, but not necessarily related to it.
The way you behave, the clothes and accessories used and the haircut are examples of aspects that portray a person's gender expression - it's the way a person wants to be seen by others. It can be more feminine or more masculine, or a mixture of the two expressions.
Non-binary visibility flag
The flag representing the non-binary cause was created by Kye Rowan in 2014.
It is composed of four colors, with different meanings:
- Yellow: genders outside male and female.
- White: multiple genera (trigenres, polygenus, etc).
- Purple: mixed male and female genders.
- black: absence of gender.
See also the meaning of gender, gender identity, transgender, cisgender and difference between cisgender and transgender.