A common theme of the cyberpunk genre is the disintegration of common cultural or political boundaries. In the past few years, we have seen a monumental shift when it comes to the boundary of gender. Growing up, all I remember being taught is that there are two genders: male and female. Now, things have drastically changed. When doing research for this post, the first question I researched was âhow many genders are there?â, and I was shocked when the first result that popped up said 72! As I continued to research, I found an article from Teen Talk that explained the concept of gender identity. From the article I learned that gender identity is purely how someone chooses to view themself, and it is not based on their genitals. I also learned of a new gender term âtwo-spiritâ, in which a person is not limited to just one gender and can walk back and forth between genders. This is an example of how our society has collapsed the boundary of gender. Before, gender was based on anatomy, now, it is based upon how the individual chooses to identify. This aligns with some of the views of humanism because people now have the right to choose their gender in order to do whatever makes them happy and give them the best life experience possible. I believe that this shift of the gender boundary is the product of our society’s attempt to become more inclusive. In order to make as much of the population as possible feel respected and safe, we have done away with many established practices. For example, the airport in Kansas City, Missouri now has all-gender bathrooms that will allow travelers more privacy and security. They did this in order to increase both efficiency and inclusivity for all travelers (Kite, 2019).Â
From Binary to Spectrum: A Look at how Gen Z Pushed Gender Boundaries
The past decade has elicited monumental changes in gender and how it is perceived. Progressive attitudes towards gender and sexuality are more prevalent now than ever before. As the title of this post suggests, it was widely believed that gender was only a binary construct as opposed to the spectrum we use today. In addition to cisgender, there is transgender, nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, and even more ways for nonconforming individuals to identify with. The TIME Magazine article linked below explains how large the gap is between generations regarding views towards gender. In just 2021, Gen Z was the only generation in which a majority believed there are more than two genders and Gen Z is much more likely to identify as nonbinary or trans.
What I feel has prompted this massive shift in ideals is the maturation of the âmost progressive generationâ – Gen Z. Gen Z has proven that we wonât take everything weâve been taught at face value, especially Gen Z women. Offensive rhetoric in the media that was formerly accepted is now called out and the people responsible are being held accountable. We have LGBTQ+ peers and family members, so seeing attempts by politicians to make them illegal and outlaw gay marriage leads to a greater drive towards social justice. We also have more access to technology and resources that reveal how much needs to be fixed in our government and we have the means to go out and speak against it.
While people who identify outside of the gender binary have always existed, it has only recently become common to identify as such. Queer kids are now less likely to be forced to conform to one gender or another and can choose to identify as whoever they please. While there is certainly much more progress to be made regarding this matter, the impact Gen Z has had on widespread acceptance of those who are different is something to be marveled at.
TIME Magazine article: https://time.com/6275663/generation-z-gender-identity