This is very true actually, really tired of people forcing binary gender stereotypes onto others. Even in supposedly safe spaces this happens. We really need to stop forcing gender assignment onto others and also stop forcing binary genders onto others who don’t conform to gender stereotypes, like saying that wearing [gendered clothing] makes you gay or an egg. It’s not cool.
It is one of those “stop doing x” memes that are usually some blend of tongue-in-cheek and outright surrealism, and they always end in “they played us for absolute fools”. Here is an older example of the meme:
Or if thats not the part that confused you, binary genders would be just two genders with no variations or differences in the gender of any two men, or any two women. It is a perspective that is antithetical to progressive/modern understanding of gender in culture, and the trans community generally opposes it. Trans communities usually prefer the idea of a gender spectrum, where masculine and feminine are the opposite ends of a gradient, but even that can recieve criticism for excluding Agender people.
Isn’t this meme format usually used with text that’s supposed to be absurd and over the top? Usually when I see this it’s with text that the author wouldn’t actually agree with, or at least not when taken to the extreme the meme implies. Maybe I just got lost in the layers of parody, but isn’t the format kind of undermining the point you’re trying to make here?
Hi, i’m Michael Jordan and McDonalds has asked me to tell you about the dangers of gender norms.
Gender norms can be benign and block boys from getting Barbies and girls from gerting HotWheels but it can change the life for worse. Such as stopping girls from doing STEM and boys from working with children. Gender norms had people even kill kids for not adhering to them.
If you are enforcing gender norms: Stop it! Get some help!
The principal message at the top sets back acceptance for my trans friend.
By shooting for a distant objective that does not resonate with 90+ percent of people, we run the risk of arming hatefilled right-wing bigots. They can wave this around as “proof” that transgendered and non-binary people deserve entirely no rights.
Can’t we shoot for a “You do you, and I’ll do me” world where most of us cis people can enjoy our identity in peace – while extending the same respect to transgendered and non-binary friends who also want to just live life in peace?
Crusading against all gender norma and against all gendered language is not a sustainable game plan here.
This is a common meme that’s not meant to be taken seriously. I don’t think OP is trying to literally spread that message. Someone else posted this example further down in the thread:
I agree with what you’re saying, but i think there is value in pointing out how arbitrary gender can be. Like the whole conservative “what is a woman” thing, i think it’s good to remind them labels are generally more just a fuzzy category humans made up that shouldn’t be used to define who gets rights and who doesn’t
It’s up to interpretation, and I’m not sure how OP intended it, but “Stop using binary genders” doesn’t have to mean “don’t be a man or woman”. Once you add more genders, the system is no longer binary. If we assume that man = 0 and woman = 1, we can use the infinity of numbers between, as well as 0 and 1 themselves. Basically, if gender is a spectrum, there are no binary genders.
Personally I think we need to work on not seeing it as hostile at least as quickly as we do. It is very true that many are way too quick to impose a binary view of gender or gender stereotypes onto others. I was egged aggressively when I was younger both due to my androgynous appearance (genetic) and due to the fact I liked to wear “girly” clothing and had long hair (still do). Honestly as an Agender it really felt shitty to be told constantly that I “must be a girl” because of stupid arbitrary gender stereotypes.
So I say we should be more open about gender, not to say that people can’t be a Man or a Woman if they identify that way, but that they are only if they identify that way. Gender stereotypes do not define us and we shouldn’t imply that they do, it’s dangerous and hurtful (it even comes back to bite Binary trans people too, i.e. transmasc femboys who get called a girl for wearing “girly” clothes).
i literally just logged in on lemmy and saw the notifications and panicked
I’m sorry if anyone felt this was made with I’ll intent, it was not
as a little bit of context: I recognize this was made out of a template that tends to suggest that the creator themselves to be wrong, but honestly at that point I had already bound some “this but unironically” memes that I liked and though were a lot more common
also, I just thought it was fun and didn’t think much of it since most of my posts don’t usually get a lot of reach
I did realize that the meme did kind of spark a little bit of discussion regarding binary genders, which I think it’s really cool!
do let me know if you think any of the criticisms does warrant removing the post, tho
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