Not Up For Interpretation - An Essay On Nonbinary - Erasure
(Trigger Warning: Misgendering, Transphobia, Nonbinary-phobia)
If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know this was a long time coming. I’ve made several posts about my frustrations concerning this topic and how much it hurt me just how socially accepted erasing an entire identity still is. While representation marches on and things have become better for nonbinary people as a whole, we still battle with a lot of prejudice - both intentional and unintentional.
In this essay, I want to discuss just how our identities are being erased almost daily, why that is harmful and hurtful and what we all can do to change that.
Chapters:
What does Non-binary mean?
Nonbinary- representation in media
So what’s the problem?
How do we fix it?
1. What Does Non-binary Mean?
Non-binary is actually an umbrella term. It includes pretty much every gender-identity that’s neither one or the other so to speak, for example, agender.
Agender means feeling detachment from the gender spectrum in general. If you’re agender, you most likely feel a distance to the concept of gender as a whole, that it doesn’t define you as a person.
There are many identities that classify under non-binary: There’s gender-fluid (you feel you have a gender, but it’s not one gender specifically and can change), demi-gender (identifying as a gender partially, but not completely) and many others.
Sometimes, multiple non-binary identities can mix and match.
Most non-binary people use they/them pronouns, but like with so many things, it varies.
Some nonbinary-people (like me) go by two pairs of pronouns. I go by both she/her and they/them, because it’s what feels most comfortable at the moment. But who knows, maybe in the future I’ll switch to they/them exclusively or expand to he/him.
There is no one defining non-binary experience. Nb-people are just as varied and different as binary people, who go by one specific gender.
There are non-binary people who choose to go solely by she/her or he/him and that’s okay too. It doesn’t make them any more or less non-binary and their identity is still valid.
If your head’s buzzing a bit by now: That’s okay. It’s a complicated topic and no one expects you to understand all of it in one chapter of one essay.
Just know this: If a person identifies as non-binary, you should respect their decision and use the pronouns they go with.
It’s extremely hurtful to refer to someone who already told you that they use they/them pronouns with she/her or he/him, or use they/them to refer to a person who uses she/her.
Think about it like using a trans-person’s deadname: It’s rude, it’s harmful and it shows complete disrespect for the person.
Non-binary people have existed for a very long time. The concept isn’t new. The idea that there are only two genders, with every other identity being an aberration to the norm, is largely a western idea, spread through colonialism.
The Native American people use “Two-Spirit” to describe someone who identifies neither as a man nor a woman. The term itself is relatively new, but the concept of a third gender is deeply rooted in many Native American cultures.
(Author’s Note: If you are not Native American, please do not use it. That’s cultural appropriation.)
In India, the existence of a third gender has always been acknowledged and there are many terms specifically for people who don’t identify with the gender that was assigned to them at birth.
If you’re interested in learning more about non-binary history and non-binary identities around the world, I’d recommend visiting these websites:
https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/History_of_nonbinary_gender
https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Gender-variant_identities_worldwide
https://thetempest.co/2020/02/01/history/the-history-of-nonbinary-genders-is-longer-than-you-think/
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/gender-variance-around-the-world
Also, maybe consider giving this book a try:
Nonbinary Gender Identities: History, Culture, Resources by Charlie Mcnabb
2. Non-binary Representation In Media
The representation of non-binary people in mainstream media hasn’t been... great, to put it mildly.
Representation, as we all know, is important.
Not only does it give minorities a chance to see themselves in media and feel heard and acknowledged. It also normalizes them.
For example, seeing a black Disney-princess was a huge deal for many black little girls, because they could finally say there was someone there who looked like them. They could see that being white wasn’t a necessity to be a Disney princess.
Seeing a canonically LGBT+ character in a children’s show teaches kids that love is love, no matter what gender you’re attracted to. At the same time, older LGBT+ viewers will see themselves validated and heard in a movie that features on-screen LGBT+ heroes.
There’s been some huge steps in the right direction in the last few years representation-wise.
Not only do we have more LGBT+ protagonists and characters in general, we’ve also begun to question and call out harmful or bigoted portrayals of the community in media, such as “Bury Your Gays” or the “Depraved Homosexual”.
With that being said: Let’s take a look at how Non-binary representation holds up in comparison, shall we?
This is Double Trouble, from the children’s show “She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power”.
They identify as non-binary and use they/them pronouns. They’re also a slimy, duplicitous lizard-person who can change their shape at will.
Um, yeah.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Did I mention they’re also the only non-binary character in the entire show? And that they’re working with a genocidal dictator in most of the episodes they’re in?
Yikes.
Let’s look at another example.
These three (in order of appearance) are Stevonnie, Smoky Quartz and Shep. Three characters appearing in the kid’s show “Steven Universe” and it’s epilogue series “Steven Universe: Future”.
All of them identify as non-binary and use they/them as pronouns.
Stevonnie and Smoky Quartz are the result of a boy and a girl being fused together through weird alien magic.
Shep is a regular human, but they only appeared in one episode. In an epilogue series that only hardcore fans actually watched.
Well, I mean...
One out of three isn’t that bad, right?
Maybe we should pick an example from a series for older viewers.
Say hello to Doppelganger, a non-binary superhuman who goes by they/them, from the Amazon-series “The Boys”.
They’re working for a corrupt superhero-agency and use their power of shape-shifting to trick people who pose a threat to said agency into having sex with them. And then blackmail those people with footage of said sex.
....
Do I even need to say it?
If you’ve paid attention during the listing of these examples, you might have noticed a theme.
Namely that characters canonically identifying as non-binary are either
supernatural in some way, shape or form,
barely have a presence in the piece of media they’re in,
both.
Blink-and-you-miss-it-manner of representation aside, the majority of these characters fall squarely under what we call “Othering”.
“Othering” describes the practice of portraying minorities as supernatural creatures or otherwise inhuman. Or to say it bluntly: As “The Other”.
“Othering” is a pretty heinous method. Not only does it portray minorities as inherently abnormal and “different in a bad way”. It also goes directly against what representation is actually for: Normalizing.
As a general rule of thumb: If your piece of media has humans in it, but the only representation of non-white, non-straight people are explicitly inhuman... yeah, that’s bad.
So is there absolutely no positive representation for us out there?
Not quite.
As rare as human non-binary characters in media are to find, they do exist.
Here we have Bloodhound! A non-binary human hunter who uses they/them pronouns, from the game “Apex Legends”.
It’s been confirmed by the devs and the voice actress that they’re non-binary.
Nice!
These are Frisk (bottom) and Chara (top) from the game “Undertale”. While their exact gender identity hasn’t been disclosed, they both canonically use they/them pronouns, so it’s somewhere on the non-binary spectrum.
Two human children who act as the protagonist (Frisk) and antagonist (Chara), depending on how you play the game. (Interpretations vary on the antagonist/protagonist-thing, to say the least.)
Cool!
......
And, yep, that’s it.
As my little demonstration here showed, non-binary representation in media is rare. Good non-binary representation is even rarer.
Which is why those small examples of genuinely good representation are so important to the Non-binary community!
It’s hard enough to have to prove you exist. It’s even harder to prove your existence is not abnormal or unnatural.
If you’d like to further educate yourself on representation, it’s impact on society and why it matters, perhaps take a second to read through these articles:
https://www.criticalhit.net/opinion/representation-media-matters/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/why-on-screen-representation-matters-according-to-these-teens
https://jperkel.github.io/sciwridiversity2020/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/05/22/why-is-equal-representation-in-media-important/?sh=25f2ccc92a84
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-representation-the-media-matters
3. So What’s The Problem?
The problem, as is the case with so many things in the world, is prejudice.
Actually, that’s not true.
There’s not a problem, there are multiple problems. And their names are prejudice, ignorance and bigotry.
Remember how I said human non-binary representation is rare?
Yeah, very often media-fans don’t help.
Let’s take for example, the aforementioned Frisk and Chara from “Undertale”.
Despite the game explicitly using they/them to refer to both characters multiple times, the majority of players somehow got it into their heads that Frisk’s and Chara’s gender was “up for interpretation”.
There is a huge amount of fan art straight-up misgendering both characters and portraying them as binary and using only he/him or she/her pronouns.
The most egregious examples are two massively popular fan-animated web shows: “Glitchtale”, by Camila Cuevas and “Underverse” by Jael Peñaloza.
Both series are very beloved by the Undertale-fanbase and even outside of it. Meaning for many people, those two shows might be their first introduction to “Undertale” and it’s two non-binary human characters.
Take a wild guess what both Camila and Jael did with Frisk and Chara.
Underverse, X-Tale IV:
(Transcript: “Frisk lied to me in the worst possible way... I... I will never forgive him.”)
Underverse, X-Tale V:
(Transcript: “I-It’s Chara... and it’s a BOY.”)
Glitchtale, My Promise:
(Transcript: (Referring to Frisk) “I’m not scared of an angry boy anymore.”)
Glitchtale, Game Over Part 1:
(Transcript: (Referring to Chara) “It’s ok little boy.”)
This... this isn’t okay.
Not only do both of these pieces of fan-art misgender two non-binary characters, the creators knew beforehand that Frisk and Chara use they/them-pronouns, but made the conscious choice to ignore that.
To be fair, in a video discussing “Underverse”, Jael said that only X-Tale Frisk and Chara, the characters you see in the Underverse-examples above, are male, while the characters Frisk and Chara from the main game remained non-binary and used they/them (time-stamp 10:34).
Still, that doesn’t erase the fact that Jael made up alternate versions of two non-binary characters specifically to turn them male. Or that, while addressing the issue, Jael was incredibly dismissive and even mocked the people who felt hurt by her turning two non-binary characters male. Jael also went on to make a fairly non-binary-phobic joke in the video, in which she equated gender identities beyond male and female to identifying as an object.
Jael (translated): “I don’t care if people say the original Frisk and Chara are male, female, helicopters, chairs, dogs or cats, buildings, clouds...”
That’s actually a very common joke among transphobes, if not to say the transphobe-joke:
“Oh, you identify as X? Well then I identify as an attack helicopter!”
If you’re trans, chances are you’ve heard this one, or a variation of it, a million times before.
I certainly have.
I didn’t laugh then and I’m not laughing now.
(Author’s note: I might be angry at both of them for what they did, but I do not, under any circumstances, support the harassment of creators. If you’re thinking about sending either Jael or Camila hate-mail - don’t. It won’t help.)
Jael’s reaction is sadly common in the Undertale fandom. Anyone speaking up against Chara’s and Frisk’s identity being erased is immediately bludgeoned with the “up for interpretation”-argument, despite that not once being the case in the game.
And even with people who do it right and portray Frisk and Chara as they/them, you’ll have dozens of commenters swarming the work with sentences among the lines of “Oh but I think Frisk is a boy/girl! And Chara is a girl/boy!”
By the way, this kind of thing only happens to Frisk and Chara.
Every other character in “Undertale” is referred to and portrayed with their proper pronouns of she/her or he/him.
But not the characters who go by they/them.
Their gender is “up for interpretation”.
Because obviously, their identity couldn’t possibly be canonically non-binary.
Sadly, Frisk and Chara are not alone in this.
Remember Bloodhound?
And how I said they’d been confirmed as non-binary and using they/them pronouns by both the creators and the voice actress?
It seems for many players, that too translated to “up for interpretation”.
(Transcript: “does it matter what they call him? He, her, it, they toaster oven, it doesn’t matter”)
(Transcript: “I’m like 90 % sure Bloodhound is a dude because he could just sound like a girl and by their age that I’m assuming looks around 10-12 because I’ve known many males who have sounded like a female when they were younger”)
(Transcript: “I don’t care it will always be a He. F*ck that non-binary bullsh*t.”)
(Transcript: “Bloodhound is clearly female.”)
(Transcript: “I’m not calling a video game character they/them”)
(Transcript: “exactly. The face was never fully shown neither was the gender so I’d say it means that the player is Bloodhound. So it’s your gender and you refer to “him” as yourself. It’s like a self insertion in my eyes.”)
So, let me get this straight:
If a character, even a player character, uses she/her or he/him, you can accept it, no questions asked.
But when a character uses they/them, suddenly their identity and gender are “up for interpretation”?
This attitude is also widely prevalent in real life.
Many languages only include pronouns for men and women, with no third option available. Non-binary people are often forced to make up their own terms, because their language doesn’t provide one.
Non-binary people often don’t fit within other people’s ideas of gender, so they get excluded altogether. Worse, non-binary people are often the victims of misgendering, denial of their identity or even straight-up violence when coming out.
People will often tell us that we look like a certain gender, so we should only use one set of gendered pronouns. Never mind that that’s not what we want. Never mind that that’s not who we are.
Non-binary people are also largely omitted from legal documentation and studies. We cannot identify as non-binary at our workplace, because using they/them pronouns is considered “unprofessional”. We don’t have our own bathrooms like men and women do. Our gender is seen as less valid than male and female, so even that basic thing is denied to us. I’ve had to use the women’s restroom my entire life, because if I go into a male restroom, I’ll be yelled at or made fun off or simply get told I took the wrong door. It’s extremely uncomfortable for me and I wish I didn’t have to do it.
And since non-binary people aren’t seen as “real transgender-people”, we often don’t receive the medical care we need. This often renders us unable to feel good within our bodies, because the treatment and help we get is wildly inadequate.
It’s especially horrible for intersex people (people who are born with sex characteristics that don’t fit solely into the male/female category) who are often forced to change their bodies to fit within the male/female gender binary.
And you better believe each of those problems is increased ten-fold for non-binary people of color.
We are ignored and dismissed as “confused”, because of who we are.
Representation is a way for Non-binary people to show the world they exist, that they’re here and that they too have stories to tell.
But how can we, when every character that represents us is either othered, barely there or gets taken away from us?
We are not “up for interpretation”.
Neither are the characters in media who share our identity.
And it’s time to stop pretending we ever were.
For more information about Non-Binary Erasure and how harmful it is, you can check out these articles:
https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08/common-non-binary-erasure/
https://www.dailydot.com/irl/nonbinary-people-racism/
https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Nonbinary_erasure
https://traj.openlibhums.org/articles/10.16995/traj.422/
https://medium.com/an-injustice/everyday-acts-of-non-binary-erasure-49ee970654fb
https://medium.com/national-center-for-institutional-diversity/the-invisible-labor-of-liberating-non-binary-identities-in-higher-education-3f75315870ec
https://musingsofanacademicasexual.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/dear-sirmadam-a-commentary-on-non-binary-erasure/
4. How Do We Fix It?
Well, first things first: Stop acting like we don’t exist.
And kindly stop other people from doing it too.
We are a part of the LGBT+ community and we deserve to be acknowledged, no matter what our pronouns are.
Address non-binary people with the right pronouns. Don’t argue with them about their identity, don’t comment on how much you think they look like a boy or a girl. Just accept them and be respectful.
If a non-binary person tells you they have two sets of pronouns, for example he/him and they/them, don’t just use one set of pronouns. That can come off as disingenuous. Alternate between the pronouns, don’t leave one or the other out. It’ll probably be hard at first, but if you keep it up, you’ll get used to it pretty quickly.
If you’re witnessing someone harass a non-binary person over their identity, step in and help them.
And please, don’t partake in non-binary erasure in media fandoms.
Don’t misgender non-binary characters, don’t “speculate” on what you think their gender might be. You already know their gender and it’s non-binary. It costs exactly 0 $ to be a decent human being and accept that.
Support Non-Binary people by educating yourself about them and helping to normalize and integrate their identity.
In fact, here’s a list of petitions, organizations and articles who will help you do just that:
https://www.change.org/p/collegeboard-let-students-use-their-preferred-name-on-collegeboard-9abad81a-0fdf-435c-8fca-fe24a5df6cc7?source_location=topic_page
6 Ways to Support Your Non-Binary Child
7 Non-Negotiables for Supporting Trans & Non-Binary Students in Your Classroom
If Your Partner Just Came Out As Non-Binary, Here’s How To Support Them
How to Support Your Non-Binary Employees, Colleagues and Friends
Ko-fi page for the Nonbinary Wiki
The Sylvia Rivera Project, an organization who aims to give low-income and non-white transgender, intersex and non-binary people a voice
The Anti Violence Project “empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy."
The Trans Lifeline, a hotline for transgender people by transgender people
Tl:DR: Non-Binary representation is important. Non-Binary people still suffer from society at large not acknowledging our existence and forcing us to conform. Don’t be part of that problem by taking away what little representation we have. Educate yourself and do better instead. We deserve to be seen and heard.
