Blog 5

Until semi-recently, society wasn't used to seeing or hearing about anything besides the binary system when it came to anything related to sex, gender, or sexuality. Up until recently, there were men and women, heterosexuals, and anything else just wasn't talked about or simply kept quiet. These norms come with certain stereotypes, especially when it comes to gender. Men are supposed to have short hair, not wear makeup, and wear a more "masculine" style of clothing. Women are supposed to have longer hair, wear makeup, and also stick to more "feminine" styles of clothing. 

When an individual doesn't fit those specific stereotypes, they have the ability to pass as a member of a social group that isn't there own. Personally, I am a heterosexual female. Up until this summer I had long hair and wore makeup more often than not. However, one day I decided I needed a change, so I decided to switch to a short pixie cut hair style. Due to the type of job I had, I also stopped wearing makeup as often. It is crazy how these two simple changes could effect the way that other individuals would treat me. Often when I was in public people would refer to me as sir, or automatically think that I was a man. Once I talked or they looked at me closer, they would apologize profusely and give the generic answer that my hair threw them off and that they just assumed I was a boy because it was short.

https://everydayfeminism.com/2013/01/breaking-through-the-gender-binary/

Above is a link to an article that simply and clearly explains the different facets of gender and how to look past the idea of just males and females and the stereotypes that come with the binary system.