Nonbinary erasure: Difference between revisions

Nonbinary erasure (edit)

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-'''Nonbinary erasure,''' or '''non-binary erasure''', refers to the erasure or refusal to acknowledge any genders that do not fit in the [[gender binary]] of man and woman.  Erasure can take many forms.  For instance, saying "he or she" instead of "they" implies that there are only two acceptable pronouns.  Saying "ladies and gentlemen" implies there are only two genders.  The erasure of non-binary genders is common in Western society.
+'''Nonbinary erasure,''' or '''non-binary erasure''', refers to an attempt at erasure, or a refusal of acknowledgement, of any gender identities which do not fit in the [[gender binary]] of "male" and "female". During the mid-to-late-19th century and early-20th century, instances of nonbinary erasure increased significantly. During that period many nonbinary identities, particularly those in colonial regions, were subject to nonbinary erasure. Ever since the end of the 20th century significant work has been done in educating people on the existence of nonbinary genders, which has helped to raise awareness of nonbinary erasure around the world. Even today however, there are still attempts made at nonbinary erasure, especially in certain countries and regions.
-== Non-binary erasure and eurocentrism ==
+== Nonbinary erasure and eurocentrism ==
 ''See also: [[Gender-variant identities worldwide]]''
-Acknowledging only two genders is a Western concept, one that was exported to other nations through colonialism.  [[Nonbinary identities worldwide|Other cultures]] acknowledged more than two genders.  For instance, India acknowledged [[Third Gender]] as a non-binary gender. In North America, certain native American tribes recognize two-spirit as a non-binary gender. It should be noted that while [[Third Gender]] and [[two-spirit]] are names for non-binary genders, non-binary people who do not herald from these cultures should not adopt these terms to describe themselves.
+Having slowly come about for centuries, in Europe (and North America) during the mid-to-late-19th century and early-20th century, there was seen a dramatic rise in literature which sought to organize the world into strict, specifically-defined structures across disciplines and topics. Most of those writing this literature however tended to be of socially-conforming, upper class, Christian backgrounds, leading to nearly all of the categorization within this era representing a very confined view conforming to the authors' religion, education, and upbringing. Notably for the scope of this wiki, during this era many attempts at defining gender and sexuality were written.
+Although there were some early Western authors such as [[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]], whose views and experiences led him to acknowledge gender and sexuality in a broader sense than just "male" and "female", there were few others like him. Many Western authors, relying on arguments of religion and morality, were able to spread their views of binary gender and sexuality very widely, often being supported at home by religious figures, nationalists, as well as by other authors. By the end of the 19th century, the view of nonbinary gender identity being "unacceptable" was extremely common among Western nations. As this was the era of colonialism these views of binary gender, codified in the West, were spread and applied around the world in tandem with the planting of flags and marching of soldiers.
+In many regions, much like Europe before strict definitions of binary gender were applied, there existed terms for groups of nonbinary people. These groups and the terms used for them were often ignored however, be it for reasons of political control, racism, or ignorance. One of the reasons nonbinary gender identities were so infrequently written about during the era of colonialism may have been due to the less-structured, usually loose definitions to which certain people applied; this falling in line poorly with the strict structures and definitions which had become expected in the West. Because of a lack of higher educational institutions and publishing in areas conquered by colonialism, even widely-used terms were looked upon as being "less legitimate" than those used in the country by which control was applied.
+For all of these reasons, both in the West and abroad, many nonbinary people were forced into binary gender roles. Those who considered themselves to not fall within binary roles were often looked down upon. In some places, those who were nonbinary could be subject to punishment, often by means of "morality laws" when they existed. Some groups considered nonbinary gender (much like homosexuality) to be a "sickness", which "needed to be cured". Hence, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries nonbinary erasure was attempted by some in order to make nonbinary people conform with others' views of religion and morality.
 == Legal Erasure ==
-In many situations, nonbinary people are denied their human rights<ref>Declaration of Human Rights (may contain traces of unintentional sexism): http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/</ref><ref>Yogyakarta Principles: LGBTQI rights clarified. http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/</ref> because they are not allowed nonbinary gender/title options in documents. Examples of this can be found in birth certificates, passports, driver's licenses, and other legal documents.
+In many situations, nonbinary people are denied their human rights<ref>Yogyakarta Principles: LGBTQI rights clarified. http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/</ref> because they are not allowed nonbinary gender/title options in documents. Examples of this can be found in birth certificates, passports, driver's licenses, and other legal documents.
 == References ==