The Binary Ties that Bind
Written by LGBTQIA+ Task Force Member Markey Battle
Male and female. For years, the world has been easily and simply divided into two sections. Men -- the strong providers, and women - the emotional mothers.
As a society, we have made amends and alterations to these categories, women can now wear pants and make money, while men can stay at home and only one relative will make a cutting remark about it.
But we haven’t allowed for a third option. A box that isn’t male or female, but still a complete person, gender, and identity.
We might ‘have a friend’ who’s nonbinary, and some companies might encourage all members of a certain demographic to apply, but we aren’t looking past the status or the term and realizing what it means to embrace and make room for these people.
Check one: male or female.
Gender has separated people for ages. It allows for pay gaps, mistreatment, safety, and so much more. In some ways, gender is the enemy. So why are we still allowing it to dictate our lives and ostracize people groups?
It’s time to start shedding the binary ties that bind us.
Accommodating for Awards
“And the nominees for best performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series are: Bella Ramsey…”
I paused in my passive viewing of this year’s “Golden Globes” to double-check I had heard that correctly. For those of you who weren’t glued to the screen last February as “The Last of Us” aired, Bella Ramsey is a famous nonbinary actor who captured America’s heart.
Although, in my personal opinion, Ramsey deserved to win every award possible, I was confused as to why they were nominated in a decidedly binary category.
Since Ramsey’s rise to fame, the “small actor person” has clarified that they accept any pronouns, gender identities, and the like. The actor even opts for certain pronouns during interviews because they truly do not identify with one or the other. They have famously said, “It’s impossible to misgender me,” which immediately puts interviewers and reporters’ minds at ease because if they slip up, they’re already excused.
But shouldn’t an award ceremony that is meant to celebrate actors apart from their character celebrate the person instead of forcing them to conform to a category based on gender?
Isn’t it time we stop measuring people’s success based on their gender at all?
Ramsey knew what they were dealing with from the beginning. In Ramsey’s Vanity Fair interview, the actor said, “I don’t want the limitations in terms of the language in the categories to be the reason that nonbinary actors like me can’t be celebrated.”
The actor knew that the only way to be acknowledged in their industry was to choose one: male or female.
Ramsey shared their hope that their nomination would create space for a conversation about gender-based awards. Ramsey noted their disappointment, saying, “I’m aware of the fact that it’s not ideal, but also that finding alternatives is really complex.”
Ramsey wasn’t the only one who had to ‘find alternatives’ to being recognized in award ceremonies that celebrated their craft, not their identity.
Alex Newell was the first nonbinary performer to win a Tony Award at last year’s award ceremony.
Newell won the Tony for ‘Featured Actor in a Musical’ for their performance in “Shucked.” Newell explained why they chose their category to Variety, “Everyone who does acting is an actor. That is genderless.”
While Newell and the team at Shucked were allowed to choose which category to submit the star in, one could (and should) question why there are still only two choices.
No one should have to make decisions about which parts of themselves they need to shrink to gain the recognition they earned.
A Marketing Mindset
If you’re in marketing and you’ve read this far, you might be wondering why you’re here. Maybe you agree that award shows should add a nonbinary section, but that’s not your job, so what can you do?
If you have a platform, use it.
Do everything you can to include nonbinary people in your marketing. Instead of pitching something to men or women, rethink that terminology. If it helps, throw out the gender boxes completely. Instead of catering to men or women, cater to people, artists, creatives, or lawyers.
We use generalized terms every day that are more inclusive than gender binaries, so why do we always sink back into harmful divisions that not only damage our pledges to inclusivity but also a huge group of people who just want to be seen?
A study conducted by UCLA School of Law found that 1.2 million LGBTQIA+ adults identify as nonbinary. That breaks down to 11% of the LGBTQ community as a whole. Think about what could happen if you opened your business up to those people if your marketing sought to include this group.
Throughout their lives, they’ve been constantly told that they’re not this enough or that enough to fit into a constricting and binding role that doesn’t align with their identity. And just when they’ve broken out of the binary binds that sought to constrict, confine, and conform them, they’re presented with an award that throws them right back into the fray.
1.2 million individuals are constantly being told they’re not welcome, they’re not enough, they’re different. But what would it look like if you embraced that difference and celebrated it?
A Call for Visibility
Nonbinary people do not need to be ostracized. They do not need to be treated with little-kid gloves or given a ‘special box’ in the corner and a consolation prize for being ‘different’ just because they are comfortable with being themselves.
We don’t need to add a ‘just in case’ category for nonbinary people and then gripe that the only reason they won is because the choices were limited.
Instead, society needs to open up the floor and its mind to the creatives in this industry who haven’t been given a platform or a voice in their industry.
Instead of asking 1.2 million individuals to conform to an identity they do not relate to, why don’t we, as a society, create a platform for them to shine?
Why are we so hesitant to make a third category? Not because they’re ‘special’ and not because we have to, but because we already have two of the three options on the board. It shouldn’t be too difficult to put a third and valid option out there.