Non-Binary Identities

Pronoun Primer (Part 3)

One Sunday, at our last church, one of the Sunday School kids found a brand new cell phone in the grass field next to the playground. Whoever the owner was must have left it there while they were attending a soccer match (which was often held in that field on Saturdays). We tried to find the owner, but with very little to go on, we were not able to find them. 

We have discussed pronouns as a part of speech, which stand for nouns (specifically in this case, people). For the majority of the population the pronouns of she/her or he/him are perfectly reasonable and appropriate. Most of those are cis-gendered folx whose sex assigned at birth and/or physiology coincides with their mental/spiritual understanding of their gender. They think of themselves as masculine or feminine (which as we discussed last week are socially constructed and agreed upon sets of characteristics). 

There are others; however, who do not experience a connection to either a masculine or feminine gender identity, i.e. they do not neatly fit into a binary choice between these two options. Some experience a blending of typically feminine and masculine characteristics, and therefore do not find identity with one more than the other. Others do not find identity in any gender norms. For some nonbinary persons there can be physiological/hormonal/chromosomal roots to their identity, however most nonbinary people are born with bodies that fit typical definitions of male or female. 

Because they do not find their identity in one specific gender, nonbinary persons can experience cognitive dissonance (often called gender dysphoria) when wearing overly gendered clothing, engaging in gendered activities, or being referred to by a gender that they do not identify as. Many nonbinary persons therefore prefer not to be referred to by a gendered pronoun (e.g. her or he) but by another pronoun. The pronouns ‘they/them’ are gaining prominence as a standard nonbinary pronoun, though there are several others as well (xe/xim, ze/zim, sie/hir, etc). 

Some have noted the possible confusion of using ‘they’ for a singular person when it (also) is used as the third person plural pronoun (e.g. three of my siblings, they live in Portland). However, ‘they’ is regularly used in English as a third person singular pronoun when the gender of the person is unclear (don’t believe me, reread the first paragraph of this article). 

While the term ‘non-binary’ is a relatively new one, there is actually nothing new to the concept. As discussed in the previous article, pre-enlightenment thinking on gender was markedly less ‘binary’ than the view of gender we have inherited from the enlightenment. People in India have recognized a ‘third sex’ which is neither male nor female which they call ‘Hijra’. Hijras are revered as holy people in Indian culture. Native American cultures have long respected ‘Two Spirit’ people as not fitting into either a male or female role. The Bible speaks of eunuchs, who culturally did not fit into either a female or male role, and were often shunned for it (though the New Testament revises such shunning in stories like the one in Acts 8:26-40). Some theologians suggest that the use of both masculine and feminine characteristics for God in our scriptures mean that God themselves could be considered nonbinary.