More celebrities coming out as non-binary

[NinaMimi]

I saw this on bbc: www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57169541

I’m not familiar with Demi but notice every week the bbc is reporting on some young celeb and their special lgbtq status.

I suspect it’ll have an influence on young people and maybe it’ll peak and people will get bored of it.

I remember 10+ years ago it was really common and cool to come out as bisexual. Though now there’s a whole array of statuses you can choose from.

@Dogoodfeelgood

Non-binary seems to be an improvement on identifying with gender stereotypes though surely? Non-binary at least seems like a step in a positive direction of gender being a construct, anyone who wants to step away from this construct has my understanding. The part that raises red flags for me is identifying with a different gender as I can’t help but wonder what they’re identifying with and whether that is just cementing harmful gender stereotypes further.

I don’t see NB as an improvement really. Apart from the rudeness inherent in the claim (“I’m NB - I don’t fulfill the stereotypes associated with my sex unlike all you dull, boring people blah blah”) it is still raising up gender stereotypes and navel-gazing about them and at them when they should just be bloody ignored totally.

If you say you’re NB, you’re basically saying that the stereotypes are valid and important and dictate to you your label. Chuck the stupid stereotypes and rules, and do what you like!

Being NB is no different than thinking you, a girl, must actually be a boy because you like playing with Hot Wheel cars. The girl in my example has decided she has matched a ‘boy’ thing so must be a boy. The hypothetical NB person has decided she doesn’t match the ‘girl things’, looked at the ‘boy things’ and decided she doesn’t match all those either. Therefore she ‘must’ be NB. Both of them look at stupid, regressive, nonsense stereotypes and use them to place themselves in a stupid box. NB is as much of a box as all the others because it gives importance to f**king daft stereotypes that no-one should give a toss about.

I don't normally comment on here but am finding myself drawn more into the subject as DS gets closer to teenage years. He came home from Scouts the other night saying that a friend of his there has a sibling who is "non-binary". Another friend of his had described this as not being a boot or a flip-flop but a shoe . DS then said "I wonder what non-binary people look like - short hair and boobs?" to which I replied "what, like me?" which thoroughly confused the situation.

He is not buying any of it having proclaimed back along (under the cover of darkness back in winter) that he needed a pee in the woods and if he could identify as a girl any time he liked, he could certainly identify as a dog for 5 minutes. I had no answer.

I do fear that this is becoming a "trendy" thing and the more airtime is given to celebs on this, the more it will pass to our young people. I'm not sure what the point of me posting is, but I am confused as to how to address this with my DC.

@BreatheAndFocus that’s actually a really clear perspective on it that I hadn’t considered, thanks!