Gender is a social construct, and many believe it is not biological. As such, gender is fluid and changeable. The idea of male and female has been around for thousands of years, and it is still noticeable today. However, we more often see the distinction between the two as a binary: male and female
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But what if we saw gender as a spectrum? What if we saw masculinity and femininity as anything outside those poles? This is exactly what genderqueer people do, and they have been doing this for decades. They are tired of living in the confines of gender norms, and they don’t want to just live as men or as women anymore.
They live their lives as the identities that suit them best based on how they feel at any given time — on a day to day basis — and how they choose to present themselves.
The concept of genderqueer has been around since at least the 1970s, but it was first coined by 1990s transgender activist David Jay in an essay titled “Some Thoughts on Genderqueer” which was published in 1987. In it he wrote: “I reject traditional notions of gender-based behavior because I do not wish to deny that I am a woman.
In fact, I am more comfortable being called a woman than a man because I do not wish to deny my femininity…Being a woman does not mean I have superior characteristics over men; nor is being a woman an inferior position. It means simply that I am a woman – with all the fullness of my personality – who happens to be born with male genitals.”
In 1994, American artist Beth Ditto (then known as Gwen Stefani) publicly came out as genderqueer in an interview with Rolling Stone . Ditto was asked about how she felt about being called out as gay or transgendered by her fans or critics after making sexual gestures towards girls in videos from her band No Doubt .
Her comments about being called transgendered were widely misinterpreted, leading some fans to ask if she identified as transsexual. Ditto responded by saying: “Let’s face it: If you’re going to be making videos where you’re gyrating your hips in front of a group of young boys, you might as well go ahead and call yourself what you are: A guy who loves girls!”
In 1997 artist Kate Bornstein came out publicly as transgender when she
