Yesterday I made a post complaining about lack of term for fans who do not fit the binary system. Maybe it was an immature post but I do honestly feel the point stands. There isn't a lot of terms or gender options available for pangender and other non-binary genders for people to use. There is a binary bias, and a very high cisgender bias on many sites.
When Facebook announced that they would be adding different gender identities other then "male" and "female" (even though biologically speaking these are not gender identities but biological sexes) I was over the moon thrilled. I was more so excited then why I found out I wasn't a freak and there was a term to describe me! Facebook as a company have really changed things for the better and them adding extra options and allowing people to chose their preferred pronoun is revolutionary for many people. Its hard going onto a website and allowing being given the options of "boy" or "girl".
I used to role play a lot, still do actually but now its usually with my closest friends. It displays a big issue there too. Its a world of boy and girl and most often these are cisgender roles. Its not any moderators fault but in the media we are often given nothing but cisgender people with the occasional transgender people. Anyone who does not fit into the binary system is ignored. 'Dragon Age' happens to be one of my favourite games to play on the XBox 360 but its very first customization option is to chose if you are a man or a woman. You can only be cisgender and erases every other gender identity. I won't boycott 'Dragon Age' its an amazing fantasy role playing game with a great story line, not to mention the elves share the same oppressive experience as to the Welsh people. However that does not gate the point that its gender options are so limited.
I am often forced to portray a girl or a boy on many websites, and on others I have to misgender myself just to complete the signup. It's annoying and fustrating and brings back so many negative feelings of being a "freak" and unnatural and how much easier everything would be if I were to fit the binary system. Expect I don't, I am pangender. I shouldn't be the one changing who I am just to fit people's narrow mindedness. This isn't how equality works. Is it so hard for sites to add other gender options? There's no law against!
Which is why Facebook started a revolution and went all out when it came to making their users feel welcome and comfortable. Facebook have now made it possible for people to state their gender identity and chose their pronouns. As far as I am aware Facebook is the first website to have done this, it also has millions of viewers. The point of real gender equality is reaching millions of Facebook users who before may not have considered bigender or pangender people. I hope more companies and websites realize this and are encouraged to include other genders. I don't think its something people realize to do but it would mean the world to people like me. 'Sims' games especially which relies so much on gender would benefit so much from including other genders.
As a pangender user I shouldn't have to feel like I must misgender myself because a majority of websites have such a binary and cisgender bias. Please not this does not equal cisgender privilege, so said in previous topics I don't believe in this term. Bias does not equal privilege.
But this just in; pangender people exist! People who fall outside the binary system do exist and live and function just like everyone else. We are not made up characters who exist only in fairy tales. We are real and human and breathe and live and die just like cisgender and transgender people. Its so heartwarming and wonderful to see that Facebook gets that. When I completed my Google signup I was left to click "other", other is not a gender option. I want Facebook to be the gear force which has websites and games including non-binary genders. I want other websites to take notice. This is what we want, this is equality.
And as an open message to everyone who says that "it doesn't matter" and that people are overreacting, it is not an overreaction to be recognized as a human being just like everyone else. It does matter when people are not being treated equally. This isn't a simple matter like running out of maple syrup this is gender discrimination, even if that was not what the companies planned that is how it happened. Its not okay and I refuse to accept the fact that I am overreacting about this. I just want to be treated equal; I don't understand why that is such a hard concept for people to understand.
I am not wrong for being pangender. I am no different to cisgender people. Therefore I am equal and should be treated as such. Sadly it seems that this logic is lost on so many people when in reality it is something that my six year old brother can understand. If a child can do so then why do adults who owe companies chose to ignore non-binary users? Why do websites continue to neglect the fact that not everyone falls under the binary system?
If the UK prides itself on being an equal rights country where everyone has the same opportunities then something needs to change for this to be true. Hello I am pangender, why am I being discriminated against because my gender is different to yours? I feel like screaming this from the rooftops.
Facebook thank you, you have made one website comfortable for me to use. Other websites please take note! I am not an other, I am not a woman, I am not a man. Some users fall outside the gender binary, we shouldn't be punished or discriminated against for that. Equality starts here.
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