The end of gender?

The media has been aflutter lately with gender panic. News of genderless children, boys with pink toenails and now genderless preschools have had the press questioning whether we might be at the end of gender.

I can only dream.

Gender, if we look past the headlines, is alive and well. And to be honest, I would never push for the end of gender. Despite identifying as genderqueer myself (which I define as a recognition of my discomfort with the gender I was assigned at birth–female), I would never advocate for a move toward a gender-blind society. On the one hand I think it’s an unrealistic goal, and on the other hand I think gender is pretty damn cool. I think it gives us a context through which to express ourselves, understand ourselves, relate to our bodies and to the world.

What I would advocate for, however, is an end to forcible gender categorization and policing. I think the stereotypes that go along with gender identity–the characteristics we very quickly ascribe to women and men–are really limiting and damaging. We have made a lot of assumptions about how men and women differ. These differences are loosely attributed to biology but often go way beyond what we might actually know about the impact of hormones and genitalia on a person’s life.

It’s impossible to separate the impact of biology from the impact of socialization because it’s unethical to raise people in vacuums and see what trends develop across gendered lines without socialization. We may never know exactly how the characteristics we use to place newborns into gender boxes impact each of us.

But what I do know is that these gender delineations are really powerful tools of sexism.

If you can’t differentiate between the two groups, how can you treat them differently? And if you can’t ascribe characteristics of inferiority to one group, how can you ensure the dominance of the other?

Sexism very clearly uses and perpetuates belief in inherent gender difference. Women are weaker, more emotional, more volatile, less intelligent, not as good at math and science goes the stereotypes. Promoting these ideas as biological facts allows for discrimination to be justified.

The Swedish preschool making news for enforcing gender neutrality is taking an interesting step toward creating an equitable environment. They take as a basic principle that separate can never be equal, and that even from difference, value can be inferred. It’s an idea that we have by no means embraced when it comes to gender.

AT THE Egalia preschool in Stockholm, gendered pronouns are out. Staff avoid using words such as ”him” or ”her” and address the 33 children as ”friends” rather than girls and boys. From the colour and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don’t fall into gender stereotypes. ”Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing,” says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. ”Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want.”