Gender is a social construct. An abstract idea. But the rules of gender are too strong to be broken or changed easily.
Hence, unless you live away from the judgmental social norms in many societies, people will expect that you conform to a certain gender identity – male or female. Being unable to identify with a feminine or masculine gender can result in isolation, feeling ignored, and being mistreated.
The Challenges Faced by Non-Binary Individuals
Having a non-binary identity means you cannot identify yourself as either male or female. Using he/him or she/her pronouns would feel wrong. And you’ll often find yourself being unable to conform with the societal laws of gender identity.
If you’re a non-binary, it may have taken you some time to realize this. However, the real struggles starts when you know that you’re not one of them, and that others treat you as though you’re the black sheep.
Coming out to your family is tremendous in such cases. Many times, non-binary individuals are abandoned by their own families, or forced to ‘change’.
In other cases, even if the family accepts you, it’s hard to move the world to start thinking beyond the two ‘blue’ and ‘pink’ boxes of gender.
Being misgendered is something non-binary individuals dread.
This is why, even if they do not associate with one particular gender, they may start ‘styling’ themselves as one in order to escape being misgendered. For example, a non-binary teenage person born with female sex may start dressing up in what the world views of as ‘masculine’ clothing in order to avoid being referred to as a ‘she’ or ‘her’.
Apart from this, non-binary individuals have to go through the pain of being identified and called with a name that doesn’t conform with their gender identity. So, if a non-binary person adopts a new name different from the one that they were assigned at birth, their decision may begrudgingly be used.
Lastly, if you’re non-binary and feel comfortable, empower yourself, advocate, be vocal, be bold, and be prideful of your identity. Be you.