nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

YES I DO LOVE UNDERTALE

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Non binary/Gender Representation in Steven Universe

       Steven Universe has not failed to captivate audiences with its subtle but important references to several different issues such as gender, mental health, consent, and other topics mentioned in different episodes. Throughout the last couple of seasons, the concept of gender and what certain genders can perform have been questioned and given new perspectives. What makes this particular thing amazing is that it is a children's show whose audience targets those at the age when kids question their gender and how it relates to their society. This is usually when they're told by other peers, parents, and other adults how they must behave to be "accepted".

    This kids show allows for a free range of thought based on the actions the characters take. In the beginning, it captures mainly a "female" cast taking care of a young boy. While the Gems have no definite gender, they are referred through the she/her pronouns. Despite this, the characters are judged based on their actions and its effect on the plot rather than this minuscule fact that they have certain pronouns. The thing that surprised many viewers was the introduction of Stevonnie, a fusion of Steven and Connie. While they accept their own genders, Stevonnie is referred to as they/them. While this can be attributed to the fact the fusion contains both Steven and Connie, the way fusion works means that there is also a creation of "another". While Stevonnie shares traits from both Steven and Connie, they also become their own person and feel like one, singular being. No one in the show questions this as stated about the show:

Stevonnie goes around town and, although Stevonnie is (according to the people who make the show, Stevonnie doesn’t use either “he” or “she” pronouns) somewhat androgynous, is fairly clearly coded and read by the other characters as female. Throughout the episode Stevonnie is flirted with and admired by both girls and boys.(qtd. In Importance of All-Ages… 1).

These simple interactions with others, despite knowing that the fusion is Steven and Connie, allows children to understand those who are non binary in simple ways. The fact that the audience knows there are “two people” allows them to grasp the they/them pronouns much more easily. In much surprise, the show has also captivated teens and adults who have been able to appreciate and digest all that the show has to offer. The show gives a simplistic and accepting explanation of these different gender dynamics and how they interact that make children feel included and give them the ability to explore they own personalities and goals that their gender identity does not limit.

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Clothes don’t decide gender

Trans people don’t have to fit in to their gender’s stereotypes to be valid, for example:

a transboy wearing a dress doesn’t make him any less of a boy

a transgirl wearing typically masculine clothing doesn’t make her any less of a girl

a nonbinary person dressing fem/masc doesn’t make them any less nb

please feel free to add more examples🏳️‍🌈

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Non-binary people who medically transition aren’t “basically” binary, they’re valid non-binary people who choose to medically transition.

Non-binary people who don’t medically transition aren’t “basically” cis, they’re valid non-binary people who aren’t interested in medically transitioning.

All non-binary people are valid non-binary people and their identities should be respected and validated whether or not they medically transition.

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Why is Representation Important - A look in South Korea’s lack of female athlete representation

      There is no doubt that South Korea has brought incredible female athletes into the Summer and Winter Olympics. Despite the several accomplishments done by these woman, South Korea’s representation and treatment of female athletes continues to dwindle.Seo Yeon Kim and Sungjoo Park express their findings on why this is a thing and the necessity to include representation not only for female athletes in certain countries, but how representation is important as a whole. They start by giving out the various accomplishments by South Korean athletes:

For instance, beginning in 1984, the Korean women’s national handball team has advanced to Olympic semifinals eight times in a row and has won six medals; two gold, three silver, and a bronze. In contrast, the men’s national handball team never brought home an Olympic medal. During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, seven out of eight medals won by South Korea came from female athletes, including Sang-hwa Lee, world record holder in Women’s 500m Speed Skating and gold medalist in two consecutive Winter Olympics, and Yuna Kim, multiple world-records holder and the first figure skater who had never finished off the podium in her entire career (“ISU”). The remaining five medals were from women’s short track speed skating. Last but not least, a volleyball player, Yeon-kyoung Kim, was the winner of the MVP award at the 2012 London Olympics. (2)

This list of triumphs and accomplishments made by a number of women would make one think that these woman, and others that come after them, would receive amazing treatment and representation in media. While they do not face backlash or threats openly, there is still a stigma against what live they should lead and that there are other matter more important than their own career goals. The dangers of this type of judgement was seen when:

On the one hand, Oh-kyoung Yim, a top-notch handball player for nearly 30 years, appears to fit in the stereotype of the early female athlete suffering in masculinist Korean society; while Yim participated in three Olympics and two World Championships, she had to undertake the roles of mother, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and athlete at once, and tried to kill herself twice after a divorce. (3)

It’s no doubt that woman can juggle it all, and while Yim tried her best to maintain all that was important in life, her mental health took a dangerous blow with all this stress and judgement that she faced from her society and culture. These type of dilemmas are not talked about in South Korean culture and this is especially for woman who must appear happy and the epitome of feminine despite their stress and their careers.

       One of the reasons there seems to be less female athletic representation is the fact that most men and women see athletes as strong, powerful, persevering individuals. In their minds, this does not intersect with the feminine, frail, curvy, and pretty ideals of females in media. Broadcasters and those who work in media know what works and conforms to the expectations of its viewers, and in a country that is known to be conservative, it is the safest option. Even when women are represented in films that focus on sports and competition, it usually results in petty drama or taking away focus from male lead who is determined to succeed in his own career goals. Korean female athletes are seen as nothing but in obstacle when represented in film, and barely get the recognition they deserve.

         You might be thinking what this has to do with non binary representation. It affects it directly and indirectly. Indirectly, this representation affects those who are non binary by the way they are judged based on appearances and cognitive thought. Those who are binary come in different shapes and sizes, just as everyone else does. Despite this and their gender identity, it does not undermine their abilities in life and work ethic as seen in Korean female athletes. Directly, it brings to the table on why representation is important at all. This is seen in the US and many developed countries within their ranks of media. Stereotypes hurt individuals and when all you grow up with is this type of media, it limits your views and expectations of yourself and those that look like you. The lack of female athlete representation in general may keep many women from fully pursuing their goals in sports. The lack of representation of non binary genders also keeps individuals from speaking out about their identity as well as important physical and psychological issues.

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

“I wish there were more animated characters who are nonbinary/gender nonconforming or have an ambiguous sex”

Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Apos (RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne)

Crona (Soul Eater)

Chara & Frisk (Undertale)

Stevonnie (Steven Universe)

BMO (Adventure Time)

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Taylor Mason and non binary representation

      The character Taylor Mason is introduced as an intern at Axe Capital. As stated before, it is an environment that mimics real life, a company whose majority is rich men. Mason identifies as female non binary, a person whose assigned sex is female and their gender identity is non binary. While the assigned sex does not play a role into the amount of work they are able to do, Mason’s presence in the company is a major step of female representation in the world of finance and powerful rich men. In this current society, the implication that having certain genitalia correlates to the work ethic and success someone can have is prevalent. Although women have the right to work in any career they please, factors such as sexism, unequal pay, and harassment from male colleagues hinder their progress into continuing to higher positions in different business endeavors. Dillon’s character is important in this sense because:

Taylor [Mason] is able to be the most successful person other than Bobby at Axe Capital, simply by doing their job and making money. Taylor doesn’t have to be hyper-masculine or competitive in the same way that the other people who work at Axe Capital are, or have felt they needed to be in order to be successful. (qtd. In Asia Kate Dillons on…. 1).  

      This particular take in the show is helpful to anyone that is not seen as the image of a powerful figure in the finance industry. When looking at Mason, one cannot help but see a person that visibly has a smaller shoulder frame than their coworkers, a more puffier, feminine face, and a a stature that is not as tall, yet none of these features matter when real work comes into play. Billions does representation correctly by not only bringing forward the fact that Mason is non binary and allowing them to state their pronouns to future coworkers, but the show does not focus on this trait alone for Mason. After awhile, this identity is not forgotten but is not a key figure in Mason’s character development. Instead, Billions focuses on Mason’s growth and intellect while working at Axe Capital and shows that some who does not fit the “norms” of the business world is just as capable, if not more capable, to succeeding in their own endeavors.

This show opens up the perspective on how one should no be judged on things they cannot help. Regardless of gender, race, culture, or other factors, the world of finance remains the same and anyone has the ability to succeed if they put their effort and soul into their goals.

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Asia Kate Dillon - Finding their own identity through non binary representation

       Taylor Mason is now a season regular on the show Billions, a melodrama that puts politics and finance together for an extravagant show. As one would think, the cast includes several powerful white men in the world of finance and follow them through their journey of misdeeds and dilemmas. Despite this environment, the character Taylor Mason was added into the mix and has become a prominent pillar of the show because of their identity. Mason identifies as “female non binary”, a term their actor Asia Kate Dillons did not understand until they read the character breakdown. Mason has been known to be the first outworldly stated non binary character in Western mainstream television.

        Before explaining the Billions character, it is important to understand the importance of their actor. Asia Kate Dillons, until reading the description for their character Taylor, had never stumbled upon the word non binary nor knew its concept existed. Dillons has expressed their concern over their identity and how:

        A couple of years ago I started removing gendered pronouns from my bios and things like that, replacing it with my name. That was the beginning of me really understanding that I had autonomous control over my identity, but it wasn’t until I came across the word non-binary, and looked it up, that I went, “That’s the word. There’s actually a word for it.” (qtd. In Asia Kate Dillons… 1)

      This came to be beneficial for both themself and the character as it gave a realistic representation of someone who is non binary and how an individual who identifies as this is no lesser in capabilities in the world of finance. It also gives representation through Dillons by expressing how non binary actors can have roles and make it their own in the world of film and television, one of the first major sources that children and adolescents develop their sense of gender identity. The fact that someone who was already an adult had recently only understood their gender identity shows the importance of representation for others to understand who they are and how this does not mean they should receive different negative treatment from others.

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Danger & Eggs has a NB character

And everyone just… uses their pronouns. There’s no big introduction/explanation, Milo just IS and their pronouns are respected and JEEZ this is amazing

I legit got Very Emotional about this. It’s so good and so rare and I love it. 

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

Spotify has a non-binary option!!!

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

How the Media impacts Non Binary Genders

     In this current era, non binary genders are seeing more light with the rise of social media and the spread of perspectives along with the relay of “new information”. It is now easier to search up different genders on prominent websites or find blogs and articles written by those who identify as non binary. With this information, people are able to comprehend and understand those who are seen as “different” from them and can ease this into their daily lives.

      While this concept is not new in anyway, and has seen its roots centuries ago, different countries and cultures experience the concepts of gender in different ways based on their pasts and religions. Because of this, the notion of a binary gender has remained prevalent until recently because it was widely accepted as the “norm”. Christina Richards, who works for the Nottingham Centre for Gender Dysphoria in the UK, says this can be an issue because, “Within mainstream media there is still a tendency towards a perhaps patronizing ‘interest’ which situates non-binary and genderqueer people as ‘other’ to the assumed norm of the viewer – something which can be tiring for these minority groups,” (Richards et. al 2). Because of this, many individuals tend to refrain from receiving help over issues that arise from their gender identity.

      One of the major issues seen by Richards and her colleagues is the lack of non binary genders seeking help over gender dysphoria. At first, this used to be labeled as gender identity disorder but the diagnosis had a tendency to be placed on those who wanted to change their gender and relied on the male and female binary. In a way, it was seen as dysmorphia. Gender dysphoria on the other hand is seen as wanting to changing certain aspects of oneself to be more comfortable in their gender identity and for those who know that their bodies do not correlate with their ideal self. Even in different media outlets, those who can to change their bodies whether it is reassignment surgery or smaller bodily surgeries are labeled transgender, which many of those who are non binary do not feel they identity as. Many tend to be comfortable with the basic genitalia that they were born with but, with the lack of conversation over these topics, those who are non binary tend to be quiet about wanting to change smaller aspects of their bodies without being challenged over wanted to change their biological sex altogether. At the same time, the lack of information to the general public creates a plethora of questions and interest as well as judgement that many of those who are non binary would rather avoid.

      The lack of non binary representation over the years has also kept many individuals from questioning their own thoughts or ideals because these are never extracted from their heads. The current mass representation of the binary gender limits the amount of information spread to those that do not fit that binary.

[nonbinaryrepresentationinmedia]

What is Non Binary gender?

         As one can deduct from the wording, binary means to be categorized into two. In terms of gender, non binary relates to those who do not fit into the generalized male and female binary that is seen throughout most of society. This umbrella can include those who are androgynous, are agender, intergender, have multiple gender identities such as pangender or bigender, are genderfluid, or demigender. In some instances, those who are transgender or transexual may also identify as non binary and vice versa. While there is no rules stating what pronouns can or cannot be used, most who identify under this umbrella tend to use they/them pronouns while some may also include binary pronouns as well. Despite this identity, many of those who are non binary incorporate traits that can be seen as masculine or feminine based on personality or what they feel is right for themselves.