nbandproud:

I’ve already posted about this elsewhere a few months ago, but I think the idea is polished enough for me to post it on Tumblr now too.

There are a lot of different kinds of nonbinary people. And there are many ways for nonbinary people to relate or not relate to binary genders. There was a discussion a long time ago that resulted in the coining of “midbinary” and “abinary”, which I thought could result on interesting discussions, however, most people only used those as identities or as a way to categorize identities, which is okay, but not what I expected.

And even those terms are not really polished, imho. Is someone who defines themselves as a masculine agender person midbinary, which references the binary, or abinary, because their gender identity is not male or female, since they are genderless? Can you only be one or the other? Is one more exclusive than the other (as in, if you are male/female/masculine/feminine/a mix of those at all you can’t be abinary, just like if you are not 100% male or not 100% female you are not binary even though you may still be a man or a woman)?

Anyways, those are rhetorical questions. I’m here to present another system.

This system is based on what kinds of issues one faces because of their gender identity. Which means, you can say you are more than one of those things at once, or that you are some of those or others depending on the moment.

I am also aware most identities have their own issues, that may be more specific or not related to those. I’m not claiming the following categories are the only kinds of nonbinary-specific oppression.

Exobinary issues are mainly experienced by people with identities that are completely outside and/or independent of the gender binary or anything related to it. They may include:

• People doubting the existence of gender identities that don’t relate to the gender binary in any way;
• People completely doubting and/or overlooking gender expressions, alignments or dysphoria that doesn’t fit a “male, female, masculine, feminine or in-between those” restriction.

Ideobinary

issues are mainly experienced by people with identities

that rely on masculinity/femininity or other “projections” of binary ideas, without being (necessarily) close to binary genders. They may include:

• People pushing the idea that something that an identity related to masculinity, femininity or that otherwise implies a connection to binary genders are similar or the same as a binary gender (eg “antigirl = boy” or “feminine nonbinary = self-hating binary girl“ or “mascgender = demiboy”;
• A divide that often occurs when talking about different kinds of nonbinary people that only takes into account “people with genders that are similar to binary genders” and “people with genders that are equally both binary genders or not binary at all”, leaving in the dust those who don’t feel right claiming they are similar to binary genders, but whose identities are based on binary or binary-related ideas;
• A presentation issue: how to express you are not a woman at all, while having a feminine gender? Or not a man at all, but having a masculine gender? Or being something totally different from a man, while not being a woman? Or being something totally different from a woman, while not being a boy? Being “neutral” or “completely out there” may not be comfortable options if those don’t express the actual gender identity.

Mesobinary

issues are mainly experienced by people with identities involving both binary genders and/or being in-between those genders. They may include:

• People pushing the idea that binary genders are opposite and that no one can ever be both;
• People trying to “gauge” whether one is “more male” or “more female” to be able to ignore one part of a person’s gender identity;
• Exclusion of spaces/labels specific to men or women for being partially women or men, respectively.

Viabinary

issues are mainly experienced by people with identities which are close to one binary gender, even if they are nonbinary. They may include:

• Having either their nonbinary identity or the binary part of their identity doubted, ignored or looked down upon;
• Being alienated from common nonbinary depictions or descriptions that put emphasis on being completely separate from the binary or in-between binary genders;
• Being seen as binary within nonbinary spaces;
• Being treated as a “self hating” and/or “wanting to escape cis/male privilege” version of the binary gender they are close to.

Note that this is to facilitate discussion; there are several issues that more than one of those groups may face, or that only a part of those groups will face.

~ kau