Gender-Fluid: What you need to know about identity and how to fight gender bias

You may have noticed that people have been highlighting their pronouns on social media. This action started from a movement of people who identify as gender-fluid, in search of respect and a treatment consistent with their identity. But do you know what gender-fluid is?

What is gender-fluid?

Fluid-gender is a gender identity that still generates many doubts. Milena Sophia, psychologist, comments a little about. “We live in a binary system where, on one side, we have the masculine and, on the other, we have the feminine. A gender-fluid person is someone who doesn’t identify with just one extreme, a non-binary person. It’s someone who doesn’t consider himself totally feminine or masculine. It is someone who flows between genres, understanding that gender is a social construction. After all, what is it to be a man? What is being a woman? A gender-fluid person embraces aspects of masculinity and femininity. Depending on the time, a person can identify more as a man, as a woman, or with both at the same time.”

What is the meaning of the colors of the gender-fluid flag?

The gender-fluid flag was created in August 2012 by JJ Poole, who says that the flag represents the fluctuation and flexibility of gender. Pink symbolizes femininity, white represents the absence of gender, purple represents the combination of masculinity and femininity, black mixes all genders and blue represents masculinity.

How to identify yourself as gender-fluid

As Milena explained, a person who identifies as gender-fluid does not fully identify as a woman or a man. In fact, there is a fluctuation between the two genres. J., who works with theater, focused on non-binary people, and is part of the Gênero-Fluido Vivências community, a group that supports and shares experiences about gender. J. says, “when I found the term and its characteristics, I felt that it seemed to have been built around me”. In general, perceiving oneself as gender-fluid is a matter of identification. The important thing is to get to know yourself and reflect on how you feel at ease. It is worth remembering that there are several other non-binary genres.

The main doubts about gender-fluid

Next, check out the main doubts about the fluid-gender according to the psychologist Milena Sophia and J.

What is the difference between gender-fluid and a non-binary person?

J. explains that “a non-binary person is not necessarily gender-fluid. Non-binary is one that escapes from 0 and 1 (standard male and female)”. However, gender-fluid is a non-binary gender, as it exists in the fluidity between the feminine, the masculine and other gender identities.

Are bisexuality and gender-fluid the same thing?

A person’s sexuality and gender are completely different things. Gender is about how a person identifies, whether as a woman, a man, or neither. Sexuality refers to physical, romantic or sensory attraction. J. explains that his sexuality did not interfere with the discovery of his gender. “It’s curious, because I’m pansexual, that is, I like people, who they are, not what they look like, and it doesn’t depend on their appearance or gender. But until he understood me as gender-fluid, he didn’t like me.”

What is the difference between transgender and gender-fluid?

Binary people are women and men who identify with the socially imposed gender at birth. Trans and gender-fluid people are non-binary people, precisely because they identify outside the binary sphere. A trans person, who was born into a body understood as male based on socially assigned gender roles, identifies with only one gender. In this case, as a woman. On the other hand, gender-fluid “consists basically of moving between masculine and feminine, feeling in both or neither, but I understand that it is characterized by its fluidity, being able to flow for short or long periods”, explains J.

Does gender-fluid need therapy?

Many people in the process of identification would like the comfort of consulting an expert, but at the same time, they think that being gender-fluid is wrong. Milena points out that it is important to have therapy, but it is ideal that all people do it, including binary ones. “Perhaps gender-fluid people have a greater ‘need for therapy’ because of the prejudice they suffer. It is important to highlight that gender fluidity and transsexuality are not ‘mental illnesses’, but identities as valid as binary and cis ones. Gender dysphoria can happen in these cases, but it’s not law,” she says.

Why the use of different pronouns?

The pronoun is a matter of respect. J. explains in a simple and direct way. “No one likes to be identified by what they are not”. She also advises: “If in doubt, ask! No one is obligated to know, so it’s pretty simple to come up and ask, ‘Hey, what are your pronouns?’ Being the first contact, I find it difficult for the person to be bothered”. Psychologist Milena Sophia completes by explaining that when we use the pronoun that the person has chosen, in addition to respecting their identity, it is welcoming. “Trying to force the binary pattern on someone, not addressing the person by the pronoun they chose, in addition to being disrespectful, is violence. And when we experience violence and disrespect, our self-esteem is shaken,” she explains.

Do people suffer prejudice for being non-binary?

Unfortunately, the “different” is always the target of aggression. J. says that the biggest discrimination he suffers is when his gender is invalidated. “Have you ever thought about it? Someone to say that what makes you love yourself is simply a glimpse of yourself, something non-existent. Not to mention the discrimination that a non-cis person suffers daily.” Milena explains how this discrimination can affect people’s lives: “it can affect at all levels: psychological, social, educational, financial, biological, etc. Health is integral: mind and body are not as separate as we are taught. According to a survey by UFSC, victims of discrimination have a four times greater risk of developing depression or anxiety and are still prone to diseases such as hypertension”.

What gender-fluid people want you to know!

People differ, but they deserve respect. J. says that people once thought that her being gender-fluid was just a show-off thing, and he’s even heard that she was trying to show up. She also mentions that when she found out she was gender-fluid, it was the moment she started to love herself the most. “People are different, and based on my experience, being gender-fluid has made me a better person because I started to take care of myself.”

Gender-Fluid Personalities

Surely you know at least one of these celebrities and characters, but I didn’t know they identify as gender-fluid, check it out!

Miley Cyrus:

Miley is very open about her sexuality and her gender. She has already defined herself as pansexual and gender-fluid. “I don’t identify as a boy or a girl and I don’t think my partner has to be defined that way.” The actress and singer uses the pronouns she/her.

Ezra Miller:

Ezra Miller, beloved Patrick from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, declared himself in 2018 as gender-fluid. “I don’t identify as a man. I don’t identify as a woman. I barely identify as human.” Ezra prefers the pronoun they/them, which has been translated as elu/delu.

Loki:

Loki, a character inspired by the Norse God of Mischief, was confirmed as gender-fluid by Marvel Studios in its series. In the complete file about the anti-hero, it is possible to see that in the “genre” field the marking is “fluid”.

Ruby Rose:

Ruby Rose, star of the first season of Batwoman, explains that she identifies with both genders and is also comfortable in her body. “I feel like I’m neither. If I had to choose, it would be a boy. I’m a boy, but I don’t feel like I should have been born with other body parts. I feel like the big question is how I dress, how I talk, how I feel and what makes me happy.” Her pronouns are she or elu.

Snowflake:

Marvel Studios has confirmed that the character Snowflake, from the new lineup of the New Warriors comics, is the publisher’s first gender-fluid heroine.

Dear Delevingne:

Cara Delevingne, a model and actress, is also open about her gender. She even stated that nothing was as good as understanding her place in the world. “It was a huge revolution to realize, for the first time, that genders are much more fluid than just masculine and feminine.”

Pablo Vittar:

The singer and drag queen from Maranhão, Pabllo Vittar, also identifies as a fluid genre. Pabllo speaks openly about her gender and helps amplify gender discussions in the country.

The singer and drag queen from Maranhão, Pabllo Vittar, has been talking about her sexuality and gender publicly for some time. In an interview, the singer says: “I’m a boy, I’m gay, I do drag, I’m genderfluid I like to transit both in the female and male universe”.

Were you able to understand more about gender-fluid and how the gender identification process takes place? Although this is a complex topic, searching for new information never hurts. If you are interested in the topic, also check out the article about non-binary and understand more about the broad sphere of genres!