Neutral gender: what does it consist of?

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Beyond pink or blue, the possibility of gender neutrality is offered as an option that distances itself from the masculine/feminine poles. In this article we will talk about everything it can give us.

Apparently, we live in a world organized around blue and pink. Each color seems to be assigned to a gender and, from the moment of our birth, our identity is usually associated with one of these two colors.

However, thanks to the struggles of the LGBTIQ+ movement, we have begun to see how other colors are appearing, other alternatives that escape the male-female polarization.

For example, The idea of neutral gender refers to the possibility of constructing ourselves as subjects without forcing identification with gender marks, traditionally linked to the fact of being a man or a woman.

In this article we are going to explore what gender neutrality is, what it means to assume gender neutrality as an identity possibility and what the challenges are in thinking about an education outside of pink and blue.

Neutrality as an identity possibility

For authors like Judith Butler, the moment in which “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl” is said out loud is an act that somehow labels and conditions us.

If we add to this the fact that this framework is reinforced with the selection of colors, toys and, of course, a name, we can agree that every human being, even before birth, comes loaded with expectations, stereotypes and gender impositions oriented towards the cisnormative hope that biological sex coincides with gender identity in the future.

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However, this does not always happen; when a person’s gender identity does not coincide with the gender assigned at birth, we will be talking about transgender identities.

Among the identity possibilities within the framework of trans life experiences is that of agender or gender-neutral identities. It refers to people who do not identify with any gender identity or particularly with any of its expressions. For this reason, they tend to adopt a neutral aesthetic, generally associated with androgyny, avoiding the adoption of specific gender markers.

However, we can make some criticisms of this aesthetic expression of gender neutrality. Many of the items of clothing and everyday aesthetic practices (hairstyle, makeup, etc.) designated as “neutral” are usually associated with traditional masculine gender expression: dark and neutral colors, and sober and inconspicuous styles.

Educate in neutral gender

In recent years, education does not follow such clear lines regarding gender expectations.. Practices such as choosing names whose use is common for both men and women or even new names that are not associated with gendered objects, or choosing clothing in colors other than blue and pink have spread among numerous young families as a way to avoid the imposition of gender stereotypes from childhood.

The toy industry has also begun to transform and offer neutral toy alternatives. However, it still maintains and reproduces gender stereotypes,

It may still be too early to determine the impact of gender-neutral education on gender roles and their eventual and desirable transformations.

However, what has been established is that the freedom to choose what to play with, without associated gender impositions, makes girls above all look for traditionally masculine toys or neutral toys. This in turn opens a new scenario of imagination, construction of references and projections towards the future.

Neutral gender and language: the great challenge

One of the great challenges of the neutral gender is played in the field of language. For example, on the date this article is going to be published, the RAE has not yet accepted the incorporation of the pronoun “elle” or the inclusion of the letter “e” at the end of some words as a way of naming and including in language to people who identify as non-binary.

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Beyond institutional formalism, language is created and reinvented in its daily usewhere there is also resistance to these forms of inclusive language.

Social networks have become a scenario in which it is possible to trace these discussions between the traditional uses of language, its dynamic and changing character and the right to the free construction of identity and the nomination associated with it.

It would be worth asking the question about the origin of this resistance. And with this, try to identify if they really have to do with the use that we consider “appropriate” of language or deep down they hide internalized forms of rejection of sexual diversity, discriminatory tendencies and, above all, a difficulty in flowing to the rhythm of the times, open ourselves to change and the possibilities associated with it.