Monday 5 April 2021

What Does Non Binary mean?

To understand what is non binary, one has to be clear what binary means.

Binary comes from bi - or two , two choices, options or alternatives. A binary number system is when your choice is between zero or one. Binary gives you just two alternatives, one versus another, two choices, etc .

So from that one can safely say non-binary means when the alternatives are more than two. 

In recent times non-binary is being taken to refer to gender. A non -binary person could mean someone who doesn't identify with the traditional binary gender system of male / female, but identifies with an alternate sexuality. It comes under a spectrum of gender identity that is being accepted widely now with the conventional masculine / feminine falling at either end of the spectrum.

Going into non - binary further, life is not "either" or "or" or black and white. The majority of life is somewhat grey, somewhere in between "either" or "or", which would perfectly describe non - binary.

Non- binary is increasingly coming with it's own vocabulary, beyond he and she, her or his. The scope for gender neutral language seems to be immense and presents a novel opportunity for linguists and grammarists. 

What else can non binary entail or challenge? Traditional modes of address, clothings, roles in society, life, customs? Can it challenge the big "R"? Or Religion, which is the last to ever embrace change, if it ever does? 

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