Gender neutrality
The disparity in gender equality throughout history has had a significant impact on many aspects of society, including marketing, toys, education and parenting techniques.
In order to increase gender neutrality in recent years, there has been a societal emphasis on utilizing inclusive language and advocating for equality.
On 15 October 2017, California governor Jerry Brown signed new legislation into law that allows persons the option to select gender-neutral on state identification cards.
This can involve discouragement of the use of gender-specific job titles, such as policeman/policewoman, fireman, stewardess, chairman, and, arguably, in favor of corresponding gender-neutral terms such as police officer, firefighter, flight attendant and chairperson (or chair).
[10] In 2012 a gender-neutral pronoun hen was proposed in Sweden, and in 2014 it was announced that this word would be included in the following edition of the Swedish Academy Glossary.
[11] LGBTQ activists have suggested that the pronouns "he/she and his/her linguistically enforce a normative two sex system" where one must fall into the gender binary of either male or female.
Advocates of postgenderism argue that the presence of gender roles, social stratification, and cogno-physical disparities and differences are generally to the detriment of individuals and society.
Given the radical potential for advanced assistive reproductive options, postgenderists believe that sex for reproductive purposes will either become obsolete, or that all post-gendered humans will have the ability, if they so choose, to both carry a pregnancy to term and impregnate someone, which, postgenderists believe, would have the effect of eliminating the need for definite genders in such a society.
According to Lauren Spinner, "Portrayals of boys tend to emphasize masculine gender roles and stereotypically masculine play and toys, whereas portrayals of girls tend to emphasize feminine gender roles and stereotypically feminine play and toys".
An additional study done in 2014 focuses on labeling of toys, "for girls" and "for boys", paired with explicit colors, pink and blue, and gender stereotypes in children.
"[30] Other suggestions and pursuits to broaden the mentality behind gender neutrality in schools include The abolishment of certain dress codes has been conserved among institutions depending on the limitations imposed on students and their comfort in such attire.
For transgender students, strict dress codes may complicate their path towards confirming their gender identity, a cost which can affect these individuals well throughout their life.
Ways in which compliance with attire in institutions can cause reverberations in other areas of life are factors such as lowered academic performance, higher dropout rates, and increased disciplinary action.
[33] As of 2017[update], 150 primary schools in the United Kingdom have introduced gender neutral uniforms and students feel more in control of their identity as a result of this policy change.
[42] Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth describes gender as "the classification of male or female that includes social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics.
The theory of gender neutrality claims that biological sex does not inevitably determine social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics.
Because parents are still unwilling to send their daughters to the schools, there is a low participation rate of female education compared to male.
Studies at Provider-Parent Partnerships have shown that children begin forming their sense of gender identity at 2–3 years old[undue weight?
"[56] The concept of a child developing their sense of self in formative years has been a topic of discussion among cultural theorists as well as in children's literature criticism.
In The Pleasures of Children's Literature, Shulamith Shahar states, "Child raising practices and educational methods as well as parent-child relation are determined not solely by biological laws but are also culturally constructed".
Lacan's concept of the mirror stage has contributed to modern understanding of subjectivity and has since been applied to Children's Literature Criticism and child development.
[58] As Hamida Bosmajian has stated in Understanding Children's Literature, "The literary text, then, is an image of the unconscious structured like a language."
[80][81] Pinkstinks claims that the marketing of gender-specific products to young children encourages girls to limit their ambitions later in life.
[83][84] In 2016, Canada came out with the "No Big Deal" campaign which is a "positive affirming response to the recent conflict around transgender peoples' pronouns.
[87] Jones's suit states that the complaint to human resources was never resolved and the managers did not follow through per their requests, prompting their resignation.
But as of October 2017[update], the case has been reopened due to the State Department's continued refusal of a gender marker that is neither male nor female on its passport applications.
[90] On 27 April 2016, Elisa Rae Shupe filed a petition in Multnomah County, Oregon, to no longer be designated male or female.
Shupe, a retired United States Army sergeant, was born with male anatomy and lived for a time as a transgender woman.
When pronouns such as "he" or "his" are used to refer to gender-neutral persons, there is a subconscious "sex bias" towards males over females, despite the subject being gender neutral.
[96] In The Hidden Gender of Law, Regina Graycar and Jenny Morgan argued that gender-neutral rape statutes can imply that men and women are perpetrators and victims of sexual violence at similar rates, which is not accurate.
