Category: Announcements

A call for questions about gender beyond the binary

Posted by Nat – May 4, 2013

After a successful project where a panel of trans people answered 21 questions, CN Lester is again asking for questions about trans* issues, this time focusing on the experiences of people with genders beyond the binary.

A new panel has been formed, and I’m pleased to be among the people who’ll be answering your questions after the 8th of May.

Do you have questions about genderqueer, androgyny, nonbinary and gender variant etc issues you’ve been embarrassed to ask? It doesn’t matter whether you think they’re extremely basic questions that should be obvious or if you’re worried they’ll upset us, please ask. Think of this as like an amnesty for questions you haven’t been sure about asking but genuinely don’t understand.

Once we’ve answered the questions, this will form a 101 resource for helping people to understand genders that can’t be explained with just ‘man’ or ‘woman’, so the most questions we have, the better we’ll be able to help.

Please go here and add your questions by Wednesday the 8th of May

Nonbinary gender information and practical resources wiki

Posted by Nat – January 27, 2013

nonbinary.orgYou may have noticed that this site has been conspicuously low on updates in recent months, and for this I apologise. I’m hoping that this will change in the near future, but in the meantime I wanted to draw your attention to a related project that I sent up last year.

Nonbinary.org has aspirations to create a nonbinary gender visibility, education and advocacy network, arguing for equal access to employment, services and medical treatment for those who don’t fit the gender binary. In its current state it’s a wiki open for anyone to edit, collecting information about all types of nonbinary gender identity and expression, including the kinds of practical resources that Practical Androgyny aims to provide.

Rather than focusing on androgyny or any other single presentation or identity alone, Nonbinary.org hopes to unite all gender variant and nonconforming people whose experience falls outside the binary. Rather than relying on the health, energy, attention and ability of one person, the wiki structure allows anyone to edit or add to the information and resources collected on the site.

Several people have already got involved. As well as articles by myself covering concepts such as the history and usage of the term genderqueer and agender identity, numerous people have contributed to the section on the recognition of nonbinary identities in the UK started by Lottiotta and there are lengthy articles on subjects such as nonbinary transition and UK NHS healthcare by MxZirself.

There’s a lot more work to do and numerous gaps in our coverage, and so new users are welcome and encouraged. If you’re able to provide resources and information relevant to your gender identity or expression, or to your region or country, do please consider getting involved!

WAM!-It-Yourself: Improving Media Coverage Beyond The Binary

Posted by Nat – April 3, 2012

WAM!-It-YourselfOn Sunday March the 25th I took part in a radio-style talk show looking at how the media covers nonbinary and nonconforming gender and what we can do to make that coverage better.

Hosted by Avory Faucette of QueerFeminism.com and Radically Queer as part of Women Action Media‘s WAM!-It-Yourself events, the show featured guests with expertise in gender-neutral parenting, nonbinary identities, and media coverage of transgender issues. The discussion looked closely at some misunderstandings the media makes and how we can take action to educate and improve coverage.

As well as myself, guest included Arwyn Daemyir, creator of Raising My Boychick; Gunner Scott, Director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and Marilyn Roxie, creator of Genderqueer Identities and intern at the Center for Sex & Culture.

During the discussion we considered topics including major media coverage of gender-neutral parenting and education in 2011, the media’s refusal to take supermodel Andrej Pejic’s stated identity seriously, and what articles on genderqueer and other identities get right and wrong. We also explored the best way to cover less familiar gender identities, how journalists can describe gender in a way that is less harmful to nonbinary or questioning individuals, and how blogs and social media are changing the conversation.

As well as speaking as an androgynously presenting nonbinary person, I also added a UK perspective and raised the differences between North American and British media coverage and activism.

Listen to the entire show as a streamed recording. My contribution begins at around 45 minutes but I’d recommend listening from the beginning. A transcript will be available within the next few weeks.

Resources mentioned

Practical Androgyny talk at BiCon 2011, Leicester, UK

Posted by Nat – August 20, 2011

BiCon is the UK’s biggest Bisexual Community gathering, running annually since 1982. BiCon 2011 is taking place in Leicester from Thursday the 1st to Sunday the 4th of September. Practical Androgyny’s editor Nat Titman has been an attendee since 2001, has run several transgender-related sessions over the last ten years and finds the UK Bi Community one of the most accepting spaces to express a non-binary gender.

For this year’s BiCon, Nat will be running a session on Practical Androgyny at 11am on the Saturday, 3rd of September:

In our binary gendered society where people are perceived as either female or male, androgyny is the act of presenting an ‘ambiguous’ gender that resists those perceptions. There are many reasons why someone might wish to adopt an androgynous gender presentation; they may have a non-binary gender (other than female or male), they may be in the process of transition between the binary genders or they may simply feel more comfortable expressing themself that way. This session aims to give a primer on non-binary gender and the practicalities of living with, or obtaining, an appearance that defies gender classification. There will be time provided for questions and answers.

Residential booking is now closed, but non-residential weekend and day passes are still available online. There are numerous other sessions, events and social spaces planned for the weekend, including ‘Trans and Sexuality’, ‘Trans Safer Space’ and ‘Intro To Intersex’. The event is open to all, regardless of who they’re attracted to and which labels the use to describe their sexuality. Everyone attending agrees to abide by a progressive Code Of Conduct including respect for gender identity and expression.

If you can’t make BiCon, there’s also a chance to see Nat give the talk at Recreation Nottingham trans* group at 6pm on Wednesday the 24th of August at The New Foresters, Nottingham City Centre.

More ways to follow Practical Androgyny

Posted by Nat – May 8, 2011

Follow us on TumblrFollow us on TwitterLike us on FacebookPractical Androgyny’s Tumblr page is regularly updated to highlight and add commentary to relevant posts shared by Tumblr users. Occasionally shorter original posts and links, videos and quotations from outside of Tumblr are shared.

From now on all Practical Androgyny Tumblr content will also be crossposted to our Twitter feed and Facebook page, as will notifications of new articles on this site. See you there!

A call for examples

Posted by Nat – March 24, 2011

Practical Androgyny needs you!

Examples of the following are needed for future articles. Please get in touch if you’re aware of:

  • Organisations that allow non-binary genders to be recorded on their registration/application forms, especially if you have visual evidence
  • Banks or credit card companies that allow their debit or credit cards to be issued without honorific titles (Mr, Ms etc) before the holder’s name, include the process required if this isn’t standard practice
  • Websites, especially social network and dating sites, that allow the user to specify ‘Other’ for gender and/or write in a free form gender field, especially if gender neutral or third gender pronouns are also used

The more examples we have, the more precedents we can present when lobbying other organisations for change.

Now also available on Tumblr!

Posted by Nat – March 13, 2011

Now also on TumblrPractical Androgyny is now also available on the microblogging site Tumblr. There’s a vibrant community of gender variant people sharing their experiences on Tumblr and I’ll be using the Practical Androgyny tumblog to recommend, reblog and respond to other non-binary, genderqueer, trans* and gender questioning tumbloggers. If you’re on Tumblr, I hope you’ll consider following Practical Androgyny!

Subjects To Cover

Posted by Nat – March 6, 2011

To give a better idea of what to expect, here’s the list of subjects that this site’s resources will cover:

  • Gendered Spaces
    • Changing Rooms
    • Employment
    • Formal Occasions
    • Public Toilets
    • Swimming Pools
  • Identity and Documentation
    • Campaigning for Change
    • Forms
    • Legal Gender and ID
    • Websites and Social Networks
  • Language and Pronouns
    • Gender Neutral Language
    • Names
    • Pronouns
    • Titles and Salutations
  • Physical Changes
    • Hair Gain
    • Hair Removal
    • Hormone Therapy
    • Surgery
  • Presentation
    • Binding and Tucking
    • Body Language
    • Clothing
    • Hair
    • Packing and Padding
    • Voice and Speech

If you have any comments or suggestions for other subjects Practical Androgyny should be covering, please comment or get in touch.

Announcing Practical Androgyny

Posted by Nat – March 5, 2011

A necker cube, the symbol of androgynyWelcome to Practical Androgyny, a site devoted to the practicalities of ambiguous gender presentation within a binary gendered society.

The binary gender system classifies all people into either female or male, woman or man. However not everyone fits neatly into these categories. Some people have non-binary gender identities, and so do not feel comfortable when assigned a traditional gender. Whether owing to choice or chance, many of these people are not readily gendered by others. This state of binary gender ambiguity can be described as androgyny.

Practical Androgyny is a resource for both those who are comfortably androgynous but struggle with the pressures of the binary gender system, and for those who are gender dysphoric and wish to explore the possibilities of gender ambiguity. This site does not focus on the details of gender identity but on the practical aspects of living with, or obtaining, an appearance that defies gender classification.

Why ‘Practical Androgyny’?

Most websites and discussion communities about genderqueer and non-binary gender tend to focus on identity. The discussions tend to be mainly theoretical, deconstructing society’s concepts of gender and exploring the diversity of gender identities and expressions possible for those of us that slip through the gaps in the binary gender system. The most commonly asked questions are ‘What is gender?’ or ‘What is my gender?’. These are hugely important questions and it’s a good idea for everyone to be asking them, not just those who feel gender dysphoria or feel out of place in a binary gender system. However for those of us who already asked and answered those questions for ourselves, it’s difficult to find resources about the practicalities of living as something other than female or male.

‘Practical Androgyny’ is also descriptive rather than prescriptive. Resource sites that non-binary identifying people may find useful are often tied to a particular identity, with the assumption that the reader will hold that identity or the implication that you must take on that identity label if you relate to what’s described. Practical Androgyny recognises that gender identity is highly personal and that there can be as many gender identities as there are people. Practical Androgyny recognises that more than just non-binary gendered people will find androgynous living resources useful, and everyone will pick and choose from the resources this site provides. Plenty of genderqueer or non-binary identified people choose to live within the gender binary to some degree and even highly androgynous people need to blend in under some circumstances. These are the sorts of practical choices this site supports. Equally, there are circumstances under which binary identified people may find information on living with gender ambiguity of use. The resources that will be presented on this site are provided with no implication that all genderqueer or non-binary gendered people will find them useful, or that everyone who finds them useful must be transgender, genderqueer or non-binary identified.

What To Expect From This Site

Right now Practical Androgyny is more of a mission statement than a website. I’m planning to gradually post articles about different aspects of androgynous living that will eventually form a comprehensive guide to living outside the gender binary. I’ll be posting a list of subjects I’m planning to cover soon and I hope others will post with their own suggestions for subjects that should be covered.

In addition to this, I will be keeping a blog of my personal observations and experiences of living with an ambiguous gender presentation. I would love to also host observations from other people who live androgynously, especially those who are androgynous for different reasons or who have differing experiences to mine. If you’re interested in contributing resources or blogging here as a columnist, please get in touch!