In today's Buzzword Mix our buzzword is Non-binary.

If you know the original meaning of the word binary, you probably are getting a bit confused. Are we talking about mathematics?

今天的buzzword叫non-binary, 如果你知道binary原来的意思是二进制的时候, it's a system of zeros and ones, you probably think that we're talking about math, but actually, non-binary is a social concept.

1 What is non-binary?

"非二元性别"是啥意思

Now, to understand non-binary, first of all, we need to understand what binary stands for here.

Some societies like ours tend to recognize just two genders, male and female. The idea that there are only two genders is sometimes called a "gender binary", because binary means "having two parts", male and female.

要了解今天的 buzzword, 首先要知道这里的binary它指的不是二进制, 而是指的所谓的很多的社会里面的gender binary, 就是性别的二元化, 男性和女性.

These are the only two options.

So when you use“non-binary”to refer to someone, this is a term that people use to describe genders that don't really fall into one of these categories, male or female.

所以non-binary就被翻译成非二元性别者.

Again, you're probably getting a bit more confused.

Now most people, even including transgender people, are either male or female in most societies, but some people don't neatly fit into the categories of men or women, male or female.

For example, some people they have a gender that blends elements of being a man or a woman, or a gender that is different than either male or female.

有一些人的性别身份认同既不是男性也不是女性, 可能是一个blend或者是可能是介于男女之间的, 或者是一个其他的性别.

So some people don't identify with any gender, and some people's gender changes over time.

These people whose gender is not male or female, they use many different terms to describe themselves, and non-binary is one of the most common.

Now, remember I said they might use other terms.

2 The origin of "non-binary"

"非二元性别"的起源

To talk about non-binary, we have to talk about its predecessor.

在non-binary普遍被传播开之前, 它的前身有一个说法叫做genderqueer, 我们把它翻译成 “性别酷儿”.

You probably know that queer culture is related to LGBTQ.

So the term “genderqueer” first appeared in the 1980s preceding the more widely used “non-binary” today.

It gained prominence in the 1990s through activists who used it in essays and autobiographies to describe individuals deviating from traditional gender norms.

那个时候的genderqueer是用来形容individuals deviating from traditional gender norms. 是偏离传统性别范式的人。

And the rise of the internet and the public identification by celebrities brought the term "genderqueer" into mainstream awareness during the 2010s.

So genderqueer and now non-binary serves as both an umbrella term for non-binary identities and an adjective describing those who challenge or diverge from conventional gender distinctions, regardless of how they personally identify, and it includes or encompasses a range of other expressions.

我们经常说像genderqueer或者non-binary这种词, 它叫做umbrella term, meaning they're like a big umbrella.

Underneath this umbrella, there's so many specific expressions.

For example, you might hear Agender, Bigender, Genderfluid, and more. None of these terms mean exactly the same thing, but they all speak to an experience of gender that is not simply defined as male or female. I know it's all very confusing.

Again, it's a controversial topic and I'm not here to promote or advocate anything. But it's more so that you understand when you see this word popping up in English speaking context.

这个话题还是蛮有争议的一个话题, 在这里不是带任何的节奏或者鼓吹任何的东西, 也不去批判任何的东西, 只是让大家知道在英语的语境里面, non-binary确实是一个越来越多人认知的事情.

3 Basic Facts about Non-binary People

一些事实...

To make matters a little bit clearer, here are a few things or few facts you need to know about people who identify as non-binary.

First of all, non-binary is nothing new.

You probably think it's like some sort of new trends that people are following; but actually, non-binary identities have been recognized for thousands of years by cultures and societies around the world.

It probably wasn't called non-binary. It was called different names, but the concept has been around for a very long time.

And non-binary people, they aren't people who are confused about their gender identity. They are more people who just don't identify with the gender binary system.

The second fact is non-binary does not mean transgender. In fact, most transgender people are not non-binary.

Say a man, born a man, but identifies with a woman. He wants to go through surgeries to turn into a woman.

So in his or her gender identity, she obviously identifies with a woman or as a woman, which is not non-binary.

So most transgender people, they have a gender identity that is either male or female, and this is often different from their biological gender, and they wish to be treated like male or female.

The other thing to clarify is identifying as non-binary has nothing to do with sexual or romantic orientation.

Gender identity is a completely different thing, 性别身份认同和性向或者我们说romantic orientation这种婚恋约会的取向是完全不同的两个领域.

So non-binary people they can have different types of sexual orientations. This has nothing to do with their gender identity.

4 How to Be Respectful of

Non-binary People

关于尊重...

Now, if you are definitively gender binary with all of these really confusing concepts flowing around, you might be thinking I want to be respectful, I want to be open-minded, but how?

Well, you don't have to understand what it means for people to be non-binary to have general respect for people.

Some people haven't heard a lot about non-binary genders or have trouble understanding them. That's okay.

To be open-minded, the easiest way to do is to ask and don't make assumptions. For example, if people are non-binary, they might wish to use a specific pronoun.

Now, in gender binary world, we use she, he; but for non-binary people, they might still use he, she, or even they, or any other pronoun they may choose, the simplest way is to just ask.

This may feel awkward at first, but it’s one of the simplest and most important ways to show respect for someone's identity.

The other thing is try not to make any assumptions about people's gender.

You can't really tell if someone's non-binary simply by looking at them. So if you're in doubt, simply ask politely.

So if you see yourself as a very open minded person, the best way to understand all of these new gender terms that you're not familiar with is to talk with people and to listen to their stories.

Now, let's move on to the sample sentence.

例句示范

Sample Sentence：

- Someone who is non-binary does not identify as exclusively male or female.