A Minor Rant on Gender

Have you ever noticed how gendered every day things are? I'm not even talking the whole bathroom debacle, but things like toys and food packaging. At the bookstore the other day, I saw a "manmergency kit" advertised for Father's Day (I assume it was a mini shaving kit or something). I'm constantly confronted with "women's X" when there's no reason to specify an audience gender.

I was talking to my therapist this morning about it and realized that so many people don't even think about this sort of thing. Seeing blue and pink candy wrappers is just normal. Of course there would be a distinction between products for men and women--even if the product is exactly the same. And this isn't even delving into the "pink tax," where products marketed to women cost more than products marketed to men.

As someone who doesn't adhere to the gender binary, this is incredibly frustrating. It's everywhere and there's no escaping it. Our society (and our marketing) is exceedingly reliant upon gender and the apparent opposition of "man" and "woman."

Sometimes I wish I could just snap my fingers and erase the binary altogether. But, alas, that is not the magic I work. All I can do is keep working here at Wandering Jotun, keep supporting my other nonbinary and genderqueer friends, and keep sharing my authentic self. Hopefully I can at least make a little change.

- Nonir