It is probably best to begin at what being non-binary means: a plethora of different things. It means anything outside of the box of gender. It is too complex to fit into one feature, so please bear this in mind when reading, watching and listening. Each and every one of us has a unique and individual experience with how they feel, act, think and identify. I am here to represent people’s stories and experiences, but that isn’t to say that their experience should match or even be similar to yours. This project is to be empowering, expressive, but not exhaustive. Read this to learn, to understand, and maybe even to make a change.
This project is a filling a gap in the media sphere, it is about opening up, expanding people’s perceptions, and to learn more about the gender construct within modern Western society. People who identify as non-binary will share their thoughts on the matter, what they have learnt about themselves and perhaps even some hardships they have faced.
It covers a range of issues, misconceptions, frustrations and even feelings of liberation and euphoria. For example, why is clothing gendered? Why can’t people use our correct pronouns and identities?
This project confronts gender, and it confronts something so few people are aware of – that male and female are not the only two ways to exist. There is a whole spectrum of identities which are often forgotten, and when they are brought up in conversation or in the media, they are questioned, dismissed, mocked or viewed in a voyeuristic way. The way humans are treated for being outside of the norm is equal to excluding them from society completely; to say they don’t fit, they aren’t right, that they don’t exist.
I want this project to show you that they exist.
We exist.