Beyond The Gender Binary
Alok Vaid-Menon
“Gender is a story, not just a word. There are as many ways to be a woman as there are woman. There are as many ways to be a man as there are men. There are as many ways to be nonbinary as there are nonbinary people. This complexity is not chaos, it just is”
This tiny book fell on me like an anvil. In my quest to learn more about people that are different from me I picked up this book by the incomparable Alok Vaid-Menon. Here, they pick apart the arguments made by people in power that delegitimize the existence of gender non-conforming people. It was very informative for me and I highly suggest you support this artist and get this book for yourself too. They want to create a better future where gender is playful and colorful, where people everywhere are safe to be who they are and whoever they choose to be. The gender binary benefits no one. ⠀
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Alok Vaid-Menon teaches creative writing workshops and sometimes asks: “What part of yourself did you have to destroy in order to survive this world?” That sentence gutted me, because I know we can all answer that question in some way. Imagine living in a world where that question didn’t have to exist. Thank you for the stunning education
