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Article: "Colonization of gender: From tradition to modern day"

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Article: "Colonization of gender: From tradition to modern day"

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This article speaks about how European colonization perpetuated a rigid gender binary in the Western world. Many indigenous cultures viewed gender in a much more fluid state, but European colonization in America widely banished these cultures and spread their own Christian hierarchical views everywhere they went. This article also contains accounts from guest speakers saying that even today, the lingering gender norms limit personal expression and cause constant misunderstanding of the LGBTQ+ community. Lastly, this article makes a connection between the gender binary and the patriarchy and furthers the point that the patriarchy is harmful for all people. I found this reading to be very insightful on the various unnatural ideologies about gender that were greatly perpetuated by colonization, patriarchy, and Western capitalism.

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A man mocked for his femininity. A non-binary person unsure of their gender's validity. An indigenous person no longer able to comfortably and publicly identify with a gender once revered by their people.

These issues all stem from a troubling common ancestor: colonization.

Since the arrival of colonizers on native lands, gender has long been intertwined with the inner workings of colonization. Thus, Argentine feminist philosopher María Lugones coined the concept of the " coloniality of gender ," which is the theory that gender is a colonial establishment.

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Colonization of gender: From tradition to modern day

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A man mocked for his femininity. A non-binary person unsure of their gender's validity. An indigenous person no longer able to comfortably and publicly identify with a gender once revered by their people. These issues all stem from a troubling common ancestor: colonization. Since the arrival of colonizers on native lands, gender has long been...

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This photo depicts the restroom signage that has been standard in America for over half a century now. The purpose of these signs is to separate public restrooms into male- and female-only spaces. In addition, these signs show what the overarching assumptions are about how men and women look. These signs, while simple, are also prime examples of the social construct of gender identity.

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ALOK on Instagram: "the gender binary was a miss, lol."

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Video/Reel: Alok Vaid-Menon Speaks about the Gender Binary

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Video/Reel: Alok Vaid-Menon Speaks about the Gender Binary

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This is a quick reel of Alok Vaid-Menon, a popular figure in queer and non-binary spaces. They talk briefly about how the gender binary was created artificially as an institution, if you will, by people in power rather than a statement in fact. They also mention that the idea of a gender binary restricts so many people with divergent gender identities and often causes unnecessary oppression.

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ALOK on Instagram: "the gender binary was a miss, lol. 
________________________
Tour Dates: (Tix Link in Bio)

September 28: Boulder 
September 29: Oklahoma City
September 30: Richmond
October 1: Salt Lake City
October 10: Newark
October 11: Providence
October 12: New Haven
October 15: Irvine
October 19: Buffalo
October 25: Stanford
October 29: São Paulo
November 2: Rio de Janeiro 
November 7: Quito
November 8: Bogotá
November 9: San Jose, Costa Rica
November 14: St Louis
November 16: Cardiff
November 17: London
November 18: Brighton
November 22: Munich
November 23: Frankfurt
November 24: Cologne
November 25: Hamburg

please join the mailing list (link in bio) to stay tuned for future tour dates"

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3,385 likes, 47 comments - alokvmenon on September 19, 2025: "the gender binary was a miss, lol. 
________________________
Tour Dates: (Tix Link in Bio)

September 28: Boulder 
September 29: Oklahoma City
September 30: Richmond
October 1: Salt Lake City
October 10: Newark
October 11: Providence
October 12: New Haven
October 15: Irvine
October 19: Buffalo
October 25: Stanford
October 29: São Paulo
November 2: Rio de Janeiro 
November 7: Quito
November 8: Bogotá
November 9: San Jose, Costa Rica
November 14: St Louis
November 16: Cardiff
November 17: London
November 18: Brighton
November 22: Munich
November 23: Frankfurt
November 24: Cologne
November 25: Hamburg

please join the mailing list (link in bio) to stay tuned for future tour dates". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ALOK (@alokvmenon)

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Instagram Post: Celebrating International Non-Binary People's Day

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Instagram Post: Celebrating International Non-Binary People's Day

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I extracted this photo from a 2023 post celebrating International Non-Binary People's Day. This quote stood out to me in particular because of its positive message and use of metaphor. Vaid-Menon does not dismiss the ordinary man and woman; they include men and women in a much more vast "constellation" of people who identify in all types of ways. I enjoyed this metaphor because I truly believe that letting people define their gender identity will help us build each other up as a society.

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Article: Gender symbol | Description, Examples, & History | Britannica

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Article: Gender symbol | Description, Examples, & History | Britannica

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This Britannica article on the gender symbols talks about their meanings and a brief history of their inception and usages. The article also touches on the various other symbols created for modern gender identities, such as transgender and bigender, as well as sexualities, such as male and female homosexuality. I learned that these symbols originated in astrology practices by the ancient Babylonians and were later adopted by the Greeks for alchemical and metallurgical practices. In Greek metallurgy, Iron represented Mars, which was associated with masculinity. Copper, represented by Venus, on the other hand, embodied femininity. These symbols were later used in many other fields such as botany, zoology, and medicine. I had no idea these symbols had such deep histories!

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gender symbol, visual signifier of an individual's self-conception as male or female, as some combination thereof, or as someone outside those categories altogether. Gender symbols are frequently used to represent and distinguish individuals based on their gender identity or biological sex.

The most widely recognized gender symbols are the circle above a cross (♀), signifying female, and the circle below an arrow pointing diagonally upward to the right (♂), signifying male. These symbols are used in various contexts, including on restroom signs, as shorthand for scientific or medical purposes, and in other instances where gender identification or representation is relevant. Increased awareness of transgender and nonbinary identities gave rise to additional gender symbols. The transgender symbol (⚧) is one such sign. It typically consists of the traditional male and female symbols joined on the circle with a third element that is a combination of an arrow and a cross, representing the blending or transcendence of conventional gender categories. The combined Venus and Mars symbol (⚥) is a bigender designation.

In ancient astrology, in which it was thought that celestial bodies influenced various aspects of life on Earth, the earliest traces of gender symbols are found. As pioneers of astrology, the Babylonians associated specific spirits with celestial objects. For instance, Venus was associated with the fertility deity Ishtar, while Mars was associated with the war god Nergal. These associations were adopted by the Greeks, who extended them to their alchemical and metallurgical practices. Iron, which represented Mars, was associated with masculinity, combat, and fortitude. Copper, however, represented Venus, embodying femininity, love, and beauty.

In the 18th century, Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus incorporated celestial and alchemical symbols into science. Linnaeus included the Mars and Venus symbols in his botanical pedigree charts to represent male and female plants, in addition to using ☿, which features a circle and cross topped with a half circle, for hermaphroditic plants. With the passage of time, these symbols permeated a wide array of disciplines, including zoology, biology, genetics, and medicine, eventually gaining recognition as sex and gender symbols.

In genetics, the use of a triangle (△) and a square (□) to denote males and a circle (○) to represent females has been traced back to American physician Pliny Earle, who in the 19th century used these symbols during his study of colour blindness. The adoption of geometric shapes to denote gender in genetic studies was a result of practical considerations of concision. Earle's reliance on musical notation, which features elliptical heads similar to ovals, illustrates the evolution and adaptation of symbols in different scientific disciplines.

As the expansion of queer rights and representation continues, gender symbols have increasingly been adopted by individuals as a means of signifying their sexual orientation. These symbols serve as concise representations that are able to convey a range of identities and affiliations within the queer community. One such example is the double Venus symbol (⚢), which signifies lesbianism, representing the love and attraction between women. Similarly, the double Mars symbol (⚣) represents male homosexuality, highlighting the affection between men. Conversely, the intertwined Venus and Mars symbol (⚤) is employed to denote heterosexuality.

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Gender symbol | Description, Examples, & History | Britannica

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Gender symbol, visual signifier of an individual’s self-conception as male or female, as some combination thereof, or as someone outside those categories altogether. Gender symbols are frequently used to represent and distinguish individuals based on their gender identity or biological sex. The

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This meme shows quite an unfortunate online listing of Non-Binary pride t-shirts. The listing contradicts itself by advertising the t-shirts in men's and women's variants, which brings in the irony of the non-binary identity not conforming to a binary gender identity. Another funny addition to the Palpatine "ironic" meme.

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Twitter Post: Nikki Giovanni Interview Commentary

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Twitter Post: Nikki Giovanni Interview Commentary

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I got this from a repost of a repost 😅 of an interview talking about how brave the younger generation of trans people are today. They've become so good at rejecting traditionalists trying to tell them how to be and to conform to a binary gender. I believe this is a very valid statement, and this ideology should be embraced.

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The quiet part out loud:

"They are breaking down the gender binary, capitalism...take it all apart, bebes!" https://t.co/VKdJ9uzjjL

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The quiet part out loud:

"They are breaking down the gender binary, capitalism...take it all apart, bebes!" https://t.co/VKdJ9uzjjL

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The quiet part out loud:

"They are breaking down the gender binary, capitalism...take it all apart, bebes!" pic.twitter.com/VKdJ9uzjjL
— Mîsâkan (@miisaakan) September 20, 2025

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The quiet part out loud:

"They are breaking down the gender binary, capitalism...take it all apart, bebes!" https://t.co/VKdJ9uzjjL

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The quiet part out loud:

"They are breaking down the gender binary, capitalism...take it all apart, bebes!" https://t.co/VKdJ9uzjjL

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The quiet part out loud:

"They are breaking down the gender binary, capitalism...take it all apart, bebes!" https://t.co/VKdJ9uzjjL

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YouTube Video: "The Problem With the Gender “Binary” "

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YouTube Video: "The Problem With the Gender “Binary” "

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In this video, Jon Stewart talks about the increasingly fluid modern idea of gender identity and expression. He provides examples of conservative figures affirming that there are only two genders. Stewart then shows that there is a spectrum of gender identity within the binary. While the video is comedic and satirical in nature, it brings to light that the idea of a rigid gender binary being the end-all be-all is simply incorrect.

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The Problem With the Gender “Binary” | The Problem With Jon Stewart

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This White House publication shows an executive order made by Donald Trump in January of this Year. The executive order essentially redefines federal policy to only recognize a person's biological sex (male or female), not their gender identity. Also, this order emphasizes that Women's safety would be protected if single-sex facilities, like public bathrooms and Women's prisons, were to remain the norm. I believe this order is quite destructive to the progress we've made as a nation in accepting gender fluidity and queerness. Keeping Americans confined in the gender binary does so much more bad to our society than good.

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Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government – The White House

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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United

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Twitter Post: Commentary on the Capitalist Roots of Gender Binary

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Twitter Post: Commentary on the Capitalist Roots of Gender Binary

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This is a thought-provoking Twitter post highlighting an excerpt of a book challenging the established binaries of gender. The excerpt talks about how many other cultures around the world view gender very differently from Western society, like some cultures depict one gender, while others understand multiple. Also, the passage highlights that the gender binary is rooted in colonial and imperialist ideologies, which sought to categorize people as "superior or inferior to each other." It was eye-opening to read that the gender binary has such deep capitalistic roots as well.

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🔸The Gender Binary is rooted in Capitalism and Colonialism:

"The gender binary is culturally specific and—like the seхuality binary—related to the settler-colonial, imperialist project of categorizing different groups of people and bodies as superior or inferior to each other." https://t.co/ZpMhS4Sqxm

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🔸The Gender Binary is rooted in Capitalism and Colonialism:

"The gender binary is culturally specific and—like the seхuality binary—related to the settler-colonial, imperialist project of categorizing different groups of people and bodies as superior or inferior to each other." https://t.co/ZpMhS4Sqxm

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🔸The Gender Binary is rooted in Capitalism and Colonialism:

"The gender binary is culturally specific and—like the seхuality binary—related to the settler-colonial, imperialist project of categorizing different groups of people and bodies as superior or inferior to each other."… pic.twitter.com/ZpMhS4Sqxm
— Mîsâkan (@miisaakan) September 16, 2025

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🔸The Gender Binary is rooted in Capitalism and Colonialism:

"The gender binary is culturally specific and—like the seхuality binary—related to the settler-colonial, imperialist project of categorizing different groups of people and bodies as superior or inferior to each other." https://t.co/ZpMhS4Sqxm

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🔸The Gender Binary is rooted in Capitalism and Colonialism:

"The gender binary is culturally specific and—like the seхuality binary—related to the settler-colonial, imperialist project of categorizing different groups of people and bodies as superior or inferior to each other." https://t.co/ZpMhS4Sqxm

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🔸The Gender Binary is rooted in Capitalism and Colonialism:

"The gender binary is culturally specific and—like the seхuality binary—related to the settler-colonial, imperialist project of categorizing different groups of people and bodies as superior or inferior to each other." https://t.co/ZpMhS4Sqxm