User:Jeastlick/Gender Neutrality

Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures, gender roles, or gender identity) should avoid distinguishing roles according to people's sex or gender. This is in order to avoid discrimination arising from the impression that there are social roles for which one gender is more suited than another. The disparity in gender equality throughout history, has had a significant impact on many aspects of society, including marketing, toys, education and parenting techniques. In order to increase gender neutrality in recent years, there has been a societal emphasis on utilizing inclusive language and advocating for equality.

Law-making on a broader scale

Trying to legally define the boundaries of gender is proving difficult, due to the diversity of gender identities: people identify or can be identified by others as intersex, third gender, transgender, more generally genderqueer, non-binary or trans*. Federal action is nonetheless slowly taking shape. Activists have used the concept of gender neutrality since the 1970s to advocate for legal changes such as employment discrimination, same-sex marriage, and public restroom access. While progress has been slow, gender neutrality has started to become more present in the courtroom. Overall, a comprehensive analysis of the term by gender neutrality experts, Professors Saguy and Williams, have found that courts generally define the term "gender neutral" as facial neutrality in legal application. Saguy and Williams point out that this principle has been used effectively in courts, and has not been used inconsistently.

In policy
Proponents of gender neutrality may support public policies designed to eliminate gender distinctions, such as gender-neutral bathrooms, with public restrooms being available without distinguishing the gender of the person using them. Gender neutrality in the law has changed the nature of custody disputes, making it more likely that men will be awarded custody of their children in the event of a divorce.

The legal definition of gender has been a controversial topic particularly to transgender people; in some countries, in order to be legally defined as a new gender, people must first undergo sterilization.

California joined Oregon in its effort to recognize gender neutrality. On October 15, 2017, California governor Jerry Brown signed new legislation into law that allows persons the option to select gender-neutral on state identification cards. As of 2020, 23 states and Washington, D.C. allow persons to select the gender-neutral marker "X" on identification documents, either birth certificates, driver's licenses/state IDs, or both.

In parenting
Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth describes gender as "the classification of male or female that includes social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics. The theory of gender neutrality is a theory that claims that biological sex does not inevitably determine social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics." Parental control strategies can be defined as any strategy that a parent uses to alter, change, or influence their child's behavior, thoughts, or feelings. Meta-analysis reveals from Endendijk, "the basis of gender-neutral parenting also known as GNP, does not project a gender onto a child. It allows parents and children to break away from gender binary."

Gender-neutral parenting is allowing children to be exposed to a variety of gender types so children can explore their gender without restriction from society or the gender they were born with. Autonomy-supportive strategies provide the child with an appropriate amount of control, a desired amount of choice, acknowledge the child's perspectives and provide the child with meaningful rationales when the choice is constrained. Even if a child does not display gender-bending behaviors, Gender neutral parenting allows them to explore and not be constrained in the gender they were born with. This can be through letting them play with non-stereotypical toys for their gender, allowing them to pick their own clothing, allowing them to act more "feminine" or masculine", and allowing children to question their gender. In the sociology book Sex Differences In Social Behavior: A Social Role Interpretation, Alice Eagly theorizes that sex differences have been proposed, based on biological factors, early childhood socialization, and other perspectives. This allows children to express themselves without feeling pressure from being extremely masculine or feminine.

Gender-neutral parenting can be viewed as the result of second-wave feminism's goal to reduce the saliency of gender differences in public life. However, in their article "William Wants A Doll. Can He Have One? Feminists, Child Care Advisors, and Gender-Neutral Child Rearing", researcher Karin A. Martin argues that when it comes to gender-neutral parenting, there has been a "stalled revolution". Martin found that gender nonconformity in children is still largely perceived to be problematic due to homophobia, as many parents view this expression as an emerging sign of a queer identity.

In education
At Nicolaigarden and Egalia, two preschools in Sweden, have replaced the terms “girl” and “boy” with the gender neutral pronoun “hen”, granting students the ability to challenge or cross gender boundaries. In a study done in 2016 that measured teachers' facilitation of gender-typed and gender-neutral activities during free play, it was concluded that teachers facilitated masculine activities at higher rates than feminine. It is suggested by the study that, "Informing teachers about this trend may prompt teachers to reflect on their own teaching practices and serve as a catalyst for the promotion of teaching practices that create classroom environments in which boys and girls receive support for engagement with a variety of classroom activities." Other suggestions and pursuits to broaden the mentality behind gender neutrality in schools include


 * allowing for gender-neutral prom and homecoming attendance and courts to accommodate same-sex-coupled and transgender participants
 * designating gender-neutral bathrooms and on-campus housing
 * establishing gender-neutral and co-ed fraternal student organizations
 * not separating toys in gender-specific areas
 * not having gender-specific sports in physical education lessons

Dress code
The abolishment of certain dress codes has been conserved among institutions depending on the limitations imposed on students and their comfort in such attire. For transgender students, strict dress codes may complicate their path towards confirming their gender identity, a cost which can affect these individuals well throughout their life. Ways in which compliance with attire in institutions can cause reverberations in other areas of life are factors such as a lowered academic performance, higher dropout rates, and increased disciplinary action. , 150 primary schools in the United Kingdom have introduced gender neutral uniforms and students feel more in control their identity as a result to this policy change.

Students at secondary schools in several countries have protested against gender-specific dress codes, citing concerns that the rules unfairly target and sexualize female students. The protests often involve male students wearing skirts in order to push for gender neutral dress codes.

College
In 2005, University of California, Riverside became the first public university campus in the US to offer a gender-neutral housing option. A February 2014 Washington Post article noted that nearly 150 US schools now have gender-neutral housing programs. Other institutions such as University of Southern California and Princeton, acknowledge some of the dangers that come as a result to housing options as a member of the LGBTQ community and have also developed separate housing to accommodate such students.

In 2016, La Salle University students voted to have a gender-neutral housing option in their dormitories, which would make La Salle the first Catholic university in the United States to offer gender-neutral living. This student-led vote caused controversy in Catholic circles across the United States, since it is traditional for Catholic school residence halls to be completely separated by gender. La Salle University has since incorporated accommodating housing options for students and has urged other Catholic universities to make changes in housing policies as well.

The University of Vermont allows students to select their own identity and pronoun. Not only that but, it is a university with immense help to overcome any changes that any student may have regarding their status.

In research
Professors Abigail Saguy and Juliet Williams are researchers at UCLA with a focus on gender neutrality. Their research, The Gender Neutrality Project, investigates a variety of topics and issues regarding gender neutrality with funding from the National Science Foundation. Their UCLA affiliated website explores various issues related to gender neutrality including restrooms, clothing, language, parenting, IDs, and pronouns. They have published numerous research articles that analyze the utility of gender neutrality in everyday life, such as the legal application of the concept in courts of law.