User:Sarahce817/Non-binary gender

Brazil
A 2021 survey published in Scientific Reports concluded that 1.19% of Brazilian adults are non-binary, but the study did not ask whether they self-identified as non-binary. Because the authors considered most Brazilians unfamiliar with North American gender terminology, more open-ended questions about gender were asked.

Canada
In April 2022, Statistics Canada released findings from the 2021 census, making Canada the first country to ask a core question about gender identity, and found that 41,355 Canadians aged 15 and over identified as nonbinary.

A 2019 survey of the Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ population in Hamilton, Ontario, called Mapping the Void: Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ Experiences in Hamilton showed that 19% of the 906 respondents identified as non-binary.

A 2017 survey of Canadian LGBT+ people called LGBT+ Realities Survey found that 4% of the 1,897 respondents identified as non-binary transgender and 1% identified as non-binary outside of the transgender umbrella.

Switzerland
A 2021 survey found that 0.4% of adults in Switzerland describe themselves as non-binary. The survey of 2,690 Swiss residents was weighted to be reflective of the entire population.

United Kingdom
A 2011 survey conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK found that 0.4% of the 10,039 respondents identified as non-binary. It does not allow inference about the share of non-binary people in the whole population, since the survey sample was not necessarily representative. The purpose of the survey was to test if respondents are willing to answer questions about their transgender identity. Census data from 2021 indicates that 0.5% of people do not identify with the sex they were assigned with at birth.

United States
According to a 2021 study by the Williams Institute, an estimated 1.2 million American adults aged between 18 and 60 identify as non-binary, making up 11% of the LGBTQ population in that age bracket.

A 2020 survey by The Trevor Project found that 26% of LGBTQ youth (ages 13–24) in the U.S. identify as non-binary.

According to The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 35% of the nearly 28,000 transgender respondents to the anonymous online survey identified as non-binary.

Non-binary gender representations in art history
Art history from the Paleolithic to the present reveals kaleidoscopic ideas about relationships and intimacy. In Sumer, a part of ancient Mesopotamia, priests called Gala Possibly identified as non-binary. They were often portrayed in male clothing but depicted without beards and described with feminine attributes in written records. The term gala derived from cuneiform signs meaning "practitioners of anal sex," but it's worth noting that some had wives and children. Anal sex is practiced by individuals regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

In ancient beliefs, Tlazolteotl was strongly connected to steam baths, midwifery, childbirth, adultery, and purification. This goddess was believed to be able to ignite desire while also purifying individuals of their sexual excesses. Her importance in queer art history lies in her gender fluidity. Often portrayed as a female warrior, she was depicted with both vulvic and phallic genitalia. In contrast to the present-day stigma faced by intersex and transgender individuals, Huastec likely attributed these symbols to her extraordinary supernatural abilities.

The Maori people of Aotearoa (also known as New Zealand) crafted a wooden box featuring fourteen scenes depicting sensual and sexual activities. Among these scenes is a central depiction of a face engaged in oral sex, with the tongue reaching toward a nearby vagina. Other figures on different parts of the box are shown embracing or kissing.

Hermaphroditus, the child of Hermes and Aphrodite Is often depicted with large breasts and a penis. In ancient times, some artists intentionally sculpted this figure to deceive viewers, presenting them as cisgender women from one angle and revealing the presence of a penis from another angle. Later artists, such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Diego Velázquez, François Duquesnoy, and Barry X Ball, created replicas of this sculpture. This long-standing tactic of attempting to deceive the viewer devalues and ridicules intersex and transgender bodies instead of treating them with dignity.

In ancient Rome, a Galli was a eunuch priest dedicated to the earth-goddess Cybele. These individuals were commonly addressed using "she/her" pronouns but were also disparaged as "half-men." Eunuchs present intriguing examples in world history: they are often portrayed as asexual due to different forms of castration (in the case of the Galli, some even castrated themselves), but in other circumstances, they are described using misogynistic terms.

South and East Asian art provides various avenues to explore gender fluidity. In Hinduism, the deities Shiva and Parvati hold significant importance. When their essences merge, they manifest as Ardhanarishvara, an androgynous figure. Androgyny was highly revered in numerous cultures and seen as the ideal combination of male and female qualities. Across regions from India to China and beyond, Buddhists deeply respect bodhisattvas, compassionate beings who choose not to attain nirvana, the release from suffering. One such figure is Avalokiteshvara (known as Guanyin in China), depicted as either male or female or with features that challenge traditional gender categorizations.

During early modern Japan, "Wakashu" referred to adolescents who were assigned male at birth but presented as female. They occupied a distinct and separate gender category, characterized by sexual ambiguity, and were sought after by both men and women. In art, Wakashu can be identified by the partially shaved crown of their forehead, a practice that would be completely shaved off once a cisgender male reached adulthood after puberty.

In West Africa, ancestral spirits, known as Nommo, are described as androgynous or intersex. The phenomenon of gender transformation among the followers of these deities is well-documented in over twenty African societies before colonization.

Saint Wilgefortis, also known as Saint Kümmernis, met martyrdom on a cross, similar to Christ's crucifixion. According to her hagiography, she was coerced into an unwanted marriage by her father, but she wished to maintain her virginity and dedicate herself solely to God. She prayed for deliverance, and as an answer, God granted her masculine traits, including a beard, rendering her undesirable for marriage (perhaps a medieval expression of liberation by defying cisgender heterosexual norms). Her father sentenced her to death by crucifixion in response to her disobedience. Due to her bearded appearance and crucifixion, depictions of the gender-fluid Saint Wilgefortis are often mistaken for images of Christ. However, distinguishing features such as a missing right shoe, the presence of a fiddler, and occasionally a gown help differentiate them. Saint Wilgefortis holds significance in intersectional queer and feminist art history. She is widely recognized as the Patron Saint of Abused Women, inviting us to question premodern/medieval concepts of gender and sexuality. Transformations between binary genders and non-binary figures, exemplified by Saint Wilgefortis, are prevalent in the medieval imagination, spanning biblical narratives and courtly romances.

Created in 1991, Robert Gober's "Untitled" artwork depicts a sculpture slumped on the gallery floor, giving the impression of abandonment. At first glance, it resembles a heavy sack, but upon closer inspection, it reveals the identifying features of both female and male bodies: a breast on one side and a hairy male pectoral on the other. Gober, born in 1954, blurs the line between reality and illusion in this untitled sculpture. He crafted a beeswax torso, mimicking pale flesh, encased within an actual bag. The torso is adorned with real human hair that appears to sprout naturally. Without limbs or a head, it resembles a classical museum display, a fragment of its former self. However, by combining the wax cast's gravitational pull and the human body's signifiers, Gober's work evokes a poignant sense of vulnerability that deviates from the classical ideal. Much of the artist's oeuvre was created during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 90s, lending additional pathos to his depictions of abandoned and weakened bodies. By portraying the torso as hermaphroditic, Gober suggests the fluidity of gender categories. Avoiding attempts to classify the body strictly as male or female, the artwork occupies an uncomfortable space within the gallery and our assumptions about bodies.

Created in 1996, Louise Bourgeois' "Nature Study" artwork features a crouching creature on a plinth. The beast, lacking a head, resembles a dog-like being with a human back and multiple protruding breasts. Its muscular physique and sharp claws convey power and aggression, yet its smooth, hairless surface evokes a sense of vulnerability. This peculiar creature embodies a hybrid nature, being both part animal and part-human, as well as part male and part-female, evident through the conspicuous phallus between its splayed hind legs. Bourgeois drew inspiration from an eighteenth-century marble sculpture in the Louvre by F.A. Franzoni titled "Trone of a Priestess of Ceres," featuring two winged sphinxes guarding a throne. However, Bourgeois deviates from the original artwork by omitting the head, arms, and wings. Instead, she directs attention to the ambiguous sexuality of her creature, which she claims to be a symbolic self-portrait. The six breasts symbolize her nurturing role as a mother and wife, providing for her husband and three sons. The claws represent her role as a protective matriarch, guarding those she loves. Bourgeois described the phallus as a subject of tenderness, reflecting her experience living with four men and assuming the role of a protector. While deeply personal to the artist, "Nature Study" explores themes of desire, sexuality, nurturing, and protection that resonate universally.