“The workings of gender are key to our identities, intimate relationships, everyday experiences and social and cultural positioning,” begins Sally Hines, associate professor at The University Of Leeds and author of the recently published book Is Gender Fluid? “Understandings, and thus practices, of gender have never been consistent… The ways in which gender is experienced in everyday life emerge from different historical, social and cultural frameworks. Traits seen to be typically masculine or feminine,” in the west, for example, “have changed greatly over time.” Harry Styles’ current wardrobe, anyone? As Sally explains, the way humans think about gender and identity varies widely across different societies, cultures and communities, as well as historically over time, and yet, many think this is somehow a recent, western phenomenon.
As Teen Vogue’s news and politics editor Lucy Diavolo wrote recently, “[While] the transgender community continues to fight for civil rights in the US, one of the most common arguments against progress is that transgender people are a recent phenomenon… a symptom of the postmodern condition, or identity politics on steroids.” In reality, of course, and as Diavolo quips, “It’s nothing new”. The way we think about and understand gender is ever evolving.