Dear Naomi Kritzer: I See 1 and 0; Where is 0.5?
By Jax Seiler
Stories about transgender people are slowing inching their
way into the limelight, and that’s fantastic. But there’s one specific group of
trans people that seem to be conspicuously (to me, at least) missing: nonbinary
people, those who don’t identify wholly and consistently as male or female. As
I said, it’s a glaring hole to me, but I suppose it would be obvious to me,
seeing as I identify as nonbinary. My identity makes up a big part of my life,
guiding how I present myself and interact with others on a daily basis. I know
I’m not the only one; I’ve met plenty of fellow NB people, both in real life
and online. But after I look around and see a broad spectrum of gender around
me, seeing only the gender binary represented in stories tends to dig a bit at
me, especially in speculative fiction stories. To me, SF represents possibility
and daring, toeing the line of what exactly is socially acceptable and what
isn’t. When I read SF, I expect to be excited by what that world holds, and to
come out afterwards with a hope for reality. But when I dive into a story, look
around the world, and I see the same gender binary that’s everywhere, I’m
frankly a little disappointed. Not surprised in the slightest, but
disappointed. Writers will even enforce the binary in places it really has no
place. Do you know how many stories take place in space with explicitly alien
characters/races, who for some reason fall into an exact replica of our human
gender/sex binary? It’s just unrealistic. Before I go on a rant about that, I
have to mention the stories I am more disappointed in for not having NB
characters: stories about trans people in the first place. Most people’s first
reaction to hearing me say things about this is something along the lines of
“but it’s unrealistic for that many people in a group to turn out queer! Queer
people are in the minority!” In my experience, it’s actually quite the
opposite. In this cold, harsh, homo/transphobic world, we must huddle together
for safety. In addition, I’d hazard a guess that there are actually a lot more
queer people than society thinks there are. Being in a friend group that’s
all/mostly queer surrounds you with definitions and makes you a lot more likely
to realize you’re not quite as straight as you thought. For example, when I
came to IMSA, I thought I was cis and mostly straight. I knew I wasn’t 100%
straight, but I told myself not to worry about it and I’d figure it out in
college. Turns out that should have been the telltale sign right there; I’m
actually asexual and aromantic. Breaking news: not being interested in dating or sex is actually not how most
people in junior high/high school feel. Shocking, right? Also, most people
actually feel like they have a gender. Also news to me. I don’t think I would
have figured out I was much different from the average person if it weren’t for
my friends here at ISMA exposing me to new vocabulary and identities. The point
of that anecdote, though, is that the concept of the “one token gay friend” is
honestly bullshit. Where there’s one queer person, there will be more, and
especially so when at least one person is trans in some manner. One person
exploring their gender will lead to everyone taking a second look at themselves
and thinking about how comfortable they truly are with what they were assigned
at birth. So when I read stories that feature a trans person in a group of
friends, and nobody else is queer, let alone trans or NB, it feels unrealistic
to me. I also feel passed over, ignored. If I see a reflection of part of my
friend group in a story, but someone like me is missing, it’s really not a
great feeling. I’ve spent too much time being ignored in real life to stand for
it when I’m ignored in what should be an area of acceptance for all. In the new
age America is coming into, there’s a lot of focus on binary trans people
(bathroom bills, the high murder rates of POC trans women, etc.). That’s more than was there before, yes, but it
can be incredibly invalidating to be invisible both there and the place I look
to for escape. Having at least one would be nice.
Dear Jax,
ReplyDeleteYou're right to point out that in a genre where actively straining against what is known and assumed to be true is the norm, incorporating nonbinary presentations of gender really shouldn't be hard. Fortunately, although there's far less of that going on than could be, that kind of creativity is on the rise, with the aliens of Becky Chambers' _The Wayfarers_ series, Hero in Sarah Gailey's _River of Teeth_, and trans characters in both literal and allegorical forms in Yoon Ha Lee's _Ninefox Gambit_. Exploring the "0.5" setting will require, also, authors willing to listen and learn about people who aren't like them. That, too, is something we've begun to see change.
I wish you many more books to be both surprised and fulfilled by, and much less disappointment.
Best,
TT