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Paul Nguyen

Dr. Lim

AP Language and Composition

12 December 2016

Gender Neutrality

There has never been a more prominent time in America than now with the legalization

of same-sex marriage, the acceptance and recognition of all sexuality was a true stepping stone in

American society. Gender neutrality should be an extension to that acceptance and recognition

of any sexuality because as society evolves, it will be forever changed and people must learn to

accept one another for who they are. Laws like the 13th amendment evolved society by

integrating all free blacks into society in America. Similar to the free blacks, people must learn

to accept one another for who they are because we are all human and equal under the law.

Although gender neutrality may lead growing children to be sexually confused by eliminating

gender stereotypes, it still strongly advocates for the freedom of choice for children. Eliminating

gender stereotypes will allow children to grow up with a wider range of choices to choose from,

such as toys and extracurricular activities. Gender neutrality must be achieved in society

because the LGBT community are all humans who deserve the right to feel safe and secure in

public.

Gender neutrality is a hard-fought topic by the LGBT community, being that gender

neutrality should be considered a right instead of a privilege (Ruekgauer). The topic of gender

neutrality created pronouns that categorized transgender people non-offensively, because most

transgenders were not comfortable with being called she or he, but rather “they” (Scelfo). These
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pronouns were called gender neutral pronouns such as “they,” “xe,” or “ze” (Scelfo). Gender

neutrality led to the topic of letting children grow up and freely choose their sexuality, because

parents should not be planting gender stereotypes into the brains of their children (Esposito).

Gender stereotypes force children to be taught from a young age there is a certain way and

difference in which boys and girls act. This eliminates free choice for the children because they

have been psychologically and mentally trained to love their opposite sex (Esposito).

For all people to be able to live in a safe and comfortable environment, gender neutrality

should be a widely accepted movement. Constantly, transgenders are feeling like their

well-being is at risk whenever they step into a public restroom because of their personal

appearance and expression (Lang). With gender neutral bathrooms for all genders, transgenders

especially will receive the benefit of spending their privacy at peace and free of discrimination

(Lang). Examples of this already happening would be in universities all over the country, adding

gender identity and expression to their non-discrimination policy which allows transgenders to

live in these schools safely (Jaschik). Another major benefit of gender neutrality is the

possibility of empowering society and children. Gender neutral toys have been proven to widen

children’s range of preferences and play style, which means these adolescents will grow up

avoiding getting attached to the inequalities of society (Shaw).

With gender discrimination and bullying prominently existing among children, gender

neutrality must be accepted to battle this harmful and unequal environment. Gender neutral

parenting strives to eliminate gender stereotypes amongst children, which is the root cause of

gender discrimination and bullying (Kraft). Gender discrimination is caused by the difference in

parenting of all children, the children that become the bullies are usually raised to strictly follow
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traditional gender stereotypes. Gender neutral parenting, however, is a more liberal way to

parent modern children to disregard gender stereotypes and have a more open idea of sexuality

(Kraft). Gender stereotypes are harmful to children because while children are growing up, they

will be confused by learning that there is such a thing as the LGBT community. These children

growing up to learn about the LGBTs will feel an automatic tension between traditional versus

modern gender norms. Society must accept gender neutral parenting in order to cut down gender

discrimination and bullying.

Although gender neutrality promotes freedom of choice and protects the civil rights of all

transgenders, there are some setbacks to gender neutrality. One of the perks of gender neutrality

is freedom of choice for children of this generation, but knowing children and their adolescence,

they do not have the knowledge to procure what is right for them. So if a child was raised gender

neutral and given the chance to choose his/her sexuality, they may end up sexually confused for

the rest of their lives. Another case makes gender neutrality dangerous, if there are public gender

neutral restrooms LGBT people could be a target to all pedophiles. Since gender neutral

bathrooms allow all sexes to enter, the bathroom will become an easy target for all pedophiles to

prey upon.

Despite these few setbacks, gender neutrality has pros that trump the cons such as gender

neutrality being able to make all transgenders feel safe within their own public restrooms. The

possibility of dangerous pedophiles lurking within gender neutral restrooms does not compare to

the impact of all transgenders to feel safe within their own restroom. Gender neutrality advocates

freedom for all, in particular small children that should grow up without latching onto gender

stereotypes and finding their true sexuality.

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Gender neutrality is a major controversial topic in today’s modern society, but without it

being brought up LGBT members would be left vulnerable. This topic came about because of

the inequality amongst LGBT members in society and no sense of security or safety within

public restrooms for transgenders. The topic of gender neutrality advocated for the equality for

all including children who should grow up without gender stereotypes getting in the way of them

choosing their sexualities. Admitting gender neutrality may allow transgenders in public

restrooms to be more vulnerable to attack, this could be avoided if one person stalls were deemed

all gender neutral instead of whole restrooms so pedophiles would not be able to attack as

frequently. Gender neutrality is a stepping stone for society and without the right support and

foundation, the full equality of all people may never be achieved.

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Works Cited

Esposito, Lisa. “Gender Neutral Parenting: Letting Kids Choose.” ​US News. ​US News. 4 Sept

2015. 30 December 2016. www.health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness

/articles/2015/09/04/Gender-neutral-parenting-letting-kids-choose.

Jaschik, Scott. “Momentum For Gender Equality.” ​Inside Higher Ed. ​Inside Higher Ed. 27

August 2007. 30 December 2016. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/

08/27/gender

Kraft, Abbie. “Gender Neutral Parenting: Know The Benefits Of Raising Gender Neutral Kid.”

Parent Herald. ​Parent Herald. 15 August 2016. 26 January 2017. http://www.pare

ntherald.com/articles/61390/20160815/gender-neutral-parenting-know-the-benefits-of-rai

sing-gender-neutral-kids.htm

Lang, Nico. “Why All Public Bathrooms Should Be Gender Neutral.” ​The Daily Beast. ​The

Daily Beast. 18 April 2016. 30 December 2016. http://www.thedailybeast.com

/articles/2016/04/18/why-all-Public-bathrooms-should-be-gender-neutral.html

Ruekgauer, Adelaide. “Gender Neutral Bathrooms: A Right, Not A Privilege.” ​Retriever

Weekly.

Retriever Weekly. 2 May 2016. 30 December 2016. http://retrieverweekly.umbc.edu

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/gender-neutral-bathrooms-right-not-privilege/

Scelfo, Julie. “A University Recognizes A Third Gender: Neutral.” ​NY Times. ​The NY Times. 8

February 2015. 30 December 2016.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/education/edlife

/a-university-recognizes-a-third-gender-neutral.html?_r=0

Shaw, Maureen. “Science Shows Gender Neutral Toys Empower Children, And Possibly

Society At Large.” ​Quartz. ​Quartz Media LLC. 5 September 2015. 13 December 2016.

http://qz.com/494673/science-shows-gender-neutral-toys-empower-children-and-possibly

-society-at-large/