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Tick a box: male, female, unspecified
This is kind of related to the passport thread however I though I would post it separately for visibility, hope that’s ok Amanda
This was in the Sydney Morning Herald last Wednesday from Katrina Fox.
Some of the women I work with asked me what box I would tick. I told them I can’t wait to ‘F’
Katrina Fox
March 18, 2009
Are you male or female? For most of us, answering that question is no problem, although whether we want to is another matter. But for some people, these categories simply don’t fit. They consider themselves neither male nor female – essentially, genderless.Take Norrie May-Welby, an activist and performer in Sydney, who says: “Some of us have found it better to identify in non-gender-specific ways; it’s not our life and those roles don’t fit us.”
May-Welby uses pronouns such as “zie” in place of “he” or “she”, and “hir” in place of “him” and “her”, and says: “Some people get angry with the idea that I’m not a man or woman. It’s fair to say there’s sexual anxiety underneath it: they’re thinking, ‘If I’m attracted to this person who is neither male nor female, they’ve shattered my idea of myself as straight or gay.’ “
Rejecting such deeply entrenched cultural norms has its challenges. Aside from being branded a freak and suffering the occasional physical attack, genderless people claim they are forced to lie every time they fill out a form. Whether it’s a job application or government document, they, like the rest of us, are required to tick the “M” or “F” box, with no other options.
But this will change if the Australian Human Rights Commission has its way. In its report Sex Files: The Legal Recognition Of Sex In Documents And Government Records, launched yesterday, the commission recommends that anyone over the age of 18 should be able to choose to have an “unspecified” sex noted on documents and records, and where possible sex or gender questions should be removed from government forms and documents.
For May-Welby, such a move will be “freeing” and enable May-Welby to “just be another human like everyone else”. But what does it mean for the rest of society? Is it, as the Australian Family Association spokesman, John Morrissey, puts it, “a crazy ideological agenda behind getting rid of gender”, or the start of an egalitarian utopia in which no one is discriminated against because of their biological sex or gender presentation?
There are times when not being asked to specify your sex or gender can work to your advantage – in job applications, for example. We’ll never know how many times we’ve missed out on an interview because our application was rejected at the sifting stage because of gender or sex bias. And what the person selling us a packet of cashews or removing our appendix has between their legs is hardly relevant to the task at hand.
There is a difference between sex and gender: sex refers to our physical make-up and biological structures, while gender is about how we perform, whether we do “masculinity” or “femininity”. But the terms are often used interchangeably on legal and government documents.
If the thought of a gender other than male or female sends you into meltdown, bear in mind that it is the natural order of any society to progress. Australia looks very different today from 100, 50 and 20 years ago. Gay and lesbian couples are set to benefit from new equality law reforms starting in July, so it’s not such a great leap to embrace the concept of sex and gender diversity.
We’ve already come a long way in this area. The 1990s saw the birth of the “trans” liberation movement. Identities including transsexual, transgender and transsexed became part of the lexicon. Since then, television networks have fallen over themselves to include trans characters in their shows (Ugly Betty, Dirty Sexy Money) and Hollywood has considered them worthy subjects of films (Transamerica, Boys Don’t Cry).
Now it’s time to get our heads around even more fluid sex or gender identities and the possibility of relating to some people as genderless – even if that challenges our assumptions of our sexuality.
We may be far from a perfect world in which no one is judged negatively solely on the basis of their biological sex, gender performance or sexuality, but the commission’s recommendation for an extra category of “unspecified” sex and gender markers on legal and government documents is a good start.
It is not the end of gender, and it doesn’t mean the end of male and female identities. It is simply an acknowledgment of a diversity that needs to be recognised. If the Federal Government adopts the recommendations, it will put Australia at the forefront of pioneering human rights legislation, and that’s surely something to be celebrated.
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8 Replies
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Dear Amy
Thank you very much this posting, as I don’t get the Sydney morning Herald I missed this article. And they agree with Katarina Fox it’s not the end of identity it’s just a broadening of the term gender.
Amy you say you can’t wait to tick the ‘F’ I’ve met you twice now, and I think you are already a delightful young woman.
thank you once again
Penny -
Hi Amy,
Interesting article but these were issues M May-Welby was promoting in the early 90s, and before.When I returned home to NSW in’94 (pre-op) the RTA recorded my gender as F on my Driver’s Licence – they offered
Certainly through the 80s and early 90 I never ticking either M or F, until the RTA told me it was OK to identify myself as female on official documents.
I still have one fight – Passports. In order to have my correct gender recorded on my Passport, I am expected to produce 2 medical reports.
I have already provided these medical documents to the NSW Registrar of Births. My legal Birth Certificate is proof that I am female (and have provided the required documents).No other person is required to provide additional “proof” of gender when being issued a Passport. There is a double standard. For the masses, a Birth Certificate is all that is required, and someone to confirm you are who you say you are
Last year, with the help of my local Federal MP, Medicare agreed to accept my birth certificate as proof of my gender change – I was told 15 years ago this had been corrected, which was not true
There are a lot of Federal Government Dept. who demand additional “proof” of our gender. This is an unreasonable invasion of our privacy.Like any other person, my legal birth Certificate should be all the proof I require
I’ll step down from my soapbox now
Arohanui & Blessings
Christina -
Quote:Amy you say you can’t wait to tick the ‘F’ I’ve met you twice now, and I think you are already a delightful young woman.
Thanks Penny, you’re too kind !
Unfortunately in the legal realm I am still very much ‘M’…not for much longer thoughAmy
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Its funnt the Australian system.
My drives licance, medicare, banks accounts, power bill and phone bill all see me as female.
ATO does not, they refuse to change my status until after SRS. I dont understand what the herk gender or proof of gender has to do with the ATO. Now if I change my accountant I have to produce medical documents and have the imbarrasiment that I was once a male.
The joke is that to apply for a new TFN I require a passport (which I can get with no Gender), a driveers licance (which is female), and medicare card (which is female) and they would accept me as female. BUT if I want to change from Male to Female I need to have SRS. Go figure.
It would be nice for all govt depts to have the same standards.
xxxx
Kelly Jones
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Gee, you were lucky with Medicare. many of my friends, including my self, tried to get out Medicare cards change to female, and they said no, not unless you have had SRS, this is the same response for changing my Drivers license and employment records here in the Northern Territory, with my license my gender does not actually appear on it, but it is on the computer, in regards to my employment details, here in Alice Springs, my HR people wanted to change it, as I was working and treated and seen as a woman, but the Darwin head office legal department said No. I was however able to change my gender to Female with my bank accounts, my power and phone bills, The ATO, on my electoral roll details, Austar(foxtel), my CAMS license, at my doctors surgery, but at the hospital I am neither Male or Female, but am treated as female, even my Landlord and Lady have me listed as female, but all this will change in just under 10 weeks, when I have my Surgery, with Dr Suporn in Thailand, when I get back to Australia, (at the end of June) I can then start changing all my other documents to Female
All The Best
Hugs
Sharon
Alice Springs N.T. -
That’s great news Sharon. I’m so happy for you. Good luck girl!!!
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Hi Sharon
Congratulations thats great news.
I send away to Brisane with my drivers licance, my change of name cert, and my letter from my doctor and Phyc and medicare changed it all togeather. They were taking for ever so I rang them and explained I was having trouble with my scrips and I needed it and she found my application and did it while I was on the phone.
xxx
Kelly Jones
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Thank you Gwen and Kelly, I figure I have only a few months left then I can change them with out worry, Kelly, a friend of mine in Brisbane, did exactly what you did with Medicare, and they refused to change it until she had her surgery, you must just have got a really nice person, that was keen to help.
Hugs
Sharon
