With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests over the police killing of George Flynn, news about gender neutrality has been minimal. Gender-neutral parenting was a highly discussed topic this week. One mother received a lot of backlash from Britain’s Best Parent viewers, due to gender nonconforming parenting. While the mother claimed to raise her son in a gender-neutral fashion, many were upset because they felt that feminine behavior was being pushed onto the son by the mother. News articles report that there has been a large rise in gender-neutral baby names in Australia. Gender-neutral baby names are so popular that some articles that even specify baby names for boys include gender-neutral options on the list.
Some articles discussed the importance of gender-neutral language. One article discussed why incorporating gender-neutral language is important to nonbinary people and listed gender-neutral alternatives to gendered words. Meanwhile the Devonport City Council are adding signs to gender-neutral restrooms across town that aim to, “increase feelings of safety and inclusion of LGBTIQ+ community members in public spaces”. Another article highlighted the artist Mxmtoon and how she writes her love songs from a gender-neutral perspective claiming that “There’s not enough songs in the world where people can listen to it, and it doesn’t have any sort of gender to it”.
Other articles highlighted gender-neutral language in policy changes. One student advocated for changing their town’s “Board of Selectmen” to “Select Board” stating, “Don’t you think that in the year 2020, the titles for political boards should be gender neutral and gender inclusive to promote equality and the participation of all?”. The Blue Ribbon Committee and Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Volleyball Committee are trying to implement gender-neutral language into rules that currently prohibit boys from playing certain positions on girl teams. Another article mentioned that the company Invesco has implemented a gender-neutral paid parental leave policy. The chief executive of the company stated that this is “part of our commitment to encourage equality in the workplace”.
However, some articles discussed the problem with gender-neutral policies. A book review on “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez focused on how gender-neutral approaches can actually be harmful towards women since they often leave out their perspective and are biased towards men. Taiwan recently struck down a law criminalizing adultery which had been enforced in the country for 85 years. Although the law was gender-neutral in theory, it disproportionately harmed women.
Other articles discussed gender-neutral clothing and marketing. Pakistani Footballer and three time Guinness World Record holder, Hajra Khan, made several comments promoting gender-neutral clothing after receiving backlash on Instagram for her fashion choices. She stated that:
“Clothes have no gender! Any clothing we could choose to wear is going to be inevitably gendered. We should not have to live in a world where people have to justify how they feel. Having a concept of gender neutral clothing is important because it allows everyone to feel comfortable in their own bodies.”
Another article highlighted how brands need to embrace gender-neutral marketing in order to appeal to younger consumers. The article listed examples of gender-neutral products, pricing, promotions, and places. Some articles showcased companies promoting their skin care products or fragrances as gender neutral.