system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Being Non-Binary is just a fashion trend comparable to scene/emo kids from the 2000’s

EDIT: way to many comments to keep up with, so I’m putting my final thoughts here and bailing on this post. 

MY NEW VIEW: I now believe that there truly are people who exist outside the binary system. Perhaps a coincidence, they all identified as agender, which they calmly and eloquently explained as having no connection towards masculinity nor femininity. Unfortunately, of the 675+ comments this post received, the reasonable people made about 5 of them. The majority of people who I interacted with all mentioned that they had low self esteem, low confidence, and faced bullying in there lives. They appear to be using the NB identity to hide from their insecurities and blame them on society. They were unable to define their identity and frequently contradicted themselves and each other. Their arguments were disjointed, and generally focused on twisting the words from my arguments while avoiding the actual questions. How can you expect people to believe and to conform to your identity when it immediately crumbles under any criticism or skepticism? Your identity is not immediately valid because you claim it to be, and you are an asshole if you expect people, especially strangers to just trust you without explanation. Im sorry to the agender people and emo kids out there, you’re much more valid than most of the people who tried to argue with me today. 


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This schizo rant that started this nightmare:
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So non-binary people claim that they are neither man nor woman, but something in between. “Gender expression” is very important to them. But what is gender expression? As far as I can tell, it’s just the clothes that they wear, their haircut, and some other accessories. These are all very superficial things. 

However, these fashion choices all point towards the same look. You know the type, neon hair, baggy clothes, usually a decent amount of piercings. It’s a specific enough style that you can pinpoint a non-binary person when you see one. You can also tell whether they’re a man or a woman. 

I can’t help but draw parallels to the scene kid phase of the 2000’s. A specific style that is a similar style regardless of gender. The swooping hair, black clothes, studded leather accessories. Once again, these are all very superficial, yet it was crucial to their identity at the time. 

They felt like outcasts and they formed an identity around their peers who also felt like outcasts. Remember that common phrase used to mock scene kids? “It’s not a phase mom!!!”. Seems like that phrase very much applies to the talking points non-binary people take now. 

The most grounded explanation for the validity of being non-binary is that we’ve found evidence of seemingly non-binary or trans people in ancient civilization. Most prominently, the “Two-spirited” identity found in Native Americans. 

But just because there’s remnants of it in older civilizations does not make it valid. Mayans cut people’s hearts out to appease the sun gods; native north/South Americans don’t exactly have a history of being pure and humanitarian, nor an advanced understatement of science.

There’s more I could say, but I’ll wrap it up here. I do not hate non-binary people, I just don’t believe they have some kind of magical exemption from the human binary. I think they are attracted to the fashion of it. As far as I can tell, non-binary is the modern day emo. If you want to be referred to as “they” that’s fine and I will do that for you. But pronouns are not an accessory that you can change when you feel like it. You can’t create your own, and you can’t expect people to abandon a lifetime use of a minor, unconscious part of the English language.

I’m pretty set in this belief, but I am genuinely curious if anybody has evidence to the contrary. If this truly runs deeper than fashion, and isn’t “just a phase”, I’d truly love to see it. But as it stands, I believe it’s a fashion trend that trailed behind the transgender movement to avoid criticism.
gpt
Gender expression goes beyond clothes.  Women are expected to come across as passive, caring, nuturing, etc.  Men are expected to come across as strong, assertive, a bit surly, etc.

Gender expression isn't just about what you wear.  It's about how society expects you to behave.  People who identify as non-binary simply don't want to be labeled in one of those ways that traps them into certain behaviors.