Non-Binary Gender So Far
In this presentation Meg-John Barker gives a whirlwind tour of non-binary gender so far, based on their chapter on the non-binary movement - with Ben Vincent and Jos Twist - in Christine Burns’s new book Trans Britain. Starting with deep history, this talk makes the vital point that non-binary gender is not a recent thing as it is often imagined to be: indeed rigid ‘opposite sex’ thinking about gender can be regarded as a relatively new, western invention. The current non-binary movement also has historical roots in earlier feminist, queer, and trans activism where attempts have been made to understand gender in less binary ways dating back to the 1960s and 70s. Turning to the current situation, the presentation touches on the ways in which non-binary gender is being experienced and identified today, and on some of the key aims of the non-binary movement going forward. In this year that has seen the first non-binary actor/character on a mainstream TV show (Billions), the first non-binary memoir (CN Lester’s Trans Like Me), and the #thissiwhatnonbinarylookslike hashtag trending on twitter, the talk ends with a consideration of the risks of non-binary normativity, and the importance of insisting on an intersectional understanding of (non-binary) gender.
Dr. Meg-John Barker is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, School of Psychology, The Open University, London. Writer, therapist, and activist-academic specialising in sex, gender and relationships. Two of their books, Rewriting the Rules and Queer: A Graphic History, explore the problems with binary understandings of gender for everyone. This year will see their publication of a co-edited book on working with non-binary and genderqueer people for clinicians and other practitioners (with Christina Richards and Walter Bouman), as well as a self help guide to understanding your own gender (with Alex Iantaffi). Website: www.rewriting-the-rules.com. Twitter: @megjohnbarker.
**********************************************************
Lunedì 26 novembre 2018, ore 14.30
Sala Lauree del Dipartimento di Psicologia, U6 (3° piano)
Tutti gli interessati sono invitati a partecipare.
Per informazioni:
Prof. Antonio Prunas