Breaking the Binary: Failure to Adhere to the Laws of the Traditional Gender Binary

Abstract

This essay provides a framework for conceptualizing the social construction of the traditional gender binary within a patriarchal society. The research explores the history of the singular they as well as gender nonconforming identities through a socio-historical lens and utilizes the Social Role (Eagly & Wood, 2011) and Social Identity Theories (Tajfel, 1972) to argue the importance of language and performativity in conceptualizing gender identity, gender performance, and biological sex.