1. There are two people, one significantly younger than the other. They get into an argument; one of them wants to go out and spend time with their friends but the younger one protests and says that they should stay home and hang out with them; they don't want to be left alone.
Do you picture two girls? Two boys? One of each?
Or do you picture silhouettes without genders?
2. There's a person sitting on a swing in the park. They're wearing jeans and a t-shirt and sneakers, and they have earbuds in. They swing in time with their music. Someone sits on the swing next to them and starts talking. The first one takes out their earbuds to listen, and gradually slows to a stop. They converse, and then they get off the swings and walk around the park.
Are they girls? Are they boys? Is it a boy and a girl?
Or do you picture silhouettes without genders?
3. There's a kid playing soccer by themselves. They go to kick the ball into the goal, but they slip on it instead and fall. They start to cry. Their parent sees from a distance and runs over to comfort the child.
Is it a mother and daughter? Father and son? Father and daughter? Mother and son?
Or do you picture silhouettes without genders?
4. Someone is sitting at a tall table at the edge of the coffee shop, drinking an iced beverage and reading a book. Their hair almost brushes the pages as they hunch over to see the words. Their phone buzzes in their pocket, and they pull it out to check it. They respond to the text they'd received and tuck the phone back into their pocket. A few minutes later, their partner walks into the shop and greets them with a hug, then goes to the counter to buy their own drink. They return to the table, sit across from their partner, and sip their drink.
Are they women? Are they men? Is it a man and a woman?
Or do you picture silhouettes without genders?
5. Two people are lying on a hill, staring into the skies. Sometimes one of them will point at a cloud and decide what shape it is or what animal it resembles; sometimes they'll gesticulate wildly in an attempt to explain why the cloud looks like what they believe it looks like. But for the most part they lie there quietly, enjoying each other's company.
Are they girls or women? Boys, or men? A boy and girl, or a woman and a man?
Or do you picture silhouettes without ages or genders?
Everyone perceives things differently, but as a culture we tend to stick to the same stereotypes. Boys play more sports than girls, women like coffee shops and books more than men, children aren't capable of lying down and staying still, etcetera. But why, as a society, do we put such an emphasis on the differences between females and males?
This is just speculation: perhaps we desire the separation to better understand ourselves or justify why we act the ways we act. Maybe it's time to let the line we've drawn between females and males blur — we've certainly started to, and some places have become more accepting of people who sit on the line and are equally masculine and feminine, but there's still a lot of progress to be made. Females will still be females, and males will still be males, and people who sit on the line between the two will still exist. It's just up to us to change our perspectives a bit and let the line blur so that those who are neither male nor female can stop being pushed side to side, over the line.
