I was scrolling through my news feed on Facebook the other day when I came across an article by Bustle that caught my attention. "'Gender Fluid' Has Been Added to the Oxford English Dictionary." Not exactly sure what the term "gender fluid" meant, I read the article (here is the link for those of you who are interested http://www.bustle.com/articles/183671-gender-fluid...).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition for gender fluid is "not clearly or wholly male or female; androgynous; designating a person who does not identify with a single fixed gender; of or relating to a person having or expressing a fluid or unfixed gender identity (now the usual sense)." I also read that gender fluid means different things to different people. And that made me curious. So I asked a few of my friends from different walks of life what gender fluid meant to them. Here are their responses.
Interviewee 1: "I think the term 'gender fluid' along with others such as 'gender non-binary, gender non-conforming, etc.' should be unnecessary in an ideal world because they're just a socially-created/defined label and everyone should be free to behave and present themselves the way they want to without having to label themselves any certain way. However, when too many people see people who don't conform to 'traditional' gender norms, they look the gender non-conforming person with such a sickening level of disgust and contempt, that [labels are almost] necessary."
Interviewee 2: "So for me, gender fluid means that your gender, whether mental or how you present yourself, can change over a period of time. I have a friend that's gender fluid and he has his days where he feels more masculine, and others where he feels feminine. For some, whichever gender they present as most often will be the pronouns they use."
Interviewee 3: The term gender fluid actually means a lot to me. I personally feel like it's one of the many ways people that are generally perceived to be 'odd' or different get to be themselves. Gender fluid means (to me) to be whatever you so desire as a single individual without allowing a gender label to define who you are or aren't. I am gender fluid...because I don't feel masculine or feminine...I just feel like myself, whatever that means to me at any given time."
While gender fluid can mean different things to different people, the premise is still the same. You are not labeled by a specific gender. You are free to be what you feel as opposed to what society says you are. And I think that is a beautiful thing. Kudos to you, Oxford English Dictionary. �
