Genderism, or
gender binarism, is the social system or cultural
belief that
gender is a binary, or that there are, or should be, only two
genders —
man and
woman — and that the aspects of one's gender are inherently linked to the
sex in which they were
assigned at birth and is strictly decided by the biology of the individual. These aspects may include expectations of dressing, behavior, sexual orientation, names/pronouns, preferred restroom, or any other quality attributed to their birth gender's representation, feminine or masculine. These expectations may reinforce negative
attitudes,
bias, and
discrimination towards people who display
expressions of
gender variance or nonconformity and/or whose
gender identity is incongruent with their birth sex. In other words, discrimination is common among persons who do not identify as
cisgender, or in congruence with sex assigned at birth. Genderism is of particular relevance to individuals who fall within the
transgender spectrum, and is the overarching
ideology responsible for
transphobia and
trans bashing. In addition, much like how transphobia is parallel to
homophobia, genderism is said to be parallel to
heterosexism, or the belief that heterosexuality is the superior or more desirable sexual orientation in comparison to homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, etc. Heteronormativity, the ideology that these two genders and heterosexual orientation are the social norm, also contributes to the rigid social constructs put in place for gender identity and sexuality. Gender binarism, like heterosexism, denies or ignores the existence of gender identities that do not fall in either of the two accepted categories: man and woman