Sandra Matsevilo
Sophomore, Whitman College
The Gender Spectrum: A Detrimental Solution to the Binary Problem
Posted: 03/28/2012 1:40 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sandra-matsevilo/gender-spectrum-versus-gender-binary_b_1384892.htmlWhitman College has a campus that operates on a gender binary system but is also home to students that identify as something other than simply male or female. So, although most of our restrooms and dorm rooms ask us to be either one or the other, the culture of the college is changing in an attempt to accommodate a rejection of this binary -- as, of course, it should.
This attempt is currently being made by introducing the idea of a gender spectrum. Essentially, the gender spectrum (as explained and used by Whitman) places the references of 100 percent masculine and 100 percent feminine at each end of its horizontal spectrum and invites individuals to place themselves anywhere along the spectrum, allowing them to mix the two genders at a ratio with which they comfortably identify.
