‘They’ Isn’t Always Plural: A Dialogue on Non-Binary Representation in Media

‘They’ doesn’t mean one. 

Pick something more exotic. 

You have to be one or the other. 

‘They’ is just a stepping stone for transgender identities. 

Think back on the last time you saw yourself represented in film or television. 

Are you a cisgender, heterosexual, white man? Congratulations, you see this everyday in nearly everything. 

Are you a black, lesbian, transgender woman? Good luck finding more than what you can count on your hands. 

Labels are something that define all of us. Race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexuality, disabilities, etc. Regardless of whether you choose to label yourself, others will attempt to label you. It seems to be humanity’s way of making sense of life. Labels. Seeing these labels represented on screen makes all the world of difference in a viewer’s day-to-day life. 

Let me elaborate: 

The first time I remember seeing a sapphic couple represented in the media I consumed, I was 16 years old, and I was watching Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce on Glee. It took over my every waking thought. At the time I did not understand why (I did not come out as a lesbian till I was 20), but I remember feeling safe. Glee became a sacred space for me where I felt like just maybe, the thoughts I had about liking women were okay. 

In pondering this idea, I recognize that my experience is one of many and also one of few. So I turned to my peers. 

One of my best friends, a black woman, told me “Cheetah Girls 1000% when I was a little girl”. As we discussed further she went on, stating that “previously I was seeing versions of myself that other people wanted me to be, but in this movie it felt more authentic.” 

My creative partner, a half-Mexican woman, expressed “I feel like I struggled with identity for so long…I don’t know if I even knew how to identify because I was brown/half-Mexican in a family that was white...The thing that identified with me most was watching Glee and watching these kids want a stage to jump on to sing and escape from their realities of life”. 

My girlfriend, a queer woman, told me she hasn’t ever really felt her sexuality shown, but that in high school, watching Girl Meets World helped her feel seen as an outcast who was bullied.

Another of my best friends, a black, non-binary lesbian, stated the following: “Ryan Wilder in Batwoman…it was a shock when I first tuned in, having Javicia [Leslie] playing a black version of a character so wildly loved [and] still be a lesbian felt incredible…This was a show based on a DC comic book hero that was WHITE. A show that had already had a season completed and aired to the public with a white lead. It meant that the stakes were higher and that there was probably a lot to lose. To me it was everything. It also proved to me that it was possible to have more queer, POC leads in successful shows/movies.” They then finished by saying that maybe their “standards are low, but I grew up watching fully white casted Disney Channel shows.” 

Their answer in particular stood out to me because of the fact that they almost tried to negate their experience because it wasn’t ‘groundbreaking’ material. Batwoman wasn’t nominated for awards, it was axed (in my opinion) in its prime, and is still a niche world that many do not know existed. 

You may be wondering why I’m giving you all these little anecdotes. I want to establish how it feels like to be properly represented on screen. These are moments that are groundbreaking. The industry is constantly evolving and growing, making strides in giving a voice to communities of people who have been silenced for far too long. 

And yet we still have room to grow. 

Non-binary people and, in turn, non-binary pronouns have been around for hundreds of years. They are not a “new” or “fad” concept. The earliest record of “they” being used to describe a person was in 1386 with Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Even Shakespeare’s Hamlet utilizes the singular “they” pronoun1. However, despite examples throughout history, non-binary and genderfluid representation in film and television is still miniscule at best. 

Webster’s dictionary defines non-binary as “...a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that is neither entirely male nor entirely female”2, and genderfluid as “a person whose gender identity is not fixed”3. And within the realm of genderfluidity and non-binary identities, pronouns are vital. The first time we saw a genderqueer person on film was in 2001 with Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And while there have been great strides for representation in television for non-binary and genderfluid people, this did not even start until the 2010s. On record there are 32 non-binary and genderfluid characters in television and 13 in film4. Yet most of those characters in television are not even currently airing. 

I now pose another question: 

When is the last time you recall seeing a non-binary or genderfluid person represented in media? 

I am a non-binary woman. I use she/they pronouns. I cannot tell you the last time I recall seeing someone with my specific gender identity on screen. In my research, most of these characters are on television shows or in films I haven’t even heard of! And I pride myself in the absurd amount of media I consume. 

Now this is not to say that this media does not exist. Just this past summer we were brought into the world of Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow. A story of two teenagers bonding over their shared love of a Buffy-esque ‘monster of the week’ TV show. To a cisgendered viewer, this may have simply come across as a beautiful but strange film without any understanding of the deeper meaning. But to a non-binary or trans viewer, it was a surreal experience. 

I had the opportunity to attend a Q&A Screening of this film opening weekend. I was deeply moved by Schoenbrun’s dialogue about the inherent queer and trans nature in horror. Because, to be honest, the experience of gender dysmorphia is horrific. Queer and trans stories belong in horror just as much as they belong in romance or comedy. They exist in every facet of life the same way cisgendered and straight stories do. 

For me, seeing a non-binary, transfeminine writer/director discuss their own experiences with gender identity and in turn create a film about those first moments of realization was breathtaking. I left this film feeling a strong desire to push my own boundaries in creativity. My only true critique of the film was that to viewers not from the queer or trans communities, the underlying message of gender could have been missed. This was a metaphor for the first experience of transness, and while I do not want to lose stories built in metaphors, I want to push things further and see characters who simply…are. 

Let’s see someone discover the same feelings represented through metaphor in I Saw the TV Glow but have them discover how to vocalize what they are feeling. Let’s watch a non-binary character simply be non-binary and exist in the world. Let’s watch a lesbian couple fall in love in a zany rom-com. I believe these stories can coexist alongside films with philosophical metaphors for queer and trans experiences and the straight and cis media we are spoon-fed almost daily. 

When we cannot find ourselves represented in media, we as filmmakers tend to create the space for that representation. So how do we create space for non-binary stories in media? Let’s start by discussing the use of non-binary pronouns in our work. 

The singular form of they, as I previously mentioned, is not a new form of the pronoun. However, if someone is not used to the singular use, they may have a difficult adjustment referring to a singular person. (Wait what’s that? I just used ‘they’ in the singular form!) The irony of all of this is we have all been using ‘they’ in the singular form the whole time. When you don’t know the gender of a dog or cat, you ask what their name is. When you don’t know the gender of a person in literature, they are almost always referred to with a singular ‘they’.

If we were to hone in on the why behind the trend to gender people with specifics, we would be here all day. Society up until recently has been conditioned to assume a person is either male or female regardless of how they present. It’s time we change this. 

I believe one of the best ways we begin to make this change is through normalizing the use. And as filmmakers this means we normalize it in our work. Include your characters' pronouns in descriptions, sit with your characters and get to know their gender identity the same way you learn what color their hair is, challenge yourself to use non-binary pronouns in your scripts! See what happens! 

To elaborate on this briefly, when we are first introduced to a character in a script you are typically given their age, key features, and a few adjectives to describe who they are at their core. I challenge writers to start including the pronouns of your characters when we first meet them. Even cisgendered ones. The more that we utilize pronouns to introduce our characters, the more normal it becomes. With time you will notice it starting to feel second nature in building your characters and the world they inhabit. Beyond that I challenge cisgendered writers to educate themselves on non-binary and trans experiences; see where in your worlds there is room for genderfluidity. 

Representation means so much to individuals and there are so many layers to how we can properly represent the communities around us. All of this being said, in the conversations I mentioned at the beginning, there is one I have not yet discussed. 

My roommate, a half-Filipina, half-Italian woman, expressed to me that she has yet to see herself truly represented on screen, but that she has seen it onstage. This gave me pause as I realized and reflected on just how much work there still is to do. 

At our core, I believe that we as filmmakers have a duty to create space at the table for stories that have not yet been given a voice. Especially for those of us with different levels of privilege than others. 

With that I present one final thought: 

How can you create space for underrepresented voices in your own work?

Sources:

1 A brief history of gender neutral pronouns. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-497549302 Nonbinary Definition & Meaning. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonbinary#:~:text=or%20non%2Dbinary%20%3A%20relatin g%20to,entirely%20male%20nor%20entirely%20female 

3 Gender-fluid Definition & Meaning. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender-fluid#:~:text=adjective,about%20their%20gender(s). 4 List of fictional non-binary characters. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_non-binary_characters#Film