10 Ways Being Non-Binary Changes Your Life

With the world becoming more and more informed on different sexualities and gender identities, itís no wonder the term non-binary has surfaced as of late. Itís a term than holds a lot of meaning for specific types of people.

Donít worry if youíre not familiar with what non-binary means because a lot of people still donít know much about it. However, it is a term that you should know and use correctly when referring to people who are non-binary.

Someone who is non-binary doesnít view themselves as specifically male or female. This is a very broad way of saying that these people donít view themselves the way society has said they should be.

A non-binary person may also struggle with their sexual orientation and may even consider becoming transgender so their body reflects what they identify closer with in terms of their gender.

# People donít believe in it

This changes your life for a lot of different reasons. For one, people who donít believe you when you say that youíre not male or female will basically just give you a hard time and make you feel dumb.

Secondly, they donít believe you! They basically raise their eyebrows in confusion and go about their day as if youíre just spewing nonsense about not identifying as either gender. This will make you feel angry, and youíll avoid telling people ñ which suffocates your need to be understood.

# They think you just want attention

This is one of the more annoying things about society today. They think that every person who declares that they are non-binary is just looking for some attention because itís a hot topic in the world of controversy today.

Theyíll peg you as someone to avoid so they donít have to deal with your ìridiculousî behaviors and claims. Youíll find that less and less people will give you the time you deserve to talk about being non-binary.

# Some people think itís just a phase

This is another thing that will frustrate you to no end. People will more or less ignore you when you try to tell them about being non-binary, because theyíll think itís just something youíre going through right now and not a serious matter.

Some may even have the audacity to tell you that itís just a phase and youíll ìgrow out of it.î Those people donít need to be in your life. Therefore, you may end up cutting some people out of your life who choose not to acknowledge who you are.

# You feel misunderstood

This is the biggest way being non-binary changes your life. If all of your life youíve been able to reach people and talk to them about everything and be understood, and then you come out as non-binary, suddenly nobody really understands you.

Youíll have a hard time opening up about many things from there on out simply because youíll often feel misunderstood. However, people misunderstanding you is completely due to their ignorance, and not you being non-binary.

# Itís hard to fill out an application form when offered a ìmaleî or ìfemale.î

Some places are changing these in their application documents. However, itís still difficult when you have to fill something out online as being ìmaleî or ìfemaleî when you feel like neither.

Youíll go through an internal struggle momentarily as you check one off just for the hell of it, so you can continue with whatever it is you need to get done. The hardest part about this is that itíll change your life in the littlest way, but itíll have a big effect.

# Shopping in either section is difficult

You may have your own personal style and want to buy whatever you want, but youíll feel weird about going into a store and shopping in either the ìmaleî or ìfemaleî sections because, well, youíre neither!

It makes it hard because you just feel as though you donít have a place that is for non-binary people like yourself. It wonít be the clothes that are the issue, itíll be the fact that there are only two genders to choose from when you identify as neither.

# You canít even correct people when they call you a ìmaleî or ìfemale.î

When someone refers to you as a specific gender, itís hard to correct them when you canít really tell them what to call you. Basically, youíll just feel like saying, ìIím not that,î but you donít have a way of backing it up in a way they can understand.

This changes your life because youíll have to deal with it so much in conversation that itíll be difficult for you to feel comfortable joining in a discussion with people who just donít understand ñ or choose not to acknowledge it.

# Your confusion will be ignored

AKA, you will be ignored. Many people donít understand what non-binary means, and because of that, theyíll just ignore anything that has to do with it completely so they donít have to deal with being uninformed and looking stupid.

This means that non-binary folks will be ignored a lot in groups and conversations, so nobody has to bring up the fact that you are, in fact, non-binary. Either that, or theyíll ignore the fact that you even mentioned anything at all.

# People will have a hard time respecting your identity

If you chose to tell people youíre non-binary and have them call you by a gender-neutral pronoun, many will disrespect your wishes by calling you by a term they see fit. They wonít even try to call you by what you prefer.

This kind of disrespect is definitely life-changing because youíll see who in your life will respect you and your wishes, and who wonít. This may prompt you to kick certain people out of your life for good.

# You will feel like you donít belong

Being non-binary can be very difficult because for your whole life, youíve been slumped into a certain category and you canít even choose the either category as the ìrightî one because itís not what you feel.

This can make you feel like you donít belong, and thatís a little life-changing because when you donít feel like youíre included in life, you feel lonely and left out. It can make you withdrawn and less likely to engage with other people.