Gender Expansiveness

Discussions about gender, particularly those beyond the traditional gender binary, are becomingmore commonin major media outlets. As a result, the public is becoming more aware of and vocal about these topics.Gender expansiveness, which is shifting from a fringe worldview, pushes us to imagine life outside the gender binary — but not without backlash. Gender neutrality is an attempt to avoid assuming roles or preferences based on gender stereotypes, or to not reinforce the gender binary, which is the traditional system of gender classification that defines every individual as either male or female. It is often conflated withnonbinary genders,which are genders that exist outside the gender binary. As discussions around gender continue to mature, planners need to balance addressing real-world implications of gender on public space use, behavior, and daily activities while also avoiding reaffirming the systems that lead to exclusionary and limited understandings of gender.