In certain areas, and I hope it continues to improve.
Being gay/lesbian is still a neat little box that people can create in their heads, just one more box than they had before. And more people are coming to create a box for full-transition transfolk; again, it's a simple category that doesn't ask for overmuch brain-stretching if someone is generally open-minded to begin with.
But bisexuals and folks with gender identities in the middle defy the boxes, and that makes things complicated for some folks.
I also think that mostly-cis women who "don't do femme" are at the most advantage of this middle group. We're benefiting from the feminist movement, and from a perception that we're trying to be more like men (which isn't what it is, but that's the perception).
"Wanting to be like a man" is in most ways perceived as "wanting to do the things that are Best and Good (even with the handicap of no penis)" because that is what Being Manly is all about.
Here's hoping it accelerates and more cis-men who want to do "female"-coded things are granted the cultural space to just be themselves.
The move to stop coding toys by gender is a wonderful thing. I have hope for the next generation, but of course I was in the first generation of non-gender-coded toys. The cultural pushback from the conservative right wing was bad, but the counter-counter revolution seems to be going well. :)
Being gay/lesbian is still a neat little box that people can create in their heads, just one more box than they had before. And more people are coming to create a box for full-transition transfolk; again, it's a simple category that doesn't ask for overmuch brain-stretching if someone is generally open-minded to begin with.
But bisexuals and folks with gender identities in the middle defy the boxes, and that makes things complicated for some folks.
I also think that mostly-cis women who "don't do femme" are at the most advantage of this middle group. We're benefiting from the feminist movement, and from a perception that we're trying to be more like men (which isn't what it is, but that's the perception).
"Wanting to be like a man" is in most ways perceived as "wanting to do the things that are Best and Good (even with the handicap of no penis)" because that is what Being Manly is all about.
Here's hoping it accelerates and more cis-men who want to do "female"-coded things are granted the cultural space to just be themselves.
The move to stop coding toys by gender is a wonderful thing. I have hope for the next generation, but of course I was in the first generation of non-gender-coded toys. The cultural pushback from the conservative right wing was bad, but the counter-counter revolution seems to be going well. :)
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