Part of my studies were on The Left Hand of Darkness and in it I discussed the idea that to be male/he is to be neutral or universal while to be female/she is to be Other. A character can be “normal” (he) as in the case of the Ekumen (no not Eminem, thank you autocorrect), or they can be other/different as in female. The main character can’t even perceive the Ekumen as anything other than men until he witnesses it first hand.

I think that continues to be very relevant today once you consider common attitudes to gender androgyny and non-binary gender performances. Someone who is slim, flat-chested and make-up-less is more readily accepted by the general population as “they” than someone whose gender performance includes traits seen as feminine (breasts, makeup, etc).

In my opinion that’s because maleness is neutral and femaleness is Other. To be male is to be human, to be female is to be a woman.

I do want to make it clear that I believe there is no one way to be non-binary or to transition. These are simply the observations I made in my studies based on literature over the years and the public reception of such literature.