Aussie Brand “Bonds” Features Non-Binary Model In New Bikini Campaign, Is Rocked By Criticism
“I’m valid,” Mikey went on to exclaim in their video before explaining that they weren’t wearing “women’s clothes” but simply their clothes. As a non-binary person, the model uses they/them pronouns.
The National Center for Transgender Equality explains that some societies, like ours, tend to recognize just two genders, male and female. The idea that there are only two genders is sometimes called a “gender binary” because binary means “having two parts” (male and female).
Therefore, “nonbinary” is one term people use to describe genders that don’t fall into one of these two categories, male or female.
The center further explains that nonbinary people are nothing new and that non-binary people aren’t confused about their gender identity or following a new fad – nonbinary identities have been recognized for millennia by cultures and societies around the world.
The rise of discriminatory critics against Bonds’ new Pride campaign follows the backlash Australian bikini brand Moana Bikini faced after featuring a gay man as their model.
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The brand shared a video on its official Instagram page of model Jake Young posing in a white one-piece swimsuit worth $130.
Moana Bikini, which is owned by body-positive influencer Karina Irby, captioned the video: “Obsessed with this look,” adding that “Moana babe” Jake was modeling a size small.
Despite looking fabulous, some people have taken offense to Jake posing in the swimsuit, with some accusing the brand of “allowing men to encroach on women’s spaces.”
Moreover, last week, Rip Curl featured transgender woman Sasha Lowerson on its Rip Curl Women Instagram page as part of the company’s Meet The Local Heroes of Western Australia campaign.
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According to WebMD, transgender is a general term that describes people whose gender identity, or their internal sense of being male, female, or something else, does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. By contrast, the term cisgender describes people whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
As a result of too many adverse reactions, Rip Curl took a different route than its inclusive competitors and deleted the post before apologizing.
It noted: “Our recent post has landed us in the divisive space around transgender participation in competitive sport
“We want to promote surfing for everyone in a respectful way but recognize we upset a lot of people with our post and, for that, we are sorry.”
A new study conducted by the Center for American Progress found that many LGBTQ+ people continue to face discrimination in their personal lives, employment, housing, and health care, as well as in the public sphere.
More than 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ adults reported facing some kind of discrimination. Half of LGBTQ+ adults reported experiencing some form of workplace discrimination or harassment in the past year because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status, including being fired, being denied a promotion, having their work hours cut, or experiencing verbal, physical, or sexual harassment.