As disco can attest, seemingly entrenched norms and constructs can become increasingly questioned as society progresses. For years, the U.S. grappled with accepting alternatives to heterosexuality, culminating in the federal legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015. Will the notion that gender is binary be going the way of Play that Funky Music?
Any possible revolution in gender identity is in its infancy as a plurality of Americans (38%) don’t even have an opinion on whether or not gender is a social construct. And as is tradition in America, those with an opinion are divided: 35% believe gender is a social construct while 27% do not. Nearly half of Americans (48%) believe that gender and sex are the same thing. Irrespective of where you stand on the social construction of gender, please just don’t set California on fire.
How do Americans self-identify? When only given two choices, 48% identify as male and 52% as female. Sounds about right. But there is much more to the story. When asked to rate the extent to which they identify as female, male, or other, only 78% identify as entirely male or entirely female.
As one of the many battles in America’s culture war, the country is deeply divided on the topic of gender transition: 49% of Americans believe that medical gender transitions should be allowed. One-third (32%) do not condone gender transitioning, and 19% remain undecided.
Sixty-five percent of Americans who know a transgender person support medical transitioning compared to 42% who do not know a transgender person.
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