Reimagining Gender:Gender Neutralityin the News

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the term gender neutral has risen to prominence in debates over issues ranging from pronouns to parenting to public restrooms. To advance understanding of this key term in recent gender politics, we conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of almost one thousand articles from four major newspapers—over a forty-year period—that mention the term gender neutral. The term arises in news articles discussing gender equality between women and men, lesbian and gay rights, and transgender rights. Those articles discussing gender equality between women and men, however, tend not to discuss LGBT rights. Likewise, those articles that discuss LGBT rights rarely discuss gender equality. Moreover, we identify three distinct ways of framing gender neutrality and show that they are differentially associated with reporting on gender equality between women and men, sexual orientation, or gender identity, respectively. By showing how these three frames represent distinct challenges to prevailing gender arrangements, this article advances theoretical understanding of undoing and redoing gender.