Thinking Outside the Binary

Designing a Gender-Inclusive Clothing Line for Kids

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TylerGAID

19 min readApr 27, 2021

This past semester I set off to create a gender-inclusive clothing line for kids for my senior thesis project as a graphic design student at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. I was inspired to create this line after taking a class on breaking the binaries in health, sexuality, and gender. The class was fascinating as it touched on topics that I had been researching in my own life; as I find myself friends with more and more non-binary and gender non-conforming people, I strive to learn more so I can be a good ally for them.

Additionally, I was fascinated by the way that sexual education is taught to teens and children, how some education is restrictive, binary, and conservative while other lessons are free, diverse, and accepting.

Gender non-conforming people face considerable distress not because we have a disorder, but because of stigma and discrimination. There is nothing wrong with us, what is wrong is a world that punishes us for not being normatively masculine or feminine — Alok Vaid Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary

I recalled my non-binary friends describing how they wished that they were free to wear what they wanted as a kid, how they were forced to fit into a male/female binary, and how it took years to come into their true selves. Others felt freer as a kid, even with these binaries, as it seemed relatively normal for kids to dress like a “tomboy” because it was “just a phase”, but they later found that as they got older they were forced to assimilate into a binary that they did not feel comfortable in. With this in mind, I knew I wanted to combine my interests and what I had learned from my friends into a thesis project, and a gender-inclusive clothing line for children seemed like the perfect fit.

Additionally, as a neurodiverse person myself, and a friend of many people with ADHD and autism, I have deeply researched neurodivergency this past year. I found that I could combine my interests when creating playwear after I discovered that some people with autism and Sensory Processing Disorders struggle with certain fabrics and textures and clothing elements. Autistic people and people with SPD would benefit from a line of sensory-friendly clothing to avoid stress and meltdowns. With this in mind, I knew that playwear would be sensory-friendly so that the line is accessible to all kids.

Research

Next, I dived deep into research, knowing that it was an important facet of my project to make sure the brand was equitable, accessible, and free. As a designer, research is a fundamental part of the process, it is necessary to base your brand and design decisions off of the information you have gathered around the hypothetical or real brand. Designers must be thorough and focus on possible customers, existing brands, and background information about important facets of the future brand.

Check out the bottom of this article, I link the resources I used throughout my project!

Breaking Binaries

First, I began thoroughly researching breaking binaries in gender, sexuality, and health. Boosting what I already knew about gender, I found that both biologically and socially, gender is not strictly male or female. Biologically, people can fall outside the male/female binary as approximately 1–2% of people born in the US are intersex. Socially/culturally, non-binary and gender non-conforming people are common as well.

Intersex is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of “female” or “male.”

Non-binary people feel their gender identity cannot be defined within the margins of the gender binary.

Gender non-conforming defines people who have a gender expression that does not conform to traditional gender norms

Non-binary, two-spirit, intersex, and gender non-conforming (GNC) people are not new, they have existed and been prominent in non-European countries for centuries. Trans people of color like Alok Vaid Menon, Indya Moore, and intersex people like Pidgeon Pagonis, have been trailblazing gender-queerness for decades and it is important to look to them for an understanding of the gender binary and intersections of race, gender, and other experiences.

Alok Vaid Menon describes their experience being non-binary and queer in Beyond the Gender Binary. Alok wrote Beyond the Gender Binary for the Pocket Change Collective series, a group of small books written for teens and young adults. , Alok explains how gender variance is not a “trend” GNC people will grow out of. Rather, the male/female gender performance that queer and non-binary people put on during childhood and through their teen years is something that they will hopefully grow out of when they find themselves in a more open society. It is important to note that how others perceive someone has nothing to do with them and how they see themselves. People may assume that the way you dress is a “spectacle” when it actually represents what you feel inside. Menon explains:

maybe we look like this for ourselves, not for other people

Society’s inability to place trans people into boxes makes them uncomfortable. What is unfamiliar then becomes a threat. With this in mind, trans people who do not fit the binary, are othered and attacked for simply being themselves. Discrimination happens when the system congratulates conformity, not creativity. Alok finds that society is so restricting that you can even suppress who you truly are yourself:

we have been taught to fear the very things that have the potential to set us free
It’s not just that you internalize the shame; rather, it becomes you. You no longer need the people at school telling you not to dress like that; you already do it to yourself.

Non-binary and GNC people are at an in-pass, conformity can make you lonely but so can abandoning the norm. There is a lot of violence, trauma, and self-hatred that comes from misgendering, oppression, and hate. There is no easy way for non-binary people to exist peacefully in this society yet, but we must make that possible!

Surveying Non-Binary and GNC people

For my project, I interviewed and surveyed gender non-conforming and non-binary people about their experiences. Despite a very small sample size (approximately 11 people), I still gained some valuable insights. This was acceptable for my thesis, but ideally, I would have done more comprehensive research and included a larger sample size.

Results from the survey I sent out to non-binary and GNC people

First I wanted to find out what was the best language around a clothing brand that rejected the gender binary of male-female — was it unisex? Gender-inclusive? Gender-freeing? One participant wrote:

It’s kind of a crazy claim to say something is gender neutral because gender expression is so varying and ya know what even is a neutral gender?
i think gender inclusive is a much more helpful term because the real goal of a fashion line i believe is to have an artistic voice but be inclusive in size and fit so that every body can comfortably wear it
i’ve just seen some locally based “gender neutral” clothing lines that were size 0–2 which unfortunately just reinforces the idea that to be non binary you have to be waifish and androgynous which is such a harmful stereotype that only reinforces the prevalence of eating disorders and body dysmorphia within the community

Another quote from my survey I found helpful:

Not everyone wants to wear androgynous clothing, they just want to be able to shop without being attacked by male/female

On terminology related to gender and the binary:

[certain terminology is more] corny than others/ patronizing gnc people/ pandering for a profit

Another participant explained the benefit of some words in terms of viewership:

Unisex would be the best as far as SEO/search terms, but if I was branding it I’d choose non-gendered clothing. It just wouldn’t get the same search hits.

With this minimal research in mind, I decided that gender-inclusive would work as the primary terminology to describe my clothing, and gender-neutral would be a secondary descriptor. Given a longer time frame and a larger sample size, I might have reached a different conclusion, but with the restrictions I had with my thesis, gender-inclusive would work for now.

Responses to the question: “As a kid, what clothing do you wish to wear”

Next, I wanted to know what types of clothing non-binary and GNC wished they had a chance to wear as a kid. Many responders wished for looser fitting clothing, and comfortable fits in “masculine” or gender-neutral color palettes. Additionally, they wished that clothing brands were not separated by male/female and were more neutral with comfortable fits perfect for play.

One responder writes:

i identified as a girl when i was younger and i used to ask my mom to go to the boys section, which included looser clothing, t-shirts and long sleeves that weren’t pastel or neon or pink colors that popped with femininity or that were skin tight.

One participant wished for:

Clothing that doesn’t fall apart or accentuate weird parts of the body

Another participant responds to the restrictions of male/female clothing being separated in stores:

Growing up wearing “girls” clothing it was all just hyper feminine. there were never dark colored clothing items, and never clothing that you’d see optional in the boys section. Dresses and skirts were always in the girls section and usually colorful or patterned, and boys never had skirts or dresses ever. it was never even an option. and baggy clothing for girls was never an option unless you sized up and took away from available sizing for people who are plus sized.

Another participant mentioned the difficulty of playing with gender and identity again after years of rejecting ‘girly’ feminine clothing.

I’ve been looking into purchasing a long skirt to play around with femininity again and it’s just ridiculous how narrow my options are.

Other responders highlighted the issues with gender-inclusive clothing lines today as they are typically overly loose, basic, and bland.

Just dont make your “unisex” line a bunch of loose fit joggers and sweatshirts.

With this information in mind, I knew I wanted playwear to fit all bodies, with a slightly oversized fit. The clothing would be bright and colorful without labels of male/female because colors are for all. Given more time to expand the brand, I would include dresses, button-downs, and pajama sets to conclude the clothing options. Additionally, the clothing would be made for play.

Kids and Experimentation

It is important to allow experimentation, imagination, and freedom in kids. Kids are incredibly brave, creative, and unique and we can learn a thing or two from them. Adults have a habit of forcing kids into boxes and diminishing their bright spirit — we need to stop! We need to tend to their joy and hope and imagination and let them run free to be who they want to be.

Some of my favorite books I discovered in the class I took about breaking the binary in gender, sexuality, and health.

In the recent class I took, I read two incredible books on sexual education and gender for kids. I adored reading The Gender Wheel by award-winning queer Chicana artist, illustrator, educator and publisher, Maya Gonzalez. The Gender Wheel is written for those ages eight and up. I also loved reading and enjoying the beautiful illustrations in Sex is a Funny Word, written by Cory Silverberg and illustrated by Fiona Smyth. Sex is a funny word is written for those between the ages of seven and ten. The books are amazing, short readers on how to teach your kid about bodies and identity.

Maya visited my class in January, and I learned so much from her perspective. Gonzalez beautifully connects nature to gender and identity. She finds that gender is always moving, that it is dynamic, and can be described with a wheel rather than with a linear binary. She believes that the gender wheel is our connection to the earth. Typically children are taught in binary, black and white, thinking, but Gonzalez believes that we should avoid oppositional thinking, and instead listen to our bodies and the circular movement of nature.

Both the shape in the movement of nature keep everything and every body will look forward connected in growing in circles in cycles like a great dance vibrating out!

She finds that everybody has a body, and each one is different — and that is okay.

The truth of nature is that bodies are bodies and all bodies belong. We are all a part of nature. Every body. By making room for all bodies and not just bodies that fit into what we currently call boy and girl, we come back to nature circular ways

She also says that children (and adults) should attack assumptions and avoid prescribing labels that restrict free-thinking.

Sonya Renee Taylor similarly believes that every body is connected and that this makes us special. This will lead us to a world full of justice and love once we realize our interconnectivity:

Radical self-love moves us beyond the flimsy notions of self esteem or self-confidence; it moves us beyond the notions of individualism. Radical self-love is not independent, it is inter-dependent. It is about our relationship not only with our bodies, but with with the bodies of others. As we learn to make peace with our bodies and make peace with other people’s bodies we create an opening for creating a more just and equitable world.

Sex is a Funny Word also de-genders bodies, as every body is different even if some seem kinda similar. In the picture book, Silverberg and Smyth explain that finding oneself is a process, and it can take a while and that is okay:

Maybe you aren’t sure, or don’t care that much. Maybe you don’t feel like a boy or girl. Maybe you feel like both. Maybe you just need some time to figure it out, without all the boy and girl stuff

My favorite page from Sex is a Funny Word

It is important to let kids slow down, and take more time when finding themselves. Additionally, no one should be in a rush to grow up or find a label; it is important to rest.

Kids (and adults) have control of their bodies. What they wear and how they present themselves in their choice and they should be able to do as they please. When we as adults model acceptance, freedom, and imagination — they will follow. But similarly, when they model creativity, diversity, and compassion — we will in tune follow them. It’s important to teach kids to try new things with an open positive mindset as well. Learning about different perspectives and cultures is fundamental to expand your mind, so kids (and adults) must be exposed to all types of bodies, genders, sexualities, ethnicities, and more.

With this in mind, kids need room to PLAY! To have joy, to experiment, to have the freedom to test the waters (which adults need too) — creativity is so foundational to being a kid, and we must never let their spirit falter.

If you, a loved one, or your child is questioning their identity and needs help, the updated Genderbread Person is a great place to start.

Interviewing a Parent

Next, I interviewed a mother of two children to learn what it was like to be a parent shopping for clothing. The interview was incredibly informative about the shopping habits of parents, of course with more time I would have interviewed more parents and users to be more comprehensive.

She frequently shopped for gender-neutral clothing as she liked to save money by sharing the clothing between her son and daughter. The clothing had to be perfect for both kids, as she wanted both children to be happy with the pieces. Besides hand-me-downs, she frequently shopped at consignment shops, Target, and Winter Water Factory. The interviewee occasionally liked to budget for ethically and sustainably made pieces, as long as the clothing was well-made and held up to the numerous daily laundry loads the family did each week. The max she would spend on a clothing piece was about thirty dollars. With a subscription box, she figured that seasonal shipments of about three to four outfits would work well for her family laundry schedule and budget.

She also loved the idea of gender-neutral clothing but found that it was sometimes hard to pieces that would to fit her family dynamic. She wondered what to do when her daughter enjoyed pink and purple — should she push her to try other colors? If her son never wore dresses should she push them towards him? Sometimes she worried about what would happen if her children did wear something out of the norm. She wasn’t sure what the best answer to any of her questions was, as gender-inclusive parenting is understandably new and different to most parents these days.

Additionally, she loved that the updated school uniforms worn at her child’s school avoided male/female categories. Instead, they separated the pieces by “tigers” and “monkeys”; she wished more clothing lines used this tactic. This later inspired me to separate clothing in my brand by color and illustration type, rather than by gender.

Next, the mother I interviewed was very adamant that every color is for all. I 100% agree. Color doesn’t have a gender, so why are blues and pinks so closely tied to male/female and masculine/feminine? She also adored the funky prints and patterns on clothing that she already purchased but she wanted more.

User-Friendly Sizing

The mother also struggled with online shopping and found it near impossible to find sizes that would fit her children, especially in a pandemic when in-person clothing shops are closed. Due to these problems, she had not bought her children clothing in over a year! She recommended determining sizes by height and weight as the variance in sizing between brands was unhelpful, and finding a size with inch measurements was a lengthy, exhaustive process. A respondent of my previous survey had a similar idea:

[I wanted] mixed fits and cuts, certain “girls” cuts fit better but I remember wanting them in the “boys” prints like dinosaurs or blue dots instead of pink so a better variety of prints for cuts that are typically gendered. Also universal sizing, preferably measurement based rather than random numbers

With this, I knew I wanted the clothing sizing to be determined by height and weight, as most parents know their child’s measurements on the spot. I would avoid measurements tightly tied to clothing pieces, as the process was not user-friendly. For example, a shirt in a size Small (20 inches tall, and 10 inches wide), which the parent would have to measure against other shirts, would be a difficult process; whereas with playwear, the parent would just add their child’s size: 40 pounds, 3 feet 6 inches.

Background on Autism

Over the past year, I have been extensively researching neurodivergence to learn more about myself as a neurodivergent (ND) person myself. This research was very useful in designing this clothing brand as every kid is unique and I wanted to make sure playwear was accessible to all. Some kids diagnosed with spectrum disorders like autism even have sensory issues with certain clothing, so I knew I wanted to research this topic even further.

In recent years, researchers and autistic people have explained how a spectrum is more appropriate to describe autism, in opposition to functioning labels. Functioning labels like “high functioning” or “low functioning” wrongfully assume that ASD can be described in a linear, binary progression of symptoms. Conversely, autism is a spectrum, as autistic people experience a wide variety in the type and severity of symptoms. People (and kids) with autism can be totally different as some people thrive in social situations but struggle with executive function while others may succeed in motor skills but have difficulty with communication etcetera.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior.

Functioning labels like high-functioning and low-functioning are outdated terms that claim to measure the “severity” of the disorder. The labels do not tell the whole story about an autistic person’s life and struggles.

Neurodiversity (ND) is the diversity of human brains and minds, the infinite variation in neurocognitive functioning within our species. Neurodiverse disorders include dyslexia, autism, and ADHD.

Autism spectrum diagram via Rebecca Burgess

Functioning labels isolate disabled people from their non-disabled peers by implying defectiveness. They undercut one’s individuality, struggles, and abilities — their humanity — and emphasize brokenness, reducing them to terms we’d use for a malfunctioning machine. — Planning Across the Spectrum

cw: Nazi Germany, euthanasia, eugenicist science, suicidal ideation

Certain autism “advocacy” groups are harmful and perpetuate dangerous stereotypes that have drastic effects. Organizations like Autism Speaks and similar groups use damaging terms like Asperger Syndrome and reach the point of eugenicism.

Asperger’s Syndrome was coined by Hans Asperger, a Nazi scientist who decided who was genetically fit or unfit to live in Nazi Germany which lead to euthanasia of disabled people who did not fit his criteria; therefore, the term should be stricken from all discussions of autism

Autism Speaks only donates about 22% of the fundraising money they earn towards actual autistic families. Instead, they fund research that sees autism as a fundamental flaw that should be eradicated, even before a child is born. With this research, these groups attempt to “cure” Neurodivergence rather than help ND people thrive. This does not benefit autistic people in any way and makes their lives harder. Autistic people are not flawed from the start, they just think and act differently than neurotypical people — and that is okay. Some autistic people need resources to live in a neurotypical-centered world, and these funds should reflect that.

Neurotypical is used to describe individuals of typical developmental, intellectual, and cognitive abilities.

In the media, Autism Speaks produces hurtful commercials that attack autism and describes how living with an autistic person is “injurious” to your livelihood. In one video, a mother is described considering suicide because of her autistic child — this is of course is incredibly detrimental to autistic people; that they are so “difficult” that someone would rather die than live with them. These fearmongering tactics are heinous and prove the disgusting nature of the organization.

Additionally, there are very few autistic people on the board of the organization; representation matters, especially in leadership positions in an org specializing in autism “advocacy”, and that is unacceptable. These groups should be avoided at all costs in favor of self-advocacy organizations and autistic activists.

Sensory Friendly Clothing and Autism

Some people with autism and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) have issues with certain fabrics, textures, and clothing elements. Autistic people and people with SPD can get overstimulated by these textures which can lead to drastic effects:

Too much stimulation can be completely overwhelming for these children and lead to meltdowns, poor mental health, and increased stress— Smart Knit Kids

Clothing tags, zippers, overly tight or loose clothing, clothing with seams, and rough fabric are some characteristics of clothing that can cause a lot of stress to children with these disorders. Solutions include compression clothing, tagless pieces, velcro, softer fabrics, seamless pieces, and more. Making sure that clothing is appropriate and accessible for all kids should be fundamentally important to any kid's clothing brand. Accommodating kids with these disorders is necessary; it can make a kid feel safe, valued, and can calm down over-stimulation.

Autistic people and people with SPD are all unique of course, and each person processes textures in a different way, so:

It’s important to get the child’s feedback on the clothes they wear. Sometimes autistic children and children with SPD are nonverbal, but they still visibly react to the feeling of different fabrics. Every person’s sensory issues are different. What one person may find to be a soothing texture, another may find it to be deeply uncomfortable. Figuring out which fabrics feel best is a case-by-case study. — Smart Knit Kids

Additionally, I wanted the brand to use ethically and sustainably sourced materials for the pieces that would close the loop and reduce emissions during the manufacturing process. Between Tencel fabric, recycled organic cotton, organic cotton, and other materials, I chose recycled cotton. Recycled organic cotton convinces users to “close the loop” and reduce waste, additionally the cotton used in manufacturing is organic and extra soft, so it is more appropriate for people with sensory issues.

A Closed-Loop program is based on three principles: collection, manufacturing and purchasing. Collection is diverting and gathering materials that are recyclable so that they may be processed. In the second phase, manufacturing, the collected, Recyclable Materials are processed and then used in the production of a product. Finally, the newly made product is then sold to a third party before being reused and restart the process again. — Busch Systems Recycling Center

Due to the restrictions of my thesis, I was unable to do A/B testing, but ideally, I would have done significant user testing with autistic children and children with SPD to make sure that the fabric chosen for playwear was sensory-friendly and appropriate for all kids.

Conclusions

All people will benefit from a breakdown of binaries, whether tied to gender, health, or disability. We need to foster love, acceptance, and imagination, and moving from the gender binary in our clothing is one way to start. Check out my finished branding project and my portfolio site!