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• 30.03.2023 19:36 UTC+02:00
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I don't know why this qualifies for BBC Worklife per se, other than zoomers have to work like the rest of us, I guess; but Jessica Klein seeks to educate us as to How young people are shaking off gender binaries. The relevance of zoomers to work life, I can understand; their gender binarism is another matter entirely. Unless these attitudes are having an impact on the provision of toilet facilities in the workplace. (confused)

Her case seems to be largely predicated on A series of VICE Voices surveys, conducted in 2019, with a smattering of quotes largely drawn, I suspect, from amongst the respondents. It helps to maintain a healthy cynicism for digital media lifestyle surveys: they're often superficial; designed to create content, more than insight; and are invariably subject to selection bias (see below). So, the proportion of Gen Z that's genuinely confused over the differences between physiology, psychology, and sociology is anyone's guess.

As a social construct, gender reflects the social and cultural differences between the sexes. Although it may not exhibit the same strict binarism as biological sex, distinctions between masculine and feminine can be broadly defined.

Naïfs conflate gender and personality traits—which are non-binary—into an imagined third way, creating a nonsensical gender spectrum. And teh soshull meejah offers an echo chamber for them to unironically bandy about words like non-binary and genderqueer, while constructing pronoun combinations that no one in their right mind could ever use with a straight face; or even pronounce in some cases. Whatever. As long as it keeps the fruitcakes and fragile snowflakes out of the breeding programme, all's good.

Social media allows pretty much unfettered access to myriad mental illnesses dressed up as questioning and progressive. In the '60s, they were called hippies, but their minds were expanded by taking LSD, rather than following some exhibitionist weirdo with an awareness bypass on InstaChatTok.

For younger generations, the move away from viewing gender as a strict binary has been significantly influenced by the internet and social media. “Contemporary teens now walk through the world with a mini-computer in their hands,” says Lisa Diamond, psychology and gender-studies professor at The University of Utah, US.

Jessica Klein, How young people are shaking off gender binaries, BBC Worklife

And that's because they have no respect for others. Inconsiderate bastards walking around while on their devices, rather than looking where they're going, piss me right off! (mad)

Don't be that person kids!

Reality check 

The VICE Guide to 2030 is powered by VICE Voices, an international community of more than 30,000 VICE readers who volunteer to help us learn more about the state of the world by answering surveys. Unless otherwise noted, the statistics in The VICE Guide to 2030 are informed by four VICE Voices surveys that were circulated to US and UK readers throughout 2019, each of which engaged approximately 500 respondents.

VICE Guide to 2030, VICE

Generation Z was born 1997–2012. In 2019, around 40% of them were prepubescent, and unlikely to be taking part in any VICE surveys; of gender identity or otherwise.

Each of four surveys that Klein references engaged approximately 500 respondents in the US and UK. Whether the same respondents were polled each time is not made clear, but it's probably a moot point, since the overall survey covered four subject areas: activism; identity, the subject of Klein's thesis; well-being; and work & education. I guess each survey covered only one subject; implying that the series of VICE Voices surveys that Jessica claims shows many younger people share…views on gender actually boils down to VICE Voices survey, singular. Of approximately 500 respondents. Who're all readers of a single lifestyle magazine.

VICE readers themselves represent a specific demographic, and the respondents represent a small subset thereof; this is an example of selection bias. For instance, 76% of respondents identified as activists and 48% as something other than heterosexual, which my gut instinct—based on experience and informal observation of Gen Z—tells me are high; almost as if this were a skewed population sample. No shit! (rolleyes)

Consequently, the applicability of the surveys' findings to the identity of an entire generation, the vast majority of whom didn't take part, is tentative to say the least. But that's BBC lifestyle urinalism for you! All the intellectual depth and incisive analysis of the Sunday supplements, but without the utility for swatting flies.

Additional reality check

Jessica Klein writes for, amongst other outlets, VICE. She is not Gen Z.

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• Update
• 16.05.2023 09:13 UTC+02:00
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And without fanfare it's back! Jessica's little treatise has been restored, albeit with modifications:

Editor’s note (06/04/23): This article has been amended since first publication to include data from the Pew Research Center survey, and the WHO definitions of gender and sex, and to correct some inaccuracies in the framing of gender.

Meredith Turits, How some young people are shaking off gender binaries, BBC Worklife

The most obvious change to the article is the qualification in its title. Now, only some young people are shaking off gender binaries. Although its heritage is betrayed by the URL.*

And this qualification is repeated, albeit inconsistently, beneath the headline. The original version opened with: Like many members of Gen Z, 20-year-old Rain Ashley Preece views gender outside of the Western established norms. In the revised version, many becomes some. Yet the lead hasn't changed. Go figure! (shrug)

Oh, and all mention of VICE Voices surveys has been quietly removed! (exclamation)

Beyond that, I can't be arsed to compare and contrast the new version with the one held at the Internet Archive, other than the word count has increased by thirty-five and not a lot was left unchanged. Hopefully, this version is acceptable to both TERFs and trannies. (Actually, I really don't care.)

The most recent entry on the Wayback Machine was made on 06.04.2023 at 03:51:17 GMT, and is marked to indicate the URL was not found (4xx). So the amended version was uploaded sometime thereafter, presumably on the same day, as per the editor's comment. But anything goes at Most­Trusted­InternationalNewsBroadcaster Towers.

In other news, VICE Media LLC filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Financial this time, not journalistic.

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* https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230327-how-young-people-are-shaking-off-gender-binaries