20 Celebrities Who Have Changed The Way We View Gender

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 07: Ruby Rose speaks onstage at Reebok And Gigi Hadid Present #PerfectNever Revolution on December 7, 2016 at Skylight at Clarkson Square in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Reebok) *** Local Caption *** Ruby Rose

What is gender, and why do we think it’s so black and white? Here are 20 celebrities who have made a heroic effort to shatter this belief.

Gender. It’s a hot topic in today’s society. It’s constantly being questioned. It’s consistently in the spotlight. It’s dictated by rules and regulations and laws about bathroom use.

But why?

When we were in grade school, we were taught that sex chromosomes determine gender. But that’s not always the case. In fact, that’s recently becoming completely disregarded. Gender is not defined by what sits underneath your clothes anymore; gender is defined by what runs through your thoughts.

Gender isn’t just male or female. It’s not dictated by body parts, or sexual orientation, or chromosomes. Gender is a spectrum. It’s a range of expression. It’s how you chose to relate to yourself. It’s a personal identity.

And it’s nobodies business but your own.

Over the past few decades, gender has been scrutinized by the press, the government, and just our community and society in general. But that’s changing, due to the courageous, honest, and heroic acts that certain people in the spotlight are doing. People like Elliot Fletcher being one of the only transgender actors to have a recurring role on a TV show. People like Andreja Pejic who is known today as the most famous transgender model in the world. People like Jaden Smith and Ezra Miller who are crushing gender stereotypes to the ground. People like the 20 souls I’m about to tell you about.

These 20 people give me the hope I need that our society will, one day, be as accepting, understanding, and inclusive as it should be.