I know what you’re thinking - “there can’t be more than 2 genders, that’s what we’ve been taught ever since we were little!” - well, there is way more than just 2 genders. There are, however, 2 sexes but that does not equal gender.
People may define gender as fluid, some people may experience changes of gender over time, some may be content with the sex they are born with and may identify as that gender, which is all perfectly okay.
The point of this article is to bring to light that gender is not what "society" makes it out to be - it is not the stereotypes you are brought up with, it is not simply a box you are put in. You may have heard the phrase "gender is a social construct" but what does that necessarily mean? It is the idea of gender that is "generally made and accepted" by society. It is what people perceive about gender (that may not necessarily be right).
Now, looking back at the title "is gender as complicated as people make it out to be?" well the answer is both yes and no. People have different ideas about gender, and people experience gender in different ways. Some people may want to stray from the binary idea of gender, and some people like the idea of being on the gender binary. Some people's gender identity may not be fixed and some people may never want to label themselves.
This brings us to what people think about pronouns. I'm sure by now people have heard about gender-neutral pronouns such as they/them, and why it is important to respect people and use their pronouns on them. You don't necessarily need to understand something to respect it. Some people may feel uncomfortable with using gendered pronouns, and some people may not want to use pronouns at all and prefer that you refer to them with just their name in the third person. There are also people that identify as females who use pronouns like he/him, and people that identify as male