Ring-shaped folders used to organize and store documents, or substances that hold other materials together. In transgender contexts, chest binders are garments used to flatten chest tissue.
From Middle English 'binden' via Old English 'bindan,' meaning 'to tie or fasten.' The 'er' suffix indicates an agent noun. Extended meanings developed as the concept of binding expanded to various contexts and materials.
The humble three-ring binder revolutionized office organization in the 1880s when German inventor Friedrich Soennecken created the first version. Today, the word has expanded beyond office supplies to include everything from construction materials to gender-affirming clothing.
In contemporary usage, 'binders' relates to chest binding used by transgender and non-binary people. The term itself is neutral, but social context around access and stigma is gendered.
Use neutrally in all contexts; when discussing gender-affirming items, avoid pathologizing language and center user agency.
Trans and non-binary people's self-determination regarding their bodies represents a reclamation of bodily autonomy historically denied to many gender-nonconforming individuals.
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