Airport scanners use a binary classification system that can be inadequate for scanning trans or gender nonconforming fliers. (Via Getty Images)

Lurking under the surface of so many classification systems are false binaries and implied hierarchies, such as the artificial distinctions between men and women, reason and emotion, nature and culture, and body and world. Decades of feminist thinking have taught us to question why these distinctions have come about; what social, cultural, or political values they reflect; what hidden (or not so hidden) hierarchies they encode; and, crucially, whether they should exist in the first place.

Read Catherine and Lauren’s article “Why we need to rethink the way we classify people” for Science Focus.