Any guesses?
Did you say: Gender? THAT'S RIGHT! You go, blog reader, four for you blog reader.
Funny references aside, gender is a serious issue in all communities.
I suppose I should explain why the gender spectrum is relevant to my life.
Biologically, I am female. As in I have breasts, a vagina, a uterus, etc etc etc. Emotionally/Mentally/What have you? I am neither male nor female. Some days I just say I'm human, genderless. Some days I'm both. Gender, much like sexuality, is fluid. At least in my case, the case of a few of my close friends, and also my boyfriend's case. He's genderqueer, one of my best friends is gender neutral, my own mother has come to the conclusion she's gender apathetic, and I have a few friends who are gender apathetic. Another one of my best friends is an effeminate gay boy who's an aspiring drag queen/occasional cross dresser. Basically, I know very few heteronormative, cisgender individuals.
I am female in presentation mainly due to my inability to pass as truly androgynous or male because I am rather well-endowed in the chest area. My boyfriend is male in presentation because he is scruffy as all get out. Though he does wear skirts on occasion.
The basic point of this post is : Gender is not a dichotomy. And that's okay. For anyone confused, picture a bar of color fading from darkest black, to white. Black represents cisgendered people (people born male or female and identify as their birth gender) and white represents transgendered people (people who are born biologically male or female and feel as if they should be the other gender, like they are trapped in the wrong body). Now, this is a grayscale. Are there only two shades, black and white, on a grayscale? No, there are infinite shades of gray. And that is where myself, my boyfriend, my friends, and thousands, if not millions, of other people lie.
There is a definite prejudice amongst our society for non-cisgenders, even amidst our own community: the queers. We seem to face much the same challenges as bisexuals, pansexuals and the like face. Now, why on earth should the very community who knows JUST what we're going through, be against us as well? I don't know. But then, many of today's societal views boggle me to no end. I am fully aware not all LGBTQQIA (and any neglected acronym components) discriminate against the trans and genderqueer folk. Many are wonderfully accepting and open. But those who do discriminate are there. And there are heterosexual cisgenders discriminating too.
Just because a woman has a penis, doesn't make her less of a woman than one born with the proper equipment. Just because a man was born Jill and now wants to be Jack doesn't make him less of a man than a man who always wanted to be Jack. And just because I refuse to pick a gender, doesn't make me any less of a person than anyone else in this world.
When the people of earth can start to figure out gender isn't just what's between your legs or under your shirt, but what's in your head and your heart, we'll be on our way to a better brighter future.
No comments:
Post a Comment