As you can see below, I’m not much of a blogger and I thought this conversation might be big enough to continue off FB….
Human
Our sex determines our role in reproduction. Our genders are made up by people who have a need to control our behavior. Some of those folks are religious, some of those folks are governments and many of these folks are corporations and businesses who profit from sharp descriptions of what gender is.
Some of us don’t fit into our assigned gender roles, some of us don’t want to fit. In the end, when someone is saving your life, you may not care about their gender or gender presentation, you are just glad someone saved your life.
By allowing ALL of us to be the FULL person we feel we can be, we might actually advance ourselves as a species. Currently we are in too many ways living with 1st century mentalities in the ways we reject and fear our differences. Androgynous, transgender, two-spirit and non-gendered people have obviously been around since we have existed as humans. We waist a tremendous amount of resources, financially, socially and spiritually when we are rejecting who many of us are. Resources that can be going towards expanding our communities and stretching ourselves as loving, spiritual beings.
Before I paste my FB posting below, I want to note that I’m aware that Joan of Arc, had she been given the choice, may have chosen no gender and/or may have identified as a Butch-Woman. Personally I’m not invested in whether Joan was butch, trans or ftm. My concern is the lie that portrays a feminine maiden where a masculine warrior stood. Joan chose death over wearing female attire. Isn’t is crazy how easy it’s been to deny who Joan was. How many other masculine women do you think were wiped out of history? And, where are all those visible, masculine woman-sexed images now? Where are the images of all those female/feminine-hearted, non-make-up wearing, hard-working women we know are part of the backbone of this country and world? Why do some feel threatened or amused when a man puts on a dress?
“Once a gay friend asked me if I was carrying a man’s wallet. I told him no, the wallet was mine.” Fresh! White, 1989
#tie #Gender #Androgyny – Most of us come into this world with particular sets of reproductive organs that are used to identify us as woman or man. Many of us are then given gender identities that generally require us to play roles. The role we are given doesn’t always have a lot to do with who we are as human beings. W…e are bigger than male or female. History and current day show us that women can be great warriors and men great nurses. And still we buy into the ideas of how we are “supposed” to be-have. We as a society have been brain washed. Even as we witness others and experience ourselves beyond gender, we can’t accept it. A baby, just a few months old, was recently killed for not “acting” male enough.
The most popular transgender male, Joan of Arc, can be viewed in paintings all over the world as a feminine maiden. Joan was a warrior and leader of men, males and the women and females who would fight. This guy Joan, chose DEATH over not wearing the clothes that were gender-required. Joan chose the clothes that helped express who she/he was in the world and was killed for it. The world denies Joan’s masculinity and transgenderism. Joan d’Arc was not a man, and was male. Joan’s sex was woman (as far as we know) and gender was male.
Since CA’s Prop 8, there have been too many murders and suicides of youth who were queer (LBGTQI) or perceived to be. How many more of our youths will die by their own hands or others before we start behaving like it’s 2010 and start seeing ourselves as individual human beings who need each other to survive? And you shouldn’t have to choose a gender or identity in order to be seen as Full Human.
It’s okay to be confused, it’s not okay to judge and hate.
No, I’m not preaching to the choir, I’m working on expressing myself peacefully so when I get to speak to the confused and/or haters it won’t be the first time I speak my mind out loud on this topic, in this particular way. Thank you for allowing me to breathe here.
Is there something you want to say out loud today?
#Tie #Names #Stories #Questions: – Last week while coaching at the Craigslist Foundation Bootcamp, I met a Euro-American woman, who told me about the DNA test her Chinese adopted daughter took to learn about her ancestry. The results were surprising to them both. When I returned home later that day I began doing research on agencies who provided this service. Because NY state, like most others, lock their adoption records; most adoptees have no clues to their past beyond what may appear obvious, their hair and skin tone. I thought it would be great if I could find out what tribes and countries could be found in my DNA. 
and for many of us, stands for all of us and beyond.
