submitted by Juli, the model and photographer

Someone wrote…

What do I know? I don’t even know what gender I am anymore… but I’m learning to be okay with not knowing.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

“Bound Yonder” submitted by Yondergen, the model and photographer

JAKE – umbrella tests, originally uploaded by Jacob Tekiela.

Jess asks…

How do you deal with ignorant or disrespectful comments at work? I’m a K-6 substitute teacher, and while I dress professionally, my genderqueerness isn’t something I can completely “tone down.” I get a lot of questions from kids (and occasionally staff) that are sometimes out of genuine curiosity, and sometimes just plain disrespectful. I’d like to assertively educate kids without getting a ton of angry phone calls or letters from parents. But how do I do this? I want to educate but not get into a lecture on human sexuality with a bunch of 11 year olds.

Some of my favorites:

“Look, that’s a LESBIAN! Right here in our school, I guess they do exist!”

“Are you a he or a she?”

“That’s a butch. They hate boys.”

Please post your response in the comments below.

» Ask Genderfork «

You can call me… Marion

I identify as… A foppish dandy. Mostly human. Not particularly interested in gender, but I like to make fun of it.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … At the moment I use fi, fo, and fum. As in, fe fi fo fum, I smell the blood of a gender-variant person from England. Although I’m actually from California. If that’s too weird for you, ey em eir eirs.

I’m attracted to… Human beings who identify as at least partly female. I don’t really care about the bits and bobs, but I do love women.

When people talk about me, I want them to… Respect me. My sister is transgendered, MtF, and all too often I’ve noticed that some family members will use female pronouns in her hearing range, but openly and purposefully use the male ones behind her back.
At the moment I don’t care much about pronouns, but in general I want people to deny my wishes about how I’m reffered to around me, or not at all.

I want people to understand… that gender doesn’t define people. It seems like people will say that they don’t hold with gender stereotypes and that a woman can be anything she wants to be, while at the same time balking if someone suggests that a woman can be something other than a woman.

And at the same time I want people to understand that gender is fun. It’s like a mental toy – like modeling clay, in fact. It’s colorful and you can sculpt it to look like various things and you can break it into lots of little pieces. And I think you should, because our genders are our genders and we need to stop thinking that we can’t do what we like with them.

About Marion
Marion lives in Northern California. It is not sunny. It rains frequently and fi would appreciate it if everyone stopped calling it sunny.

The picture is from when fi played Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace. Fi likes that a lot of audience members have told fo that they didn’t realize fi was female until the curtain call (when fi squealed girlishly out of glee).

» Define yourself. «

Trapped, originally uploaded by bildministeriet.

Char wrote…

I was born intersexed. I grow my facial hair out to give myself the courage to one day change that “F” to an “M.”

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

submitted by an anonymous History student

For why this was submitted, read more after the jump. Continue reading »

Submitted by XG, who takes care of Genderfork Video Submissions.

Erin Steven is the photographer and model. You can find her work on Flickr.

J asks…

I feel physically sick when thinking about coming out as GQ to my mum. I’ve came out as trans to her once, FtM, and she was amazing with it. But I fear this will be too much, we’ve done so much activism together, I don’t know if she’ll be able to cope with me being radically gender variant. How does one do it?

Please post your response in the comments below.

» Ask Genderfork «

bowie continuation, originally uploaded by katydidnot.

So, I’m drinkin’ my coffee this morning, and the first thing the Internet says to me is, “Hey Sarah! Come and take a look at THIS!”

The artists write…

Some friends and I are taking Intro to Queer Studies this term, and one assignment was a group presentation on a queer cultural production (magazine, anthology, art exhibit, etc.). We researched and presented Genderfork.com, which is a really awesome online community that explores androgyny and gender ambiguity. As a creative component to the project, we took our own gender-ambiguous photos. It may be interesting to note that although I am a gay-male-identified, biologically-born male, my gender is much more ambiguous with fake facial hair than it would be if I were to wear a dress. In a dress, I would be fairly obviously male, but if I go for the “bro” look, I could pass as a female in drag. Anyway, I definitely encourage you to check out Genderfork if you haven’t already!

Thanks, guys! This is fabulous! Tell your professor that we give you all an A!

Love,
Sarah Dopp
founder of Genderfork

Fun Runner, originally uploaded by mescon.

You can call me… Tim

I identify as… a Swedish and androgynous poet and artist.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I prefer my name. Sometimes i get real offended by people calling me by feminine pronouns, kind of to tell me than I’m “nothing but a girl whatever I look like,” but I’m used to it so I try not to bother.

I’m attracted to… beautiful people with a great vocabulary and intellect. I’m most attracted to masculine or androgynous people with a classic preppy style, who dress in skinny jeans and shirts and ties. I don’t care about gender but I get attracted to short messy haircuts and big hands and a raspy voice. Also I used to fall in love with people I shouldn’t've fallen in love with.

When people talk about me, I want them to… look behind their shoulders before they do so; I don’t really like listening to people talking about me, ’cause it happens to be bad things.

I want people to understand… That you don’t have to fit into the norms of a man or woman, that you can be whoever you feel like. And that you are who you identify as, and not what others identify you as.

» Define yourself. «

Gib asks…

A teacher at my school (also my advisor/mentor) who, though he’s willing to be supportive when I need it, doesn’t seem to mind using “she” and referring specifically to me as a girl.

I’ve talked to him twice already, but I just don’t feel like it’s making a difference. What can I say? He doesn’t seem to get that every time that word is used, another weird look is shot my way and another piece of my life falls out of place. How can I make him understand?

Please post your response in the comments below.

» Ask Genderfork «

“Mystery” submitted by Alicia, the photographer.

Someone wrote…

Walking through the Tenderloin with my partner, a panhandler asked “Spare some change — boys, girls?” without any hesitation. It made us smile and laugh. No malice or confusion in his voice, he was simply hedging his bet.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

You can call me… Yours. Or Mitja. I don’t like my real name, it’s far too feminine to do my complex personality justice.

I identify as… genderqueer. Let’s put it as simple as that. Okay wait. I identify as someone who’s in between and who feels comfortable there. It’s like snuggling to a campfire, a cozy little place that keeps me warm. That’s how comfortable I am in between.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I’ve been called “sir” as well as “madam,” people said “your boyfriend” instead of “your girlfriend” to my ex and though it used to bother me I simply do not care anymore. I take pleasure in it. I don’t like gender-neutral pronouns, though. They don’t feel natural in the way that I would have to tell people which pronouns they should use and, to me, that doesn’t feel right. As long as people recognize me and that I’m not easy to label, then I don’t care what they call me. Except for b*tch or something. Kidding.

I’m attracted to… A pretty face, above all. Lately I’m having trouble defining what I’m attracted to, physically or otherwise, but besides that I know that I am only attracted to girls. Emotionally, intelligence and passion are something that draws me in.

When people talk about me, I want them to… Mostly I want them to talk about me like I’m special. Like I’m someone that fascinates them. I can be pretty self-centered, yes.

I want people to understand… That above all I’m human too, trying to find my place in this world and that I’m making mistakes like everyone else. I want them to understand that there’s more to me than meets the eye and that they should not judge me by first glimpse cause I’m sure they would not want it the other way round, right.

About Mitja
Mitja lives in a small town in Germany and, though it’s a bore there, Mitja feels totally at home. Mitja is currently applying to get into school again so that she can study Gender Studies someday. Apart from dreaming, listening to music and taking photos of self, playing soccer is one of Mitja’s biggest pleasures. Mitja has a blog, too: cure-for-you.livejournal.com

» Define yourself. «

pam in stairwell, originally uploaded by pamcash.