Morgan, the culturally queer daughter of a lesbian & a transman, speaks up in this video and several more on the same youtube channel. Her story & many more at NoDumbQuestions.org

liamfinal1, originally uploaded by Tammy Wright.

Someone wrote…

I’m genderqueer. My gender is not neutral. It takes sides.

Does this statement ring a bell for anyone?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

You can call me… b.

I identify as… a super jew dyke, sent here to save women from heterosexuality.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … she, i don’t really like being called a dude.

I’m attracted to… cool, smart, funny, hot and feminine women. hips, hair and eyes have me at hello.

When people talk about me, I want them to… speak no evil and have a good hearty laugh.

I want people to understand… that humanity is so diverse we can’t all be the same. generalizations lead to misunderstandings. whatever box you place me in i’ll do my best to break out of it. just by being me.

About b.
i’m a sociology student at arizona state just looking to find my place in this crazy, fucked up world.

Foggy Soul 4, originally uploaded by Kr. B..

Alright… this is long overdue. You can now send us your recommendations of Stuff We Should Know About, tell us why we (the Genderfork community) will love it, and we’ll share it with the rest of the class. This is the same format as the Define Yourself and Think Out Loud forms: you send us your thoughts, we sift through the submissions, and we blog a stream of content that makes our community feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

This was originally just going to be about books. Lots of people ask what books they should be reading about gender issues, and I realized it would be great to have a pile of reviews on hand, written from our perspectives. But as soon as we started talking about it, we saw that it’s not just books. It’s movies, and clothing stores, and discussion forums, and artists, and… probably a lot of other stuff we haven’t thought of yet.

So let’s build a database. What should Genderfork readers know about? Tell us here:

Hey Everyone,

I’m really adoring all of the wonderful comments happening in these posts, and I’d like to make this a nicer place to chat. There’s a commenting system I’m looking at called Intense Debate (don’t be fooled — it doesn’t make you argue) that I think could be really helpful here. But it might also be a significant culture change, so I just wanted to run it by you first. If we switched, here would be the pros and cons (from what I can tell):

Pros:

– Threaded conversations: If there are 5 comments and you want to reply to the second one, you can just hit “Reply” under the second one — you don’t have to add your note to the very bottom. I think this is going to make a huge difference in our ability to have real conversations here.

– Email notifications: If someone responds to one of your comments, you’ll get an email letting you know, so you don’t miss the conversation. You can also check a box that says you want to get emailed when anyone adds a new comment to that post, even if it’s not in direct response to you.

– Reputations: You can easily/quickly give a comment a thumbs up or thumbs down, and this helps give that user a reputation. If you stick around for awhile and lots of people give you thumbs-ups, people can tell when you leave a comment that you’re a known and valued member of the community. (Another good thing: this reputation is just a number, and it’s mostly out of the way — there are no actual privileges associated with it, so it doesn’t actually create an exclusive social hierarchy.)

– Reporting abuse: You can easily/quietly send me a note about any comment that offends you to make sure I know about it.

– Staying logged in: If you want to, you can set yourself up so that you’re always logged in as your commenting identity. This means you don’t have to enter your name and email every time you leave a comment.

– OpenID: Also if you want to, you can use your OpenID to leave a comment instead of showing me your email address (if you don’t know what this is, don’t worry — you may already have one) .

One Big Con:

I know, I know… I just opened up the ability to comment anonymously and it’s a pretty wonderful feature for newbies, closeted folk, experimenting and questioning folk, and those who are shy. It’s important to me that people in these groups can feel safe and comfortable leaving a comment.

This comment system doesn’t support anonymous commenting. What it supports nicely, though, is pseudonym-based commenting. If you don’t want your identity here, you can go get a Gmail address (or set up an OpenID account) under a fake name and use that fake name ’round these parts. Your fake name will develop a personality if you leave comments regularly, and people will get to know you without “knowing” you. You can drop or change your fake name at any time, or shift at will between multiple identities.

And a sidenote: the Think Out Loud form would still fully support anonymity.

Personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons, but I want your input. Would this work for you? (If you hate the idea, please take advantage of anonymous commenting while we still have it to gimme a piece of your mind…)

I’ve started testing this comment system out on my personal blog, Dopp Juice, if you want to see it in action.

xo,
Sarah

Filthy/Gorgeous, originally uploaded by Nick D..

Hey, so I’ve been on this little kick lately to try to get people to see their gender as a list of descriptive words.

For example, I want to claim my gender as: female, androgynous, queer

The people I explain this to tend to get it — it makes sense. But then, when I ask how they identify, I get a deer-in-headlights look of “Oh! Um! Off the top of my head? I dunno!”

I have a little theory that if I handed them a list of pre-approved Gender Words, they’d have a much easier time with this exercise. Can you help me come up with this list? Be creative and colorful! Here, I’ll get it started…

butch
femme
tomboy
queen
male
female
queer
genderqueer
tranny

okay, you keep going…

becomin my pride., originally uploaded by Nina Godinho.

You can call me… ‘you there’ for all I care, but my friends call me dr3.

I identify as… queer, both in gender and sexual orientation.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I won’t correct you, because whatever you say will be right. As long as you’re comfortable, I’m comfortable.

I’m attracted to… people who are different.

When people talk about me, I want them to… tell tales of my obsession with shoes and how I got bruised behind my ear that one time, all the while being fluid in the pronouns they use, as to confuse the other person to unexplainable extent.

I want people to understand… gender ambiguity has been, is, and will always be.

About dr3
That time I bruised myself behind the ear, I fell off a kitchen counter and hit my head on the corner. The massive purple mark behind my ear was the only thing that told me I couldn’t remember most of the night before when I woke up the next morning. Just, if you want to tell the story. Oh, and I have some twentyfive pairs of converses.

You can call me… Jacqe

I identify as… Jacqe, boy, queer, trans, unorthodox, dandy, non-binary, fluid, boy.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … i am as relaxed as i ‘have to be’, given that beggars can’t be choosers. I prefer masculine, they are the pronouns that reach inside and stick to my insides, the ones that make my head giddy with joy and belonging, as if they lived there all along. However, i am fluid, so there are definitive moments where feminine pronouns are more accurate or precise in referring of me or mine.

I’m attracted to… life, ardor, vivacity, alacrity and zest. Whether it be gender defined or not, i am ultimately attracted to passion and vibrancy. Girls, boys, men, women, trans, or other. I connect like a magnet to uniqueness and expression, the arts, the ego and the beauty of another person’s vision.

When people talk about me, I want them to… whisper so i can’t hear them. *s* I don’t want for much. I guess i would like them to be happy and smiling or at least talking with an open mind and little judgment.

I want people to understand… that you don’t even really need to understand. Acceptance of diversity and difference doesn’t require understanding, all it needs is a lack of judgement and a heart as open as its mind.

About Jacqe
tasteful self promotion eh?
Um, I work, i play (a lot more than i work), I’m queer, i’m here. I write (a lot more than i work or play), I take an unquantifiable amount of photos of myself, i can’t work it out, so if you do, feel free to let me know. I read too much for my own good and i have a high maintenance internet addiction (i do get outside now and again, but that is only because my laptop travels well *s*. I am as feral as i am OCD and as loco as i am logical.

The Crossdresser, originally uploaded by pantryboy.

Tristan wrote…

Why is the world so obsessed with gender? Why is the world wide web so obsessed with gender? Only here, on the net, can we ultimately be WHOEVER we want. That’s the value of anonymity. But it is also here that we may be whatever we want.

How does your internet persona(s) intersect with your “real life” persona? Are they two different people? Are they the same person? How does Tristan’s experience apply to your life?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

These women wrestlers have created a growing phenomenon in Bolivia, forcing macho culture to acknowledge that womanhood and toughness are not mutually exclusive. (more photos) (more video)

Are there any specific activities that you wish weren’t so closely associated with one of the binary genders?

Minge 87: man in a dress, originally uploaded by xxxrmt.

Someone wrote…

Every time I feel persecuted, I immediately assume someone is disgusted by my androgynous third gender. It only recently occurred to me that it’s not them who’s made uncomfortable by it… It’s me who’s uncomfortable. And I’m extremely disappointed in myself for it.

How much of your perceived reactions from people are your own issues?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

You can call me… JB

I identify as… A lesbian who doesn’t know whether she should be butch, femme, or a gay boy who likes girls. @_@

As far as third-person pronouns go, … Call me she or her unless we’re close.

I’m attracted to… Girls. Feminine girls, butch girls, MTF transgenders… girls.

When people talk about me, I want them to… “focus on my personality rather than my gender.” ;]

I want people to understand… That I’m in a stage right now where I’m not exactly sure where I am, but I know I’ll get there, and when I do, it’ll be glorious.

About JB
I’ve identified as a lesbian for about two years now, semi-openly with friends. My older brother is gay, and so is my male best friend. I’m basically like a queer boy personality-wise, but I’m a girl who likes girls. I think my identity kind of molds depending on the person I’m with. I usually fall for more feminine girls, but it really depends. Androgyny is really really attractive to me, too. Basically, I’m open to experiences and I’m kind of an enigma at this point in time.

Extended Gender; which one am I?, originally uploaded by mr_moremi.

mr_moremi elaborates: “[this photo is] Part of a series exploring how close gender representation can get and what the key elements in making the switch are. The same model, very similar clothes, same colour thought slightly different cut, different pose, different attitude, different representation.”

Someone wrote…

Gender is fluid-sticky-hot-messy-fun, and, at times, edible, just like my lube.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?