Freedom and entanglement.
Leigh wrote…
I had never put too much thought into gender until recently, and I feel like I discovered a new freedom and an entanglement all at once. In the back of my mind, I had always felt like it’s too bad I’m a girl all the time and can’t just balance on a line in between girl and boy. But now I know I can, and it’s a matter of deciding what that means to me and who I am outside the context of certain behaviors I’ve trained myself to do or suppress…
How has your ability to express the subtleties of your gender been a “freedom and entanglement”?
Posted by julian on March 11th, 2009 at 08:00 am
Category: your voice 4 comments »
March 11th, 2009 at 1:06 pm |
I defintely feel all tangled up some of the time; wondering how to express something that I still don’t really understand.
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March 11th, 2009 at 3:53 pm |
I’m an MTF (pre anything right now) and it’s difficult tod ecide which parts of me are ‘me’ and which parts of me have been learned because I’m meant to fit the role of male.
I think we have our core personalities, but outside of that almost everythign about ourselves is open to reinterpretation or reinvention – be it your voice, your walk, your dress, anything. You should be free to pick whichever you want, or even alternate daily.
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March 11th, 2009 at 5:48 pm |
Thanks for the phrase ‘freedom and entanglement’. Sometimes I feel so excited to be pursuing this (?) freedom, and then I get so entangled and exhausted by it all.
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March 30th, 2009 at 5:11 pm |
I’m slowly finding the right mix. I groom more like a girl, dress more like a boy (most of the time–it helps keeping a job). Ballance takes a long time. What helps me is I’m into surfer/punk/hippie type style. I’ve been doing the androgyn look for 4 years and I’m still not all there. All of my friends know I’m different and most are ok with it. Just be true to yourself. I’ve decided against anything other than maybe facial hair removal (a $ thing).
I wear eyeliner almost always outside of work, sometimes mascara and lip gloss and on a really good day everything.
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