Profile: Sophie

Sophie

You can call me… Sophie

I identify as… an androgynous lesbian, who enjoys changing her external packaging to suit her moods..

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I am mostly refered to as she, but I do enjoy the novelty of being referred to as “he”, because unfortunately males are still considered more valuable to today’s society :(

I’m attracted to… Girls who are unique, but if I were to meet a boy who marched to his own drummer, I would be intrigued…

When people talk about me, I want them to… be accepting of the things I am, and grateful of the things I’m not.

I want people to understand… that people do not like to live in the little stereotype boxes that society manufactures. Society is slowly processing and recognising different people, and making box variations, but there are still not enough types to comfortably suit us all. Why not let us all just be free?

About Sophie
I cannot be defined by my hobbies, because they are feather-light and change with the breeze of the wind. I cannot be defined by my looks, because looks are simply the wrapping paper, whilst inside the present could really be anything. I cannot be defined by my friends, although they do complement the escence that is “me”. Because that’s all I am; me, and I cannot be defined by anything.

» Define yourself. «


Posted by on December 4th, 2010 at 04:00 pm

Category: profiles 7 comments »

7 Responses to “Profile: Sophie”

  1. Jen

    The “About Sophie” paragraph is absolutely poetic.

    [Reply]

  2. Anonymous

    Lesbian here. I relate to the “he” thing. It’s refreshing to finally find someone who is of the opinion that genderqueerness isn’t the only possible explanation for someone afab wanting to be called “he” (outside of a drag performance situation).

    [Reply]

  3. Jean

    “He” does not indicate higher value, never did. Never will.
    “He” is:
    – forced to register for the draft
    – accounts for 96%+ of all battlefield fatalities
    – accounts for 96%+ of all workplace fatalities
    – expected to follow “Women and Children first” in bad situations (q.v. Titanic)
    – expected to work for a living / thought of as “less of a man” should he not hold a job (regardless of need)
    – expected to be the provider and protector of his family

    In other words, “He” is expendable. One man and 99 women means 99 potnetial offspring. 99 men and one woman means ean extinct tribe (one child per year, max.)

    Most men aren’t part of “the powers that be”, nor are they powerful in any meaningful way. Men have been arrested for defending themselves against their armed, attacking wife; divorce can ruin “him” financially, while she receives his after-tax income tax-free. In other words, “he” pays all the taxes, at his income level – then gives his POST tax income to her, sometimes at 50% or mroe – and it can be based on “imputed income” or “potential earnings” (Meaning, whatever the court decides he COULD possibly earn.)

    And “he” is a suspected rapist and child molester because he has a penis.

    Women had their own power; they wanted male power instead. With that power comes male responsibilities – such as earning a salary to help support the household. And it’s NOT a choice now, it’s a necessity.

    Now, I AM TG, took estrogen, got boobs to prove it. ;-) But please don’t think men have priviledge the way you obviously do – YOU can run away and say you’re “just a girl,” and no man can do that (including gay men). No male-only space is allowed, but do we force Curves to accept men? Title IX is now set to be applied to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) student percentages; shall we do the same for nursing (as was suggested in Newsweek, September 2010)?

    My point is, there is a FEMALE privilege as well as a MALE privilege; they used to be complementary, and they both had attendant responsibilities. In the last 50 years especially, women’s responsibilities have been socially re-engineered to closely match men’s. Men have had no such change, nor can they – too plastic in mind, too driven (a trait required until very recently – WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam). Like it or not, until a man wan wear a dress or skirt the same as a woman can wear pants; until men have the CHOICE to stay at home, or perform child care, instead of working; until men can decide whether or not to “have a child” (Look up “paper abortion”), have birth control pills, can give a child up for adoption without the mother’s consent/KNOWLEDGE, until women are just as frequently responsible for child support – there is no “equality” here.

    I know it is unpleasant, I know I won’t be welcomed with this – but reality doesn’t really care. Let’s enforce Title IX on oil rigs – make women go into oil well and rig operations, or sewage treatment (civil engineering), and sanitation (waste management), and mining… Force women to give up children, to work 80+ hours a week, sometimes for YEARS, have no “life” outside of work – and THEN you can complain about inequalities. Most men live and die without notice. So do most women. Nothing will change that.

    Try living as a man for 35 years – you MUST go to college, MUST support a family, MUST work 80 hours a week, answer India’s idiot calls (outsourced labor), be at work at 8 AM, stay until 8/9 PM, sometimes the only change from one day to the next is a change of shirts and a shower before the next day (that’s LITERALLY true, BTW – drive home into the rising sun, take a shower, change, drive back to work)… No social life, no “time off”, no admitting or showing weakness, not PERMITTED to show emotions, when you walk into the room, no one notices (whereas, everyone notices the new woman in the room)… Will never have the capacity to carry a child, will not be valued just because you EXIST, but must prove your value every day, all day, no matter your age, handicap, weariness…

    Think about it. There’s a REASON for what has happened. It’s nearly impossible for a man to support a wife (forget family) on his own income. I earn over $100K, but living in New Jersey, in a VERY modest home, the money FLIES out the door – and we don’t eat out much, don’t even have two cars, refinanced the mortgage… No car payment, either, that’s long since completed (car is older than the relationship, as are almost all the extravagances, like my swords. The kid isn’t a clothes-horse, nor is my woman, nor am I – and there isn’t a budget for MY clothes, if you will – for EITHER side of my life.)

    For confirmation of a fair amount of this, look up the book, “Self-Made Man” by Norah Vincent.

    [Reply]

    Anonymous replied:

    I don’t doubt your life sucked, and that a great deal of it was for the fact that you lived as a man for 35 years, but you’re making the whole issue all about your own life.

    Just because you and some author have had society see you as a man for a significant amount of time and as a result you do not envy men and appreciate your role as a women in society, does not mean everyone has had that experience.

    You can victim blame all you want. You seem to imply that the vast majority of women don’t know what they’re getting into when they say they want male responsibilities.

    Yes, men’s struggles often are invisibilized. You may say “females privilege exists too” but that is not the conclusion you actually arrive at. “How ridiculous of women not to appreciate what they have” is more like it.

    [Reply]

    Samson replied:

    I get what you’re saying and I see some truth in it. But having grown up a “woman” in a different generation from you, my personal experience has been that despite all reorganization of society so far, there’s still “male privilege” hanging around, and “he” still accords some subtle privileges and assumptions that “she” does not. You’ve pointed out a lot of negative experiences you had and saw while living as a man, without acknowledging that you might have experienced and seen quite different, but equally ugly, negatives had you spent those years living outwardly as a woman. Please don’t minimize the struggles that those of us who were raised as women have faced; a transgender experience does not equate to understanding the full range of experiences of all genders.

    I also really doubt Sophie meant to personally challenge your experiences or your existence. Long story short, I think Sophie was just pointing out something that a lot of people growing-up-female-bodied have experienced.

    [Reply]

  4. Josèphe

    Although I understand and agree with a lot of what Jean had to say, it’s a pity they felt the need to get up on their soapbox and post this incredibly long lecture-response to a profile just ‘cos of one sentence that’s very open to opinion.

    Your pic made me smile btw. :) Reminds me of a girl I know who’s also very expressive.

    [Reply]

  5. Sloane

    I honestly hope that Jean understands the mission of Genderfork. In my mind, it is to give the marginalized a home, a place where we can feel comfortable being who we are with no judgement. Playing the “Who Suffers the Greater Oppression?” game will never yield anything but hurt feelings and the opposite of a safe space.

    [Reply]


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