Someone wrote…

When I came out to my therapist as a genderqueeer/trans* person (later changed that to “agendered”) she replied with encouragement, saying “I’m a middle person, too, so don’t worry.”

This isn’t a gender therapist, either. So happy.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

She’s The Man, originally uploaded by pigeonpie.

Greetings wonderful Gfork Community!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Emma, and I recently signed on as the Volunteer Coordinator for this amazing site (don’t panic everybody, the Dopp hasn’t gone anywhere. I’m additional!).  This means I get to hang out, read the posts, talk with our current set of Amazing Volunteers and try and help keep everything running just as smooth as can be.

We’ve been taking stock and discovering that things behind the scenes are shifting around a little bit – as they are wont to do – and we’ve realized that we need a little more help. We would love to bring in a few more folks to volunteer with us; mostly we need help gathering photos and quotes, but there is probably more that could be done (anybody have any spectacular ideas?).

SO! If you’ve been visiting Genderfork for a while, and you’d love to get your hands dirty and help out with the content, now’s the time to speak up! Here’s what you do:

Contact us at: volunteering – at – genderfork – dot – com and tell us a little bit about yourself. Specifically:

• What you wanna help out with!
• Why you wanna help!
• What experience with tech stuff and/or blogging you’ve already got.
• Where you live on the Internet (blogs, tumblrs, your band’s old myspace, whatever …)
• Do you have any experience with moderating, mediating, or organizing?
• How much time you can to give to us (on an ongoing weekly or monthly basis)
• And, you know, that other REALLY IMPORTANT thing that you need to share with us about yourself (we don’t know what that is yet, but we can’t wait to find out!)

Just a heads-up: please don’t expect an immediate response from us. There may be a bunch of you, or I might be swamped with my day job, or there could be other stuff going on that slows this process down. We’ll get through ’em all, but responses may take some time.

I am really looking forward to meeting you, though.

Thanks in advance!

Your Friend Neighborhood Volunteer-Scout (aka Emma)

Spring Shoot 24, originally uploaded by Stéphanie Lee.

You can call me… Ben or Rubyben

I identify as… a boy mostly, and sometimes even a man on a good day. Female. Possible fop, occasional transvestite (read: red lipstick, blue eyeshadow, little black dress), sometimes womanly with certain individuals but never with the public.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I wander. From strangers I want masculine or ungendered, but sometimes for myself my female body makes me feel qualified for “she,” especially when I’m speaking to feminist causes.

I’m attracted to… womanly (not generally feminine, but perhaps graceful or maternal or something I identify as womanly) men, confident and sometimes manly or masculine women, transvestites, unusual ways of moving, muscles.

When people talk about me, I want them to… drink martinis.

I want people to understand… that all our politics and struggles are happening with the aim that people can be confident and empowered in themselves and their communities, and just feeling that way openly about who we are is powerfully political. Doing well for ourselves and each other is the ultimate protest against sexism and the heteronormative.

» Define yourself. «

Breaking down gender roles, Sonwabo Qathula in an Eastern Cape kitchen. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS, originally uploaded by IPS Inter Press Service.

You can call me… Seth, but I go by Tamworth on some circles of the Internet.

I identify as… Slightly genderqueer FTM, a bit of a femmey man, vaguely bigender, an anti-macho, feminist boy. A subculturist, a square, a freak, a dorky geeky nerd, a believer in life, a fuckin’ badass. Korean-American. New Yorker. Queerish. Capricious and precocious. A joke. Protective. Martial artist. Whovian. A Time Lord! Teenage. Weirder than you think. But generally chill.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I’ve gone by female pronouns for my whole life, so I don’t mind if you slip up, but since I’m trying to present as a boy I’d prefer male.

I’m attracted to… Theoretically I don’t care for specific genders, but I find myself liking girls way more than boys. The boys I like tend to be Johnny Depp or the Doctor or twinky genderqueer femmey ones. The girls I like are many and varied and basically attractive, though how I really don’t know. If I like someone I’ll analyze it later, after I finish staring at them and fanning myself and wiping the drool off the floor. But piercings (but not too many!), colored hair, a lack of bitchiness, respect for others, good musical taste, an appreciation of Whovianism, non-judginess, and an ability to take yourself less seriously than I’d expect are all things I like – both in friends and objects of affection.

When people talk about me, I want them to… Please don’t, it’s kind of awkward. If you want to ask me questions, sure, cool. But don’t rely on other people’s perceptions ‘cos that’s jacked up, yo. And don’t call me a girl. Girly-ish, sure, I get that (even though it relies on goddamn stereotypes, eurgh.) But nix on the labelling me as female.

I want people to understand… Gender goes like this: *does a dance* wooooEEEEEOOOOO, EEEEEooooeeeeee, EEEEEEEooooo. Like a spectrum-y thing, except wobbly, and it doesn’t apply to everyone, and if you care about it too much it’s not as fun as when you run around on it and do your own thing. But if your own thing falls on one place on the spectrum you can have tons of fun too. Just, well, do your own thing. And no elitism, because christ on a bicycle that’s annoying.

About Seth
If my gender was a color, it’d be octarine. I do hapkido, read Terry Pratchett with a fervor bordering on obsession, listen to music across multiple genres, and despise physics with my very soul. I curse too much, eat green apples a lot, watch vast amounts of Doctor Who, and shout at televisions. I have awesome parents who are chill hippies. Nobody thinks I look Korean for some reason. I love cities and urban areas and the sheer New York-iness of New York. My hair is short and spiky and I spend massive amounts of time and hair gel on it to make it stand up, except you cannot see it because I have my motherfuckin’ fox hat on my head in the picture. Nobody catches the motherfucking fox. (And if you understand that reference, you get pie. :D)

» Define yourself. «

_DSC3386wm, originally uploaded by Lydia Chen.

Untitled, originally uploaded by broham sandwich.

A reader asks…

I am in my early twenties but I have had gender confusion for several years now. A great concern of mine is the possibility that my parents are right, and this is all just a phase of my development that I will grow out of. How do I know this is for real?

Please post your response in the comments below.

» Ask Genderfork «

Dreaming, originally uploaded by DanielDarko.

Someone wrote…

If I found out I was infertile, I would start hormones tomorrow. I’m not sure what that means.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

Originally uploaded by thatcirclesound.

Thailand’s Got Talent competitor Bell Nuntita (Disclaiminer: judges’ comments, the title, and a few other elements are offensive)

Chökhor wrote…

I’m finding out about myself that I don’t really have a sexual orientation, but a gender orientation. In terms of sexual orientation it seems I’m bisexual, but that is an incomplete description. It is more appropriate to say that I am attracted to femininity regardless of the person’s sex.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

evading wonderland, originally uploaded by kellygarfield.

Luz recommends…

It’s a social networking site for all LGBT/queer/varient/undefined and allies. There are also forums with an array of topics – it’s a safe place for everyone.

» Recommend something. «

Be Mine, originally uploaded by Gil Lavi.

Someone wrote…

I’ve rarely felt at all uncomfortable with my body, but the older I get, the more I dislike my speaking voice.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

Ukranian group Kazaky‘s choreography exhibits bodies shifting between muscled abs and high-heeled silhouettes.