Someone wrote…

When I was in elementary school, I refused to wear girls clothing. One time I was running through the cafeteria and a teacher called out “Young man, there is no running inside!” I spun around, smiled, and said “Yes ma’am! Sorry!” It never occurred to me to be offended that I’d been mistaken for a boy.

The other day I went clubbing with some friends for a birthday. The club was giving out free drink tickets to girls at the door. I had to go back to get mine, because they didn’t give me one. My friends thought they needed to console me about being mistaken for a boy. I laughed and told them, if I cared I wouldn’t be wearing jeans and combat boots to a club.

I guess not much has changed from elementary school to now. It’s just now I know why I don’t care if I’m mistaken for a man. Now I know why it kind of makes me happy.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

Reposted via androstyle.

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You can call me… Snack.

I identify as… genderqueer, maybe. Might be agendered. Definitely non-binary. Pansexual, polyamorous in a (so far) monogamous relationship, goth/seapunk.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … anything! Never been referred to as he/him, but wouldnt be opposed to it. People use she/her for me because it’s easiest.

I’m attracted to… my boyfriend, mainly, but I also like dapper guys and artistic girls. Gentle, thoughtful personalities and intelligence.

When people talk about me, I want them to… talk about my personality or a time where I helped them feel strong or accepted. If they talk about my looks, that’s ok too, but my mind is what I want to be proud of.

I want people to understand… gender is not a cut and dry thing, and when someone is genuinely confused about it, don’t get mad! Anger pushes people away. When you say something that is offensive, you should apologize, but you should be met with understanding and explanations, not a bunch of yelling. It is everyone’s responsibility to make the world a more accepting place – those who know must teach, and those who don’t know must be willing to learn.

About Snack
I love to learn. I have a lot of anxieties, and I am working on getting over them or learning to live with them. I love books and reading, and I love music. Conflict is my biggest fear.

» Define yourself. «

Reposted via nice skirt, bro.

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Someone wrote…

The other day I wore a tie to work. My office is very gay friendly but we’ve never talked about gender. No one said anything about the tie. I can’t tell if this is because it didn’t phase them, or if they were uncomfortable and didn’t know what to say.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

Reposted via We Are The Youth.

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Laci Green takes a stab at some gender myths and misconceptions. It’s a useful teaching tool to start a conversation.

Reposted via Al Jazeera.

“The ‘Kurd Men for Equality‘ campaign was started in response to a judge’s ruling that forced a man convicted of domestic abuse to wear women’s clothing as a form of public humiliation.”

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Someone wrote…

I’m a cis-woman that wears “guy” clothes. I say this haltingly, because I don’t think of myself as a cis-woman, but I am definitely not trans*. My friends say I’m too feminine to be anything other than a cis-woman. I’m not though!

I live in-between the worlds of masculine and feminine, but everyone only sees my femininity. I don’t understand why my friends won’t believe me when I say that I’m genderqueer. Not every cis-guy is “masculine.” How masculine does one have to be to be able to claim space in the grey area that is genderqueerness?

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

Reposted via We Are The Youth.

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Kurt asks…

I know that there are gender neutral pronouns for the more fluid of us, but I was wondering, are there any gender neutral parental names? As in a word my kid would use one day to address me instead of saying mom or dad.
I’ve considered just letting the child decide what they would prefer to call me, which sounds nice, but honestly I’m not sure if I’d be comfortable with either titles.

Please post your response in the comments below.

» Ask Genderfork «

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Someone wrote…

I was shopping for clothes and decided to try something more “dapper”. I tried a shirt that fitted me just perfectly, which is kinda hard to happen when one possesses a nice ‘n’ round belly, as well as a prominent pair of boobs, along with an hourglass-shaped body.

I felt amazing and gorgeous. It seemed that nothing in the world would look as good in my body like that shirt. It was pricey, but I thought it would be worth it…

At home, I put the shirt on again. It looked SO different this time! I still felt great about the way the shirt fitted my body, but in my mirror I found myself “too masculine”. It saddened me, as it seemed like I’ve made a bad deal – paid a lot of money for something that would make me “ugly” (I don’t know why I still feel this way when I present less feminine). Then my girlfriend told me “I looked like a guy, but in a nice way”, that I was beautifully butch-y. So I played with it a bit, wore a suit and tie, and it felt like fun again.

I don’t know how is it gonna be when I try to wear it again, outside the comfort of my room. But I decided that every time I start to overthink, I’ll try to ignore those oh-you-look-too-masculine thoughts and focus on how I felt in that shirt in the first time.

What’s your experience?

And what are you thinking about gender right now?

Reposted via Gender Anarchy.

“I have hirsutism. Basically, I grow thick hair where normally only males grow such hair, which includes my face. It’s made me feel insecure and ‘man-ish’ for a lot of my life, so I took on this project. I did this to explore what the widely-accepted gender ideals are and how I might fit in them, mostly, so I can accept that I don’t.”

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You can call me… Eli.

I identify as… human, man! ;) I’m genderfluid, I suppose you could say. I’m neutral, I’m androgynous. It all sounds so pompous, oh dear… :P

I have days when I kinda want to wear skirts and look really pretty, or what ever, and then some days I wake up and want nobody even to notice that I have breasts. It goes this way and that, the feeling of who I am in terms of gender, but…that’s okay. I’ve learnt, through living, that you don’t even have to HAVE a specific or a set gender, and I’m so happy knowing now I can do it my way. No matter what others say, because, hey. Y’all ain’t me, sunny Jim. :P Hahaha.

As far as third-person pronouns go, … I’ve grown up with “she,” so that’s fine, I mean. I don’t mind too much being called feminine pronouns. Again, sometimes I prefer he, sometimes she. If there was a neutral term which wasn’t so objectifying (“it”), perhaps I’d prefer that. I’ll always remember this two-hour-long episode of Futurama, where the giant invading purple tentacle monster was called by “Schklee,” I think, to call Schklee by Schkler omni-sex self. I think that’s pretty funny, and cool. xD :D. :P

I’m attracted to… men and women, but it depends. Generally, I prefer boys (especially in relationships), but I AM attracted to women. I suppose I’m still only figuring it out, because … well, uh, I haven’t been with a whole load of people, hahaha. I really like androgynous people sometimes … I just like somebody if they’re attractive, you know. Attractive on whatever level. :D

When people talk about me, I want them to… I don’t know, like me? Not even NOTICE a gender; not even notice a genderless-ness. To be completely comfortable. I don’t mind if they are confused or whatever. I’m usually pretty feminine-looking; I’m working on the androgyny and on the masculinity and the what-such, but I dunno, yeah. To just – whatever I do look like – disregard gender. ‘Cause that’s sorta what I wanna do.

I want people to understand… Well, just that. I want people to understand. I want them to understand. The thing here on the sidebar says “most people don’t fit gender norms…” which is SO true! Gender norms are horrid, in a way. Down with conformity! Hahaha. But, yeah. To just be free. I want people to understand that it’s no big deal. Gender IS quite an important thing, but I just want people to understand that gender is no big deal. I really, really do. :)

About Eli
I’m a wonderful loser.