I never thought about how hurtful it can be to someone who is outside the gender binary when people stare or make a face or snide remarks towards them. I've never given it any thought how they must feel, unsure of their place in this world, or totally sure but completely unaccepted. Looking back, I find myself often asking my husband or friends, 'is that a male or a female'? What does it matter? It's a person, with feelings, so keep your thoughts to yourself. After watching the short clip in class about transgender people who are parenting, I say good for them. There are a lot of family situations in this world, especially in the US, where children come from a heterosexual, two parent household and not loved or cared for near as much as some of the children who come from a transgender home. Isn't the child's wellbeing and happiness the main point of being a parent? If that's not the case, I'm failing. Obviously you have to teach them things about surviving in society through tact and what's appropriate and what isn't. But the point is to have happy children who feel loved. And that is exactly what I saw in that clip. Especially the couple who was still expecting. The love that they will be able to give to their child far exceeds what a lot of children feel in a nuclear family.
I randomly came across this buzzfeed article about a woman in San Francisco who began photographing her friends. The women in the pictures are women who are outside the gender binary. I was so excited to share it when it popped up on my Facebook, since it fit perfectly into the discussion in class the other day. These pictures bring light to the thought of 'who cares?' These people are who they are, and that's all that matters. The whole point of this discussion was to make you realize to be true to yourself. Be who you feel you are. Who cares what anyone else thinks? http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/photographing-the-butch-women-of-san-francisco
I can't say I've never done it myself. I'll go about my day and have moments once in a while where I look around and find someone sticking out who'll make me wonder what they've got going on. I mainly find myself thinking about it categorically, can they do this or that the same way if they aren't specifically male or female, I wonder out of inexperience really, I wonder because they're traditional traits for nontraditional people and I haven't been able to see any trends in how those relationships work yet. The quotes for the pictures shows a lot of the ignorance of it all still but I would have to say I see more of a curiosity in it.
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