gender

On Gender Identity and How To Be Cool

T.J. Baer Feminism, gender, Important Stuff, LGBT, pride month , , , , , , , , , , ,

All right. Gender identity. Let’s rap.

So, there seems to be a lot of confusion out there about sex, gender, gender identity, etc., so I figured I would offer a quick primer for anyone in need of clarification. I’ll start out by saying that there’s a certain fluidity to all of this, and one person’s experience does not encompass all people’s experiences, and a general rule of thumb is just to take people at their word when they say they are this or that.

Example:

“I’m trans.” “Oh, okay, cool.”
“I’m non-binary.” “Oh, okay, cool.”
“My pronouns are “they/them.” “Oh, okay, cool.”
“I am a giraffe.” “I mean, you don’t look much like one, but you would probably know better than me, so okay, cool.”

See? Super easy.

But let’s get a little more in-depth here.

So, at some point in our illustrious history, it was decided that when it came to humans, there were only two boxes that could be checked. One was “male” and one was “female.” Which box you ticked depended solely on what body parts you had, and this was further expanded with the idea that said body parts also determined your interests, personality, mannerisms, and what kind of body wash scents you were allowed to enjoy.

For example:

Continue reading →

Sugar and spice and a nice, satisfying scream of frustration and rage

T.J. Baer Blog, Feminism, Important Stuff, LGBT , , , ,

Today, on Things That Make Me Want To Scream:

  1. Little girls are encouraged to like certain toys and certain colors, behave a certain way, and enjoy certain activities.
  2. Little boys are encouraged to like certain toys and certain colors, behave a certain way, and enjoy certain activities.
  3. Little girls who stray too far in the “boyish” direction receive a small to medium amount of disapproval, and are lavishly praised when they do anything more traditionally feminine.
  4. Little boys who stray too far in the “girlish” direction receive a great heaping crap-mountain of disapproval, and are told again and again to “act like a man” or not “be such a girl.” (Being a girl in this case = being weak, silly, emotional, shameful, etc.)
  5. Unsurprisingly, assaulting children with a massive barrage of operant conditioning (positive reinforcement for behaving “correctly,” negative reinforcement for behaving “incorrectly”) leads them to feel pressured to fall in line, and to accept that “this is what a girl is,” and “this is what a boy is.”
  6. Idiot People then look at this result and say, “See? Boys and girls are so DIFFERENT. They just naturally gravitate towards different interests.”

annie-scream

This has been today’s edition of Things That Make Me Want To Scream. Thank you for your attention, and have a pleasant day.