I define gender as a spectrum which has feminine on one side and masculine on the other side. Although I identify on one side of the spectrum there is so much space in-between the two for people who don’t feel like they identify as female or male. This is what I would consider as non-binary or androgynous.
My first memories of gender were from elementary school. I understood the idea of gender before I understood the idea of race, but that was also attributed to the fact that I was a white person. It wasn’t until probably high school where I was taught and learned more about the difference of sex and gender, as up until that point I was using the two words interchangeably. There was a lot of times growing up where the boys around me made it very clear that since I was a girl there were things that I could and couldn’t do. One example that stands out to me is when me and some of my friends, who were girls, wanted to play football at recess with some of the boys. When we asked, they said that girls couldn’t play football so in response to that we created a “girls” team to play are own games.
I believe that there is an unlimited number of genders as you can’t put a number on something like a spectrum. Although, I use she/her pronouns and identify as female, it wouldn’t bother me one bit if someone used, they/them or other ungendered language when referring to me as appearance wise my clothing and style tends to include both “masculine” and “feminine” clothing. I do not believe in the gender binary at all, and if anything, I feel like it should be abolished. One thing that really sticks out to me is how much we gender our children. In America, gender reveal parties are a BIG deal and if anything, this only goes to reinforce this binary. I think that the world be a different and even better place is young children were able to figure out the concept of gender for themselves and not have it pushed onto them by their families, friends or society. If I choose to be a parent one day, my main goal is to raise my child in a way where they can figure their gender out for themselves by using neural colors in their room, letting them pick out their clothes and toys and not restricting their friends. But unfortunately, the reality is that even if I don’t exposure them to the gender binary the outside world will.
Many of my friends back home and since arriving at Wayne have identified in one way or another as queer. Just like gender, sexuality is also a spectrum. This is why we have spectrums that puts straight on one end and gay on the other end or another spectrum that might put gay on one end and lesbian on the other end and bisexual somewhere in the middle. I identify as Pan which is like bisexual and even this category itself is a spectrum as you can have more of a preference for one gender over another and not in an even ratio. I think that my life would only be more positive if I was involved more with LGBTQ people. Not only would I be able to hear more about their experiences, both negative and positive, but everyone who I’ve met who has identified as LGBTQ in some way has been hilarious and so kind.
