You’re looking at an application for your permit, or your college dorm requests, or even filling out an Internet survey, and you see, right after your name, another question. INDICATE EVERYTHING USEFUL ABOUT YOU WITH ONE MARK: __ MALE Okay, it actually doesn’t say that: you probably see it as “Sex” or “Gender.” Maybe for you this is no big deal. You know you’re a guy or a girl and you’re done. For some people, though, that one little box is an insurmountable barrier. Even though “sex” and “gender” are often used interchangeably, they actually have different meanings, both in the dictionary and in real life. So, what are these things? What do they mean? Is there something in between being a man and being a woman? What is a man or a woman? And what does this have to do with sexual orientation? I know that I’m still answering these questions for myself, but even as I’m doing that, I identify with a more and more visible and vocal part of the transgender community: genderqueer. What does that mean? The difficulty of defining genderqueer is that it still means something different to everyone. For me, being genderqueer affirms that I don’t identify as either of the boxes that I’m given on most applications. It means that I may refer to myself as a girl, but in another moment I may see myself as more of a boy. It means that I can be neither, or both; basically, it’s my ultimate “OTHER” box. I’m just me, and as part of being me I incorporate masculine, feminine, and androgynous traits. This is both how I see myself and how I want others to see me. Confused? That’s okay. Gender is complicated and very individually determined. Follow the links below to learn more about gender, or check out our *Trans Topia section to learn about Transgender issues. |