Monday, June 6, 2011

Raised A Girl




What if there comes a time when we introduce ourselves with, "Hello, my name is Abigail, I was raised a girl. I'm from New York."?


The thought was front and center in my mind seconds after waking up. There's certainly a shift in demographics. So there could come a time where gender is something we won't be able to discern just from looking at someone. It's happened to me quite few times in the waiting room at my doctor's office. We already know there are unisex names, clothing, and transgender, genderqueer and genderfuck people in society.




There are people of certain races that we can't identify by merely looking so we ask, "Where are you from?"


Where's your family from?


Or outright, "Are you Black?" "Are you White?"


What are you?


PC or not, the same questions are raised when it comes to gender identity. "Are you male, female or...?" could become first-date dialogue. Perhaps it will one day be considered rude to shake someone's hand or give them a kiss on the cheek until you know their gender, or which gender they identify as. Gender is strictly biological or anatomical. Someone may be male or female reproductively alone. It's all in our heads; the role of hormones in brain development, how our brains are wired. Although there are societal and parental dictates that if you look like a boy therefore you are a boy, as more people claim gender for themselves there's no denying that shift in society.


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