Today in my Social Health and Diversity class we talked about transgenderism. I loved the discussion and it affirmed my desire to study Gender Studies next year at the U. On my drive home I was thinking about what we had learned and discussed today, and it strengthened my desire to break down gender boxes. I want to teach people, especially future generations, that we don't have to place people in only one of two boxes. I am committing that, if I have kids, I will not put them in gender boxes. I will name my hypothetical future children gender ambiguous names. I will encourage choice and freedom when it comes to dress and appearance. (There are some things I struggle with though. If my infant should wear formal attire for an occasion, what do I put hir in? A tuxedo? A dress? How can I choose if I don't really know yet what this person is like?) In class we talked about how gender identity forms at as young as age three or four in all people. I want my hypothetical future children to be free to be who they are. I want them to make decisions about themselves, and not be told by society what they should wear and how they should act. Honestly, I would love to be a parent to a queer (transgender, gay, etc) person.
In America, society places people into two gender boxes: women and men. There are other cultures in the world, currently and historically, that have three and even five genders. The Diné and Navajo tribes recognize "two-spirit" people who are spiritually gifted, because they have an understanding of males and females, and are therefore highly revered. A subculture of America is the transgender. Transgender includes intersex people, transsexual people, and genderqueer (genderless) people. I think American society still denies the possibility of ambiguity when it comes to gender and sex. I want to work to change that.
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