Swingsets and Photographs

As of late my school work has been suffering, and those of you who know me will likely think it's because I am lazy and easily distracted (which is partly true), BUT I am going embrace immaturity and place the blame on a lovely poet/activist by the name of Andrea Gibson. Ze is a genderbending artist who will literally steal your breath away. Hir work is achingly beautiful, but somehow also hilarious. (I can't tell if my personal favorite is the witty and funny "Swingset" or the spoken-word masterpiece that is "Photograph", but I assure you, if you listen to one of hir poems, you will never stop listening). Look hir up on YouTube or on hir personal website http://www.andreagibson.org/. I promise it will be worth it.

The Turning of a Page

The air is turning cold. Everyone's sense of beauty is on edge, and I can't say I blame them. Something about fall captivates people in a way no other season does. It's stark. It's crisp. The haze of summer is gone and colors seem more vivid. People speak more clearly. I am in a place full of individuals like myself. I swear I've never felt more at home. It's so easy for me to blend into the crowd at Hollins. Nothing about me is remarkable here, and I must admit it's a nice change. Being seen as a person instead of an object to be gawked at is wonderful. I find that I smile more naturally. I am always ready to laugh. These, I believe, are the most accepting people I have ever had the priviledge to meet. I simply cannot wait to come into my own here.

The best recipe for sweet tea? Skoal.

I must admit, I do wonder why people are so willfully ignorant. What about a person makes them inhuman? What makes a freak? Sadly, most of the people I have met have a set idea in their minds of what a freak does and does not consist of. It's the human condition, I believe, and a very simple one. Human beings fear what they do not understand. Humans also destroy what they fear. So, what happens to the supposed "freaks" in this fearful society? It seems that attempts are constantly being made to destroy us. Destruction is a tricky and decieving little bugger, though. It can come in so many subtle forms: a look that is just a little too lingering, a snicker as you walk past, a spit of Skoal in a McDonald's sweet tea, even silence. Yes, silence is destruction when it comes to us "freaks" of the world. If we stay silent, we simply become another ignored part of their world. I find it immeasurably sad that I have to use the terms "us" and "them", but it's the way of society these days. "Welcome to the gun show, kids. Fall into line immediately. You are a boy (left). You are a girl (right). You, you creature, are a freak." A binary gender system is the only known and "correct" gender system these days. Well, to the ignorant little boy who works at McDonald's, I have something to tell you. I am a person. "We" are people. I sincerely hope that you can learn that someday.

What the hell is genderqueer?

My friends joke about this picture and say, "Look, it's Cori and her twin brother." They're kind of right. I won't bore you with the confusing details of my childhood, but I feel I must say that I have always felt pressured to act as either a boy or a girl, and I have never fully been either. Yes, my birth certificate says that I am a girl. Yes, I was raised as a girl. Yes, I consider myself a lesbian for lack of a better word. But, recently, I have decided to become a person without gender. How is this done? I suppose we'll find out together. The term I have heard for my decision is "genderqueer." What a wonderful way to start a stereotype! My friends, though many are homosexual, mostly think that this is a very strange decision. I do not. Growing up, I never did the things girls did. I have always been more of a tomboy. However, though trying in vain to force myself into both male and female gender roles, I never felt like I was a boy either. So what am I? Maybe I'll be a person.