Friday Five, Unraveling Edition

[ofearthandstars]

From thefridayfive

1. How are you stereotypically female?

Mmm, well, I do have a uterus and a tendency to gather body fat around my belly and hips. For more gendered traits, I carry the weighted blanket of feeling empathy for most beings and having a caretaker responsibility (which I would denote as separate from a nurturing/caretaking personality, which I struggle with). I have a strong connection to nature. I am somewhat ruthless in trying to understand myself emotionally.

2. How are you stereotypically male?

I am competitive to a fault. I prefer analytical work related to science and mathematics, and enjoy mechanical/appliance repairs as problem-solving/puzzles. I am not afraid to get dirty. I seek out risk-tasking adventures/activities. I am harshly independent.

3. What parts of you do you consider unclassifiable as either gender?

Pick one of the above? I feel like most gender stereotypes are just that, and ultimately harmful to the individual. Gender and biological sex fall along a spectrum, and so, too, do their ascribed characteristics.

4. Do you think you are primarily male, female, or neither in characteristics?

Many days I veer between feeling neither. Somedays I feel more aligned with the feminine. I don't know that I have ever felt particularly masculine, and due to certain experiences, am aware that I have a bias towards cismen. That said, as my body has changed in the last few years while working out I have less softness and a more masculine form/features in certain ways that is interesting to observe.

5. If you could be born as any gender, knowing the gender prejudices as they are now, which would you choose to be?

Gods, what an unanswerable question. To be born with the confidence that is given to a man, and to move through the world with that, sounds amazing - but also I know it comes heaped with its own expectations and pressures that must feel insurmountable. I am probably most comfortable feeling genderless, and indeed, it was moving anonymously genderless in certain spaces that helped me feel more empowered. That said, I also am keenly aware that living openly genderless and/or intersex comes with its own challenges. I was raised by a set of parents that (subconsciously) encouraged me to explore beyond gender norms/expectations, mainly to instill a sense of self-sufficiency (my father was raised by a single mother, and he didn't want me dependent on anyone else for income or assistance), although I also came of age through the 80s and 90s when genderbending and less gendered appearances were in some ways less targeted by the conservative right as they are now.

I feel like I could write loads more to expound on the above, but there are household chores and acquiring of food to be completed.