ofearthandstars | Entries tagged with fridayfive

From

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.

Last week's

thefridayfive:

1. Did the house where you grew up have a newspaper delivered regularly? I don't specifically remember this, though I do have vague memories of searching for and poring over the Sunday comics, so at some point we must have either had a subscription or picked the paper up from somewhere. I have stronger memories of magazine subscriptions - copies of Time or Newsweek (before Newsweek took its swan dive) and National Geographic that would arrive to the house, glossy and shiny, and we'd save stacks and stacks of them for school projects.

2. Have you ever subscribed to an actual print newspaper? No, but oddly enough, when we lived in Smithfield, there was a "free" town paper that was distributed. It was mostly used to line the shelves of the crispers in the fridge and to support the boys' science projects.

3. When was the most recent time you physically picked up and read a newspaper? Our local grocer still carries the state newspaper - occasionally I'll pause to read the headlines, mostly to see what they find newsworthy, but I haven't bought a paper in years.

4. Do you pay for news online now? No. I often think that I should pick up at least one subscription - perhaps The Guardian or The Atlantic. Most of what qualifies for print journalism in the U.S. is disturbingly controlled by money incentives which are complicit in our political decline, which is in part why we are where we are. I do vaguely wonder if lack of subscriptions for news drives the dependence on more nefarious moneyed interests, but it seems ads and revenue have driven the papers, and subsequently the politics, for time immemorial.

5. Do you have any saved newspaper clippings? Perhaps somewhere, amongst my parents' old things that I am unable to part with - I have a few photo albums from their house that may contain newspaper clippings from our childhoods - things like science fair wins or academic awards that published to the tiny local paper. But beyond that, I haven't carried on the practice as an adult.

From last week's

thefridayfive:

1. Would you rather have a fun job that doesn't pay well or a boring job that does? I have always been someone who needed a job that was fulfilling and interesting over a job that paid more. If that weren't the case, I'd be driving a much newer car and living in a much bigger house and probably have a better skin care routine.

2. Would you sacrifice your morals for a job? I am currently trying very hard not to.

3. Would you ever take a job that requires you to be in costume? Pretty much anytime I am on camera I feel like I am in "costume", which is a shirt I haven't slept in, and preferably a touch of mascara.

4. What is your fantasy job? Working with a region/state/county/city/community to develop climate adaptation and harm reduction strategies. Or best-selling author. Or both!

5. Would you like fries with that? Always yes to potatoes. Always. More answers here

From this week's

thefridayfive.

1. What is your favorite vegetable?
This one is haaaard. There are so many great, flavorful vegetables, and their tastes change with the method of cooking. The crunch and astringency of asparagus; the natural sugars of a sweet potato or butternut squash; the humble, earthy flavors of a cremini mushroom; the simple creamy nature of a lima pea or green pea; the joy and heat and variety of peppers! Give me all of 'em. ;)

2. What is your favorite fruit?
Lately it's been raspberries, but for ease of eating, the humble banana, or a nice tart apple. I also adore kiwis and pears but do not buy them very often.

3. What is your favorite cheese?
An awkward question for a vegan, but I'll say the fermented nut cheeses, such as Miyoko's Garlic Herb or Smoked English Farmhouse. (Miyoko's is wonderful, and while pricey, well worth it for any gathering that is a mix of vegan and omni guests, as everyone is delighted).

4. What is your favorite dessert?
Er, I don't know if I have a favorite, though if it did, it would probably be carrot cake or hummingbird cake. L. makes a lovely vegan tres leches cake. Also, sweet potato pie.

5. What is your favorite beverage?
LOL, oh dear. My three main beverages are water, coffee, and wine, which unfortunately makes me a walking stereotype of 40-something femme folk in the U.S. A favorite treat is a vanilla chai.

From

thefridayfive - Los Deportes!

1. Do you play any sports on a regular basis? Which?
Not currently. A few years ago I used to play racquetball con mi esposo, but I have not been involved with any team sports for years.

2. What professional sports do you follow?
I barely follow college basketball, and that's because I'm a Carolina Girl. :)

3. Do you get enough exercise?
Oh gosh, no, but it's something I'm working on. Right now it's PT 3 days a week + hikes on weekends. But my job/life is far too sedentary right now due to work and I'm trying to get back to a balance.

4. What sport would you like to learn?
I don't have anything currently calling my name, though I'd love to get into rock-climbing - not sure if that is sporty enough to sport. It would be nice to get back to running/races, but my feet and hips have been rebelling a while, so I'm not feeling very confident about those things. I want to be more athletic, but it's going to take a lot of work to get back to a fitter version of me that could do so.

5. Are there sports activities you used to participate in but stopped? Years ago I played basketball, softball, and tennis. The most recent would be raquetball. But I miss tennis the most. Again, I'm not sure my joints would let me get back to the level of jumping and running that I did for that, but maybe it's something to try to work towards.

Other thefridayfive players' answers here.

Me, trying to be "social" by playing

thefridayfive, Star Stuff Edition:

1. How many stars can you see in the sky at night where you live? (Not looking for an exact number here, just a general description.) During spring and summer, not very many, but that is largely due to tree foliage. When fall truly hits and it's just the pines, and lower humidity, then we can see a lot more and I can usually make out a few constellations. If there's something we are trying to view, though, we usually have to walk down to the end of the drive, or in some cases out to the end of our street, to get to an area with enough open sky to really see things well. Even then it's a bit dodgy on the horizon due to light pollution from the north, though we still live in enough of a "countryside" location that it's not too bad.

2. What is your favorite constellation? Bahh, I don't know. Maybe the Pleiades? Although Cassiopeia is a surefire easy find and probably the first one I taught to my kids. Years ago I was much better at going out of doors with a guide or Stellarium in tow, though I haven't done it in a while.

3. Are you able to see and identify any planets in the sky? Which ones? Usually Venus, Mars, Jupiter, rarely Saturn. We used to have a nice telescope, but it unfortunately got buggered in storage.

4. Have you ever seen a satellite orbiting above the earth? Yes, we used to regularly track the Starlink satellites, as well as the ISS.

5. Have you ever seen a rocket blasted off into space? Not in person, unfortunately, but we regularly get excited over launches and will watch them broadcast if we are able. And of course, we used to build small little rockets (spouse being a high school chemistry/physics teacher) when the kids were younger for fun. Only once or twice did we set the lawn on fire.... That said, I would love to be able to watch a launch "live" (safe distance permitting and all). There has been the rare occasion where a launch has taken itself over a path within our viewing, but it's been a while since I've seen that. It's probably one of the rare things that I still feel childlike excitement about, even knowing that the impacts of the emissions aren't great.

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Page Summary

Friday Five, Unraveling Edition
Friday Five, until Energy Arrives to Write More
Friday Five
Friday Five - Food Edition?
Belated Friday Five
Friday Five

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