Page 67 of Nearly Roadkill
Winc:So gender is interactive.
Winc:Scratch?
Winc:You still there?
Scratch:Oh, fine, you sum all that up in one perfectly succinct sentence.
Winc:::blushing:: I’ve been working on it.
Scratch:Well, the more I think about it, the more I panic: whoamIwhoamIwhoamIwhoamIwhoamI…
Winc:Oh hon.
Scratch:If I’m talking to a guy and all of a sudden he becomes a girl, what does that make me? Especially if I’m attracted?
Winc:::softly, slowly:: Hmm.
Scratch:And then I go to the store, to the park, a bar, to work, and I’m told: You are _____. Even though I was born as a biological male/female, I’m *supposed* to belong to one gender.
Winc:::nodding, listening intently::
Scratch:I haven’t been as willing to push, and let go, and just float ::looking around:: out here…
Winc:::murmuring:: yes yes yes.
Scratch:… and if our two genderless spaces are attracted to each other, as they clearly seem to be, no matter the package… why did *we* of all people… immediately put them into such tight extremes of male/female?
Winc:Yes, good question. ::leaning over, kissing you gently:: Because we’re frightened? Human? Because we recognize that we have to take that journey and we want to lay in provisions?
Scratch:Yeah! And because one needs traction in order to make any movement at all?
Scratch:Winc?
Scratch:Hey did I say something bad?
Winc:No no no. You said *traction*. That makes so much sense. That makes pieces come together into a whole. Gender is interactive and dependent on traction. Cool!
Scratch:Oh man. So deep. I gotta take a break. Brb.
END WINC JOURNAL ENTRY
To:Editor, They/Them magazine
From:D.I. Drew
Subject:Two Little Words, So Many Meanings
Hi Asa,
Those two words being: sex and gender. I found it interesting how early this area became a snarl in the discussion. People in ‘the gender community’ now have all sorts of definitions for sex and gender. But we understand those definitions differently from each other. We can’t just sit down and talk and know what everyone else means by those words. Oddly, I notice the more terms we introduce, the more confusing and even restricted things get.
For example, I blithely summarize myself as a dyke, polyamorous, kinky, sometimes asexual; my gender is nonbinary (currently), and femme (mostly). And that still doesn’t say much about me. I lovehow simple things seem to be between these two; they just love each other.
Cheers,
Drew
NARRATIVE ENTRY, JABBATHEHUT
