"I think it’s important to acknowledge that everything I have harmed myself with also saved my life, until I didn’t need it anymore." I love that line. It reminds me of another quote "Pain pushes until vision pulls."
Apologies for those among us who are still seeing with old eyes and speaking with old language. It's not you; it's a terrible learning-curve made worse by people who refuse to learn. It's hard to be at the head of the pack, forging new ground. Please remember that. Those who don't learn will be left behind. xo
This whole post is extremely relatable to my nonbinary self who often gets read as a woman. I especially appreciated that you said, "I always come to this place: my gender is not about how others perceive me."
Most of the time when I talk about my gender dysphoria, the response I get is, "well, does that just happen when you are in a certain situation, like someone has just misgendered you?" But that's not it for me. I feel dysphoria sometimes because of the way I _am_, not because someone behaved a certain way towards me. I know that can be different for other folks.
On the flip side, I am quite confident in my gender identity and people saying things to and about me isn't going to change that. :)
"I think it’s important to acknowledge that everything I have harmed myself with also saved my life, until I didn’t need it anymore." I love that line. It reminds me of another quote "Pain pushes until vision pulls."
Apologies for those among us who are still seeing with old eyes and speaking with old language. It's not you; it's a terrible learning-curve made worse by people who refuse to learn. It's hard to be at the head of the pack, forging new ground. Please remember that. Those who don't learn will be left behind. xo
This whole post is extremely relatable to my nonbinary self who often gets read as a woman. I especially appreciated that you said, "I always come to this place: my gender is not about how others perceive me."
Most of the time when I talk about my gender dysphoria, the response I get is, "well, does that just happen when you are in a certain situation, like someone has just misgendered you?" But that's not it for me. I feel dysphoria sometimes because of the way I _am_, not because someone behaved a certain way towards me. I know that can be different for other folks.
On the flip side, I am quite confident in my gender identity and people saying things to and about me isn't going to change that. :)
Thanks so much for your insightful essay.