Lez Feminables | Issue 06

Lez Feminables | Issue 06

The Mentalist

I don’t understand this gender/sex difference you keep going on about.
A person’s sex is male, female, or intersex; is biological; and dictates the form a body will take. Wait! I know someone is reading this and assuming this means that being feminine/masculine is an inescapable fate! And you! That other person who is now thinking that trans* people are clearly crazy! You’re wrong! You’re ignorant and you’re wrong! Someone’s gender is their identity as male, female, or something else, and can be completely different to their sex. Though people used to believe in biological determinism and keep women in kitchens and men in garages, we have now realised that most people are a little bit “masculine” and a little bit “feminine.”

I met this girl but she keeps saying she’s a he, what the hell? What’s going on with her? Or him?
So at first glance he seems like a girl, yes? But he says to refer to him as a male? Well, before I go any further, here’s the golden rule for every interaction you ever have: respect the other person’s identity. If he has said to call him “he,” then do so. It can be really upsetting to have a very integral part of your identity ignored. That’s what I’d guess is happening here: the person you met has a gender identity that differs from what you assumed it was. Because we’re enlightened folk, we’ve figured out that our mortal shell bodies don’t always fit our minds, and this guy here is telling you his mind identity. His mindentity. Fuck I’m clever. Respect his identity.

I swear my flatmate’s got hysteria. What’s hysteria? So many chicks are totes hysterical about the stupidest things!
If your flatmate went to a gyno back in the nineteenth century and got a bit angry then yeah, she’d defs have hysteria. However, modern medicine has proved that your average uterus does not, in fact, sometimes go for a wander up to the brain and infect it with crazy babymaker juice. Which is what “hysteria” is, BTW: it’s when a woman’s uterus detaches and floats up to her head, causing her to become irrational. A quick spot of research will prove that this has never happened to anyone, ever.

When it comes to the mind, our bodies can often be the temples of religions we don’t fancy. Our flesh clothes can’t always keep up with our brains, and that makes interaction with other brains and their ill-fitting bodies confusing at times. The key to navigating all this is to listen to people. It’s really not that hard. Respect the mindentity.
This article first appeared in Issue 6, 2013.
Posted 4:40pm Sunday 7th April 2013 by Glitter Grrl.