Under Construction

Many things have been on my mind lately, but my energy has been spent in other places. Yet today I can not let the idea of gender being constructed socially pass by. Today alone I have had 3 conversations that can boil down to the social construction of gender in Western societies. The more people who seek my advice (independently of each other and without my prompting), the more interested I become about gender neutrality.

The other day, I watched Hedwig and the Angry Inch, where gender is presented through sex changes, cross-dressing and through a mixture of them both. These active potrayals of gender are combated with Plato's symposium idea of gender where we are seeking to fin our other half to become one whole again. The idea of gender neutrality is present throughout the movie, and it begins my though process of gender neutrality outside of the trans community. It is not a Western phenomenon to transition genders, yet the idea of sex transitioning remains a euro-centric feat, perhaps due to the level of modern medicine required.

I question our gender constructions more and more, with individuals well outside of the trans community approaching gender in a more neutral way. Admitting to not liking pronouns, or to having never fully fit into the conceptions of gender society has placed on them. The are considering embracing gender neutrality, without huge coming our parties or vocabulary to define themselves. This some what sudden surge of gender neutral feeling individuals in my life got me thinking, perhaps it is human nature to be neutral. This would make the social ideas of gender precisely constructed. Not only that though, it makes our sexualities and other identities constructed as well.

Many of these individuals do not have queer identities, and are truly keeping gender and sexuality separate. This is the ideal situation that I want to be in, yet I find that my gender often defines my sexuality. I am well past defining my gender, and now I am starting to drop the identifying factors of my sexuality as well.

It does not seem worth the time or effort any more.
I'd rather be a gender neutral sexual individual than most anything else.
I also hope the conversations about gender continue in my life, especially with folk outside of the queer and trans community. Maybe we will all be neutral someday, and the word neutral won't even be necessary to signify between those who are and are not.

Of course biological sex will remain present, but in my postmodern world that isn't a problem anymore either.