Gender ain't what it used to be
Transmissions
Published 06/30/2011
by Gwendolyn Ann Smith
http://www.ebar.com/columns/column.php?sec=transmissions&article=167There was a time in my life when I viewed gender as a very black and white dichotomy, where there were men and there were women – even though I understood that sometimes there were people who transcended their birth gender on either an occasional or a permanent basis. Nevertheless, the world was composed of two basic genders, and that was that. One gender is from Mars and one from Venus, to pull from a very hackneyed book title.
While my thinking evolved, I suppose this is the view of many, if not most. I suspect the average person on the street sees only two basic genders, and identifies strongly with one or the other. There's no question in their mind which of these two options they fit within, and they've felt much the same for most if not all their life. They were born a man, they'll die a man, and in between they'll do all the things they expect a man to do. Easy peasy.
