Living in a world of labels usually works well for most of us. Labels are our way, as humans, to make sense of our surroundings. And I'm the first to admit that I'm more content when things make sense to me.
However, the downside to living in a world of labels is the tendency to forget that all things in life aren't clearly labeled. With this "forgetfulness" comes the urge to judge and reject those things that don't fit quite so neatly. This is what we have done with sex and gender.
Everything, even down to the words we use, is given a gender or is assigned TO a gender. The classifications are always the same: male and female. But, if we look at the world around us, we see that, often, people, animals, and even plants don't fit so neatly into those classifications. There are biological men who are psychologically women. There are babies born with male and female sex organs. There are people who don't identify as male or female, but prefer a third gender.
In true human fashion, we have taken to assigning labels to that which refuses to be labeled. So, now we wrestle with terms such as "homosexual," "transgender," "transsexual," and "intersex," just to name a few. Well, "The Fine Print:We're Calling B.S." presents, "The Fine Print of Gender Identity." We're going to discuss gender identity, the labels we apply, the difficulties people face, and how the law plays into it all.
To get you all thinking, here is a scenario for you to consider, and one Bryan and Seterria will discuss on the show this Saturday, August 18th at 6 pm. Question: What does gender and sexuality mean to you? Are all beings strictly male or female? Something to ponder: An intersex baby is born. [Depending on the medical definition used, as much as 1.7% of human births are intersex.] The baby has more masculine physical traits, so the parents decide the baby will be a boy and raise him as a boy. However, the child has always felt like a girl and, as an adult, is attracted to men. Would you call the child homosexual?
Comment here, on our Facebook page "The Fine Print: We're Calling BS", or hit us on Twitter @TheFinePrintBS. Get some more insight and voice your opinions on air on Saturday, August 18, 2012, at www.blogtalkradio.com/thefineprint or call in between 6-7pm 619-924-0870. We welcome all comments, from the sadly sedate to the awfully outrageous.
Real Talk with no B.S.!
Assuming that this kid feels like a girl on the inside, and not just a fem male, then being attracted to men makes her heterosexual by definition. I'm not a fan of sexuality being labeled any more than gender, but if a girl likes a boy, then that's hetero. The genitals don't make the gender ... the attitude does. If a man is castrated, does that automatically make him a girl? No. Most people are too stupid to realize what's beyond the surface, and this is how we end up having to have these discussions. It infuriates me.
ReplyDelete-Bryan