He, She and Ze: Transgenderism

Recently, I took one of those, “Are you Butch or Femme?” tests on the internet. As always, I scored as Androgynous—right down the middle. A few minutes later, while doing research for a paper (about Female to Male Transsexuals), I found a “Are you Trans or Not?” test. I thought it would be interesting to see the results, so I took that test, too. Not only did I score as Androgynous again, but the test also suggested that I was somewhat bi-gendered—someone who has fluidity in gender, not completely male, not completely female.

This got me to thinking: What exactly am I? I (like most people) have always tried to define myself, thinking that if I don’t do it first, someone else will. I’ve always considered myself a bisexual woman. When I asked some of my friends if they considered me androgynous, most of them agreed, some going so far as to say one of the things they liked about me was how I could be so feminine, yet seem so masculine at the same time. It’s true that I do sometimes view the world as a stereotypical male: “Divide and Conquer”. And I’ve been one of the many to moan and groan about how difficult it is to understand women. I prefer jeans to a skirt. I’ve never owned a pair of high heels. You rarely see me in makeup.

On the other hand, no one’s ever mistaken me for a male. I have a fairly feminine voice. I walk like a woman. I have some stereotypically female hobbies, like cooking, sewing—all things that can be done by men, but are usually considered feminine past times.

So what am I? What are we all? It’s been said that all men have a “softer” side. Do all women have a “tougher” side, too? Or are we all a little androgynous?

In the end, it doesn’t matter what you are. We all define ourselves. But what happens when you aren’t able to check the “Male” or “Female” in life’s little application boxes? When “he” or “she” needs to give way for “hir” and “ze”? Gender is becoming as fluid as sexuality. Is it time for a change?

These are some books and websites I’d suggest if you wanted to know more about Transgenderism, or Gender in general:

“Transgender Warrior” by Leslie Feinberg.
“As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl” by John Colapinto
GenderWeb
Transgenderism