just a small boy on her bike
"The other day, for the first time, someone asked me what my preferred pronouns were. I lied- but I feel so inexpressibly happy that they gave me a choice."
It's pretty difficult -- I've been trained, sort of, to use gendered terms automatically on the job. It's second nature to me now to say "good morning, ma'am," or "thank you, sir." I never really think about it. I've never thought about it.
Reading that, though... That stuck with me. I started trying it today, keeping myself from calling someone ma'am or sir, male or female -- trying to identify them by what I thought they looked like. It felt awkward, but I was expecting that. And this probably sounds too self-congratulatory, but... I'm proud of myself. I'm happy I did it, I'm glad I was able to do it. I won't just do it at work, either; in social situations, I'll try to ask people before I I.D. them. Some people -- a lot of people -- may look at me like I'm crazy, but if I can make anyone's day just a little bit better just by giving them a choice, I'm happy.
On another (but similar) note, I need to record more. Or at least sing more. I apologize for my voice being all outta practice; I'm tired and not feeling too well, too, so that has something to do with it. But I've been listening to this song so much the past few days. Not gonna lie, it makes me cry.
And I remember that night when
I'm leaving a late night with some friends
And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe
Someone should help me
I need to find a nice man to walk me home
When I was a boy
I scared the pants off of my mom
Climbed what I could climb upon
And I don't know how I survived
I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew
And you can walk me home
But I was a boy, too
I'm going to try to go back to bed for a while. Got some writing and memes and stuff to do later, I think. Have a good... er, rest of your day, y'all! o/
It's pretty difficult -- I've been trained, sort of, to use gendered terms automatically on the job. It's second nature to me now to say "good morning, ma'am," or "thank you, sir." I never really think about it. I've never thought about it.
Reading that, though... That stuck with me. I started trying it today, keeping myself from calling someone ma'am or sir, male or female -- trying to identify them by what I thought they looked like. It felt awkward, but I was expecting that. And this probably sounds too self-congratulatory, but... I'm proud of myself. I'm happy I did it, I'm glad I was able to do it. I won't just do it at work, either; in social situations, I'll try to ask people before I I.D. them. Some people -- a lot of people -- may look at me like I'm crazy, but if I can make anyone's day just a little bit better just by giving them a choice, I'm happy.
On another (but similar) note, I need to record more. Or at least sing more. I apologize for my voice being all outta practice; I'm tired and not feeling too well, too, so that has something to do with it. But I've been listening to this song so much the past few days. Not gonna lie, it makes me cry.
And I remember that night when
I'm leaving a late night with some friends
And I hear somebody tell me it's not safe
Someone should help me
I need to find a nice man to walk me home
When I was a boy
I scared the pants off of my mom
Climbed what I could climb upon
And I don't know how I survived
I guess I knew the tricks that all boys knew
And you can walk me home
But I was a boy, too
I'm going to try to go back to bed for a while. Got some writing and memes and stuff to do later, I think. Have a good... er, rest of your day, y'all! o/