(no subject)
I suppose this is nothing new to most people who might have even a cursory relationship with gender, but wannabe Gender Soldiers get my goat.
Ok, I call them gender soldiers*, because they seem mostly concerned with being do-as-you're-told grunts wanting to bring the front lines of some gender war into my company. Hon, I've fought in the gender wars in ways you probably haven't gathered. Saying that a car "smells of Boy", or complaining about "the two boys in the front" isn't furthering a cause, nor is freaking at the concept of a boy in a skirt. It isn't bringing attention to anything that has escaped the attention of anybody in this civilisation. If you want a cause, pick another, because your actions for this one merely serves as an annoyance.
I guess knowing the battlefield a little better, and having taken fire (not always directly) from far more capable warriors, makes these stupid little gestures nothing more than a mild buzz from an annoying fly, but it's annoying all the same. It's just adding to the noise that confuses an all too mixed signal.
In this instance, I wish I could call this little conscript on it. The problem is, I'm comfortable where I am right now in that circle. It's all too easy to draw attention to my veteran status, and while it's a status that I proclaimed while I marched through the streets of Dublin yesterday, it's something that could quickly become the centre of my identity in the group. So, I bring up the topic, and it never drops, and I'm still fighting the same old stupid skirmishes... or I let this one pass me by. Both prospects set my teeth on edge.
I say this with all seriousness to potential militia - leave it to the professionals.
* I'd prefer a term that really signified the lowest of the low ranks of grunts, as I know there's a great range of views of the fighting profession on my flist, but "gender privates" just brings an altogether different image to mind.
Ok, I call them gender soldiers*, because they seem mostly concerned with being do-as-you're-told grunts wanting to bring the front lines of some gender war into my company. Hon, I've fought in the gender wars in ways you probably haven't gathered. Saying that a car "smells of Boy", or complaining about "the two boys in the front" isn't furthering a cause, nor is freaking at the concept of a boy in a skirt. It isn't bringing attention to anything that has escaped the attention of anybody in this civilisation. If you want a cause, pick another, because your actions for this one merely serves as an annoyance.
I guess knowing the battlefield a little better, and having taken fire (not always directly) from far more capable warriors, makes these stupid little gestures nothing more than a mild buzz from an annoying fly, but it's annoying all the same. It's just adding to the noise that confuses an all too mixed signal.
In this instance, I wish I could call this little conscript on it. The problem is, I'm comfortable where I am right now in that circle. It's all too easy to draw attention to my veteran status, and while it's a status that I proclaimed while I marched through the streets of Dublin yesterday, it's something that could quickly become the centre of my identity in the group. So, I bring up the topic, and it never drops, and I'm still fighting the same old stupid skirmishes... or I let this one pass me by. Both prospects set my teeth on edge.
I say this with all seriousness to potential militia - leave it to the professionals.
* I'd prefer a term that really signified the lowest of the low ranks of grunts, as I know there's a great range of views of the fighting profession on my flist, but "gender privates" just brings an altogether different image to mind.