Growing up, my mother taught my sister and me to speak up, to be assertive and to take up space. But there were also more sobering moments, like the time I found myself on a dark street with a woman who quickly crossed to the other side. Sometimes this friendliness led to vulnerability, like the time a beefy guy I sat next to on a plane gulped down two gin and tonics and then told me, tearily, that his wife was leaving him. There were the “Hey, brother”s from gas station employees, the oddly subservient “Sir”s from salesmen who wanted something from me and the presumption of camaraderie from men at the gym, on the train, at work. Elite Sports: The world governing body for swimming effectively barred transgender women from the highest levels of women’s international competition, intensifying a debate over gender and sports.The Battle Over Gender Therapy: More teenagers than ever are seeking transitions, but the medical community is deeply divided about why - and what to do to help them.Generational Shift: The number of young people who identify as transgender in the United States has nearly doubled in recent years, according to a new report.Title IX: The Biden administration has proposed new rules that would bar discrimination against transgender students under the federal law that was signed 50 years ago.The effects of the hormone were remarkably fast, and every morning I’d look at myself in the mirror with reverent awe, charting the muscle forming, the spray of hair covering my chest, the stubble on my lip. I moved to Boston in 2011, and my first week of work at a newspaper there coincided with my first shot of testosterone. I noticed he never did the same to the man who sat on the other side of him. One boorish co-worker at a transcription job I had in graduate school made it his business to reiterate to me, in tedious detail, whatever it was our boss had just told us to do, and it was easier to stand sentry, nodding politely, until he went away. Early in my professional life, I was sometimes simply squeezed into silence. I was frequently interrupted and talked over, especially by men, and especially at work. When I spoke, something clicked in the gunman’s eyes, and he immediately let us go.īut my voice also made me invisible. ![]() That night, my voice - high, sharp, an immediate tell - saved me. I dated women, and my ex and I were once held at gunpoint by a man who went on to target two other straight couples, shooting the men. I was a tomboy kid, a swaggering teen steeped in queer culture, then a masculine adult.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |