His/Her-Story Part One

When I was a child, I wouldn't play with G.I. Joes, and I wouldn't play with Barbies. I liked Legos, where all the people were androgynous(this was before each Lego figurine was painted to play a specific character). They explored space and rode on trains, and came back home and had relationships. Often the spacemen would land on the pirate planet and trade clothes promiscuously.

I liked Transformers, too. Transformers are implicitly masculine, and certainly marketed to boys. But I liked them. They could change at will between two forms. I also liked superheroes, who would pretend to be normal during the day, but then secretly dress up in bold, elaborate costumes that reflect their true selves and celebrate their unique abilities.

The "trans-" category is exploding these days. People are realizing that there is only middle ground in this world. There aren't even two distinct forms, just in-between.

Some people feel that they were born the wrong gender. That's not how I feel. If I could have the power to change at will between the two, that would reflect my inner nature. I can't physically be both at once, but I can try to express both sides of my personality.

It's not important to me that other people see me as one gender or the other. I'd rather they were comfortable with ambiguity. I'd like them to like what they see and be satisfied with that.