This ... is very strange. Very good, but very strange.
I think I'm projecting one-person-I-know's feelings of agonizing discomfort (at best) when misgendered because I've been the emotional support for the aftermath of that button getting hit a lot of times, and that's the source of the sense of dissonance I had reading this poem that mostly goes away when I think about it more analytically. Because when I think about other transfolk I know, there's a lot more variation in how they feel about presenting as their assigned gender. One person remarked that it makes her feel safe and in control when she is perceived as 'boring cis guy, nothing to see here, move along' and wants privacy about revealing any of her real self. I'm so far towards the agender corner of genderqueer, in my Aspie way, that I don't quite grok what someone might get out of Being A Gender as opposed to Playing A Character With An Outfit, but I know there are genderfluid people who need and want to express aspects of themselves that correlate strongly with more than one gender. It's fascinating to see how Calvin is both not-a-different-person and not-quite-the-same-person as Calliope. Unlike Vagary, though, I'd probably be a lot more comfortable hanging out with Calliope.
I'd be fascinated to see Calliope ... well, Cal ... finding or creating a different identity-facet. If she had to do some work remotely over the Internet ... say, if Kraken needed wether-control somewhere they couldn't physically get Cal to, but had a handy telepresence robot ... might e present a non-gendered Cal*? There's still a lot of possible names that begin with that syllable, and not all of them are binary-gendered. I think it's clear to me both that Calliope is closer to the center of who Cal is, but also that Calvin is still important and not just a disguise, and I'm just thinking about the line 'additional shapes may be gained' from the character description.
Also, I waaaaaant to hang out in that lab and glue ALL THE THINGS.
no subject
I think I'm projecting one-person-I-know's feelings of agonizing discomfort (at best) when misgendered because I've been the emotional support for the aftermath of that button getting hit a lot of times, and that's the source of the sense of dissonance I had reading this poem that mostly goes away when I think about it more analytically. Because when I think about other transfolk I know, there's a lot more variation in how they feel about presenting as their assigned gender. One person remarked that it makes her feel safe and in control when she is perceived as 'boring cis guy, nothing to see here, move along' and wants privacy about revealing any of her real self. I'm so far towards the agender corner of genderqueer, in my Aspie way, that I don't quite grok what someone might get out of Being A Gender as opposed to Playing A Character With An Outfit, but I know there are genderfluid people who need and want to express aspects of themselves that correlate strongly with more than one gender. It's fascinating to see how Calvin is both not-a-different-person and not-quite-the-same-person as Calliope. Unlike Vagary, though, I'd probably be a lot more comfortable hanging out with Calliope.
I'd be fascinated to see Calliope ... well, Cal ... finding or creating a different identity-facet. If she had to do some work remotely over the Internet ... say, if Kraken needed wether-control somewhere they couldn't physically get Cal to, but had a handy telepresence robot ... might e present a non-gendered Cal*? There's still a lot of possible names that begin with that syllable, and not all of them are binary-gendered. I think it's clear to me both that Calliope is closer to the center of who Cal is, but also that Calvin is still important and not just a disguise, and I'm just thinking about the line 'additional shapes may be gained' from the character description.
Also, I waaaaaant to hang out in that lab and glue ALL THE THINGS.