/* Couple things. This blog is mainly for my brain dumps, which means that I will probably end up talking about primarily my life (the moving posts), gender and sexuality (like this one), politics, and some technology. Just fair warning. */
Now, jumping right in...
Being Bi+Gender gives one a completely different view on Gender and Sex(uality). Since I've become aware of what is going on inside of my head, I have noticed that many people do not seem to differentiate between the two terms.
To me...
Gender: One's state of being - physically or mentally. Male? Female? Anywhere in between?
Sex(uality): Straight? Gay / Lesbian? Asexual? Pansexual? Bisexual? Who are you attracted to?
Working with these two terms can get tricky. Someone's sexuality does depend on their gender in certain cases. For instance, as a male, I am straight - but as a female, I am a lesbian (Either way, I like women!). Such is a case where it does depend on gender. Asexual, pansexual, and bisexual really do not depend on gender, as they can apply to anybody.
Gender is a sliding scale, with pure male and pure female at the extremes. Most people tend towards one or the other extremes. Some, however, slide closer towards the middle, which is where we get combinations such as 25% male, 75% female, or androgynous - 50 / 50, and everything in between.
We classify everybody as one of the two extremes, in almost all cases. Go out to a website, for instance, one where you have to register (that's a lot of them these days...), and look at the drop down box for gender - although most call it sex, even though it isn't. Most cases, there are the two extremes, and you can't choose anything else. To register, that is required information, even if it isn't made "public" on the website. Go look at any government form. Same thing. Female or male. Why? Somewhere along the way, our society took a nice, fucked up turn for the worse when it comes to these issues. Whereas people who were "different" in this regard were once respected, now some must live in fear for their lives - see the UAE (United Arab Emirates) [brought to my attention by Chris Paget's Twitter] - and even here in the good old United States of America. Oh wait, maybe that should be 'especially,' not 'even'... Another rant for another day though. These questions with only answers of extremes make it that much harder for those of us who are so called "different" to be who we truly are.
(Yes. It is very hard to 'classify' without using these extremes, as the only other real terms I have come up with are Androgynous and Bi(+/-)Gender, and they only describe somebody that falls very close to the 50/50 mark. Therefore, if I refer to somebody as a male or female, I'm not referring to the extreme, I'm referring to the side closest to what they "are".)
Honestly, what does it matter if my body is male or female and my brain's the opposite?
That's Gender. Then we have Sexuality. In our world of extremes, I have two sexualities - straight and lesbian. Weird, huh? But since I like girls and am externally male, I'm straight. Internally, I'm a lesbian. Not so weird once you start looking into the depths. I'm not going to go on a rant about sexual preferences and the lack of tolerance of others for "deviant" sexualities - that's for a different day. Suffice to say, it doesn't matter who you love. Sexuality is who you love. So, if a form says sex instead of gender, should I put straight or lesbian down, as opposed to male or female? Because honestly, that's what they're really asking, and that's a rather personal matter there. Sure, it's three letters shorter, but considering how much of a stickler for details the government likes to be, they of all people should be able to print three extra letters. Maybe I should start putting straight instead of male on said forms... They are asking for my sex. Or... Are they asking me to come have sex with them? I'm sorry, but I don't think I could ever do a politician... Most sicken me too much already.
Seriously, people. It's three extra letters. Use them and quit making yourselves look stupid.
Am I being a real pain in the ass about the difference between two words? Probably. But remember, I am a grammar nazi. That shit makes a lot of difference.
Let me wrap up with this. I am a person, no matter what others like to say, no matter who I seem to be.
Peace.
