Hmmm interesting thread and thank you for starting it Mrs Ark. I know this may be hard to grasp for many, but oddly enough I have never analyzed the ID of the “we,” and I’m the sort that analyzes everything…just not this.
When I was younger I had no idea what I was…I just knew I felt like a man within and was attracted to woman. I’ve know this about myself my entire life. My first memory of it coming to the surface was with my family, I was two years of age, when I responded to my grandmother’s comment “when you get married and have children.” My response to her “I’m not having any children and I’m not marring no man.” This memory was confirmed by my mother years later when I came out at the age eighteen.
However, back then the world was different...it was not ok to be me, it was downright dangerous to be in a same sex relationship, never mind to be who I truly was…which was and remains TG. My journey has been hard at times and a very long one at that. I had to try and hide myself for many years...tried to fit and appear somewhat like the world expected me too. But, it never really worked. I was to masculine and felt out of place and people could tell I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. As I got older…I started to understand myself more and began to allow myself to just be who I am. The more I did this the more I noticed people accepting me for me. I now live as an openly TG individual in my work and in my social life. I do not ID as anything other than that…sometimes I pass and others I do not. Does it rub me the wrong way when someone uses female pronouns? I would be lying if I said no, but I honestly don’t get offended by it either. How can I really… how can I fault them for seeing the form in which I was born?
Although, I have been known to request people to not use pronouns all together, when talking to or about me to others, for example: my secretary when calling on my behalf or speaking of me, uses my name..not a pronoun, for I am not my gender…I am just me.
It is because of this that I have never sat and pondered on the ID of “we”...let the world see it as they will, it does not affect my daily life, because as long as I know who I am and the person I am with knows who she is, it doesn’t matter.
I do respect those who do though. I find the topic very interesting and look forward to following the discussion.
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