Tag Archives: perception

Mutable

Posted on August 15, 2015 by doesnthavetobethisway

“Sometimes I feel like ‘male’ is an island I’m clinging to after being lost at sea.” This is hard for me to write about. It has been a year since I started working in a place where everyone (who didn’t … Continue reading →

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A Vignette: Misgendering in Exchange for Queer Visibility

Posted on October 10, 2014 by doesnthavetobethisway

Scene: Me, buying lunch. As I struggle to pull my card out of my wallet (it’s kind of jammed in there), I am aware of the cashier watching my face in a subtle, yet noticeable way. I glance up and … Continue reading →

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Hey Feminism, Trans* People Exist!

Posted on September 30, 2014 by doesnthavetobethisway

I want my freedom to be boundless and expansive, not carved into a landscape of other oppressions. Last week when I watched a video of Emma Watson, Harry Potter star and also now the United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador, addressing … Continue reading →

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Nametags, Pronouns, and Lifting the Burden

Posted on July 19, 2014 by doesnthavetobethisway

Wintertime, about a week before I was to begin physical transition, I was at a Quaker retreat. At this point in time, folks who didn’t know me consistently and incorrectly presumed I was a cisgender woman, much to my dismay. This is … Continue reading →

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Perception Anxiety

Posted on May 15, 2014 by doesnthavetobethisway

I often worry that others’ perception of my gender is like that of a computer monitor that has been left on the same screen for too long without a screen saver. When this happens, the screen that has been left … Continue reading →

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Optical Gender Illusions: How to Truly See Your Trans* Friend’s Gender

Posted on March 30, 2014 by doesnthavetobethisway

I have entered an ambiguous time in my transition. Like the color of the tiles in the checker shadow illusion, how my gender is perceived is often entirely context dependent. In the checker shadow illusion, shown above, the tiles labeled … Continue reading →

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