The Way We Dress

Yesterday, thanks to my friend Lilith, I was introduced to an interesting article on the way Trans* people dress and the societal expectations placed on us.

The article, from Trans*Scribe, describes the story of a young woman who prefers to wear studded belts, boots, and jeans with her "female" cut tees.  She is still a woman, as far as her identity is concerned.  But she faces ridicule, even from within the trans* community.  Other trans* women tell her she's not doing it "right".

The reason Lilith pointed this article out and what I want to echo is that part of being trans*, especially for those of us who are younger, is breaking stereotypes.  Yes, we are still part of the strong community of people who are born with "the wrong body", but we are looking more toward a world like that described by Judith Butler in Gender Trouble where male and female are not dichotomous, categorical, and determined by socialization but are flexible and developmental.

Gender is an identity and identity is what we make of it.  I identify as male, but if I wake up tomorrow and want to wear a dress, that should be okay.  Scots males, for generations, have been honored in kilts, but in the United States we have this division between male and female based on split-legged pants.

Let's work on learning to accept people for who they are and not forcing them into boxes.  I refer you back to my earlier posted poem The Skirt.