I cannot rule out that I may do a post about how some books read went
along with other issues in other books read at around the same times, but specifically for transgender issues I am moving on.
It should come as no surprise that I did not completely meet my goals for this reading section.
Yes, I did read all of the books I meant to, but there had been some other things that I wanted to spend more time on.
This takes us back in time to the first time I took a comic book MOOC: Gender Through Comic Books
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2013/05/gender-through-comic-books-my-first-mooc.html
Transgender issues were only a small part of the reading, because we also talked about stereotypes and perceptions, but there was some relevant material that stuck with me.
That included the story of the Guevedoces in the Dominican Republic, though I had not remembered or understood at the time that they enzyme deficiency was genetic. I had thought it related to nutrition. Maybe some of that is better understood now, or I just might have missed it.
I also remembered an Indonesian group that recognized five genders, the Bugis. I think it was after the class that I saw something about seven genders in Judaism, except when I try to find that now I come up with six or eight, so maybe someone took an average.
Anyway, I wanted to delve into those more, and how people relate to gender in general. I know the white supremacist way that infuses Western civilization, but it has definite flaws.
I did not end up really doing that. I am of course behind on other reading, which is sort of standard for me now. It felt like I should be moving on, but was it enough?
There are a few things that are reassuring.
First of all, there is one thing I keep remembering about that first MOOC.
One night on Twitter there was a young person expression frustration
with gender, not feeling like they conformed, but maybe not feeling
transgender either... like they just didn't match up.
I don't know that I was even familiar with the term "non-binary" then, and I don't know if that ended up being their answer. Sometimes, maybe the reason you don't feel like a "girl" is that there are two many qualifications put on what girls should be.
I was able to direct her to some of the materials I knew from the course, and it really helped.
About two years ago I was able to help someone else who had concluded that they were non-binary, but then started enjoying girly things, and felt a little weird about it. I had the most specific dream imaginable to reach out to her.
I mention them because I do know that you don't have to know everything to be able to help (fortunately), and that this matters, but also that there is guidance.
I feel better moving on now because I already have a plan for June 2024.
I will commemorate Pride Month with at least five books and researching two other people. That reading list came together really easily and naturally from where I already was.
Maybe I will get into looking at cross-cultural gender comprehension then.
Finally -- and this goes more to the guidance part -- the past couple of days I could not stop thinking about this actress who had a very limited run on the soap opera Loving back in 1992. I don't think I even saw that many episodes with her, and I could not remember the name of the character or the actress.
Fortunately, her character had dated Roger Howarth's character, and he became incredibly popular in another role. The internet eventually delivered Staige Prince, played by Eden Atwood.
She hasn't even done that much acting. She did, however, start the Interface Project, where people with intersex conditions can share their stories.
https://www.interfaceproject.org/
That has been an area where I really feel uninformed. This feels like a good starting point, and it would be so random a way to get that, but I don't think it's random.
Things like that help me feel all right about my path, and my pace.
Related posts:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/10/terf-month.html
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/11/whatever-joanne.html
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/11/transgender-awareness-reading.html
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/11/transgender-awareness-reading-memoirs.html
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2023/12/transgender-awareness-reading-for.html
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