\u201cHow to become a real man, a real woman, the real you, or something else entirely.\u201d (Bornstein, cover page)<\/p>\n
This fabulously ironic subtitle on Kate Bornstein\u2019s My Gender Workbook<\/i> is suggestive of a na\u00efve societal notion.\u00a0 The notion that: if one does not conform to society\u2019s expectations of their gender role, then they are not a \u201creal\u201d male\/female.\u00a0 Bornstein presents this assumption, alluding to the fact that her workbook is going to help people fit the \u201cnorm,\u201d when in reality it completely goes against this norm.<\/p>\n
In the case of Tyler from Mootoo\u2019s Cereus Blooms at Night<\/i>, Bornstein\u2019s Workbook acts as a lens to see more deeply into his situation.\u00a0 According to the synopsis found on the back of Mootoo\u2019s novel, Tyler is a \u201cvivacious male nurse.\u201d\u00a0 Bornstein would say that the assumption of his gender is an unfair one.\u00a0 The synopsis is often one of the first things that a reader reads to get a sense of the plot and content of a novel.\u00a0 In this case, the reader is told that Tyler is a male, perhaps before they even start reading the book, eliminating the ability for said reader to form their own gender for Tyler.<\/p>\n
\u201cI held up the dress and slowly stepped in to it, savouring every action, noting every feeling,\u201d (Mootoo, 77).<\/p>\n
\u00a0Perhaps (s)he could be a vivacious male who likes to dress in women\u2019s clothing from time to time, or, Tyler could be a woman who does not usually wear dresses.\u00a0 But, because of the synopsis, we automatically assume that Tyler is gay, feminine, flamboyant, and maybe transgender.\u00a0 Bornstein would say that all of these assumptions are wrong.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t matter<\/i> that Tyler is supposedly a male, because what decides that?\u00a0 The fact that he has a penis?\u00a0 The gender binary that exists and has existed forever, is a very limiting one and an outdated one at that.\u00a0 As a society, we are collectively getting better about prejudices and preconceived assumptions about others, but one issue remains: we still notice.<\/i>\u00a0 We have been trained, since birth, to think:<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0penis=boy=strong\/athletic\/masculine=likes girls, and \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 vulva=girl=emotional\/caring\/feminine=likes boys<\/p>\n
So, when a person with \u201cmale\u201d anatomy puts on a feminine article of clothing, we notice that something is different<\/i>.\u00a0 Even if we are completely accepting of these \u201cdifferences,\u201d the fact that we acknowledge the difference shows that it still matters.<\/p>\n
So, to draw back on Bornstein\u2019s subtitle, is Tyler trying to become a real<\/i> man, a real<\/i> woman, or something else? And why should he have to choose?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cHow to become a real man, a real woman, the real you, or something else entirely.\u201d (Bornstein, cover page) This fabulously ironic subtitle on Kate Bornstein\u2019s My Gender Workbook is suggestive of a na\u00efve societal notion.\u00a0 The notion that: if one does not conform to society\u2019s expectations of their gender role, then they are not … Continue reading The How-To Guide for Choosing a Gender: DIY!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2037"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}