The A is for Androgynous

As time goes by, I finding myself taking on more socially 'feminine' activities than I used to. That basically means I paint my nails occasionally. Still, I've noticed that I don't as strongly adhere to 'masculinity.' Not that I ever did, but I'm much less worried about it now.

I theorize that I'm going to take on more 'feminine' roles or behaviors, just as a natural progression. As part of my growth, I think that they'll be included because it feels as though they have been. With my insular existence, there is no real point to be made here, because I'm addressing a personal and individual change within myself. However, when taken out of my own narrow context, there is some dialogue to be had. Namely, we should all have this freedom to do so.

Our current gender paradigm is painted as a strict 'is', a way of being that always has been and forever will be. Of course, this paradigm is also strongly tied to sexism. It is taboo for any one gender to assume roles, behaviors, or thinking that belongs to the other gender, but it's much less taboo for women to 'act like men' than it is for men to 'act like women.' I don't need to paint the implicit assumption here.

I just wonder what it would look like if we were allowed the room and freedom to act however we wanted. Would a concept of gender even exist? It'd be cool because 'manly' men would genuinely be so and 'girly' girls would also. But THEN we'd also have women who hunt and shoot guns, men who gladly bake and cook. Wait... We already have these don't we? Yes, but we have them with the added cocked eyebrows or assumptions that one is not 'man' or 'woman' enough, or is not doing his or her appropo role. Clearly a bunch of bullshit.

I'm not sure why we place such a capital on adhering to gender roles and the current paradigm. I've grown to see it as far less important than people make it out to be, even though I give my own cocked eyebrows (I'm still growing and learning).

Androgyny to me is beautiful and it is a sort of freedom. I get to determine who I am and what I do, which goes along with my gender expression. And, honestly, I wouldn't even call some things 'masculine' or 'feminine' had I not learned this particular gender binary. Without those words or ideas, all I did would just be, it wouldn't have a gender attached to it.

We owe it to ourselves to create this kind of world. A lot of good things would follow as a result.