...And miles to go before I sleep

I just went to the website and checked it out (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/science/08tier.html?pagewanted=2&sq=women%20science&st=cse&scp=1) Definitely an interesting article. I just don’t know if I can believe that the sex (speaking in binary terms) gaps are solely biological when there have been so many sociocultural factors involved. It is significant that the gaps have remained relatively the same for two decades, but there is still quite a difference in the way that males and females are raised, treated, and viewed by society today. Sexism is far from extinct.

Ask me anything

I love your diversity training post. I guess mostly-hetero frequent-transvestite is an easy way to describe me, and sometimes I enjoy making people work to figure out “what” I am. But then other times, it bothers me that they care so much. With short boi hair and old navy cargo shorts I get perceived as a teenage boy instead of a pregnant 20-something. Who cares that I like shopping for “boy” clothes? They fit better, they’re easier to find, sizes are standardized, they’re more plain…it’s an expression of who I am. And I have people that criticize my clothing choices, but what’s funny is when I’m in full “boy” clothes outfit the person chooses to make fun of me for the part of the clothing they identify as being “not for girls.” e.g. they’ll make fun of my jeans but not my shirt so clearly they only have a problem with the incongruities that they can identify, while letting the others slide…ok I hope you got all that! Each ended w/an ellipsis. I don’t have a tumblr but I wanted to get that point across! :-)

Thanks for sharing! Sorry to hear that people have given you shit for the way that you dress. Wouldn’t it be great if people stopped policing gender so damn much?

Thank you. I’m glad that others can appreciate my posted observations and experiences with gender.

It looks like your formspring got cut-off; feel free to write more.

Ask me anything

The organization I work for has all of their employees attend a mandatory diversity training within their first couple of months of employment. Today, while I was at this training, the topic of gender presentation came up.

We were talking about what information we can gather about a person just by looking at them (height, skin color, weight, etc), and it lead to one of the facilitators to address the fact that sometimes you are unable to tell someone’s gender (in binary terms) by looking at them.

Facilitator: Sometimes you cannot find out what someone’s gender is just by looking at them.

[People begin laughing]

Facilitator: Why are you laughing? Let’s talk about it.

Attendee: Well, sometimes you’ll see someone on the street, and you can’t tell if it’s a dude or a woman, and it’s just kind of…awkward.

Facilitator: So why do we laugh at that?

Attendee #2: Because it makes us feel uncomfortable.

Facilitator: I’ve noticed that today’s younger generation is much more comfortable with blurring gender. Decades ago people used to laugh when the topic of race was brought up. Maybe in the future it will be the same for gender-blurring.

I thought that the facilitator handled it pretty well.

I thought I would share how I put on my Underworks Tri-Top binder. Most people know how to do this, but if my friend hadn’t informed me of the steps before my first time binding, I would probably still be struggling to get the damn thing over my head.

1. Strip down to your underwear or birthday suit.

2. Hold the binder down low in front of you and step into it. Pull it up to your abdomen. 

3. Push your moobs aside, as if you’re trying to tuck them under your armpits, as you pull the binder higher and fit your arms into the arm holes.

4. Do some some more tucking and adjusting of the moobs to get the flattest bind you can.

Done!

Anyone have recommendations for somewhat nearby parking for under $20?

Thank you and thank you!

Ask me anything

Remember that plant I posted a picture of in my GPOYW? Cleo just ate it. Problem solved.

One of my roles as a speech-language therapist is to teach kids how to comprehend and use pronouns. I don’t mind teaching things like “I”, “me”, “you”, “they”, “them”, and “it”, but the rest are rather uncomfortable >_<

I have very long, dark, coarse eyelashes. While I recognize that people of all sex chromosome configurations can have lashes with these characteristics, I know that it is generally recognized by society as a female trait.

A month or so ago, I decided to trim my eyelashes - nothing drastic, just a trim. I didn’t know whether they would grow back or not; I read conflicting information online as to whether eyelashes will regrow after being cut.

For me, the eyelash ends grew back. Today will be eyelash-trimming day.

Remember Queer Eye Candy? It sucks that it’s not updated anymore.

I didn’t make it out to the Original Plumbing release party last night. I did, however, get blazed and watch Tim and Eric.

youcouldstay:

beat-your-heart-out:

ohhcomely:

remmbermytitans:

hello-chicago:

idrawinfinity:

itstiff:

justshay:

coderedkush:

(via penishole)

I want to go to the NYC Dyke March as an ally.

mavieenpourpre:

My mom wants me to go, and she wants me to see if I can meet up with any of the other trans people/allies/etc. I know there or on the way there. I know Sebastian/xxboy at the least is going.

Chances are I’m taking a train to Philly from about an hour north of the city (in other words, I kinda can’t remember right this second from which city I’d be taking the train. :x) if that helps any.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to be attending the last day (Saturday) of it.

If any of you folks attending recognize me, feel free to greet me. I probably won’t approach anyone I recognize because I’m kind of shy >_<

Kid who asks a million questions about anything and everything: Boys can’t like the color pink, right?

Me: It doesn’t matter. You can like any color you want. It’s just a color.

—————————————————————————————————

Other kid: I have a secret to tell you.

Me: What is it?

Other kid: *whispers* I like chicken nuggets.

——————————————————————————————————

Other kid: I have another secret to tell you.

Other kid: *whispers* I used to live in Burger King.

Your hair is quite spiffy. I’m sure most Americans over 40 would love to know your secret for dropping a decade off your age.

:D

I told her about this formspring and she said “Yay!”

She said that the book is unbound because it is always changing. If any out there has any suggestions for new content you would like to see in her gender book, you can e-mail her at marycatherinehalfpenny@gmail.com .

Ask me anything

What nationality do I look like?

So, the Staten Island Pride Parade and the Philly Trans Health Conference both fall on June 5th. Hmmm.

I’ve been going to the SI Pride Parade since 2006. If there’s one place that needs more queer visibility, it’s Staten Island. I like being a component of that visibility. Being born and raised in an island filled with bigots makes my participation in this festival feel like it’s important.

…But I also really want to go the THC. Even though I will only be able to attend the last day of the conference because of work, there a few sessions I would really like to check out (“What Does That Make Me?”, Chest Surgery Show and Tell, Safe Injection Techniques, Methods of Mindfulness, Mousy: Passing, Under the Radar, Discovering Your Inner Coach: Life Coaching for Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People, and Voice and Wellness (omg speech-language pathologist stuff!).

You know what would be cool? If I could take a personal day at work on Friday and go to the conference, and then just go to SI Pride on Saturday. Buuuut, I just started this job, and I really don’t want to have to take a personal day so early in my employment.

And then New Paltz Pride is on June 6th.

I absolutely love Pride season, but scheduling conflicts suck.

I’m having a very trangsty week. >:|

I thought I coined the term “hard fart” yesterday, but according to Urban Dictionary, I have not.

This also happened with the term “pwedgy”.

There’s no entry for “facelobe”, though…yet.

…does anyone else find Kathleen Hanna’s singing voice kind of annoying?

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/leotron

Not winter or fall.

Ask me anything

My girlfriend is an artist and recently set up her own website: http://www.marycatherinehalfpenny.com

For those of you interested in gender stuff, she created a piece called “Gender Not as 12 Point Times New Roman”

Also, check out the photography section, which includes some of the awesome displays inside Babeland…and maybe a picture of my prosthetic apparatus.

Hey Rie! As far as Trans 101 resources go, I recommend “T-Vox” (http://www.t-vox.org/index.php?title=Trans_101) and “Being a Trans Ally” (http://transparentcanada.ca/?file=kop7.php) .

Ask me anything

Good question. I’ve been living very much in the present these days, probably because I’m slowly emerging from a deep depression in which I couldn’t imagine myself having much of a future. One thing I yearn for in the future is stability. I would like to get married, have a steady, fulfilling career, and maybe even raise a kid. In terms of gender, I will continue to keep striving for comfort within myself both physically and mentally.

Ask me anything

So, my girlfriend just joined Tumblr (http://mchalfpenny.tumblr.com/) and she’s looking for things to follow (besides queer stuff, ha).

Her interests are:

-Graphic design

-Interior design

-Illustration

-Oil paintings

Anyone have tumblog suggestions I can recommend to her?

My first week of work completed = taking two naps on a Saturday. Win!