piece<\/a> about the struggles of Transgender people and the preconceived notions that those of us who are CIS believe about them. It made me think of how we should be mindful of everyone. \u00a0CIS people should not assume that they know anything about trans folks since the media has failed so terribly to depict them in anything but a stereotypical way. \u00a0Things will improve with time, but right now we are still behind in our perceptions.<\/p>\nHow does this relate to my future niece\/nephew and my status as a cool aunt? \u00a0As a future Sociologist and a Librarian, I feel that my goal will be to bring awareness to all types of humans. \u00a0To help my friends and family, as well as co-workers and acquaintances, come to an understanding of others, no matter what. \u00a0This starts at home, in both the actual and metaphorical sense. \u00a0Meaning, you don’t have to know someone that is transgender to understand their struggles. \u00a0You just need to have compassion and an open minded understanding of the fact that people are different.<\/p>\n
Gender representation is constructed. \u00a0It is fluid. \u00a0How you feel is not how the person next to you feels. \u00a0These are facts, not beliefs. \u00a0So, with this in mind we must gain the capacity for understanding. \u00a0We must give people the space they need to express themselves without fear. \u00a0We must get to know each other as humans and act accordingly.<\/p>\n
The first step is to stop saying things like, “I don’t BELIEVE that being transgender is real” or “if you are born with boy parts you are a boy, end of story” or, my personal annoying favourite, “if god made you a girl you will always be a girl, even if you change your parts”. \u00a0Bullshit, bullshit, and double bullshit. \u00a0You can believe anything you want, but your beliefs do not negate the fact that Transgender people do indeed exist. \u00a0You can be as stubborn as you want, but learning new things about others is good and, despite your personal belief, will not hurt you. \u00a0And don’t even get me started on the religion thing. \u00a0If that statement is true, why are there thousands of babies born with ambiguous sex organs? \u00a0Why do intersex people exist? \u00a0You cannot pray away what is real and true and scientific.<\/p>\n
So, having said all that, I hope that my niece is a happy and healthy child. I hope that she is able to understand herself and others through a lens of acceptance and not judgement. I hope that she can be an intelligent being that is willing to listen to others experiences and open to learning new things. With an aunt like me, how could she be anything less than super cool?<\/p>\n
Peace, Chantale aka hippiegrrl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Note: I wrote this original post in March of 2014 – a few months before I became an Auntie. The writer and I now have a niece, Hannah, a nephew, Timmy, and another niece on the way. Although this post is old it is HIGHLY relevant. Especially right now. So – preface aside – here … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “Girls and Boys – Perceptions Based On Sex”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Girls and Boys - Perceptions Based On Sex","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42],"tags":[86,20,18,35,19,21],"class_list":["post-1077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love","tag-choice","tag-cistrans","tag-gender-performance","tag-lgbtq","tag-norms","tag-sociology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2XCO6-hn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":461,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=461","url_meta":{"origin":1077,"position":0},"title":"Why I Am A Feminist","author":"chantale","date":"12 February 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I am a feminist because I believe that people of all genders are equal. All human beings, no matter what gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or creed, are equal. We all live on the earth and we are all homosapiens. We also all have to perform basic bodily functions, such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "choice"","block_context":{"text":"choice","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1342,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=1342","url_meta":{"origin":1077,"position":1},"title":"America Is No Longer For Us","author":"chantale","date":"1 April 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.\" - Franklin Delano Roosevelt \u00a0 \"They're not coming to this country if I'm president. And if Obama has brought some to this country they are leaving, they're going, they're gone.\" - Donald\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "equality"","block_context":{"text":"equality","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=29"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1520,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=1520","url_meta":{"origin":1077,"position":2},"title":"Why I Vote","author":"chantale","date":"8 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The day has finally arrived! Election day - the day that, as citizens of the United States, we get to vote. Voting is not something that has always been available to all of us. It took 94 years for black men and 144 years for women to win this right.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "choice"","block_context":{"text":"choice","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":699,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=699","url_meta":{"origin":1077,"position":3},"title":"Let’s Talk About Gender (and Media)","author":"chantale","date":"23 March 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier in the week, I posted an article to Facebook, from New York Magazine. It was titled \"The Retro Wife\". Maybe you saw my post, or the comments that transpired after the fact, maybe not. Either way, I have decided to get up on my gender studies soapbox and write\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "equality"","block_context":{"text":"equality","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=29"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2356,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=2356","url_meta":{"origin":1077,"position":4},"title":"Choices","author":"chantale","date":"25 September 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"You have two choices. Would you rather live in a Christian nation or a free country? In a free country, you are free to be Christian, but in a Christian nation, only Christians are free. Let me rephrase\u200a\u2014\u200aIn a free country, everyone is free to be Christian or not, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "activism"","block_context":{"text":"activism","link":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?cat=96"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":928,"url":"https:\/\/hippiegrrlexplainsitall.com\/?p=928","url_meta":{"origin":1077,"position":5},"title":"Good vs. Evil aka Binaries and Why They Are Not Useful","author":"chantale","date":"5 March 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, the writer and I received a note in the mail. Inside the note was a printed sheet that listed sermon notes from a service attended by a family member. 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