I had such a great time during Gender Bending Day. I decided to be an asshole hyper-masculine aggressive dude all day and it was reeeeeally fun! I tried to keep character all day - I ate nasty processed foods (but still couldn't make myself eat meat, damn!), didn't ride my bike (too pussyish), scratched my imaginary balls a lot, called things i didn't like "so fucking gay, bro," shouted out opinions in class, talked about girly body parts and "gettin my tip wet," and yelled at a lot of people to "SUCK MAH DICK!!" The reaction to this behavior was amusement, which was so not what I was going for! Some people told me that my version of masculinity was fucked up and mean, but I wanted to push it to the bro-ish edge. Also, someone asked me why I was dressed so "professionally." WTF, I was just wearing pants, a jean collared shirt, and a tweed blazer. I dress up all the time - why was this time "professional" and not just "nice?" Oh, yeah, cuz I was a DUDE.

The day made me think a lot about how and why I project myself as distinctively female. I was mistaken for a boy a few times when I had really short hair, so I started wearing a ton of makeup and earrings every day. I don't know why this gender mistaken identity was so emotionally terrible for me; maybe it's such an essence of social identity that I freaked out when I didn't have that to hold onto. Anywaaaay, the moral of the story is that things like Gender Bending Day give me confidence in doing what I feel like and not just what I'm supposed to do. I tried it and it was fine! I even dyed my hair back to it's natural color! I'm a little sick of screaming out "Hey! Look, I'm a girl!" in how I show myself to the world - while it's nice to have prettifying options, it's also exhausting to put make-up on every day. Gender bending helped me further discover that I have a lot more options than I give myself in both superficial and behavioral ways, even down to identity! While the idea of gender can sometimes be comforting in a socially confusing world, it's also so limiting for the binary set of genders. So thanks! I don't know if that was the point, but I still got something positive out of the experience!

I've attached two photos I took with my computer when I was feeling particularly testosterone-filled yesterday.

- Claire White

Reviews?

Hey Everyone!
So, GenderBending Day was yesterday and it was a success in my opinion! (I'm not biased lol)
If you had an experience that you want to share, post here or e-mail javasold@wm.edu!
Kathy M.

Editorial to the Flat Hat

Gender bent out of shape

To the Editor:

Recently, you may have noticed advertisements for various Intro to Women’s Studies Community Action Projects taking place on campus. One project is hosting a Gender Bending Day.

We believe that a strict gender binary and the idea that gender (the social construction of man and woman) must correspond with sex (the biological designation of male and female) raises many problems. Some people feel that their gender is not the same as their birth sex. Others are born inter-sex (with ambiguous genitalia) and are arbitrarily assigned, and sometimes operated on to conform to a male or female gender. Some simply feel that gender is too restrictive.

Why is it acceptable for women to wear pants but not for men to wear skirts? Why are boys afraid to cry, while girls are teased for being tomboys?

Clearly, not everyone agrees that the gender binary should be blurred. We are having trouble advertising for our event.
We posted flyers last week, one reading “What would the world be like without gender?” The other featured a picture of a drag performer.

All around campus, our flyers have been removed from public posting spaces. In one residence hall, after five days, 19 of 25 flyers had been taken down, two rudely defaced and one ripped to shreds.

Someone, who clearly believes that even controversial views have a right to be expressed, kindly taped that one back together and wrote on it a verse about loving each other.

This week’s flyers include cartoons of boys saying, “Boys can like hugs too!”

Four flyers were torn down in as many hours. This is very disheartening to our group’s efforts. To individuals who do not fit traditional masculine or feminine gender roles, this attack could be taken more personally. It is a sad reflection on society when the gender dichotomy is so strictly upheld that people retaliate when they are asked merely to consider challenging it.

We hope that by generating discussion and awareness through Gender Bending Day, we will help our school to truly become the diverse and welcoming community that we want it to be. Please consider joining our efforts by cross-dressing on April 9 and attending our forum in Washington 201 from 6 to 9 p.m. to discuss gender in our society.

— Kathy Middlesex ’11, Ginny Hutcheson ’11

http://www.flathatnews.com/opinions/2232/letter-to-the-editor-april-4

Introduction/Overview

We are asking that WM students cross-dress or genderbend on Wednesday, April 9th. In the evening, there will be a forum in Washington 201 from 6-9pm to discuss the issues of sex and gender. The forum will include Dr. Camilla Buchanan, a local OBGYN, and WM students discussing the impact of gender in everyday lives. It will also include fun demonstrations and activities. Even if you don't attend or dress up, invite you friends so that they know what's going on and to spark some discussion!

Our group project is addressing the issue of gender in American society, specifically the difference between sex and gender. We have chosen to do this because a strict gender binary and the idea that gender should correspond with sex is alienating to those who do not identify as the gender associated with their sex, those who do not always identify with only one gender, and those whose sex category is ambiguous at birth.