Something for the Ladies

I have been trying something lately.

You know how there is all this unconscious misogyny out there?

Or at the least, a certain second class citizenship that women face in our culture?

I got to thinking.

Ever since I was a kid (and before that of course), there has been all this bifurcation of the sexes, simply due to differing pronouns for each sex and also, different proper names for each sex. Certainly different curse words for each sex. Etc.

So I have been trying this. When I see a woman who is scowling on the subway...I don't think to myself, "What a horrendously unpleasant hag. I bet her name is Witchywanda."   Instead, I think, "That person looks unhappy."

In general, I am trying to use the word person instead of any pronoun or any gender specific word at all.

So it might not be long before someone asks me, "How was the interviewer last night?" and I will respond, "A fine person, in a brown coat with black boots. An up disposition. I would be happy to see the person again."

And with that... I have remained completely gender neutral.

People are just people.  No more identifying them by genitalia for me. Call me a crazy bitch, but that's what I am trying for a while. See what it does to my experience with everyone. This could be empowering. Or confusing. But confusion is good.

There are so many ways out there--to feel like you can't breathe.