Gender Woes

well hello there faithful bloggers, I write this with the hope you're all well middle of the first week in May… May… ~sigh~ Does any one else find it difficult to process the fact we are already almost half way through the year??

moving on…

I come to you this week with a drawing I know you've already seen but before you feel cheated I have good reason for it's use - you see, the remarks it has received lately have prompted the memory of a rather good story that gets the vote for entry of the week. 

(probably the most r words you'll see in a sentence that isn't an example of alliteration) 

Firstly you should know that my inspiration for drawing this illustration was to depict my reaction to modern art. My. Reaction. Yeah, it's me… yet I've had almost everyone refer to the character as a boy. Ok, so I'm aware that  for someone who has always been somewhat androgenas in their dress sense the idea of jeans and a jumper leaning towards male seems strange. However despite the less than girly clothing and unkept do, this little one is indeed a girl. 

Luckily  the whole saga reminds me of a time when I was first shown how fluid the notion of sexuality is - don't worry, it's nothing risque. I was around 11 and on another glorious Lemon Tree holiday romp staying at a friend of our cousins for the night. It was out towards the red centre so the increase in heat and flies had become particular noticeable. Fortunately we found solace in the sudden burst of breeze we felt jumping on the trampoline in the front yard (whilst trying to push each other of) which is how we met … the neighbors. 

Sad story, their mother had died when the youngest (a girl) was born. Unfortunately she was the only girl… and growing up in a household of boys had made her…confused. We tried our best to educate her otherwise but alas, our attempts were futile. In fact she was perfectly happy being a boy, and lets be honest, at 6 there really isn't a huge difference. I was happy to let it go, some however found the idea of gender far more important….  

Have you ever seen an 8 year old explain to a 6 year old the difference between boys and girls?

I have…

I will never forget the memory of Alex becoming increasingly agitated in what she thought was an imperative gender intervention..

"NO. NO. NO! you're not LISTENING… ok, Boys… Boys have, a sausage…. Girls, have a…. a…. (desperately seeking word for something flat...) a pizza. YOU. have a PIZZZA… get it???" 

Classic. 

So, I guess what I'm saying here is when I really think about it, I don't care whether people think she's a boy or girl, as long you get the message, and any way, it's not the first time someone's thought I was a boy… but that story's for another time ^_^

Happy Mothers Day for Sunday!