As a little girl, I was a huge tomboy. I had a "boy" cut. I loved sports. I preferred action movies over girly romance. You couldn't catch me in makeup, something I still prefer to live without. Even with all that, I knew I was a girl. There was no question, I would be like GI JANE, and I would prove to the world that girls could conquer it. When someone misgendered me, "Little boy." I would correct them matter-a-factly, and I remember that feeling of being unseen as who I was. So what if I liked hiking over going to the mall. Maybe they were the weird ones assuming all girls look a certain way.
Now in my mid30s, I realize a few things.
1) Being a tomboy was part of my identity, and I was judging those girly girls.
2) You can be a tomboy and still like girly things.
3) You can be girly and play sports.
4) Misgendering happens all the time. Say sorry and get it right the next time.
5) When possible, use neutral pronouns.
It's #PrideMonth, and as a cis-female, I wanted to use my tiny platform to support any #LGBTQIA+ people who need it. You are who you are, even if you don't know which label to give yourself. Our funny little monkey brains love categorizing things, but sometimes the tags humans create don't really work. And is that surprising? There are billions of humans; of course, not all will fit in the arbitrary boxes we use. But also, we change. As a child, I was a straight white tomgirl. As an adult, I'm a pansexual woman who enjoys being girly as much as being androgynous. These labels are MEH, but they are tools. I can connect with others in my community because of them.
One day I hope, we can toss out these labels, but until then, we use them because there are people out there trying to treat others as less than. In a country where the "right to pursue happiness" is written in the constitution, people still want to refuse to allow kids to play sport. "Twenty-two of the bills were written to ban trans girls and women from joining female sports teams, while six others also include boys' and men's teams. Eight states — Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee — have passed their version of the bills into law, preventing transgender girls from competing on the sports teams of their choice." (Jones, 2021) Some lawmakers try to say they are protecting girls. Wanting to ensure it's fair. Sports isn't fair. It never was. Sometimes people are just born with better genetics, while others work their asses off to place. In the end, the rules are just as arbitrary as the labels we create for gender. They can change if needed, but people are fighting it. But that leaves the rest of us wondering why it's okay to protect cis-girls by excluding everyone else? How is that fair to the trans kids?
When I was in middle school, I ran track. I loved long-distance, especially the mile. I wasn't the best, but regardless of how many people I competed against, I was consistent- always getting 3rd place. Well, except once. No one else from my division showed up to run, forcing me to run against older girls. I was excited either way. I had no idea how I would do, but I ran my little legs off. Before that day, my best time was 7 min 20 seconds for a mile, which wasn't that bad for the girl's division. After that run, my time was 6 min 28 seconds! I finished a mile in UNDER 7 minutes. Unknowingly running with better athletes made me a better runner. I ran, gasping at the end. Tears ran down my face, both from the pain in my lungs and legs, but also seeing my beautiful time. The judges determined that though I was the 3rd girl to finish, I walked away with 1st for my division for that day. I was elated. But this is why I am convinced that they can allow people to run against each other regardless of gender and still note times. They were still able to place me in my division. It's not like it super hard to figure out either. In the end, I'm running against my own time, not the others. I, even today, am so proud of my accomplishment.
This is why I'm an advocate of coed sports, especially for children. Your division should be based on your personal best times and not your genitalia. Whether it be football, track, or swimming, let's teach children to train hard, work as a team while also competing individually, and of course have fun. States implementing this ban should have federal funding removed from them until these unconstitutional bans are removed. Allow kids to play.
Citations
Hassan, M. (2018), Silhouette Runner Woman Man Run [Image], Pixabay Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/vectors/silhouette-runner-woman-man-run-3714993/
Jones, Z.C (2021), The Bans on Transgender Athletes- 6 Facts. CBS News. Retrieved from: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-athlete-bans-facts/
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Non-FictionThese little hashtags pepper our lives. These are mine and how they represent me. At least that is how I wanted this book to be. It was to be a book of short articles using a hashtag as inspiration. However, it has grown and changed as I have. ...
