Throughout the semester, I have decided to explore the idea of gender and gender identity. This means I will explore the different identities and how those identities have shaped the lives of the people who embody those identities. I will explore from the cis-gender identity all the way to trans identity and being gender fluid or gender queer. Although I did think about exploring sexual identities, I decided that exploring different gender identities will allow me to open more doors into the LGBTQIA+ community than I have before.
For me, when I think of the word “gender”, I think of many things. I immediately think of blonde bombshell women and overly masculine men with bulging muscles. However, I also think of androgyny and how offensive it can be when someone gets asked the question “are you a boy or a girl?”. life is much more than black and white - there are all the different shades and hues in between, which is what makes life interesting.
Although I do know people who identify as trans gender or gender fluid, i think this will allow me to explore more in depth and broaden my horizons out to other groups within the university, as well as out in the “real world”. By the finished product, I’d like to be able to interview people for a documentary style short film which will discuss how their gender identity has effected them throughout their lives.
Some of the examples that I’d like to look into would be the “butch” and “femme” stereotype in lesbian relationships, drag culture, the kinsey scale, and the “barbie and ken” mentality. Throughout this, I’d like to compare the experiences of people in our community to people in the media spotlight like Lavern Cox, Janet Mock, and Carmen Carrera. I would also like to explore the identity of