Last week during a larger company meeting, I made a joke. I didn’t go down too well . . . It was a silly little joke about women. I thought it was quite funny, but some of my US counterparts clarified that it wasn’t in line with the aim to improve the perception of women in the workplace.
I was a bit puzzled how the two related. I just did not get the “gender fuzz”. In a strange way though it made me more sensitive to the real troubles, people can get confronted with when it comes to gender. And how different those troubles can be dealt with.
After writing my post about the single biggest gift one can give children I watched a video on Facebook about Mimi and Joe Lemay’s little boy Jacob, and I couldn’t help but tear up. A beautiful example of embracing your child wholeheartedly. I was moved. It is encouraging to see this story of a transgender child being shared. It may help parents in similar situations to realize they are not alone. We are never as unique as we imagine to be, and that is strangely comforting I think.
Reminded me of a quote from Frida Kahlo:
“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”
Earlier this week I learned about Umlilo. As per Vice’s Noisey: “Umlilo is a shining queer voice from a continent often mired in homophobia. … He’s a singer whose art is activism, without getting in your face about it.”
Hats off. It’s wonderful to see people embrace themselves and be able to show their true colors. I loved hearing him speak. Very calm, very respectful. Music is a great way to convey a message. Subtle yet impactful. If you want to read (and hear) more visit africascountry.com
Umlilo
There is still so much prejudice. “What for” do I ask myself? It does not bring anything. Doesn’t add anything. So why does it exist at all?
I got across an article titled “Ursula K. Le Guin on Being a men” on Brainpickings.org, one of my favorite blogs. The book “The wave in the mind” deals with questions like “Who are we?” and “What does gender mean at all?“. Already the summary is a fantastic read. I have to read the whole book.
Brainpickings.org
The same day a message on the radio caught my attention. It called out that the Swedish have now officially added the word “hen” to the Swedish language. Hen as in not male, not female. The gender neutral pronoun. It looks like it has been there since a few years now, but I had not heard of it yet.
The three letter word driving gender revolution
The gender neutral pronoun
Perhaps the Swedes are even more progressive than the Dutch :-)
Embrace humans for what they are. Independent of sex, gender, race, . . . Diversity is such a wonderful thing. When people start to grasp that, they might just be more happy with themselves as well.
