Expression vs. True Identity

As I sat in the PAC waiting for Alex Meyers’s presentation to begin, I heard a student behind me murmur, “Wait, he actually looks like a normal guy.” This caught me off guard and I wasn’t very content with the implications associated with the student’s use of the terms "actually" and “normal.” In saying this, the student made it sound like Alex would always be an outlier: a transgender male who was lucky enough to look as though he was born a male and hadn't undergone a transition. The student made it sound like it was intangible for a woman to transition and look like or pass as any other cisgender man. Can you really define normal? Would all so called "normal men" dress, talk, and behave in the same way? It is easy for us to make generalizations about how a female or male looks, dresses, or acts, even though these generalizations could be downright incorrect. The issue we face in today’s society is that too many people overlook how damaging it can be to label someone’s identity based off of how they choose to express themselves. 

Considering my lack of knowledge about European history, when Alex Meyers showed us the photo of King Louis the 14th, my mind immediately assumed that the individual in the photo was in fact a woman. Boy was I wrong. The long garments, the high heels, and the long hair deceived me. In this day and age, longer hair, dresses, and heels are viewed as gender expression cues that a woman would typically employ. This photo of King Louis the 14th is proof that norms change and evolve over time. The following photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt from countless years later also supports this notion. Yet again, I immediately assumed that I was looking at an elementary school girl, but was met with the reality that this was a childhood portrait of one of our former U.S. presidents. In the photo, Roosevelt is wearing little black shoes with bow ties, a white dress, and has a bob cut. He even holds a frilly hat covered in large feathers. The majority of people without previous exposure to these photos and little knowledge of the two historical figures would assume that both individuals were female at a glance. Gender expression is constantly changing and it should not be viewed as finite. During King Louis the 14th's time, it was typical for an upperclass male to have long hair and wear heels, but now it is typical for women to wear heels and have long, lucious hair. Gender expression is not bounded and components of how you choose to express yourself should not be compartmentalized by others.

In “Continental Divide,” when Ron’s coworkers at the ranch discovered that he was transgender, they reacted violently and refused to tolerate that Ron had deceived them with what they believed was a false identity. Because he looked just like any other cisgender male, there was no question in their minds that he could identify as something other than a cisgender male. When they discovered that this was not the case, it was as though Ron’s character, his abilities, and his identity were nothing but a lie. His prowess and his character meant nothing to them because they no longer viewed him as a true man. Although this is a fictional novel, this is the reality we have lived in for centuries. We are certainly making steps in the right direction, but the harsh truth is that many people in this world or either resisting or merely tolerating transgender people along with other members of the LGBTQ+ community, rather than accepting them. Many people view members of the LGBTQ+ community as exceptions to the norm when they should be viewed in the same scope as any other human being.