Private And Public Identities

What does it mean to be a man? Alex Myers’s book Continental Divide portrays Ron Bancroft’s exploration of his gender identity as a transgender man as he leaves home for Wyoming, a state that, in his own imagination, represents manhood. The story centers on one critical division—Ron is born and raised as a girl, but when he decides to confront himself as a man, everyone around him thinks of him as transgender. Wyoming is, for Ron, an opportunity for him to reconcile with his identities.

I went to two of Myers’s workshops on Tuesday. During the first workshop, he introduced the ‘genderbread person’—an illustration that accurately delineates gender concepts. Myers explained the differences between anatomical sex, gender identity, and gender expression. While I had been aware of their definitions, I recognized that while the first two were biological and, to a certain extent, psychological, the last one is social. There is a gap between how we identify and how we present ourselves, often depending on the societal culture that we are situated in—the divide of which explains Ron’s struggle with his own identity, as he feels the need to prove that he is a man on a Wyoming ranch. As Myers pointed out, this social factor changes over time—gender expression was vastly different from it is today during the reign of Louis XIV, or the childhood of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The second workshop that I went to focused on gender norms. Myers discussed his experience in a heteronormative society—from filling out legal paperwork to getting married to playing sports in high school. What was perhaps the most interesting part was our discussion on ‘gendered’ languages; as an English teacher, Myers advocated his preference for gender-neutral pronouns (‘they,’ for example) and talked about how he had to get used to more inclusive ‘lingo.’

After reading the book and listening to Myers’ talk, I began to reflect on two things. First, just how heteronormative is our community here at Governor’s? How inclusive are we for members of the LGBT+ community, many of whom do not feel comfortable coming out? When it comes to dorms, paperwork, and athletic teams, do policies tailor to, or even consider, transgender folks?

Second, how representative is Ron’s story? While he is transgender, he is also extremely privileged—as a white person who has the resource to attend Harvard College. His appearance could easily pass as a male. Ron, or Alex, is the ‘palatable’ transgender story. Considering the fact that African-American transgender women have the lowest life expectancy in this country, there is great diversity within the transgender community, which we should not overlook.