Grrrrrlllllll

I discovered this shirt while folding a basket of laundry. I am wearing it without asking if I may borrow it. It belongs to my daughter who purchased it at her all women's college for an event called Gender Blur 2007, Dis/coursing Gender. I feel racy and provocative in this tee shirt. (Notice I'm wearing a cardigan and will probably button it up over the dancing pussies.)

When I think about it, I have been quite the gender bender in my life. First, as most of you know, I've worn my hair boy-short (and during the years boys didn't wear it short) for the majority of my adult life. In high school career testing I matched up with males and male positions, notably priest and YMCA director. I was barred from one of those occupations and wasn't the least bit interested in the second but I have bumped around in male-dominated industries and positions. HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning is not a field for pussies.

In college I discovered the concept of androgyny. It meant the blurring of the sexes yet oddly, the word is a technical term for an embryo that contains only the male chromosome. The image of androgyny for me is a boy or girl with a 60's Beatle haircut (the haircut I have sported for many years!). I was taken with the idea and often found myself in discussions about how stupid it was that girls had to be a certain way (the way I wasn't) and that my kind of girl--smart, strong, tom boyish, loud, and sometimes independent--wasn't as attractive to boys. I wasn't a girlie girl but I was, and still am, a GIRL. This whole issue caused a ton of angst for me in my late teens and early 20'. I was at war with myself which was largely evident in my horrible sense of style. I wore overalls, crazy colored socks and earth shoes nearly every day. Sigh.

So, I am woman, hear me roar (especially since I've lost most of my estrogen!) And more importantly, pussies unite!