I know two people who were born in the wrong bodies and have gender reassignment surgeries. One was a man when I married him to his wife and now she and her wife are still, indeed married, for love for them is about hearts, not parts. And both ladies are very happy. So I am somewhat (a very little) informed about the struggles that go along with being transgendered. I don't know much, or anything, really about being gender fluid, as Riley is in Symptoms of Being Human. I am quite sure that gender fluidity has always been around, but there was no name for it. And now people who are gender fluid can put a name to their feeling and share their feelings with others. I hesitated when I wrote that last sentence. I was going to put "suffering from" but then I thought, is it really "suffering?" I don't know that answer, as I would think that some people "suffer" as a result of their gender fluidity and some people don't. I, in no way, meant it to be disparaging. It was just that in this book, Riley does seem to suffer. Now, I don't know if that is because of Riley's concerns about society's treatment of him or her? I mean, if the world were truly a loving place, then Riley wouldn't have to worry about whether or not today was a female day or a male day. So I guess that the suffering comes from society's failure to love as Christ loves us. So it isn't Riley's gender fluidity that is a "disease" or something from which Riley "suffers" it is because we refuse to love others.
Great book. I learned a lot, too.
What's Going On Here?
There are SO MANY wonderful book review blogs out there and I can't compete with them, that is for sure. So this is not a book review blog. This is just a way for me to organize what I have read so that I can be better at matching the right book to the right person. The blog title comes from the brilliant mind of the most talented woman who ever lived, Ms. Judy Garland. The full quote is, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else." That is what I hope to do here and in ever aspect of my life.
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