#raespoon

     Are We All Gender Failures? 

By Alice Howard 100970046

Gender performativity is the message conveyed in the collaboration between Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon in Gender Failure. The above clip is the co-authors/ creative contributors performing a section of their writing in a multimedia demonstration in the 27th Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

       Both Coyote and Spoon are known for their writing on not fitting into the gender binary, Coyote as a trans person and Spoon as a retiree from gender. Coyote discusses how being a writer and how words fail at times.  When Coyote says, “The English language is sadly devoid of names for people like me” it really makes you wonder how other languages are able to have a non-gender binary pronoun used in commonplace and it is not a challenge for the public to understand. The English language being as established and steadfast in its ways that it leaves little room for change in the means of a new third genderless pronoun, however through the use of the they/them pronoun devaluing a persons identity is avoided. Coyote explains being miss gendered as, “ A little sliver of me disappears […] all those slivers add up to something harder to pretend around.” Knowing that it makes some feel like their soul is being worn down is enough for me to want to stop imposing genders onto everyone I meet, regardless of whatever gender they outwardly present themselves as.

      In Women and Literature class we were asked to participate in a simple exercise, tell a story with no gendered pronouns. For some it came naturally, perhaps they have had experience using the they/them pronouns before. However, I did encounter people who could not get out of that gendered head space, it has become so deeply engrained in our minds that outward appearance and emotional identity are one and the same, and that could not be more untrue. I suppose at times “walking pronoun tightropes” as Coyote said is hard to gauge, but the simplest way to avoid miss gendering someone is to not gender them at all! 

Coming soon…

...We're launching our monthly meet-up for queer folk and allies - Q*munity - with a Transgender Awareness Week special! Featuring a screening of My Prairie Home (2013), and a live performance by Plush Laboratories, this event celebrates the talent of gender non-conforming folk on the prairies, and provides an opportunity to socialize, ask questions, access TransSask resources and enjoy snacks and beverages on us!

Monday March 30th, at 6:30pm (free)

About Transgender Awareness Week TAW is an opportunity to inspire, inform and educate society about the challenges faced by trans-identified and gender variant individuals, and celebrate the lives of transsexual and transgender people across the province. Find out more on the TransSask Support Services, Inc. FB page.