Gender

I was just looking at my profile for this blog site. It seems I have 3 choices for gender: male, female or not specified. Hmmm . . .

What does that say about the black and white idea of the world here? Personally, I am aware, not believe but am aware, that gender is not a duality, it is a continuum. A person can be on either end of the spectrum, or he/she can be somewhere along that line.

Why should it matter unless I intend to have children with that person and I need to know that their physiology is compatible for the purpose? I mean really, why do people need to know the gender of the other person? And even more interesting, do we really ever know?

If I meet a person who appears to be one or the other of the socially acceptable genders do I really know that he/she is what he/she appears to be? And a large part of that is "what do I expect about a specific gender?". Do I define it by physical body? What of those whose bodies do not conform to one or the other? And what of those whose physical parts don't match who is residing inside that physical shell?

Spend a few minutes thinking about whether the next person you meet is who he/she appears to be. And if not, so what?