Thursday, February 4, 2010

Gender Binaries XTR3ME


If cued to 3:01, there is a moment where the children ask there father about their new born sibling and his answer is perfect:

"Is it a boy? Is it a girl?"
"Its an Addams!"

Too often the identity of a person, particularly that of an infant, is defined by their physical sex. Boys in blue, girls in pink, gender binaries define our lives from birth. My family, mother in particular believed strongly in the god given differences between boys and girls. I was not allowed to watch power rangers, play with action figures, or wear baseball caps. She wanted me to dance and I wanted to run around outside. When I was watching this Addams Family movie, I got so excited when I heard the father divert his childrens' questions about their new sibling's gender but show rather, that the baby had an identity beyond it. Too often we don't leave room for the people who don't fit within the binary, there is no black and white, good and bad, boy and girl.

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