Читать книгу Trans Affirming Churches - Chris Dowd - Страница 19

My name is Robin and always has been. It’s just the spelling that’s changed. When I was young it was spelt with a ‘y’ – Robyn, and I was brought up as a girl, but I was glad to have a name that, when spoken, could be masculine or feminine, because that’s how, increasingly, I’ve come to understand myself: as both male and female.

The terms I use about myself are genderqueer or non-binary. Being given the name Robyn was very convenient as I’ve only had to change one letter to express who I am today! I prefer the masculine version of the name nowadays but am equally at ease with behaviours our society tends to regard as feminine. I’m happy to bring out childhood photographs in which my hair is long and I’m wearing a floaty dress, even though today my hair is cropped short and I always wear trousers, and at work, a man’s business suit. In meetings it can startle people when I speak. They’re surprised that this masculine looking person has such a high-pitched feminine voice, and I have no plans to change that; or again, when I take my knitting needles from my briefcase and start knitting to aid my concentration during a tricky item on the agenda. Maybe my appearance, voice pitch and intonation and knitting are stereotypical, but these are some of the ways gender is constructed in our society. My experience is that I’m very happy exploring the wide range of options that are open to both men and women. I’d feel limited and constrained were I to have to opt for one rather than the other. Over the years I’ve become far more masculine in my appearance without having to shed certain aspects of my femininity. None of this has been a problem in my church, which is progressive and fully inclusive of trans people, as it is of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. In recent years my ministry has been mainly with asylum seekers in the UK, but I’ve also worked to support trans and gender nonconforming people in other churches which are not as inclusive as the one I belong to.

Here Robin helps us to appreciate that not everyone sees gender as a male or female option. For some trans people transition is about expressing a gender identity that has been at odds with their assigned gender. By contrast, genderqueer or non-binary people like Robin have a sense of themselves as being both masculine and feminine; as neither; or ‘beyond’ a female or male binary in some way. It’s important to note as well that being non-binary is about gender identity and not gender expression. In other words, a non-binary person may well present in a conventionally masculine or feminine way. It’s their internal sense of gender that does not tick the conventional male or female boxes.

More people, especially young people, are finding it easier to identify as non-binary. This is mainly due to increased social acceptance. Non-binary people have always existed. In the past, unless one had social privilege and could defy social conventions, people were more likely to hide the fact that they were non-binary.

Many traditional cultures today envisage and sanction third (male living as a female) or fourth (female living as a male) and sometimes other gender options, as have ancient cultures in the past (see below). Where gender is regarded as a spectrum, or as fluid, there are more options for people and an opportunity to explore gender roles which other societies might forbid or place off limits. Gender theory has examined numerous so-called ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ behaviours or qualities, noting the artificiality of these associations, and how such stereotyping can limit options for everyone. According to theorist Judith Butler (2006, first published 1990, pp.xxxiii–xxxiv), these stereotypical masculine and feminine behaviours are socially constructed rather than ‘natural’, but derive their power and influence from largely unconscious processes of repetition that begin in childhood and that she describes as gender’s ‘performativity’.

Robin has benefitted from changes in UK culture that have promoted the equality of men and women. It remains a work in progress, and because patriarchy – literally the ‘rule of the fathers’ or male privilege – remains strong, it is still easier for someone born female bodied, like Robin, to adopt and blend masculine traits and appearance, than for someone born male to adopt and blend feminine ones. Breaking down gender stereotypes does not make someone trans. Gender nonconformity is principally about behaviour rather than identity. For example, a woman who thinks and behaves in stereotypically masculine ways may be challenging gender expectations within her culture but still retain a strong sense of identity as a woman. For others though, like Robin, gender nonconformity can be a way of expressing a non-binary gender identity.

This is where the media has often caused confusion about transgender children. For children to play and dress at variance with stereotypes associated with their assigned birth gender does not mean that they’re about to be rushed towards hormone blockers and early transition. (In the UK cross-gender hormone therapy and surgery cannot be accessed by someone under 16 years old.) These behaviours have to be accompanied by the child’s insistence that their gender differs from their birth assigned gender (NHS 2008, p.17). Only a small number of gender nonconforming children grow up to identify as trans. The care of children who identify as non-binary is also a specialist area and clinics are increasingly attuned to their needs.

Learning points from Robin’s story

• It’s inevitable that we look at gender through our own experience and mainstream culture.

• The way our culture understands biological sex (bodies) and gender (social expression) has changed significantly over the past century.

• There is a tendency to revert to older social patterns of gender when someone appears to challenge current gender norms: we need to be aware of this and avoid it.

• Gender inequalities affect transgender people as they do others.

• Gender nonconforming children can be very vulnerable, largely due to the anxiety of others.

• Churches can model acceptance and care of those who are different, including those who are gender nonconforming, or who express a genderqueer or non-binary identity.

• ‘Traditional’ churches can model this inclusive ethos as much as ‘progressive’ churches, though that can be a struggle, as the next story shows.