Pronouns and gendered familial terms
Jun. 18th, 2010 11:37 amEveryone in my family is very liberal, and they're down with my genderqueer identity as far as they understand it. I haven't spent a ton of time explaining all of the complex details to them, though they know I changed my name legally and that I bind to hide my chest. I also recall a conversation with my mom about how "looking/acting gay" to me (AFAB*) means being flamboyantly masculine, not butch.
I use male pronouns amongst all of my friends, peers, anyone who asks, and almost anyone who regularly refers to me in my presence or to other people I know. The only important people still using female pronouns for me are my family.
I'm not really sure what I want to do about this. I have a non-binary androgynous identity that leans more towards male in social contexts. I don't feel right as a daughter or a sister, though I'm also not so sure I'm a son or a brother. Having them constantly refer to me as their "sibling" or "child/youngest" seems impractical, but I can't think of any other options. I can just imagine that asking them to use male pronouns without switching to son/brother would quickly turn into a big, confusing mess. The thing that makes this hard is that I just don't know whether or not I want to switch to male familial terms, but the female ones are kind of squicking me out.
I plan to get top surgery but I'm still ambivalent about T. If I end up going on T, it'd only be for the short-term, and I'd probably ask them to switch since it would mean me living as more male than I do now.
I'm not asking for advice on how to ask them to switch, just advice on the logistics of the whole situation.
Thanks!
* "assigned female at birth."
I use male pronouns amongst all of my friends, peers, anyone who asks, and almost anyone who regularly refers to me in my presence or to other people I know. The only important people still using female pronouns for me are my family.
I'm not really sure what I want to do about this. I have a non-binary androgynous identity that leans more towards male in social contexts. I don't feel right as a daughter or a sister, though I'm also not so sure I'm a son or a brother. Having them constantly refer to me as their "sibling" or "child/youngest" seems impractical, but I can't think of any other options. I can just imagine that asking them to use male pronouns without switching to son/brother would quickly turn into a big, confusing mess. The thing that makes this hard is that I just don't know whether or not I want to switch to male familial terms, but the female ones are kind of squicking me out.
I plan to get top surgery but I'm still ambivalent about T. If I end up going on T, it'd only be for the short-term, and I'd probably ask them to switch since it would mean me living as more male than I do now.
I'm not asking for advice on how to ask them to switch, just advice on the logistics of the whole situation.
Thanks!
* "assigned female at birth."