You are a thousand times

A properer man,

Than she a woman.

— Shakespeare,As You Like It, III, 5

At least the gender roles were properly defined in that quote. There was a time when the genders could be differentiated, even to the point where that person in the above quote could definitively say that the man was a thousand times more proper than the lady was a woman.

But alas, that was then, when it was easy to discern who was a lass and who was a lad. We all know the saying, ‘Boys will be boys and girls will be girls.’ Well, not so much anymore. Now the genders are morphing into one, crossing the chromosome lines, switching from one to another because he or she is not certain of who he or she is anymore.

No longer is a boy who was born a boy guaranteed to grow up to be a man. And that pretty little baby girl, who was all sugar and spice and everything nice, is not destined to grow up to be a fine full-bodied feminine female.

Some even declare that they are both genders, while others hide their inner secret and act as if they are not what they really are. It’s all so confusing and it’s a real gender bender, as we’ll find out right after these responses to ‘No peace, no piece’.

Hi Tony,

Instead of withholding piece if she is not pleased, perhaps if the woman was to instead provide piece and love as a reward for the man to do her bidding, both would be winners, and there would be peace across the land.

Sheila

Hey Teerob,

No peace is right, brother. Every man has to make his own determination, but Proverbs 25:24 does say: ‘Better to live on a corner of the roof, than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.’

Geoff M

A few weeks ago, I was listening to my car radio when I heard this interview of a South African athlete. I was intrigued by what I heard and actually thought that it was the 400m record holder Wayde van Neikerk. I was even more pleased when mention was made of the athlete’s wife and how she was supportive of her partner.

Well, you can just imagine my abject surprise when the interview ended and I discovered that the person being interviewed was none other than South African Olympian Caster Semanya. Yes, indeed, she of ambiguous gender fame.

To tell the truth, her voice sounded like a man’s, and when I heard mention of “My wife is so supportive ” I really thought that I was listening to a male athlete. That was a real gender bender for me.

I went on

Google and saw pictures of her wedding, as I had to make sure. I was further confused, for she looks and acts like a man, yet fought for years to be recognised as a woman so that she could compete as a female in the Olympics. Now she’s married to a woman!

But she is not alone, for there are people all across the globe who are neither fish nor fowl, and I’m not using the word fish in a pejorative way either. It’s just an old saying that defines that someone is neither here nor there.

January’s edition of

National Geographic has dedicated the entire issue to The Gender Revolution. It makes fascinating reading as it examines how genders are no longer defined as they used to be, as males become females, females become males, while some choose to live as both genders. Some are blessed or cursed to possess both male and female organs.

I raise pet tropical fish, and there are some species that will change from one sex to the other, depending on certain conditions. Male swords will morph into females if females are scarce, and vice versa. Is this ability now being applied to humans?

There’s even this feature in the magazine, complete with photographs, that highlights those transgender boys/girls who used to live in the gully on Trafalgar Road, right here in Kingston. Jamaicans making world news again.

This whole transgender issue is not as simple as you may think. Some may go that route by choice, with little boys loving to play with dolls and dress up as girls. While some little girls prefer to play with toy guns and trucks, instead of dressing up in petticoats and having play-tea parties. We used to call the boys sissies, and the girls tomboys, back in the day. But now we have to be politically and gender correct.

There are also emotional anomalies, where the person does not feel as if they are what they’ve been socialised to be. Often they cry out, “I feel like I’m a man trapped in a woman’s body.” This often confuses people looking on, but that’s not as confusing as the one afflicted by that gender conundrum.

“Percy, why yu wearing you sister dress and make-up?”

“I can’t help it, mommy, I feel like I’m a girl.”

There are so many cases of children being born as one gender, and in a few short years exhibiting the characteristics of another gender. Yet it’s nothing physical.

What would you do if your son suddenly declared that he was a girl? There have been examples of children in the Dominican Republic, born with an enzyme deficiency, where their genitals appear female at birth, then with a surge of testosterone at puberty, they develop male genitals and mature as men.

In Samoa there are those who identify as fa’afafine, a gender other than boy or girl. Fa’afafine children generally take on girls’ roles in play and family. As adults they remain anatomically male, with feminine appearance and mannerisms, help with household chores and childcare, and choose men for sexual partners.

As the magazine went on to say, “Those caught in the gender-neutral world who may not feel precisely like a boy or girl might opt to refer to themselves with a gender neutral pronoun like ‘they’”.

Some cases are physical, as pointed out before, but whatever the origin, those affected do not feel as if they are of a certain gender and are conflicted. Those who can afford it may take sex change operations, while many others commit suicide.

But apart from the physical, emotional and psychological reasons why there is confusion and conflict with the genders, are there other factors involved, such as choice, environment, preference, that make a person want to change genders? How do you explain the fact that among identical twins in the USA, one chooses to change gender, while the other retains what he or she was born with? Same genes, same environment, but different gender outcome.

I see some women and I have to take a second look to determine if they are male or female. And as for the boys, there seems to be an uptick in the gender bender confusion. I do suspect that their environment plays a big part in this anomaly and that their mothers have a lot to do with it as they foist their feminine gender on them, albeit unwittingly. I still know some young boys who pee sitting down and the mothers see nothing wrong with it.

Basically these boys have no choice but to act female and are confused by their sexuality. Just last week I was speaking with a mother of a 15-year-old boy who treats him like a little princess. When I heard her speak about what she does for him and how he will never take the bus or play sports, I had to shake my head. I have heard tales of pampering and mollycoddling by mothers so often, and the end result is always the same, gender bending.

Just look around for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Pretty soon we’ll have three official genders here, male gender, female gender and transgender. They are more frequent now than before. Is this genetic, environmental, psychological, or choice?

These earring-wearing-tight-form-fitted-pants-frilly-pink-shirts-permed-hair-moisturised-skin boys have swapped their testosterone for oestrogen. And those once dainty feminine females are now more masculine than a bearded muscled barbarian.

What a gender bender of epic proportions!

More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: I was saddened to hear of the passing of the legendary sportsman and media personality Lindy Delapenha. His exploits as the first Jamaican to blaze a path in English football are the stuff that legends are made of. He also did track and boxing and despite being so accomplished in all these disciplines, he remained so humble. I mentioned him many times in my columns over the years as an example of a great sportsman.

Many years ago, back in the 90s, Junior Beckford and I produced a documentary on Lindy’s life that showcased his exploits as a football trailblazer in England. Unfortunately, those tapes cannot be found, but we’re still searching for them. Hopefully they’ll show up so that many people can see the measure of this great man. Nobody could kick a football as powerfully as Lindy.

RIP Lindy, you made us proud.