Welcome to my version of Monday Means Community!
That is the title of a monthly event at the Sentient Bean. A group known as Emergent Savannah hosts a panel discussion at those events, covering a diverse array of topics. Many times I've been tempted to attend, but, as you know, my Mondays tend to be spent with students, the Philo Cafe group, or those Odd Lot folks.
Tonight, I changed things up a bit for myself.
LOL! was having a "dinner + Odd Lot" event and I had opted to join in for part of the evening. Why had I done so? Dinner was at the Crystal Beer Parlor and my mouth was watering for the Other Salad. Who better to share it with than these fun-loving folks?
Nobody in this town!
(Pardon me, folks, but that's an inside joke amongst Savannahians! That had been the tagline for some auto sales group, once upon a time. Sorry, but their name escapes me.)
(smile!)
Haley (like the comet, she says!) was the hostess of what turned out to be a hen party. Fine by me! Sally and Carol had traveled together, both first-timers, as was Maria. Jo was the only one I knew!
What a lovely time we had! We spoke of "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice", of course! Also of comets and science and salads and food. Nice!
But, no improv for me, thanks! I had to dine and dash!
At almost 7:00 pm, I had to flee the scene for The 'Bean!
Why this Monday of all Mondays?
Roberta Hopkins would be sharing her views in "Your Journey, Our Journey: The Changing Face of Gender in Savannah".
How exciting!
She's the one in the pink shirt, in the middle.
From the left, the other panel members were Apple Douglas Bryant, Harper Cantrell, Justin Michael Lane, and Pastor Candace Hardnett as facilitator.
Together, the panelists covered the gender spectrum, running from Apple's gender-bisexual, to gender-neutral, gender-female, and gender-male. Very impressive bunch! Good range in ages, too, with Harper, a student, being the youngest by far.
Confused about the difference between the terms gender and sexual preference?
A lot of folks were, but the panel cleared the cobwebs away.
On the cookie, different items refer to sex, gender, expression, and attraction.
The circle is for the sexual organs at birth. Typically, society regards those as indicative of gender, but that is incorrect.
Gender is part of one's mental identity. Gender is completely independent of physical body parts.
Expression refers to how the individual chooses to share their identity with the world at large. The 1980's, with its burgeoning androgenous fashions, was such a boon to those who were questioning.
As for attraction...the heart wants what the heart wants, independently of body parts.
That means one can be born male, be gender-female, express as a woman, and be a lesbian for being attracted to women. This person would use the pronouns "she" and "her" for herself, and would prefer that others do that, too.
Get it?
I was born female and am gender-female. Because I am gender-female, my preferred pronouns are "she" and "her".
The panel suggests that you ask, in a civil and curious manner, if unsure about someone's gender identity. In other words, just talk to the person!
(smile)
Just talking is what I did afterward, too! I first congratulated Roberta on keeping the mood light and positive. She has such a great sense of humor!
Then, I and Bonnie Blue bounced over to Betty Bombers!
(Ain't alliteration awesome?)
We talked and laughed for almost an hour! What about? The topics tonight, the joys of being a homeowner, tricky cats, finding homes for cats, painting closets... catch my drift?
Whatever popped into our heads!
As The Fixx would say, one thing [surely] leads to another.
Oh, yeah!
I popped over to Chili's to see if the Philo "crowd" was still there. Yep, but just barely! They had evidently gotten a refill of the chips and salsa, so I helped polish those off. Sure would hate for good food to go to waste, ya know!
Then we all called it a night...
And what an incredible night it had been for me!
Right places at the right times!
i thank You, God, for the diversity in my life!
No comments:
Post a Comment