Fool Resistant

So, in a little less than 15 hours, I will be in the operating room, removing two unhappy lemons, a small angry hedgehog, and the button that connects it to the downspout.

I have had a good time connecting with people like me-- had lots of good advice-- and I'm nearly packed and ready for the early morning trip. I have a load of laundry going with my fancy socks and the shirts that look decent without a bra (because bra? NO! according to my inner angry toddler).

I think what makes me the happiest about this is that I'm gonna have a body that matches my inner-self-body a little bit more. It's kinda like gender affirmation surgery, except that in my case it's affirmation of myself as a person who doesn't have to be in pain, doesn't have to dread pain, doesn't have to live a life around preparing for and trying to avoid pain.

And yeah, sexually active (maybe?) but 100% permanently infertile and missing a couple of parts? That suits my identity just fine.

Today is a day of remembrance.

Today is to remember people who have been killed for not following the rules.

If you disgrace your body by dressing, acting, looking the way your heart tells you and it's not the way that society believes you should? The penalty can be disapproval. You could lose your home. You could lose your job. You could lose your family.

Or, like the people in the link above, you could lose your life. Each of them died while, and in some cases because, they were not meeting someone's standards for what a man or woman should look like.

This is to remind us all that there are people out there who believe they are justified in murdering someone for not meeting their standards for masculinity or femininity appropriate to their physical sex.

If you don't want this to happen, then you can enforce on yourself and on your family the duty of always abiding exactly by the local norms of behavior and dress, for whichever physical sex you happen to have. You can dress like everyone else, regardless of what it says about you, your religion, your beliefs, or your comfort with your own body. And then you don't have to worry about this kind of problem.

Or you can say "I should dress and act and look in a way that speaks to my soul, that is right, that is true." And you can grow or cut or cover your hair, wear dresses or pants or shirts that show your tummy, wear makeup or jewelry or both, or whatever you like. You can speak for your right to do so, show people that you're just the same as them in some ways, different in others. It's your truth and you decide how it's done.

Remember those who have fallen while living their truth.

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance.

A little something from my inbox:

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A new issue of The Daedalus Project is now available at:
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/

Also, several new surveys are available for current MMORPG players. You can participate at: http://www.nickyee.com/mmorpg/

In particular, if you are a role-player or a female gamer, please consider taking part in the more open-ended surveys in this phase that explore the experiences of these two groups of players.

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One of the questions you can answer:
Some people believe that boys and girls like different kinds of play and thus different kinds of video games. What do you think? Are we missing "games for women" in the market? And if so, what might those games look like?

( My answer below the cut. )

From the annals of the talented jeremey02 we have this paper on gender roles in video games, which started me thinking. ( And we all know what happens then-- I start rambling. )