Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Introduction

Hi! (That seems like a silly way to start off a blog introduction, but hey...just trying to be polite!)

Online, I go by Starchild, or just Star. I recently identified myself as an androgyne.

*voice from the back says, "What's an androgyne?*

Fair question. An androgyne is a person who does not fit clearly within the category of "female" or "male" in the way they think, behave, and interact with the world. This is not connected to the person's anatomy, although there are physical androgynes, too. What I'm talking about is how the person's mind works - their gender. As I tend to put it: Sex is between the legs, but gender is between the ears. (Sorry for being so blunt!)

I'm anatomically female, but all my life, I've felt like I was part male and part female. As a child, I was equally happy playing Tranformers as My Little Pony. In high school, I preferred the science lab or the computer room to shopping with my friends. I crushed just as easily on other girls as I did on boys. I always wondered what was "wrong" with me.

A few years ago, I discovered the virtual world Second Life. Second Life allowed me to be ANYTHING I wanted to be. So I explored what I wanted to be. I was a woman for a while, then I was a man for a while. Both felt completely natural and comfortable. I concluded that I was meant to be a man. But while I was researching transsexualism, I discovered the term "androgyne" and it fit me perfectly.

By the way, that's where the blog's URL came from - it's short for Second Life Androgyne.

Okay, I've yakked enough about my past (for now, at least! haha) What's my goal here? Well, there's lots out there about androgynes and androgyny, but it seems like most of it is intellectual rather than personal. I'm offering my personal, real-world experience as an androgyne. From time to time, I'll link to videos or other blogs or whatever that were interesting and/or helpful to me (and by extension, may be to you, the reader).

I'd also like to hear from anyone else who's had experiences like mine, has ideas or thoughts to share, or just wants to say "Nice blog" or "Get stuffed." Comments are moderated, not to screen out the not-so-nice ones, but to screen out the spammy ones. But if it's relevant and not mean-spirited, I'll post it.