I'm really behind on the blogs that I follow, so I've been on genderfork.com and Google Reader trying to catch up. Now I'm stressed out, annoyed, angry...all kinds of unhappy about my own gender issues.
I'm still very much unsettled as far as where I am on the gender spectrum. "Genderfluid" describes me best, but a big part of me wants to be just *one thing*, choose one spot on the spectrum and stay there. And that's not how it works for me. I'm constantly shifting from one gender to another.
I'm not good with that kind of uncertainty. I prefer to know what something is, and to know that it's not going to change all the time. When something this important is this much in flux, it's very, very stressful for me.
Usually, I just try not to think about it. If I get my mind all wrapped up in whether I'm male, female, or genderless, I start obsessing over it to the point where I can't think about anything else and I'll get stuck.
Yeah...like now.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Workplace Diversity
I have one of those nine-to-five corporate jobs. The company I work for has offices all over the state. I work in the main office with about 600 other people. Even for someone like me, who really isn't cut out for corporate life, it's a great place to work. The general atmosphere is friendly and open. Upper management and executives are accessible to everyone, no matter what their position in the company. And we're taken care of very well with good pay, good benefits, and plenty of little "extras."
One topic the company has been focusing on this year is diversity. When this was announced, I thought, "Eh, well, isn't that nice. They're going to encourage us to pay attention to all the different ethnic backgrounds, work histories, and ages of our coworkers. Why not?"
Last week, the Communication and Design team published what they called the Diversity Tree. There was an article on the intranet about it, explaining what it all meant. I read it, and promptly forgot about it when I saw what was on the graphic itself.
The circles are my own emphasis. I know it's hard to read so I'll just say it: Listed among the elements of diversity are sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. I was stunned, I was so happy!
I guess it helps that one of our vice presidents is openly homosexual. In fact, they retired recently, and their partner attended the party and was introduced to everyone present (some 250 people) as the VP's partner. I also know of others in management who are openly gender-variant.
I've long felt that, if there ever were a time when I felt like I wanted or needed to come out at work, it would be fairly safe to do so. My immediate supervisor is such an awesome person, and she's really open-minded, so I'd feel safe coming out to her. And now I know the people in upper management at least have it on their radar that there are non-binary people in the company.
Anywho...that's my amazing news from my employer! Talk to you again soon.
One topic the company has been focusing on this year is diversity. When this was announced, I thought, "Eh, well, isn't that nice. They're going to encourage us to pay attention to all the different ethnic backgrounds, work histories, and ages of our coworkers. Why not?"
Last week, the Communication and Design team published what they called the Diversity Tree. There was an article on the intranet about it, explaining what it all meant. I read it, and promptly forgot about it when I saw what was on the graphic itself.
The circles are my own emphasis. I know it's hard to read so I'll just say it: Listed among the elements of diversity are sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. I was stunned, I was so happy!
I guess it helps that one of our vice presidents is openly homosexual. In fact, they retired recently, and their partner attended the party and was introduced to everyone present (some 250 people) as the VP's partner. I also know of others in management who are openly gender-variant.
I've long felt that, if there ever were a time when I felt like I wanted or needed to come out at work, it would be fairly safe to do so. My immediate supervisor is such an awesome person, and she's really open-minded, so I'd feel safe coming out to her. And now I know the people in upper management at least have it on their radar that there are non-binary people in the company.
Anywho...that's my amazing news from my employer! Talk to you again soon.
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