As a trans women, I have been really struggling with my encounters, internal and external, with fixed ideas of sex and gender. I observe that everyone has an opinion, and often opinions are very strong. I say, that each claim is political. I am curious what outcome we, as a society might want?

From the moment that some 3rd party observes our genitals and fixes us within a dichotomous legal incorporation we are engaged in power over, colonial politics. Of course challenging this view is vociferously contested, of course it is hard to hear those with different views. And like the '6 or 9' dilemma, both, and neither are ‘true’, it just depends on perspective and political purpose.

So what do we mean by the word ‘sex’, especially when we claim ‘sex matters’ or “sex is real”? It depends, of course, on where we are standing and on what political outcome we wish for.

The Blind Women and The Phallus

With apologies to John Godfrey Saxe

In the land of the phallus, five women there be,

Each with her own take, on what she did see.

One woman, a scholar, of anatomy's lore,

Said, “It's a symbol of power, of strength evermore.”

Another, a lover, of sensual delight,

Whispered, “It's a key, to pleasure's secret height”.

A third, a mother, of childbirth's sacred dance,

Said, “It's a vessel, that carries life's chance.”

A fourth, a survivor, of violence and fear,

Said, “It's a reminder, of pain that I've had to bear.”

And the next, a poet, of beauty's sweet rhyme,

Said, “It's a canvas, for love's eternal time.”

A fifth, a woman, with a journey so long,

Said, “It's a symbol, that fixed gender is wrong.”

Through surgeries, hormones, and self-realization,

She claimed her true self, with newfound validation.

But the phallus, it laughed, at their feeble attempts,

To define it by parts, and not the whole expanse.

For it's all of these things, and none of them true,

A mystery, a marvel, forever renewed.