New Moon Network is the parent's supplement to the magazine New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams.
Dear Editors:
These comments are inspired by Ellen Reifler's piece "Time Warp in the Toy Store" in the January/February 1997 issue of New Moon Network.
There is a great deal we do not know about sex and gender; what they are, and how they affect our lives. Our culture mandates a simplistic either/or view of sex and gender that makes it difficult to acknowledge the diversity that exists all around us. I'm always pleased to see discussion of this topic!
I am a parent of a girl (age 7, who reads New Moon cover to cover and over and over again) and a boy (age 5, who needs a magazine for little kids who like machines). I use those terms 'girl' and 'boy' when talking about my children even though I know that neither sex nor gender is the simple and solid reality most people believe.
I am transsexual. When I was born, people decided I was a boy, but they were wrong. I've corrected that mistake, and I and my family are much happier. And yet what I have done is itself a contradiction. I am more comfortable being seen in this culture as a woman, but I would be more comfortable still being seen simply as myself, without a long list of assumptions attached to a mythical thing called gender.
I know many transgendered people. There are far more of us than most people realize because most of us feel we must remain closeted in one way or another, as do most lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. I am also lesbian. I know so many wonderful people who feel they must hide part of what they truly are.
Any attempt to free ourselves from the rigid sex and gender stereotypes of our past should include an open mind and an open heart for those of us (many millions) who live the diversity of sex and gender. Perhaps people like me know things about sex and gender and relationships that would help all of us better understand ourselves. You'll never know unless you acknowledge our existence and listen to what we have to say.
Thank you again for any open-minded coverage of these topics!
Lisa Lees
East Lansing, Michgian