I've never had a problem with gender.
Going to an all-girl's school means there are some topics that are discussed very heavily. Sexual harassment, sexuality in general, gender. It's very predominant in my writing classes, and in art classes. Artists apparently want to break the gender laws more heavily than other people, or at least experiment with them. And then there's me. Me, who never had a problem with gender and sexuality and all those things that are practically being screamed at me.
"YOU HAVE TO CARE ABOUT THIS, IT'S IMPORTANT"
"WE CAN'T LIVE BY GENDER BINARY"
"WE'RE WOMEN AND WE DESERVE BETTER THAN THE COLOR PINK IN EVERYTHING"
"WE CAN EMBRACE OUR FEMININE SIDE AND STILL BE STRONG"
All excellent points, I will agree. And for some people, this is very important to them. They feel like it's their personal mission to combat the evils of gender assumptions. My first year as a college student, though, was a time of learning to handle being told that I was wrong. That I was wrong to desire the things society told me were acceptable. That feminism meant breaking out of the shell of society and being a "strong independent woman who didn't need a man in my life." And I didn't want to hear it. I ended up calling my friend, who had been more into these things in high school than I had, and asked her if it was okay that I didn't really care about these things. She told me something I still hold onto today.
"People can't really tell you what to be passionate about. Yeah, there should be people out there who are passionate and that's great, but you don't have to be. You have other things you think are important."
I think it's important for us to realize that. Shoving things down each others' throats because we think they should be just as passionate as we are about them isn't the best way to go about getting the message across. It's good that there are people out there who are passionate about gender and sexuality. They're the people who make a difference and inspire change. That's not me. I have other things I'm passionate about, such as the sorry state of Young Adult novels, or the problems with character development in films and the way they could be avoided or changed.
Gender and sexuality are not my calling, and that's okay. I never had a problem with my gender or my sexuality, and maybe that's why. There are far better people out there ready to advocate their hearts out, and kudos to them. But my passions are not necessarily the same as the person next to me, and those should be respected as well.
