Thursday 23 February 2012

Radical

Since Radical Routes have opened up the question of what qualifies as radical social change and how much we should do, I thought I'd show you what I've been doing. This is at Chester Zoo with my mum. I am even radical when I'm on holiday, that's how dedicated I am.


Also, I got my mum to join in. I suspect she is naturally radical and that's where I get my genes.


I've also been getting loads of companies and organisations to change their forms and things re: gender via a small-but-active armchair activism blog MxActivist, and many are starting to include gender-neutral titles Mx and Misc on their online forms. It all feels like a snowball just starting to roll down a wintry mountain, gaining weight and momentum as it goes.

It's all going into this nonbinary.org wiki, particularly this section here on UK acceptance.
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous27 February 2012 at 16:17

    Well done on the gender stuff, Lotte! Hope the snowball continues to grow, even though I find it annoying that we/they need a title anyway????? Why not just a name? Then the gender doesn't matter. Or if gender is important, then use a name plus choices of gender that include gender-neutral description for those who prefer? I like being a woman, but maybe would accept gender-neutral in the cause of equality...?

    As for the issue of titles, in recent times, I have actually reverted to using Miss, where in the past I used Ms. I really don't like Ms... I never liked it because it's not a real word and unlike changed made in other countries, it never replaced Miss or Mrs, but became an additional title that is supposed to be marital-status-neutral, but just causes confusion.

    I did use "Ms" when it was invented, thinking it was the beginning of a new age of neutrality around marital status as "Mr" provides for men. But as it's used alongside Miss and Mrs, it became not marital-status-neutral, but like waving a flag saying "I'm a feminist (occasionally lesbian) harridan" - not such a bad thing by the way. I've even (only a year or so ago) had a CRB form returned because I put "Ms" as a title but "single" as a marital status and they decided that only divorced women could be "Ms", FFS!!!!!

    Given I'm now 50, I find using "Miss" a lot more defiant these days, but basically, the whole thing is a nonsense and completely frustrating and absolutely needs a radical re-think. So I don't completely support the use of Mx, as I don't see the need for yet another meaningless title. Why not just one's name?

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