{"id":2171,"date":"2025-10-28T12:48:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/edi\/?p=2171"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:48:06","slug":"tin-bee-staff-genderfluid-visibility-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/edi\/2025\/10\/28\/tin-bee-staff-genderfluid-visibility-week\/","title":{"rendered":"TIN-Bee Staff: Genderfluid Visibility Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My experience of my own gender has never been set in stone. Even when I was in primary school, I remember feeling different somehow. I was a \u2018tomboy\u2019 some days, wearing my cousins\u2019 hand me down clothes, playing in mud and fascinated by insects and frogs. Other days, I wanted to dance and sing to musical numbers wearing my grandma\u2019s long frilly nightie. I loved dressing up and pretending I was someone else.<\/p>\n

Come to think of it, I often wanted to be the \u2018boy\u2019 in games of pretend. When I started dance classes, I was usually learning the lead or the \u2018male\u2019 steps. Probably because I was tall, but there was another element to it as well. I felt like it just made sense. Saying that, it was also a source of major anxiety and secrecy.<\/p>\n

Fast forward and, as an adult, I understand my experience and my expression of gender as a fluid thing. Something unrestricted by appearance or how other people might perceive and experience me. For me, gender also feels tied to my sexuality in some ways but not always. I am learning to be more playful and experimental in my expression \u2013 to care less about the opinion of others. My understanding is that we all encapsulate different elements of gender and to varying degrees; masculinity, femininity and other elements that feel genderless or, at least, beyond the description of gender that we have inherited. It might feel more or less \u2018set in stone\u2019 depending on your experience or you might not share this viewpoint at all.<\/p>\n

The Online Cambridge Dictionary has three definitions of \u2018Fluidity\u2019:<\/p>\n

\u2018The quality of being likely to change repeatedly and unexpectedly\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018The quality of being smooth and continuous\u2019 (formal)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018(of a substance) the quality of not being solid and able to flow\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

(Cambridge University Press & Assessment, 2025)<\/em><\/p>\n

All three of these definitions apply to my understanding of my experience and expression of gender. My gender is changeable depending on the situation, on my headspace and where I find myself in life. Nowadays, my experience feels more \u2018smooth and continuous\u2019 and \u2018able to flow\u2019, although there are times when I find it jarring – usually when I perceive judgement or expectation from others and, sometimes, from within myself.<\/p>\n

The attitude that I try to cultivate towards many things in life is that nothing is fixed, unchangeable or forever. It\u2019s a working project not to mention a scary prospect at times\u2026 as well as an exciting one.<\/p>\n

We all have some desire within us to keep hold of things tightly, to be certain that nothing will change, to be reassured that we won\u2019t have to find a new way to be. But keeping a tight hold doesn\u2019t allow for much movement and stiff, rigid materials often break under enough pressure.<\/p>\n

My ask of anyone reading this, is to cultivate a gentle curiosity around gender. Not with the aim of changing your viewpoint or your own identity, but I believe that more fluidity in thinking, allows for more understanding and acceptance of different experiences.<\/p>\n

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Related<\/h1>\n

Related posts:<\/h3>
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TIN-Bee 2025 Round-Up<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
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TIN-Bee: Trans Day of Visibility<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
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TIN-Bee Staff: Trans Parent Day Letter<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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Contact Us<\/h4>\n

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+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

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Find Us<\/h4>\n

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The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK<\/a><\/p>\n

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Connect With Us<\/h4>\n

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