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Kate Bornstein's Courageous Writing on Gender

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Courage is not simply about how well you deal with fear, how many noble deeds you accomplish, or how you overcome life threatening situations. Courage is the practice of determination and perseverance. Kate Bornstein transforms everyday life with tremendous courage. With skillful criticism of rigid socially defined boundaries, an intense sense of language and revealing personal experiences, Bornstein challenges cultural attitudes about gender.

So, why label Bornstein’s writings as courageous; after all, she hasn’t done anything special but write about things we already recognize? Individuals desire interruptions from conventional ways of rationalizing ideas about life. Bornstein does a remarkable job introducing thought-provoking …show more content…

Of course society in not perfect; we clearly have a problem with inequality. We all hold capability of discovering and criticizing a problem; however, it takes a courageous person to offer solutions. “Instead of imagining gender as opposite poles of a two- dimensional line, it would be interesting to twirl that line in space, and then spin it through several dimensions…Let’s let it mean transgressively gendered. Then, we have a group of people who break the rules, codes, and shackles of gender. Then we have a healthy- sized contingent!” Examples of how Bornstein proposes to change the stigma of transgendered people, these statements prove that not only is she motivated enough to find a problem, but brave enough to reveal solutions. Society has manufactured citizens who are fearful to explore possible solutions to problems we have today. Not because they are afraid of incapability of discovering a solution, but they are reluctant to see their solution fail. Bornstein is not positive that her suggestions will encourage constructive change, but she is bold enough to place them before the public’s attention.

Transgendered people are accommodated by society. We allow them to change their biological parts, which increases acceptance of their identity. What normal human being is restricted from referring to their past to understand what they should explore for the future? As Bornstein so clearly points out, “The choice between two of something is not a

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