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Naseem stands in front of a tree, hands on their thighs as they lean against the trunk. They're in a park, with grass and trees visible, and the Philly skyline rises behind them.

Naseem Jamnia

 

literary speculative fiction centering marginalized characters

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  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Accolades/Appearances
    • Press Kit
  • Writing
    • Gender
    • Science in Society
    • Mental Health & Disability
    • Social Justice
    • Video Games
    • Book & Game Reviews
    • Speculative Fiction
      • The Bruising of Qilwa
  • Writing Resources
  • Hire Me!
    • Editing/Querying
    • Authenticity Reads
    • Speaking/Teaching
  • Contact
  • Gender

    One of my favorite topics to write about is gender, particularly nonbinary genders. From the science of gender to personal essays, I love thinking through the gender binary and beyond.

    Of Mice and Men: When Research Excludes Female Rodents, Human Women Lose

    But consider that the ultimate goal of biomedical research is to understand the mechanisms of disease so that we can ultimately treat them in humans. By excluding female animals—not to mention intersex animals, which I’ll get to in a bit—modern scientists perpetuate the historical bias of a medical community that frequently dismisses, pathologizes, and actively harms non-male patients. What these scientists are actually saying when they invoke the “complications” of using female rodents is that they were never trained to work with them and are unwilling to learn. 

     

    I Don't Identify as a Woman. Will the Woman's Movement Fight for Me?

     

    While I’m pleased that binary trans people are gaining more visibility, many nonbinary individuals — myself included — feel forgotten, especially in activism. We may support the mission of the women’s movement — and many of us do — but we don’t always feel like it supports us. 

    This Is How It Feels When I Ask You to Use Gender-Neutral Language, And You Ignore Me

    I don't expect anyone to magically know or even understand [my gender], but I do hope they respect it when I explain. Gender-neutral language may seem like an inconsquential thing, but to those of us outside the gender binary, it's a lifeline. 

    See also:  

    • How I Found My Identity in Gender Dysphoria
    • I Can Choose a Nonbinary Gender Identity on California Birth Certificates, and That Means More Than Checking a Box

    You Can Officially Be Nonbinary on Your Oregon License Now

    For Oregonians, being able to demonstrate a non-binary gender on their licenses can be the first step toward public visibility for the rest of us who are non-binary. And there are quite a few of us: According to the results of a GLAAD survey released earlier this year, 12 percent of millennials identify as trans or gender non-conforming.

    See also: 

    • AMA Adopts Crucial Policies to Support Trans Patients 

    PCOS and the Pressures to Perform Womanhood—Even If You Aren't a Woman

    Content notes: Internalized fatphobia, misogynistic beauty standards, gender dysphoria

    When I finally have a name for what’s wrong with me — it’s hirsutism caused by polycystic ovarian syndrome — I do not understand that a burden has been lifted. I do not understand that it is a medical condition I cannot control, that there is no one to blame, not even myself.

     

    Instead, I lock myself in the bathroom on the weekends, using the wax as my mother teaches me. Put on while hot, in the direction of the hair growth. Apply the cloth strip, rubbing the top to ensure its grip. Pull the strip in the opposite direction of the growth. Repeat as necessary, because the layers of hair on your face are stubborn, like you. 

    If I Were a Boy

     Content notes: gender dysphoria, internalized ableism, implied transphobia, misogynistic beauty standards

    Feminine. Feminine. You’re not feminine. Shave your arms when you’re ten or eleven to feel the smoothness of your skin. Have your mother wax your legs. When you’re twelve, have her wax your face, too. That makes you feminine. It’s in the New Year when you do it, after winter break and weeks of silence. Don’t forget how your friend grabbed your chin and turned your cheeks this way and that, gaping, how he said it made a difference. Remember rubbing your face, the acne or ingrown hair or whatever it was, and that grateful flood of relief when your friend says she understands, says that waxing causes bumps on the skin. That makes you feminine.

    The Dangers of the Gender Binary

     Originally shared on The Coffeelicious, no longer active

    Humans like categories: cat or dog, Wars or Trek, girl or boy. And often, we can fit into these categories. Some XX individuals are girls. Some XY individuals are boys. Some XX individuals are boys, and XY individuals are girls, and we understand that to be within the same umbrella and an unfortunate matter of circumstance. But whether we can accept it or not, there is a “none of the above,” too.

  • The Tuesday Telegrams

    Twice a month, I send out a newsletter called the Tuesday Telegram. Part personal essays and part writing updates, this is the best way to stay in the loop with what I'm up to.

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© 2022, Naseem Jamnia

Photos of Naseem by Jennie Kaplan, 2018, unless otherwise stated

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