3
" Nothing matures a Man like RESPONSIBILITIES,
Nothing humbles him like MISSED OPPORTUNITIES,
What makes him are his CHOICES,
And nothing changes him like LOVE.
Nothing defines a Man like his CHARACTER,
Nothing teaches him like his EXPERIENCE,
What drives him is his VISION,
And nothing weakens him like BETRAYAL.
Nothing scares a Man like losing his EGO,
Nothing pursues him like his PASSION,
What interests him is his GAME,
And nothing intoxicates him like his DESIRES.
But above all, NOTHING FAVOURS A MAN
LIKE FINDING A GOOD WOMAN. "
― Olaotan Fawehinmi , The Soldier Within
9
" From the moment we take our first breath (and sometimes even before that, what with sonic imaging technology), the cry “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl” ushers us into this world. As we grow into adulthood, everything about us grows and matures as we grow and mature. Everything except gender, that is. We’re supposed to believe that our gender stays exactly the same as the day we were born. Our genders never shift, we’re told. The genders we’re assigned at birth lock us onto a course through which we’ll be expected to become whole, well-rounded, creative, loving people—but only as men or as women. From where I stand, that’s like taking a field of racehorses, hobbling the front legs of half of them and the rear legs of the other half, and expecting them to run a decent race: it doesn’t work. Gender, this thing we’re all seemingly born with, is a major restraint to self-expression.
That doesn’t make sense to me. Why should we be born with such a hobble? Does that make sense to you? "
― Kate Bornstein , My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely
