(Untitled)

[outkast_3000]

well here's something interesting i learned at work today. apparently, the tenants in the building i work in are all curious as to...well, my sexuality. it all came out innocently through one of the kids i work with; it was a moment of privacy, since he had not gone to school and came down to the centre early. we were chit-chatting, talking about

Comments

[silent_boob]

yeah I think avoiding the question probably did just raise the tension. But I don't think that it's the only way to do this.

Why not just give the kid a straight answer and then explain to him/her that it doesn't matter if someone is straight, gay, or however else they wish to view themselves. I think that while leaving it vague might cause an older kid to really think about what the situation, it probably just drives the younger kid crazy. In the same way that you're just going to tell them that "gay" isn't a bad word and explain why you don't want them using it the way they do, I don't see why you couldn't tell them you're straight.

hahaha I jsut realized this post is kinda old already, so maybe you already did it. *shrug*

I also think it's odd that you would have no problem telling grown women you're gay so they don't think you're trying to pick them up, but you won't put a little kid's mind at ease by telling him you're straight. I guess the ramifications are different.

[anonymous]

it's cause he still feels he has a shot with the little kid

- burn

[sparksome]

when i was doing that afterschool gr. 6 girls program in mtl, the other facilitators and i (a mixed bag of queer and not queer ladies) were very conscious of not being authoritarian, and being honest, open, and non-judgemental with the girls. And so there was always this conflict of how to present our bodies, as markers of different identites and as such, different targets of oppression. And our girls, like most kids, would just come out and ask us anything. If we were stingy with our responses, then it seemed to create this aura of shame, but if we dolled out everything about our lives, there was always this inherent risk of safety. It's weird, occupying this role where you need to be a good role model and simultaneously demonstrate that there are many different non-normative bodies that are common, cool, and yes, good role model-y. it was like, "you don't need to aspire to be hillary duff!" but to what extent am i going to exemplify this without feeling too exposed. What usually happened was that i would answer the question