GENDER, PROJECTED 

Betty

 

Date: 9/13/15

 

Where are you from? Where do you live now? Have you ever lived anywhere else?

I’m from CT, and I have always lived in CT. Now I live in New Haven in my favorite community of Morris Cove.

 

How old are you?

57

 

How would you identify your gender?

Female.

 

Why did you want to be involved in the project?

I think it is such a cool way to show off the different ways people can look. Or like the title says, project. I wanted to project my identity in multiple ways, and it was a neat opportunity to do that.

 

Did you gain any perspective on gender identity/expression in yourself during the project?

My perspective is that I look pretty feminine and that I project pretty well as a female, and I am comfortable in that role.

 

In your life, was there another time you explored/experimented with gender identity/expression? If so, what type of experience was it?

Yes and no. I projected with friends. It was wonderful. My boyfriends loved it. I didn’t go out in general public. I got picked on, but that wasn’t for my gender. I projected in odd ways, so I got picked on for that. Never in my life have I ever blended. If everyone wore grey flannel, I wore the bright red or green one.

 

What part of your body did you feel most secure about? Which presentations made you feel comfortable with that part of your body? Which made you feel uncomfortable?

Probably my breasts. I feel so good having them--they give me security. They have changed my life.

 

What do you feel is the aspect of your identity that you think about the most?

Every day I have to reaffirm for myself that I am female. It is something that is probably going to take years to work out of. It has gotten better. But it is still something. I look in the mirror to reaffirm that I am presenting as a female today. It’s that 50 years of male haunting me.