That’s what any number of gay and lesbian couples are doing, including two who blog.
I’ve mentioned now and again that my son suffers from a far amount of uneven brain chemistry. Although of superior intelligence, he does best when placed with Asperger kids and the right med mix has his mood disorder pretty much in remission. (Not an unusual co-morbidity; half of all autistic/developmentally delayed individuals are mood disordered, according to one of his doctors.) But he does have one other co-factor, this one rather rare: His endocrine system barely functions. He’s barely producing any hormones, male, female or otherwise. He’s still undergoing testing, but one of the first thing we ask his pediatric endocrinologist about was Kleinfelter’s Syndrome because he appeared to fit the profile. It was ruled out as were a number of other gender-related chromosomal conditions. My son physically presents as male but doesn’t strongly identify as male or female. He calls it his “null state.” Because of our experiences, I can begin to empathize with the condition of being intersexed or — far more common among my generation — having gender forced upon you long before you’re old enough to have a voice in the decision.
Blue Moon Books, examined. About as mainstream a bookstore presence as kinky erotica gets.
Over the weekend, I got to see Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers. The critics’ mixed reviews pretty much hit the spot. If the story hadn’t veered so far away from its original truth-or-dare/name-that-movie premise, it would’ve been a more captivating film, but I’m not sure how you could’ve maintained that approach and portrayed the simmering discourse and discord between the male characters. The eroticism had its strong moments, but I found Isabelle’s need to create order out of chaos how her existence teetered between those two states most interesting.
Of course, the real fun part happened at the start of the film when my better half reached for the buttons of my shirt. “Let’s get things set up right,” he said. As he undid them, I recognized the distinctive 60s rock tune in the soundtrack and observed, “You know, this may be the first time since I was teenager that I’ve had my top unbuttoned to Jimi Hendrix.”
Now that was the best part of the movie. I sure hope Secret Things comes around here soon.
