Final Project: A Whole New World

Our lives are consumed with questions. The world is a pretty confusing place. We spend most of our time in it asking and pondering the answers to questions which may not have answers. Most of the time we just find more questions. There is no right answer. And yet it seems that there are so many wrong ones. How is this possible and how can we change that? Do we want to change it?

            I want answers.

I want to see what I imagine.

I want to experience what I dream.

I want to live in a different world.

 

What if our world were something hugely different than what it is? What would we want to change if we could make the world a different place? What if our wishes were granted about gender and sexuality? Would we be happy with what we found?

I want to see the changes we can only hope to make.

What if we took all of the themes and ideas which we learn and think about and made them real? What if we took the theoretical and made it practical? Can we ever really find a perfect world?

            I want to feel how it would feel if it were real.

Are we taking this all too far? Are we being unrealistic? Can we really hope for a life without boundaries? How about rules?

            I want to take it too far.

Can we make a world true to our dreams? Will it function? Will we? Do we have to take it to extremes? Can there be a happy medium? Is our world a happy medium? How can we change our world to satisfy us without taking it too far?

            I want to create a world which I want to live in.

So let’s get some answers. We’re going to take a trip. You don’t need anything but your imagination and a strong stomach. We won’t be gone for long, and you shouldn’t experience much jet lag, but Dorothy you won’t be in Kansas anymore-- we’re going to some places you can’t get to or find in history books. We’re going to two worlds which don’t exist.

 

                          

 

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MANWOMAN

            Welcome to MANWOMAN. Here in MANWOMAN we have only two kinds of people: Men and Women. Men have penises, testicles, and male reproductive organs. Women have breasts, vaginas, and female reproductive organs. Are you a man or a woman? Decide now and we will help to adjust you better to the rules and requirements of our world.

            If you are a woman please proceed to the Women’s Immigration Office. There you will choose between wearing a dress or a skirt and a blouse, in either pink or purple. You will find a selection of sizes of undergarments and shoes as well. After you are dressed you will be directed to the Women’s Appearance Office where you will either be sized for a wig or your own hair will be cut to the appropriate length. You will remove all outside jewelry, piercings or any other non-uniform material.

            If you are a man please proceed to the Women’s Immigration Office. There you will find the correctly pants and shirts in either green or blue, it is your choice. You will find a selection of sizes of undergarments and shoes as well. After you are dressed you will be directed to the Men’s Appearance Office. There you will either be given sideburns and a wig or your hair will be cut. You will remove all outside jewelry, piercings or any other non-uniform material.

            We will give you a short tour, then we will direct you to your hosts. You will hopefully find your living arrangements to be satisfactory, if you have any complaints please alert your hosts who will put you in touch with us. If after your stay you are interesting in joining our world, please let us know. We will make the necessary arrangements to provide for you. Our life is a life of choice, contrary to what you may have heard about us. It is true, many parts of our life are regulated, and in many ways you have a limited amount of choice, but your actual choice comes when you do. If you wish to bend our laws, or make changes to our or your identity, you simply will leave. If you are interested in being a part of what we do here, then you make a choice, and you must follow our rules. Now, we will show you MANWOMAN and you will make your choice.

            Marriage in MANWOMAN is a very simple matter. Men marry Women, and they choose whether or not to have children just like any other society. They get to choose which man or woman they choose, and 18 is the age for both marriage and sex. Offenders will be asked to leave. You may only have one partner at a time, but you may have as many or as few partners in your life as you wish. Once you have settled down you are asked to follow our Code of Marital Conduct. Females must do housework and child-rearing, males must work for money and do yard work and other physically laborious work. You must also follow the general Code of Conduct.

When a child is born it is determined to be either a boy or a girl. This determination will be either made by indicative body parts. If there is any ambiguities they will be corrected. If you have any ambiguous gender situations, and you decide to stay with us, they will be corrected.

            Growing up, you are taught strict gender rules. You will taught in school and ideally in your families the Code of Conduct. If you are a boy, you will be taught by your father and your male teacher at school, if you a girl by your mother and female teacher. Boys and girls are taught separately in same-sex schools, but you are given supervised time to interact. You are taught different skills because they will lead very different lives. You are given a small grace period for rebellion, but if you are continuously rebelling you will be asked to leave. You can return at any point to our world if you desire, with no other requirements but that you follow our rules. We believe that the old way was evil, confusing, and went against nature. Please do not bring any of those things into our world.

            You may be a part of any of our proscribed religions, or none of them. Religions have been changed to abide by rules which coincide with our Code of Conduct. Nothing has been re-written, but passages have been taken out, and any ambiguities are filled in with speculation from the religious leaders.

            All information on jobs, politics, and other life issues concerning gender roles will be detailed specifically in the Code of Conduct and should not be violated. Questioning of the Code will also not be tolerated. If you have concerns or problems with the Code you should either resolve them on your own or you will be asked to leave.

            Thank you for your visit to MANWOMAN. We hope you have liked your stay. Please let us know if you would like to enter into our world.

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GENDERFREE

            Welcome to GENDERFREE. Here in GENDERFREE we don’t have any kinds of people. We’re not all the same but we’re not all different. You can put us into categories, but we ask you not to. Most people are just people and we don’t have any particular other way to describe who we are. We like to keep identity free and open, so we actually ask that you not indentify yourself as anything other than a person.  

            Follow us and we’ll show you where you can stay. If there’s anything you need please let us know as soon as possible. However, we ask a few things of you. You can express yourself in any way through your clothes, life choices, or actions. However, we do ask that you not use words to describe sex or gender. Please do not use “woman” “man” “male” “female” “masculine” “feminine” “gay” “straight” “homosexuality” “heterosexuality” “he” “she” or other related words. You need not use any pronouns but “I” “me” “my” “they” “them” “their” and other related words. If you need to describe a certain group of people, certainly do not do so by trying to use gender or sexuality stereotypes—those things don’t exist in our world. Every person is a person, and most look very different. You can describe someone’s looks, but not relative to a sex or gender (masculine looking, etc). Some people do have penises, some have vaginas, some have both or neither. Most actually have been getting a surgery to eliminate all sexual organs and parts. So please don’t try to group us by our body parts, it will not work and it is against our rules. We want full self-expression but we do not want to go back to the old way. It brought nothing but intolerance and hate.  

Sexual encounters here in GENDERFREE are encouraged. We have found through research that sex is actually a healthy and necessary component of our lives. We therefore allow it at any point with anyone. We acknowledge that age is an important identifier in life and is a necessary part of our group’s identity; however, we do not think that age matters any more than sex or gender in regards to sex, as long as all partners consent. This includes the illegality of rape and any other non-consensual act between two people. We even allow for animal or object sex, as long as the animal shows some consent (see Consent Rulebook) or the object does not belong to someone else. You may do with your free time what you like, so you are allowed to have sex wherever you desire whenever. However, we ask that you do not have sex during activities like work or at times when you must be otherwise engaged.

Sex work is a kind of work like any other and we have legitimized as such. We quickly made it legal and made regulations to maintain safety and health regulations. We have also decriminalized prostitution and other previously scorned sex work components and we are trying to integrate them into our everyday businesses and advertising. We are trying to rid our society of taboos, especially sexual ones, because we find sex to be natural.

            When children are born in GENDERFREE we have only their names and weights to be announced. Names are more varied now and do not have really any large role in anyone’s life. Last names can be from either the woman who birthed you or whoever you live with, or even whoever was there at your birth and decided to give you their last name.

            Love and marriage are also all up to choice. You can be with whomever you choose, or more than one person or none. It is completely your choice. If you want to get a title “married” or not is up to you, and marriage means nothing but that title. We ask that you not follow many of the traditions of the old way, but that again is completely up to you. Marriage can also be between anyone of any age as long as there is consent. Divorces are free just as marriages are, and do not mean anything but that your title goes away. Legal marital and divorce disputes no longer exist because marriage is nothing but a title. If you decide to share assets, that is up to you, but seeing as we discourage it, we will not help you nor will a lawyer to sort it out in the case of a divorce. Marriage is just as legitimate as being in any relationship and therefore will not be dealt with legally.

            Because there exists no gender or sex barriers, every individual is educated the same way until they graduate high school. There is no same-sex education and no concept of co-education because there is no concept of sex or gender. Students learn together, some go to public school, some to private. Sex education is by exploration only, but students are encouraged to talk to the adults in their lives. Some children will do what we call menstruate, and they are encouraged to seek help with that. However, others will opt to take a pill which will stop this after it happens, and will never again have to deal with that phenomenon, with no side effects.

            Health care providers are asked to look at each person and case separately and will open eyes and minds. Most requests should be looked after and considered well, taking into account that we all are individuals. They are asked to hopefully use some of the knowledge which helped with things like childbirth, but basically to learn and practice as the human body had only a few similarities and as if sex and gender were 100% subjective.

            Jobs and other things like entertainment are treated in the same way as education. Because there exists no sexual identity, there exists no boundaries. There are therefore no laws regarding sexual harassment or sexual discrimination. Restrooms and all other public places are gender free and non-descriminatory.

            Religion is viewed as archaic, and texts are read but not valued or implemented in any way. You can belief in any way, but you may not discriminate or impose your beliefs on anyone in regards to religion or any other belief. Offenders will be punished by law.

            Our world is very free and open to choice; however, choosing a gendered world is not one of those choices. We are free people and cannot be tied down by gendered identities, stereotypes, or stigmas.

 

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IDEAL WORLD

            In an ideal world you wouldn’t find yourself with strict gender or no gender. However, you also wouldn’t find yourself in our world. In an ideal world there wouldn’t be gender requirements or strict laws, nor would there be no form or structure, and there certainly would exist the intolerance which exists in our world.

            In an ideal world there would be many, many choices. There could be no right answers but also no wrong ones. The world would function under the idea of Pluralism. There are many different ways of thinking and schools of belief, and in an ideal world we would accept this and in fact appreciate diversity. We would be tolerance, but go past simply tolerating others who aren’t like us, but instead actively engaging in learning about them. This strategy is usually used to bridge gaps between religious groups and create multi-faith organizations. I think the same strategy could be implemented in regards to beliefs about gender and sexuality.

            In an ideal world there would exist religions, same-sex education, and some gender rules; however, nothing would be compulsory. Religious people could function in their own chosen way, and have all the rules they would desire. However, none of these things would be even remotely connected with law or our government. Religion would be considered an interest in the government’s eyes, and all people who wanted to be a part of it would have to govern themselves, and keep to themselves.

            Gender would exist but it would be considered a very separate thing from sex. Gender would be something you would choose, sex an open thing determined by body parts.There could still be the idea of a Man and a Woman, but they would be some of the many possibilities out there. There would be no stigmas for trans or gender queer individuals. There would be no separation or segregation for any queer person. Nothing would be sexed, no signs on the bathroom doors, or boxes to check on forms. Things would be considered gender free, but if you chose to submit to the gender binary your views would be respected. However, the norm would be total freedom. There would be open marriage like in GENDERFREE, but there would still exist the age requirement of 18. Sex could be as free as in GENDERFREE, with the exception of minors and animals, much like the rules are now. There would not exist a stigma about any people having sex. However, sex would still be asked to be behind closed doors and general modesty would be asked of the public. Sex work would be legalized but not decriminalized. There would be restrictions on it just like alcohol.

Education could be co-ed or single-gender, but single-gender education would be based upon one’s gender identity. Teachers would be required to give all students equal opportunities and to be open to all gender or sexuality identities. There would still be sex education but it would happen with everybody and would include intersexuality and the queer identity freely and openly.

When children were born neither their sex nor gender would be determined or decided. However, a thorough report of body parts would be given. Children would be able to choose their gender identity whenever they felt it, and would not be call an “effeminiate boy” or a “boyish girl” for their choices. Parents would have their own beliefs but would not impose them on their children. They would instead present their beliefs an options then allow their children to explore and become what they chose for themselves. In an ideal world identity, gender, and sexuality would be subjective, and there would exist no stigmas surrounding any choices.

 

In an ideal world there would be not just tolerance but acceptance.

In an ideal world there would be diversity.

In an ideal world there would be questions with many answers.

In an ideal world no answers would be wrong, and all could be right.