January 21, 2015 - 16:57
I chose to use my real name for my account on Serendip because I want the things I say here to be clearly mine - I want to be confident and honest in this public sphere, and to be open to direct criticism of my words. I think this sort of upfront nature goes along with the photo I chose as my avatar - an upclose picture I took of an orchid. To anyone familiar with Georgia O'Keefe (or anyone with an eye for the yonic in nature), of course orchid centers often appear to look like flowery vaginas. I think this is rather fitting as my avatar for several reasons. First of all, it goes along with my personality and overwhelming tendency to be very open about myself and push the envelope wherever I can. Secondly, it is a wonderful representation of my interest in the connection between nature and bodies, particularly queer bodies. As a genderqueer individual, I have a complicated relationship with my body and my vagina. What I love about yonic symbolism in nature, as in this orchid photo, is that it is representation of a genderless vagina. It is a vagina not connected to any social standards or binaries, but one that is part of a beautiful being rooted directly in the earth - like me. This leads to my third reason for this photo being fitting: I am an incredible nature lover. I love all kinds of outdoor adventures, from off-trail bushwacking through the mountains, to spelunking, to swimming in the ocean, to just traipsing through muddy woods barefoot in the rain. I care deeply about wildlife and the environment and want to in some way dedicate my life to protecting it. All in all, this orchid is a lovely representation of the intersection between the scientific, the artistic, and the queer - an intersection at which I live.