Jordan

“She nursed the child because she was supposed to feel some deep electric connectedness to her and didn’t. So she gave her what she had — her body.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone

“This is how power works: it makes the actual people experiencing violence seem like a threat.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary

“In our fear, we treat others’ identities as if they are something that they are doing to us and not something that just exists.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon

“Babies are born and divided into one of two categories… boy or girl, which affects how we treat the baby when they cry, what clothes we dress them in, what toys they’re allowed to play with… Nothing is spared; we mark everything — the colors, emotions, relationships, even food… This is done so consistently and with so much authority that we don’t even recognize that we are doing it…

Depending on whether we call them a boy or girl, we assign each a narrative — we tell some children they are strong, and others they are weak. We tell some they can express themselves, and others they should not have feelings. We tell some their worth comes from doing harm, and tell others their worth comes from accepting it.”
― Alok Vaid-Menon, Beyond the Gender Binary