Tuesday, June 20, 2023

The Pointless Forest

 


People are usually different than they appear to be. My Mother-in-law told me that even though I was a 'non-believer', she thought I'd make a really good Christian. A co-worker stated in all seriousness that I was the gayest straight man she'd ever known.

In both cases, I took those statements in the same way they were offered - as compliments, with appreciation and gratitude.

I'm a cisgender heterosexual male. I didn't choose that condition... I just am. During early gestation in Mom's belly, I had an equal chance of being male or female, and only a rise in testosterone over estrogen sent me on the path towards maleness. I also had the nascent beginnings of both male and female genitalia, eventually set by the aforementioned rise in testosterone.

During my belly time, Nature could have caused the estrogen hormone to gain traction instead of testosterone, with the result being a female me. Nature could also have very easily created a cocktail of both estrogen and testosterone, shaken (and not stirred) it, thus impacting the formative me and how I would pop outta Mom's oven, irrespective of which set of genitalia would eventually develop.

These are scientific facts. EVERYONE starts out this way.

These scientific facts have nothing to do with ideology or belief. They have nothing to do with who or what my parents were, how I was raised, the books I read in Grade school, or the people I knew and dated in high school and college.

Well-educated people understand that our knowledge of science can be misinterpreted, misunderstood and/or imperfect. During the Middle Ages, scholars proclaimed that humans were solid inside like a potato. Trepanation was used for millennia to resolve all kinds of physical and mental ailments. Modern medicines and vaccines are lifesaving miracles of science but can also have serious, life-altering side effects.

Luckily, we now have an expanded view on the science of life, and for the most part accept the foundational aspects about how and why we are who and what we are. However, there are many among us who can't accept that Nature... like science... is sometimes fickle and imperfect and doesn't always operate within the commonly-accepted parameters.

Science also tells us that sexuality and gender are not the same thing.

It's no one's fault. Science... like Nature... is sometimes fickle and imperfect and doesn't operate within the commonly-accepted parameters.

I highlight these gestational issues because they've been on my mind lately, the result of a national (international?) hysteria over what defines a male or a female, the difference between sexuality and gender, whose definitions are correct or not, and why it doesn't really matter in any substantive way.


The Point (Vinyl LP 1970; Film 1971)



This wonderful animated film, based on the 1970 Harry Nilsson vinyl LP, tells the story of a boy named Oblio living in the mythical Land of Point, where every person is born with a pointed head and everything else has a literal, physical point. Unfortunately, Oblio was born with a round head. He didn't choose that condition... he just was

As he grows up, his Mom knits him a pointed cap to help assimilate at school, but it doesn't really help. After winning a game of Triangle Toss against the Son of the evil Count, the Count convinces the King that Oblio's pointlessness violates the law of the land, which states that everyone and everything must have a point. Oblio and his dog Arrow are convicted of breaking the law and banished to the Pointless Forest, where they have a fantastic journey of discovery.


Of course, during his journey Oblio learns that everything in the Pointless Forest actually has a 'point', so he rightfully concludes that he must have one too.

This film had such a profound impact on my young self that immediately after seeing it at the movies with Mom, I begged her to buy me the record, which I still have in my collection. The foundational message about diversity, equality and the inclusion of others (D.E.I!!!) was burned into my mental hard drive, and I believe 'The Point' should be required viewing in every Grade school, because this isn't rocket science. Thanks, Harry.



'The Point' - complete movie


Jazz Hands

I was a Drama geek in high school but was clueless about gay folks. It wasn't until my first year in Junior College (1974) that I had many gay classmates at school and in the Theater Arts Department. My exposure to their reality was, in a word, dramatic.

Neil was a tall gay ginger in Theater Arts, and he was the first 'out' gay person I'd ever met, totally flamboyant and exuberant. I enjoyed his dark sense of humor during convos when we'd all gather in the Green Room. When he learned that I'd been an Indian Dancer in Boy Scouts, he suggested that I take a class in Modern Jazz Dance like he was to strengthen my stage chops. I took his advice and registered for the following semester.

Neil and his partner hosted a house party one Saturday night and invited everyone. At first I was a bit nervous about going to a gay party, but it turned out to be as raucous and fun as any other college party and I danced, drank and laughed a lot. I had a blast... these were my kind of people!

On my first day of dance class, I quickly learned two things. First,  Neil was a semester ahead of me and wouldn't be in the same class, so I was the only guy in a studio full of women! Second, the instructor said I needed to wear a leotard. After much pleading, she agreed to let me wear cutoff sweatpants and a tank-top instead. WHEW!

The stretching and warm-ups at the start of each class were accompanied by the Chi-Lites tune 'Oh Girl', and every time I hear it now, I think of that room of languidly-stretching humans.


Class consisted of instruction and practice on many different dance moves and techniques, but we also worked on a group routine performed to Labelle's 'Lady Marmalade', another tune that time-warps me right back into the dance studio.


Dance class really helped me with stage presence and smooth, sure movement. One night after taking a date to see a play at school, she demanded that I perform my dance class routine in her driveway, which I nailed while lit by the headlights of my Triumph TR4A. Although this all happened a lifetime ago, I'll always be grateful to Neil for convincing me to take the class, which also helped in my later career as an automotive technical training specialist, where I performed over 200 classes, presentations and speeches.

My programs were NEVER boring!

*****************************************************

Dad taught me that everyone is important... that everyone matters, regardless of who or what they are. My Boy Scout experience taught me to treat others with the honesty and respect they deserve, regardless of who or what they are. My life has been filled with all kinds of people, many who were and are part of the LGBTQ+ milieu, and in almost every case I've become a better person for having them in my life. 

Whomever a person chooses to love and/or spend their life with, or how they choose to present themselves to the world are deeply personal decisions, and it shouldn't matter what others think about it. Sadly, in 2023 it's become an issue for some with power and influence who try to mandate and legislate human behavior and interpersonal relationships based on their own narrow-minded vision and beliefs, along with their willfully ignorant confusion about sexuality and gender. 

Don't be like them, because they're as wrong as they can be. It's really not their fault. Humans... like nature and science... are fickle and imperfect and don't always operate within the commonly-accepted parameters of behavior.


"It may seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first." - Miyamoto Musashi, swordsman and philosopher - 1584-1645


All images, Gracias de Google Images; all videos, Muchisimas Gracias de YouTube.

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