thegenderbook

The Birds and the Bees (page from the GENDER book)

If a trans woman likes other women, does that make her a lesbian? How does it work to make love to a trans man? Do gender-variant folks have gender-variant lovers? We talk about the intersection of sex and sexuality and gender identity (no worries, it’s work and kid-safe). Includes survey responses, and hand-drawn illustrations by me. Enjoy! -mel

edited version of the sex and brain differences page

If you can’t tell a person’s gender by looking at their body, can you find it by looking at their brain?

I did some research, and I found that all brains work about the same, no matter the sex. People of the same sex or gender identity will tend to have structural things, like overall brain size or the shape of their white matter, in common… but these kinds of physical differences don’t determine how smart you are, what interests you have, or your favorite color.

So where in the brain does our sense of self live, and what makes our unique identities? That’s something neurologists, philosophers, and psychologists are still puzzling over.

We thought we had it figured out once - female brains are smaller, so they must be less smart than their male counterparts. But now we know that no matter the size or weight or shape, when it comes to sex, all brains are created equal. Girls can be astronauts, boys can be pastry chefs, and we are all capable of amazing things in any field we choose to pursue.

The birds and the bees, aka our gender and sexuality page!

Notice a few speech bubbles were left blank. IF you’d like to add your experience about gender as it relates (or doesn’t) relate to your sexuality, or any thoughts on those realms, comment here and it may be used in the final book!

Cheers!

Mel, the artist

New pages! Freshly inked and scanned. Let’s see how many I can color this week.

Enjoy and we welcome your feedback; remember these are rough drafts for our book.

{very quick & dirty mockup of the page’s coloring, because I have no scanner here}

This is one of our brand new pages. The text follows. Let me know what you think, it’s still certainly in the editing stages. - mel

How do you identify?
Sexual identity and gender identity can be easily confused, but they’re as different as apples and oranges! Sexual identities can be based on gender identity, though, since a lot of people’s sexual preferences are gender-dependent. Not only what gender(s) the person is attracted to, but also that person’s own gender identity can go into making a sexual identity. For example, a person who identifies as a woman (regardless of the sex assigned to her at birth) that tends to like other women would usually be called a lesbian. But! You never know, she may prefer another term. Just like with gender, we all get to decide how we identify for ourselves.
How does it work?
There’s no one way to get it on. We may not have the same exuberant diversity in sex as we see in the animal or plant kingdoms around us (just think about the bee’s role in pollination), but humans are pretty creative. Where there’s a will, there’s a ton of ways to, ahem, express our affection for one another. The specifics of what works best for each body and gender identity is unique to the individual who inhabits it, and there are no rules saying which acts boys can do or which parts girls have. If it’s on the body of a girl, it’s a girl part, no matter what it looks like. Especially with gender benders, ask what names your partners might like for their parts. Understand some parts may be off-limits. Ask for permission, communicate respectfully, and (no matter the genders involved) make a safer sex plan that works for you. Oh yeah, and have fun.

We just redesigned our site! Come learn about the GENDER book project and see how you can get involved or just get your hands on a free gender resource.

A sneak-peek at our upcoming full-length book. It’s being colored and text tweaked now. Here’s the (rough draft) page on gender/sex. enjoy and feel free to contact us with comments and suggestions! -Mel, creators@thegenderbook.com

How do you identify?

How does it work?

the GENDER book blog