My gender is cactus.
Jul. 7th, 2012 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raxA while back I complained about wanting to replace my gender with a set of outward-facing spikes. I've been feeling prickly, wanting the space between me and other people to be delineated and defended, and some of that prickliness has been about gender. I've also been bonding with the desert, and spending time (though not as much as I'd like) among cacti and thorny trees and tiny flowers and birds and lizards. And I realized that... actually cactus works way better than male or female as a gender for me. It's a little tongue in cheek, but I mean, look at this. Cacti:
Randomly: I made a comment about this at Anthrocon, and "#gendercactus" briefly became a twitter meme among bronies, though it appears to be out of Twitter's search cache at this point so I guess it didn't have staying power. Zury joked that I had managed to hit zero-day appropriation.
- care more about sunlight and water and safety than appearances, but still blossom in (bright pink, for many species) flowers when they feel like it
- are covered in spines to protect them from being consumed, but need the touch of the animals that know how to interact with them safely (particularly but not only for reproduction)
- won't hurt you if you don't hurt them!
- move between periods of relative stasis and calm and very sudden changes in shape and size depending on the resources available to them
- are perfectly comfortable when birds nest in them --- sometimes literally inside them, in the case of cacti like the saguaro --- and keep those new spaces opened up in them for other animals to live in when the first occupants move out
- over time, develop patches that are smoother and safe to touch, but only for those who take the time to tell the difference
- are simple in construction yet labyrinthine on the inside (seriously, look at this blog post I found, unless you are one of those people squicked by fractal structures full of holes, in which case NEVER LOOK INSIDE A CACTUS)
Randomly: I made a comment about this at Anthrocon, and "#gendercactus" briefly became a twitter meme among bronies, though it appears to be out of Twitter's search cache at this point so I guess it didn't have staying power. Zury joked that I had managed to hit zero-day appropriation.
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 05:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 07:14 pm (UTC)I am sometimes freaked out by holes but those cactus innards are fantastic (and not scary, I can't ever tell what kinds of holes will set me off), thanks for the link!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 08:52 pm (UTC)*stops right there*
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 09:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 03:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 08:12 am (UTC)Have you seen Rango?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 11:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:14 pm (UTC)Feng shui says that spiky plants such as cacti have dangerous chi and shouldn't be allowed in a home, but this anecdote demonstrates that dangerous chi is useful for protection.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-09 05:49 am (UTC)The only thing worse than Church Latin is Science Latin. -_-
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 05:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 05:16 pm (UTC)That's pretty terrific.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 05:41 pm (UTC)I know this is a bit of a random encounter, but I couldn't just read your entry and not tell you how completely mesmerizing I found it and the blog post you mentioned as well. I had NO idea that cactus were so fascinating or intricate and now they are just completely intriguing to me. I look forward to reading more posts from you and hope you don't mind my sticking around to read them. :)
Sincerely,
Micha Monet
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 10:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 05:51 pm (UTC)(I think of mine as angelic, based on the bit in Aquinas about every angel being a species unto itself.)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 06:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 06:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 06:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 08:58 pm (UTC)To be clear, I don't identify as a cactus --- if nothing else, I travel far too much --- but I find it a very useful metaphor, so I'm rolling with it. (Normally I wouldn't feel the need to be explicit about something like that, but since I am a fox and saying that isn't really any more believable than claiming cactushood, I figure it's best to be clear.)
It was totally clear to me 1) that this is a metaphor and 2) why you chose to make it clear that this is a metaphor... though I found your need to explain why you were clarifying it amusing, since it was obvious to me. ^_^ Also, it seems like a totally reasonable thing to make sure one is clear about (because cactushood could be an option!).
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-07 11:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 03:32 am (UTC)(The gender stuff is all fascinating too, but I have just spent a day hauling boxes and sadly have nothing interesting to say in response.)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 03:58 am (UTC)Mostly I go by my emergency backup gender, "girl". It's not nice that the world requires me to be in CONSTANT EMERGENCY MODE though.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 05:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-08 04:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-09 03:32 am (UTC)i miss you!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-09 01:49 pm (UTC)I should, like, come up with a good metaphor for mine. I think it would be very helpful.
Go, you!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-07-10 10:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-25 07:15 am (UTC)