Sunday, May 29, 2011

Excuse me Miss, there's a man in the women's bathroom.... O_o A case of Gender confusion..

The other day I went to Target with my daughters. As I headed into the bathroom I saw a person with a baby carriage. She looked pretty masculine and was dressed with what some people may commonly see as manly clothes. For a brief millisecond I thought she was a man, however just one good look at her face and it was obvious that she was a woman. Just then an employee of Target comes in and said that a customer had complained that there was a man in the women's bathroom. She said, Is there a male here? I said no. This lady says, It is obvious they are referring to me. See what I mean? Her partner gets all defensive and starts arguing with the Target employee and mentioning the words prejudiced and lawsuit in the same sentence. The Target employee was apologetic and said that she just had been sent to the bathroom to check what was happening because a customer had complained, but that she nor any other Target employee had said anything. She said that it was obviously a misunderstanding on behalf of the customer and they walked out of the bathroom and I didn't hear anything else.

I found that to be very interesting and such a controversial subject. I am accepting of all people, and have no problem with anyone who doesn't have a problem with me. She was indeed masculine, and it might have been an honest mistake. Was that customer being prejudiced when they went to complain to the Target employee? Maybe not. If she had honestly believed that the woman was a lesbian then she probably would have never complained. Would you have been offended? Would you have been surprised? The couple had a baby with them, and to tell you the truth my first impression was that of a daddy trying to find a place to change their baby's diaper. Some places only have diaper changing stations in the women's bathroom, isn't that more discriminatory that honestly making a mistake?

If you were a lesbian and liked to dress with gender neutral clothes, would you be offended if you were confused with a man? Would I be offended if I got confused with a man? I guess, I mean I was once confused with the mother of a friend of mine, although she is 13 years younger than me, so technically I could have given birth to her..
I don't know what to think of this. I did feel bad for them, it must have been embarrassing, but I think that if you like to dress in manly clothes, like to wear your hair short, use a cap in your head, wear clothes that hide your boobs, and don't like to wear make-up or earrings, or anything that could be remotely identified as girly then I don't think that you should be offended if anyone gets confused. I mean everyone has the right to wear whatever they want, whatever makes them feel happy, and not care what other people think or say about it, not even if it makes them confused.

What do you think about this topic?

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