Changing who I am...
Life is complicated. For me, not so complicated. My gender and sexual preferences have never taken up much time in my head. But listening to my friends and family and reading the newspapers I know that many people are troubled by what their real gender is or, even more confusing, if they even have a gender. Then, to amplify the normal choices of man-and-woman, we have discovered that sexual preference isn't tied to gender, necessarily. For most people, however, chromosomal men are attracted sexually to biologic women. If it were otherwise, the species might perish. But it is not that way for many people and other animals. Things are always part of a spectrum.
Thinking about these issues, I have wondered if there aren't a lot of other folks in the closet about other issues. For instance - race. Part of me really feels Asian. I am attracted to the simplicity of style of classic Japanese architecture and construction as well as the manicured beauty of their gardens. I like their food. Maybe I should think about becoming Japanese. Not get a Japanese passport but actually changing my race to Japanese. If one can change gender based on psychological parameters, why not race? Chromosomally, the vast majority of people are clearly male of female and racially distinct as well. So why not, if one is really moved to be a black person for instance, like Rachel Dolezal, should one not be able to change their racial identity?
So, let's expand this idea. Corporations are given personhood in America. They can't vote but they certainly can influence elections by contributing to the campaigns of politicians that support policies that help them. Corporations can spin off other corporations, who can also contribute to politicians. Why then can't I decide to become more than one person. There exists a diagnostic category in the the world of psychiatry called the Dissociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder. This means that certain people have different identities within their brain, like partitioning your hard drive in your computer. You can have a whole different identity separate from your birth identity. So why not spin this off and get a second real identity. If corporations can split, and I a have the feeling that I have more than one person inside me, I should be allowed legally, to become more than one person. Perhaps many people. There is a constitutional precedent for this idea. When the constitution was written black people were counted as 3/5 of a person, so there is precedent for fractional people in our country's past. If 3/5ths was okay why not 10/5ths?
This is a totally consistent logical argument. If one's identity is no longer tied to one's biology but to one's mental state, then we should, legally be able to change our identity if any way we desire. If I applied to become both a Japanese black man and a white Congalese woman, and marry myself, who would be effected? Voting might get sticky: one person, one vote. But what is a person? I would be able to file my tax return as a joint return even thought I am physically only one person.
Then we have the whole issue of cloning. Perhaps, one day, we will actually have multiple selves in the physical sense; armies of identical bodies resting at home, waiting to be have their kidneys harvested while cleaning up the kitchen. Will each of them be able to change identities? What if you cloned yourself and found out that the clone was actually a black woman from the Hamptons? What a surprise!
This essay is really a plea for tolerance. Everything I've said is consistent and legally possible but un-necessary if we lived in a world where men could wear dresses in public without the fear of personal violence against them, or a black man could walk though a Florida suburb without fear of being shot, or women were no longer raped, or immigrants wearing headscarfs were no longer shouted at on public transportation. If we are forced to have laws that cover the entire spectrum of human diversity we are doomed to live in a Swiftian world. Maybe we do!
Thinking about these issues, I have wondered if there aren't a lot of other folks in the closet about other issues. For instance - race. Part of me really feels Asian. I am attracted to the simplicity of style of classic Japanese architecture and construction as well as the manicured beauty of their gardens. I like their food. Maybe I should think about becoming Japanese. Not get a Japanese passport but actually changing my race to Japanese. If one can change gender based on psychological parameters, why not race? Chromosomally, the vast majority of people are clearly male of female and racially distinct as well. So why not, if one is really moved to be a black person for instance, like Rachel Dolezal, should one not be able to change their racial identity?
So, let's expand this idea. Corporations are given personhood in America. They can't vote but they certainly can influence elections by contributing to the campaigns of politicians that support policies that help them. Corporations can spin off other corporations, who can also contribute to politicians. Why then can't I decide to become more than one person. There exists a diagnostic category in the the world of psychiatry called the Dissociative Identity Disorder or Multiple Personality Disorder. This means that certain people have different identities within their brain, like partitioning your hard drive in your computer. You can have a whole different identity separate from your birth identity. So why not spin this off and get a second real identity. If corporations can split, and I a have the feeling that I have more than one person inside me, I should be allowed legally, to become more than one person. Perhaps many people. There is a constitutional precedent for this idea. When the constitution was written black people were counted as 3/5 of a person, so there is precedent for fractional people in our country's past. If 3/5ths was okay why not 10/5ths?
This is a totally consistent logical argument. If one's identity is no longer tied to one's biology but to one's mental state, then we should, legally be able to change our identity if any way we desire. If I applied to become both a Japanese black man and a white Congalese woman, and marry myself, who would be effected? Voting might get sticky: one person, one vote. But what is a person? I would be able to file my tax return as a joint return even thought I am physically only one person.
Then we have the whole issue of cloning. Perhaps, one day, we will actually have multiple selves in the physical sense; armies of identical bodies resting at home, waiting to be have their kidneys harvested while cleaning up the kitchen. Will each of them be able to change identities? What if you cloned yourself and found out that the clone was actually a black woman from the Hamptons? What a surprise!
This essay is really a plea for tolerance. Everything I've said is consistent and legally possible but un-necessary if we lived in a world where men could wear dresses in public without the fear of personal violence against them, or a black man could walk though a Florida suburb without fear of being shot, or women were no longer raped, or immigrants wearing headscarfs were no longer shouted at on public transportation. If we are forced to have laws that cover the entire spectrum of human diversity we are doomed to live in a Swiftian world. Maybe we do!
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