Current mood:

bitchy

Two Words: Bridal. Shower.
I cannot even express how uncomfortable this evening made me. Besides all the pictures that decorated everything at the place the party was hosted at that enforced heteronormativity, there were a number of things wrong at this event.

I barely know this cousin, yet I *have* to come because I happen to have female genitals? I have always been genderqueer, and I stuck out like a red, throbbing, *bleeding* thumb among everyone else there. I was dressed pretty much the exact opposite of everyone there, given that everyone else in the family seems to dress according to society's gender role standards and I, the person who tends to only buy clothing in the "men's" sections of stores, was dressed the exact opposite. I don't sit delicately. For all intents and purposes, if the event was designed to only include "feminine-type" people and exclude all "male-type" people, I should have been excluded. Oh, but right. There's the genitals factor. My mistake.

The "partygame" we played? It made me feel like a moron. You purported it to be a test on "how well you know the bride", but only 2 questions had any real relevance to knowing important things about her as a person. The rest of the questions had to do with how well you memorized everything she was *wearing* when you first walked in the door. Yes, because the validity and quality of your relationship with a person has a direct correlation to how well you memorize what they wear, not the facts that are important and relevant to their life. Like the name of the groom and where he grew up, maybe?

Telling my 3-year-old great-cousin that he isn't allowed to be at the party, can't eat any of the treats, and has to leave "because you're a boy, sweetie"... is not ok. He's three, he doesn't understand why you would want to exclude him, and it deeply upset him. Again, with the exclusion-based-on-genitals thing. -.-** I had to tell him that, if he wanted, he could have his own all-boy party sometime, just to make him stop getting all teary-eyed.

I am totally not happy at how miserable and awkward the whole event made me feel. Double-fail to the hostess for arranging for all the excluded males to go to a car-and-truck show. Because, y'know, all males like cars and trucks. I will admit that at least you DID arrange some option for them to do instead of just kicking them out to fend for themselves the whole night.