Shelby Young

Sheila Goebel breaks the boundaries of gender. Some may not even perceive gender as being a boundary, especially one to be broken. Society conditions us to believe that our sex is synonymous with only two options to identify as; man or woman. But what if gender was viewed as a spectrum, and was pervasive of the boundaries that our current system creates.

 

Goebel was born female and identifies as a woman. She never felt comfortable in her own skin while dressing in women's clothing. However, when she finally set aside society's idea of what it meant to be a woman, and adopted her own, she began dressing in men's clothing. And with her new look, Goebel gained confidence and a strong identity. She even found love. "My curiosity heightened when I turned 30 and began dating a woman for the first time. I'll never forget my thought process as I got dressed on the night we first made love. What do I wear to bed?... Boxers or briefs? Now I wear my briefs proudly under my men's jeans while my pile of thongs collect dust."

Illuminated is the idea that gender as a binary system is harmful to us in a very intimate way. Individuals need to be considered just that; individuals. Why can't we accept people for who they are, instead of drawing conclusions about them based on their sex? Trying to always accommodate standards for a specific gender inhibits our ability to be happy. It stops us from reaching our full potential, and as we expend energy on fitting in, it stops us from truly being ourselves.