Androgyny

We, as people, feel a need to categorize everything. Ask any biologist...Every animal has a Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. It is amazing that I still remember that from 4 years ago. Anyway, a few weeks ago I saw a band. One member was androgynous, but appeared to me to be male, but I wasn't quite sure. I had an argument with the person I was with, who thought it MUST be a girl. I just determined that it was a boy. Recently however, I was dining with some friends, and who do they invite to the table and who do they invite to sit with us? None other than the androgynous musician! Apparently they knew him/her. Well to my surprise, HER name is Jessica. Jessica? I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. Yet, I know 2 girls who have chopped off their hair and dress in a masculine manner. One prefers to be seen as a guy, while the other just dresses that way because she likes to. Yet, I still see them as female because I can remember a time when they looked that way to the rest of the world.

I can see the need to label when trying to address someone and not knowing whether to use Mr or Ms, and I can see how people may be offended if mis addressed. Not knowing can make someone very uncomfortable, because they want to use a label to be polite, but do not want to make the mistake of picking the wrong one. What can we do in this situation? I say that we propose a new title to address people, and abolish Mr and Ms and Mrs and Miss altogether. In this day and age it is becoming more and more common to see people who do not feel that they fit into either gender role. Why not just add a new title? Some may wonder, well, then when it is used, people may be offended that they appeared androgynous when they intended to appear one way or the other. I know this is a radical idea...but who's with me?