The third Gender

Andrej Pejic by Mario Sorrenti | Last Exit To Brooklyn

La Monda

How should we refer to you? He or she?

A lot of my close friends say ‘she’. But a lot of people say ‘he’ too and I am not offended by that; when you are in this position, living this life inbetween genders, you can’t be too offended by anything. Either way is fine, but I prefer “she”.

I have never been really good at playing a man! I can do it very easily for photoshoots, but it’s different from acting as a man on a daily basis. I really don’t think it is that different to be one or the other, but capitalist society does draw quite a big line that divides the genders, so these differences seem more exaggerated than they naturally are. Boys are expected to be a lot less emotional, tougher and I guess, somehow rough, where girls have a bit more freedom to express themselves physically, but less freedom mentally and overall because we live in a patriarchal society.

Yes. We are born with a gender identity, as well as a sexual orientation. Most people are not aware of their gender identity because they look in the mirror and if they are female they see a female body; they aren’t even aware. They are more aware of their sexual orientation, in other words who they find attractive. But when the physical part and the mental part don’t coincide or the match is much more complicated, that is when you become aware of gender identity. A lot of scientists point out the fact that it is something we are born with. Of course, later on, we definitely learn how to behave in the way society dictates, but there is a biological factor to it as well. I think that men definitely have as much pressure to behave like men, as women have to behave like women.
(via AndroFeminine)