GABBY, 24, NEW HAVEN, CT
Gender Projected
How old are you, and where are you from?
24. Danbury, CT.
How do you define your gender?
That’s a tricky question...I know that I am a woman. I don’t want to be a male. I am just comfortable in a different type of clothing that isn’t what society says women should wear.
Which presentation would you be afraid to wear on the street in your hometown or around your family? Why?
None of them. But if I wore a dress now around people, I would definitely get some comments. “You’re wearing a dress...blah blah blah.” But I wouldn’t be afraid to do it.
What words do you feel represent your identity?
Adventurous, athletic, funny, straightforward, outgoing.
What do you feel is the most salient aspect of your identity?
People see a short girl that is athletic and plays sports and is gay. But they don’t see that I can be sensitive sometimes and that the way I look doesn’t define who I am. Don’t tell me that because I dress this way because I want to be a boy. I don’t want to be a boy. I just dress how I dress. They way I dress is “how boys dress,” but I’m not going to walk around in clothes I am uncomfortable in just to please people. I’m not going to fake it for anybody. It is too much work to fake it. It would be nice for people to see outside of that.
What was something you did during this project that you had never done before? How did that make you feel?
I have done all of it before. I have worn clothes that are form fitting. I have worn a dress. But I started to realize that those weren’t clothes that I wanted to be in so I changed it up. When I started to make more money, I was able to buy things that I felt comfortable in.
Why did you want to be involved in the project?
It was something different. It was interesting. I was learning different things. And we needed to give [the project] some diversity.
Have you explored/experimented with gender identity/expression before this project? If so, how did that make you feel?
No. I didn’t have any money to dress the way I wanted to. And when I was finally able to, I was more comfortable.
Is there anything else you want to say about your experience with Gender, Projected?
It was a very good experience for me – it was very informative, and I learned a lot. If it weren’t for this project, I wouldn’t have ever been exposed to a broader gay community than just lesbians. Not everybody knows all the terminology that comes with it. I didn’t. Some things I still look up so I can get a broader meaning of them. But for the most part, the project was accessible.