"The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself." - Maya Angelou

"The world around you is only beautiful when you are at peace with the world within you." - Unknown

"Your ambition should be to get as much life out of living as you possibly can – as much enjoyment, as much interest, as much experience, as much understanding. And not to simply be what is generally called a “success”." - Eleanor Roosevelt

I was dealt the gender-fluid card when I was in my mum’s tummy. Obviously, I never realized I was gender-fluid because it is who I am and I never had a word to put myself into a box. It is just who I am. By the way, I hate boxes. I always bust through them. I have a problem with conforming.

So what about ‘gender expression’? I grew up wearing ‘boys clothes’ and I never had an issue with it. However, identifying as genderfluid often comes with an expectation of presenting masculine and feminine at separate times. The truth of it is simple, but confusing for some. Gender identity and gender expression are two different things. Genderfluid people may or may not wish to vary our gender expression as we experience shifts in gender identity. That doesn’t make us any less valid. Some men express and dress themselves femininely. Some women express and dress themselves masculinely while not wearing makeup. That’s my choice in the matter. To expect differently is to impose stereotyped gender norms on us. Not nice!

This would be me at the beach

In France there are many nudist beaches where I would be proud to be intersex and genderfluid.

LESSON LEARNED: Give yourself permission to express your gender in any way YOU see fit. Clothing has no gender. Personally, I don’t usually wear makeup or feminine clothes, but when I do, my favourite colour is black.