What I Wanted To Wear: Madison Square Garden Edition
At concerts, I like to feel comfortable. I have sensory processing disorder and am easily overstimulated by crowds, noise, and lights, so I often like to keep my outfits simple: jeans and a soft t-shirt. However, I know a ton of people at the particular show I’m going to, and I know most of them will read this outfit as “masculine” and will refer to me as a guy if I wear it. Nothing I wear is ever read as neutral; I, myself, am rarely read as neutral even to the people (friends included) I repeatedly come out to. As a result, I change into a tight crop top. Even though it’s not what I’m in the mood to wear, I prefer the ways in which people take one second longer to think before they speak about me when I wear one — even if it means tripping over pronouns and gendered language.
**I use the gender neutral pronouns: they/them**
Feeling deep ambivalence about how we dress is something the trans and gender non-conforming communities experience acutely, but it’s not just about us. We’d love to hear from everybody about how they navigate self presentation each day.
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