The day went better than I could have imagined. I arrived about five minutes early and immediately ran into Faye, the lovely director of the TORCH program. Apparently the other intern called in sick, so Faye didn't really want to go through the orientation material without her which was completely understandable. We walked around the office and I was introduced to a whole bunch of people (I'm not great with names so I have a feeling I'll need to introduce myself a few more times). The office is gorgeous, with lots of light, and everybody was incredibly nice. The whole experience was kind of surreal.
Faye showed me the folders with the various activities for each topic (abortion, sexual orientation & gender identity, body image, etc.) and I started going through some of the more outdated handouts from the sexual orientation and gender identity. I think that to truly understand things like transgender issues and even feminism for that matter one needs to understand the terminology. For example, understanding the difference between sex (biological aspects of being male or female: chromosomes, genitalia, hormones - primary and secondary sex characteristics) and gender (social phenomena associated with masculinity, femininity) is key in understanding transgender identities. While I don't profess to be any kind of expert on trans issues, I believe I've had enough academic and personal experience with the topic to outline and discuss the basics so I mentioned to Faye that I may want to spend some time specifically focusing on trans issues with the group. There are lots of terms so I started taking pre-existing lists of terms apart and rearranging them into a more cohesive list. I've added a few terms as well (pansexuality, genderqueer) but I have to be careful not to get ahead of myself. It's going to be a little tricky planning to do activities and discussions because I'm not really sure how familiar they are with these concepts and terms, so I guess I'll have to somewhat play it by ear.
My parents left today, it was really fantastic having them here to help me move in and adjust to life in the city. I had very little turn-around time between school ending and arriving in New York, and I honestly couldn't have done it without them. They have been so supportive of me, both in coming to the city and with the work I'm doing. I miss them and my boyfriend terribly, but I know this is an important experience for me to have.
Hopefully one of the women at the office is going to connect me with a clinic escort program, so I can volunteer with them on the weekends, and I'll probably be tabling at Manhattan Pride. If you're in the city and need some condoms, come on by!
Kisses and contraception,
Naomi
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