Episode #58: Matisse DuPont on Eradicating Gender Categorization

In yet another thought-provoking episode of The Discomfort Practice Podcast, I'm speaking to Matisse DuPont, an artist, educator, and consultant in gender, sexuality, and identity. Matisse has a Master's degree in Gender and Cultural Studies and has been showcasing their talents/creativity on their informative, delightful, and binge-watchable videos on social media. They offer individual and institutional gender consultation services and inclusivity consulting and cultural competency training concerning transgender, non-binary gender, non-conforming individuals, and the LGBTQIA plus community. I found my chat with them truly enlightening to my understanding of gender.  Matisse takes me on a fascinating journey of better understanding how our sexuality gets intertwined with gender, pronouns, culture, and a whooole lot of other aspects of gender. Their distinction between physical sexuality and internal sexuality is a fascinating way to look at it, understanding that humans have varied sex hormonal ratios which cannot be used as a criterion to distinguish gender. Our cultural/societal taboo has made conversations about gender needlessly uncomfortable - like an itch - which can be resolved by educating and developing self-awareness. This is core to Matisse's work as an educator.  Matisse is on a mission to spark creativity and curiosity, which they believe is possible only when people shed the societal norms and express themselves - which is where gender education plays such a crucial role. We wade into a fascinating rumination on what would happen if children's minds were left to their natural, infinite creativity rather than constricted by current binary models.  We both believe that it is important to feel true to their body and not merely because of our physical characteristics or the norms of the culture we belong to. The arbitrary lines of gender categorization are getting diffused with time. Tune in as we tackle the discomfort of gender preconceptions in this podcast. Let us know your thoughts on Instagram or Twitter @thebetsyreed and feel free to tag us. Follow my own journey through my discomfort practice and catch up on past episodes on the podcast microsite https://thediscomfortpractice.libsyn.com or find The Discomfort Practice on your favorite podcast platform. Key Points: The Moment of Discomfort (04:41) Pronouns, do we need them (09:47) My evolutionary journey from a little boy (10:10) The concept of Non-binary and queer (17:50) Assigned sex, biological sex doesn't translate to sexuality (23:00) People are uncomfortable with themselves (25:21) The pseudoscience of a male and a female body (31:41) The reality of sex is complicated, physical characteristics or hormonal ratios is not a parameter for sex determination (37:14) Have empathy for other people who are also having a different complicated relationship to gender (43:35) The world if all children are raised in a non-binary way (50:00) Why are we still CIS-gender (56:00) Support the movement (59:09) Connect with Matisse DuPont: Matisse's Website Matisse on Instagram Matisse on TikTok Send Matisse an Email Connect with Betsy Reed: Betsy on Instagram Betsy on Twitter Betsy on Linkedin Betsy's Website Resources Mentioned: In the Life: Interview with Kate Bornstein, Leslie Feinberg Matisse's Newsletter Matisse's Art Book or Gift a gender consultation Rate, Review, Learn and Share Thanks for tuning into The Discomfort Practice! If you enjoyed this episode, please drop us a five star and written review, follow and share how it has benefited you. Don't forget to tune into our other episodes and share your favorite ones on social media!