The Purplepaw Blog

I received my first electric guitar as a gift for my 17th birthday. That's more years than I care to consider before my birthday this

A friend of mine mentioned his struggle to understand the distinction among sex, gender, gender identity, and sexuality. My friend isn't a fool - he

When discussing sex or gender in modern discourse - particularly in internet forums in which anonymity is guaranteed - the phrase "social construct" makes frequent

I am a transgender woman. I have no doubts, but sometimes I wonder if I will ever fit in? So many of my sisters are

My son fell sick last December. I tried my best not to succumb, and although I felt I put up the good fight, I also

I am a scientist. I began my undergraduate education with the intent of becoming a geneticist. My interests changed, and I switched from biology to

Bodily autonomy is important to everyone, though some don't feel its importance or can't explain why it's important until it's taken away or they realize

I ate dinner recently with a psychologist friend of mine - whom I will call Fred. Although Fred was my therapist until he retired in

Last week, I discussed a sense of disfigurement and its value as a typical human experience in maintaining social expectations within the environment. An episode

Imagine living every day with a disfigurement. Not living with a feature you would like to change - living with a feature so abhorrent, an

At the time of writing, it is the second day of 2024. Pessimistic statistics indicate as many as one out of twenty New Year's resolutions

In her memoir Horse Barbie, published earlier this year, model Geena Rocero tells us: “We are all of us works in progress, every draft of

My good friend Morgan Whitten responded to a photograph I posted to social media recently. She called me beautiful, and I had to stifle the

Recognizing you've always been 'One of Them'

Shaneel Lal, a 23-year-old activist, founded the Conversion Therapy Action Group which pushed to ban conversion therapy in

In my childhood I was the problem. I believed I was the bully, although I was always responding to the incessant teasing of others which

I was 13 years old when my father took me to a movie theatre to watch "Risky Business." I was certainly too young to understand

I recently read a fairly old article that struck a nerve, and something clicked. A switch moved and I am suddenly in full berserker protective

Hello Catty Kittens*, and of course everyone else!

I find myself lately wanting to share more positive messages since so much around us feels like

Not long ago, my mental health deteriorated to the point I believed suicide was the only resolution. It was the worst I had felt since

When describing the distinction between sex and gender, I use an example of a species of fish from the Great Barrier Reef. This species of