Ackee Soup

By Giggles Anderson

I do not know why all this hubbub about
a girl acting like a guy.

A woman, strongly identifying as a man,
decided to join The Debbies–
a cookie cutter coven of campus co-eds
who walk, talk, act, dress, and dance staccato
the SAME.

I was never a Girl Scout, but I ate the cookies.
Still today, I bitterly eat the cookies.

I never played team sports as a child.
(I was pudgy from eating too many cookies.)

I did NOT play well with others.

I became a mean girl.

I AM a *mean* girl.
(cause and effect?)

I DO not play well with others.
But don’t act like I’m the only one.

The SCOUTS won’t let agnostics,
atheists or known gays IN
& The SCOTUS ruled that as a private organization,
the Boy Scouts of America can keep them OUT.

Anagrams aside,
I think we all need to take
another look at this mix.

The Supreme Court itself has escorted
many a Man’s law down the mountain
with O’Connor and Ginsburg helping
to etch and carry the heavy stone tablets.

(Yes, in a testicle’s shell,
we have all been living
by Girl SCOTUS law as well.)

Seriously, it’s really a good question:
Do the Justices REALLY play well with each other?

Social justice attacks your manners, poise and dress.
Racial justice profiles candidates for ethnicity & corporate success.
Equal justice makes sure the pencil test gets a fair shake.
Criminal justice always shoplifting Fashion Fair face cake.

(In) justice has always been such a bitch–
no one likes her, but somehow
she manages to crash all the parties.
If you live through the night, Real Justice will admit
you were there for the fight.

Apple, Orange, Peanut Butter. Tell me the name of your sweet heart! Alpha, Beta, Gamma, …

A Civil Justice–does she get to play?

She likes spiders and frogs.
Ain’t she a woman?
She is muscular and strong… in the face.
Ain’t she a woman?
She loves the ladies perhaps while dressed like a man.
Ain’t she a woman?
She loves the men while dressed like a man.
Ain’t she a woman?
She prefers masculine pronoun references.
Ain’t she a woman?
She wears out hats, slacks, and flamboyant verb tenses.
Ain’t she a woman?

Again, Civil Justice–does she get to play?

There was a time
when a Sorority woman in public
did not smoke, did not drink liquor, and did not wear pants.
The primer was clear, yet a Woman somewhere
broke rank and took a stance.

How about we invite Poetic Justice over for some charades?

Hear ye, hair ye:
No BEAR legs! Shave those stumps!
That’s right, no bare legs.
Wear the hose, but NEVER dress like them.

No short hair stretched into
ALL long hair neatened into
No unkempt hair ironed into
No spongy hair turned into
No natural hair folded into
No braids matted into
NOT THE DREADED LOCKS!

Yes, there was a time where
women with locked hair
were ostracized and
their participation limited.

Yes, and it made me want to spew bile
into my brown paper bag.
(what did YOU think it was for?)

And this too shall pass.

As our understanding and acceptance
of Womanhood continues to evolve,
Devin Alston-Smith poses a sincere
yet intriguing set of Star Trek questions
we really ought to seriously consider:

IF womanhood exists on a continuum,
(a range from Debbie to Donnie, each still a lass)
What is to come of the woman who identifies herself as a man,
while continuing to live in the body of a woman?

Will you be your Brother’s keeper?

IF womanhood is found a century from now
to exist on a continuum and you were the first
to have a member expressly identify herself as a man
while living in the body of a woman…

Would you want a documented history of patience, understanding,
and well-executed attempts to educate and uncover research regarding gender?

Are you working on that?

I don’t have any answers.
Until today, I didn’t even know these questions existed.

If a forum addressing gender issues was organized
and Civility was invited,
I’d tag along and be on my best behavior.

Coed used to mean a female student attending college
now its code for serving men and women alike.

Meanings change but a fundamental question remains largely unanswered–

Does ANY secret society have a responsibility to address, openly or otherwise, the sororal or fraternal needs, if any, of “other-gender identifying” individuals?

I expect a lively discussion and I await the release of an official statement or two. In the meantime, I will continue my own independent research and share my findings.

As for Delvin, He ain’t heavy, he’s my Brother.