male -- totally a boy, no danger of my ever dressing in drag -- i have no interest in women's clothes, either putting them on or taking them off
but not afriad of the arts-fartsy side of things and was never much for team sports but love individual pursuits like swimming (competitive swimmer for 14 years) and now running and weightlifting; most sports on TV bore me senseless, except for the red sox, and i tend to form friendships more like women based upon disclosure and communication instead of shared interest.
white -- not much i can do about this, being of swedish-irish descent, and growing up in an all-white town; since moving to DC, i've discovered that, yes, i actually did need to acclimate to a racially diverse city and, bluntly, nearly 100% black gym; amazing when you think you're more worldly than you actually are; that said, i tend to form my strongest friendships with those who aren't your typical white kids or not white at all -- my best friends tend to be either gay, jewish, or asian.
American -- love this country, but hate much of what's been going on the past 5 years; not something i think about too much, but since living and working in europe and being called to account for policies and actionst that i don't support ... it baffled me, i didn't know if people were looking for an apology or more ammunition for their anti-american attitudes ... it strikes me that people think they know a whole lot more about America than they actually do, and i felt it was my job to illuminate the complexities, contradictions, nuances, and sheer dynamism of American culture, admit its bad, shine a light on its good, and empahsize that, at the end of the day, Americans are people and the United States is a country that, like all other countries, acts in it's own interests.
East Coast-er -- it took living abroad and traveling out west to realize just how east coast i am. yes, i am work obsessed, driven, competitive, mostly urban and user of public transportation. i plan to live between boston and dc, though i'd make exceptions for SF or Seattle. i've noticed that people from other parts of the country are more laid back, and are more polite, and are generally nicer. which is fine. but we get more done in a day.
Catholic -- a culture i recognize, though i've fallen away certainly from nearly all of the man-made rules. i still know it when i meet other catholics (and not just the boston accents or irish-like features). i get the appealing sense of moral ourtrage at injustice in the world, i get the strong sense of right and wrong, of obligation, of responsibility, of tough love, and also of guilt (i.e., the reason children in africa are starving is because you didn't eat the crusts on your bread).
liberal arts grad -- went to a strong, small liberal arts college way up in the great north woods of massachusetts, and for the first year out of college i had a tough time learning how to talk to people who weren't my age, or in college, or had been trained to think in the way that the liberal arts trains your mind. you learn a lot about something, a little about everything, you make connections between seemingly disparate subjects, and you're forced not to think but to think about the ways in which you think. it makes the world very interesting, and is rather impractical in a strict sense, but most of the liberal artists out there are great conversationalists -- we can kick ass at cocktail parties.
gay -- my newest label, since i've only begun referring to myself as such in the past 18 months or so. it was so, so hard to actually say the words "i'm gay" -- as if speaking it was going to finally make it true, when it had been true all along. i love some parts of gay culture, dislike other parts of it, and do my best to have fun with the good stuff, distance myself from the bad stuff, remain nonjudgemental and very much an individual. yes, i spend a good amount of time on my appearance -- i wash my face and use toner and moisturizer every morning and night, i spend lots of money on haircuts and "product," and do my best to buy good clothes that fit and flatter my body. my music tastes are pretty straight -- U2, bruce, REM -- but i enjoy mid-80s romantic techno-pop stuff, like Depeche Mode, New Order, Human League, Erasure, etc. i am starting to like female singer-songwriters, which is a little gay, but i feel nothing for Kylie Minogue, Cher, or Madonna. i don't have a lisp, but i am articulate. i don't have limp wrists, but i can be touchy and affectionate (especially after a few drinks). wouldn't be caught dead sipping a cosmo -- i'm rather butch in my alcoholic drinks, liking beer and martinis and straight vodka. i'm certainly sexually active, but looking for something real and lasting, and i practice safe sex to almost a paranoid extent.
it does feel a bit like pulling back those blindfolds in that video.