What my Dad loving Prince taught me about gender

Sierra Pepin

It was June 7^th, the Wednesday before last, and Prince was playing on the throwback station. I sat in the car and my dad said, “You know, today is my guy’s birthday.” I didn’t know. I did know that it made perfect sense for dad to bring this to my attention.

For decades, my father has been a Prince fan. When The Purple One died two years ago, his kids, nieces, and nephews called him while he was at work, to see if he’d heard the news. To half-jokingly see if he had to mourn the news.

My father, a hetero-normative father of three, stan-ed a man who didn’t just make great music, but ferociously pushed norms about sexuality and gender (until he didn’t) through his clothes, lyrics, and actions. Little did I know, right in our home, they both were normalizing the spectrum of gender.

My dad, an Afro-Latino man, born in the 60’s, loved an artist who was popular culture’s poster child for “is he or is he not [insert gay, queer, bisexual]?” Dad’s love for his favorite artist was so much more than a quirky combo of endearing and comical. I was learning that men could exist at varied points of gender expression, and more importantly, however they wanted. I learned that men don’t have to wear anti-gay repellent and say “no-homo” (for everything), in order to appreciate other men and still maintain their own identity. It was laying the foundation for me to understand that gender and sexuality are fluid. For me, growing up in a Chicago hood, a neighborhood rife with hyper-masculinity, that was radical.

Comments

Ladies, Make Him Act Right! (From a man's perspective)

So ladies, we have a tendency to get advice from women about MEN far more than we should. So I have a special treat today. We're going to get some advice on how to entice, encourage, and exalt a man from you guested it.. A MAN. I picked one, who speaks with the sole purpose to educate. So some of his language may be a bit harder than you're used to but.. you will not be disappointed. Capt SistaGurl Out! Introducing Tikko Brohey Ladies do you feel like “dudes ain’t shit” or “dudes don’t act right?” Have you ever thought about the things you do that contribute to that? The answer is probably not. Now granted there are dudes out there who just ain’t shit, and that’s just what it is. Majority of men are good men. But his partner can often determine just how good he'll actually be. Every woman deserves to be treated like a queen, as every man deserves to be treated like a king. The disconnect comes from when there’s an argument all the King and Queen shit is out the

Why the Death of DMX Hurts

By Capt SistaGurl Laura Miller DMX has always been a friend to the youth, specifically young black men growing up in the age of Hip Hop who needed someone to help explain the daily pain that they were experiencing. They had X in his edgy brilliance. He didn't walk around pretending to be someone he wasn't. He was someone who we’ve watched soar to the highest of heights and fall just as fast and hard. Before DMX I don't think there was any rapper who had explained the pains of feeling abandoned better. He resonated with a generation of black males who were born in the '80s, '90s , and 00's UNLOVED. Our community often grazes over young black men in this way. Supported by no one but themselves. He touched them, and he also touched the women and men who understood this type of pain. His lyrics were true to who he was and who he would always be. A real ass dude trying to figure it out. Trying to understand the pressures of his celebrity. Navigating through The agon

The Church is Failing: The Young Black Male

This is a taboo subject. That I’ve thought about quite a bit but never had the courage to really vocalize. Courage and fear are funny things because one of them is just as strong as the other, it’s just a question of which one you choose to live in. So today, I choose to live within a courageous light. Why, being a black woman, and an active christian would I have a fear vocalizing my opinion on how black men have been failed by the church? Messages are often misconstrued based on the perception of the reader. Additionally, it’s best practice to NOT add any fire to the flame of those that question institutionalized religion. However, in this case, I think I’d like to get this out with the hopes that some black man, within a particular age, will utilize this post as a reason to do better in reaching young black men. There was a time when the core of the civil rights movement was centered around black men and women within religious faiths. They actively worked together,

The SistaGurl Blog

Search This Blog