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You: What?

Conceptualization: You have forgotten your name, your occupation, and practically every other detail about your life. It’s not that much of a stretch that you’ve forgotten your gender as well.

1: Oh, come on, you’re being ridiculous. There’s no way I could have forgotten something as simple as *that*.
2: Well, since I’ve forgotten so much else… I suppose that it isn’t much of a stretch to add gender to the list as well

Conceptualization: Exactly. So here’s the question: what is a male, and are we one?

Encyclopedia [Easy: Success]: A male person is distinguished at the genetic level by having XY chromosome instead of XX. Externally, he has a penis and testicles, which produce sperm. In addition, he also has high levels of testosterone.

Endurance [Medium: Success]: Which in turn grants us advantages over the wömen. Stronger. Tougher. More resilient. Less affected by emotion.

Espirit de Corps: You could always ask Kim about this. Being a man that is not currently suffering from near-complete amnesia, he probably knows more than you do about this topic.

1: Sure, I’ll ask him later
2: I don’t want to bother him with this kind of thing

Kim: Yes? What can I do for you?

Harry: Kim - how did you know that you were a man?

Kim: He glances at you a moment, a bit taken aback, before responding with a question himself. “Why do you ask?”

Empathy [Difficult: Success]: He is surprised but also - wary. Unfortunately, you cannot figure out why.

1: It is entirely possible that I have forgotten what being a man is, and by extension whether I *am* a man
2: Just some light philosophical chit-chat to pass the time
3: Never mind, that was a stupid question. [Exit conversation]

Kim: He stares at you for another moment before saying, “Well, I basically realized one day that ‘man’ was a better fit for me than ‘woman’.”

Conceptualization: Really? There has to be more to it.

1: Is that all?
2: This makes no sense
3: That makes sense. [Exit conversation]

Kim: That’s it.

1: I wasn’t expecting it to be that simple.
2: And how did you know that you weren’t a woman?

Kim: “Well…” He takes a long pause, deep in thought.

Empathy [Success]: Trying to decide if it’s a good idea to tell you this.

Kim: I was actually born a woman. Spent my childhood hanging out with boys and trying not to wear dresses. Everyone thought I was a homosexual - but a *female* one.

1: But you’re a *male* homosexual!
2: [keep quiet and let him keep talking]

Kim: I was rather confused at that when I started puberty and began to take even more notice of the other boys. Eventually someone made a remark along the lines of “you might as well be a boy, what with how much you act like them.” I gave it some thought and I realized that I would, in fact, rather like to be a boy. So I became one.

1: That’s very interesting information. Thank you for sharing that with me.
2: So, all this is to say… I’m a guy if I like it better than being a girl?
3: What?
4: [stare stupidly at Kim]

Kim: An ounce of confusion must shine through The Expression, because Kim adds “It’s called being transsexual.”

Encyclopedia: You have absolutely no recollection of this word. And it’s not because of the amnesia - you are very certain that you have never heard this word before, except perhaps in passing. And you certainly did not know what the word meant, or the phenomenon it referred to.

1: That’s very interesting information. Thank you for sharing that with me.
2: So, all this is to say… I’m a guy if I like it better than being a girl?
3: What?
4: [stare stupidly at Kim]

Kim: Well, there has been much work by the theorists on the complexities of it all, but that’s the gist of it, yes.

Conceptualisation?: We certainly know what it’s like to be a man, but we haven’t really thought about being a woman. Would you like to?

Endurance: It’s probably worse than masculinity.

1: Close your eyes and imagine what it would be like to be a woman [Inland Empire: Formidable]
+1 Considered your sexuality
Check Success
2: Nah, I’m good for now

Inland Empire: Everyone calls you Harriet as you walk around in women’s clothes. A civilian walks up to you, and says, “ma’am, could you spare a moment of your time?” Later, you will overhear one of your colleagues say “she’s a strange one, that Harriet”. Later still, you will find a bottle of alcohol and drink about the fact that you do not just have an ex-wife, but *are* one as well.

Conceptualization?: It feels the same way as the fact you are a police officer, or that you have an ex-wife, or where you live, as it felt when you first woke up in the Whirling-In-Rags. Which is to say: not right. But not wrong, either. It feels like nothing, as though you have no particular attachment to any of these facts, even though you should. Jamais Vu.

Conceptualization: But is that the same way you feel about being a man?

Inland Empire:..Yes. I suppose it is.

1: Kim, what does it mean if I feel nothing in particular about being a man or a woman?
2: Keep your lips shut about this

Kim: “Well… there are people, other transsexuals, who feel that way. They call themselves androgynes, or sometimes genderqueer. Unfortunately, I don’t really know much more than that.” He gives an apologetic smile.

Empathy [Easy: Success]: He’d tell you more about them if he could.

Drama: Hold on a moment - didn’t that one fellow say that the homo-sexual underground wanted something similar? Destroy the boundaries between man and woman and all that? Maybe we should ask about that.

1: Well, that’s unfortunate. Thanks for telling me anyways.
2: Does this have anything to do with the homo-sexual underground?

Kim: He chuckles a bit. “That’s another one the theorists have put quite a bit of argument into. But if you want my own hypothesis on the matter…” He casts a glance upwards and begins speaking slowly, deliberately. “I suppose… I would say that the general public generally considers any deviation from expected masculinity or femininity to be a sign of a gender traitor. Dressing like the other gender would, liking people of the same gender - that is all the same to them, which is why I was called a female homo-sexual growing up. As such the transsexuals and the homosexuals have found common ground with each other, but no, they are not the same thing. Does that answer your question?”

Rhetoric: Quite a well-articulated perspective. But you don’t really know enough to say whether it’s one you’d want to adopt - it’s something you’ll have to think about.

1: Not really, no.
2: It did, yes.
3: I’ll have to think about it.

Kim: He nods. “No harm in thinking about things, especially complicated ones like this. Let me know if you’d like to talk some more.”

Thought gained: Gendered Identity

Male, female, both, neither - it’s something that you believed you understood, until you gave it a few moments’ thought and realized that it’s not really something that you have much personal attachment to. Now you are faced with questions: Do you really know what gender is? What place do you have with it? And what connections, if any, does it have to the homo-sexual underground?

Kim: Well, if you don’t have anything else to say right now… I suppose we should get back to the case.