#15 Belonging while Gender Expansive

May 30

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In this episode that kicks off our special series for the June 2024 PRIDE Month, Dr. Mona speaks with guest Pip Davidson (he/they) about his experience of being gender expansive. Pip is a Publicist and Influencer Strategist at Hay House Publishing, and has been working in marketing and publicity within traditional publishing for 7 years.

Kicking off the conversation, Pip shares that he generally identifies as a trans man. His ultimate goal is not to pass as a cis man, and he is very proud of being trans. Gender expansive means many different things to different people. For Pip, gender expansiveness has a lot to do with introspection about deciding for himself what gender actually means personally. Though they identify as transmasc, he still feels some level of a non-binary or androgynous identity, too. Currently, identifying as a man has made him the happiest he has ever been. Then, Pip unpacks the imposter syndrome that many people experience around being trans and what being “Queer enough” even means. From his experience, people have a significantly harder time accepting People of Color into androgynous/non-binary spaces than they do with white people. There is a certain amount of racism within Queer communities because of this. Trans women are currently the most at-risk group, especially for hate crimes and violence.

Then, the conversation shifts to discussing the increased difficulty many white Americans face finding their own sense of cultural belonging. This is because, for the most part, white people in America are raised very individualistically. Pip shares that the Queer community is the first group with whom he really felt like he belonged intergenerationally. It was in college when Pip first dipped their toe into gender expansiveness by learning the term “demi-girl”. This was his first time ever realizing that he was not fully a girl. During their 20’s, Pip was in a long term relationship with a man and had several friends on their own gender expansive journeys. Like many other people, the pandemic really helped kickstart Pip’s journey of gender expansiveness. When removed from the scenarios in which he felt like he had to present his gender in a certain way, Pip felt free to express himself in a way that felt more true to who he is.

Finally, Pip shares his own definition of belonging: having compassion for yourself and allowing others to see and love you for who you are. Belonging means vulnerability.

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1:06 - Dr. Mona introduces today’s guest, Pip Davidson.

5:36 - Pip’s gender identity.

6:59 - What does gender expansiveness mean to Pip?

11:15 - Imposter syndrome around being trans.

18:21 - The most at-risk group for violence and hate crimes.

27:15 - Finding culture as white Americans.

36:25 - Pip’s gender expansive journey.

44:10 - What does belonging mean to Pip?

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Follow Pip Davidson on TikTok @nymandgravyandpip

Learn more about Pip’s newsletter on Substack – Pen Pals: For Writers Who Mean Business