[Medicine and the law of gender binarism portray the process of transsexuality as a narrow and dangerous path, a definitive, irreversible mutation, that can be achieved only in extreme conditions, such that few people, as few as possible, would be able to follow that path. I, however, would say that the path is easier and more pleasant than most of the experiences and experiments that the dominant discourse suggests are desirable and obligatory and which have been legitimized by medical and judicial institutions. In itself, gender transition is easier to accomplish than going to school every day at the same time throughout the long years of childhood and adolescence, easier than a faithful monogamous marriage, easier than pregnancy and childbirth, easier than starting a family, easier than finding a rewarding full-time job, easier than being happy in a consumer society, easier than growing old and being shut away in a retirement home. I would go so far as to say that, contrary to what is routinely claimed, the mutation process that accompanies gender transitioning is one of the most beautiful and joyous things that I have ever done in my life. All the things that are terrible and terrifying about transsexuality and gender transitioning are not found in the process of transition itself, but in the way in which the boundaries between the sexes punish and threaten to kill anyone who dares cross them. It is not gender transitioning that is horrifying and dangerous, but the regime of sexual difference.]

for so long chickenpox was a childhood inevitability. heck getting it as a kid was almost seen as a good thing on the basis it gave you protection from the (worse) adult version. a lot of parents would purposefully expose their kids to chickenpox for a variety of reasons (to get it over with, to control the timing, so the kids would be too young to remember being itchy and miserable). there were whole cultural conversations about this!!! it was an parenting issue! it was a basic childhood experience!

and then suddenly it's just—gone. by the time the vaccine was routine, the kids in my family had already done the whole shebang. All we knew about it was the stories our mother told of us of having a bathtub full of sobbing toddlers covered in oatmeal & pink calamine lotion, and me (the proud eldest) escaping to cover the walls in pink handprints.*

It was so culturally normal and routinely featured in media & sitcoms. And then boom! A vaccine (and presumably lots of newspaper articles I was too young to read) and then people just. Stopped talking about it (it still happens just, way less often). To the point I didn't even realize we had a vaccine until my nibling came along a few years back. That's crazy! That's bizarre! That's wonderful! For me personally it was a mindfuck on par with learning the ozone layer holes are closing!!!

NOW DO IT AGAIN!

*chaosbringer at birth, me

Pro tip: if you grew up with chickenpox as a normal part of your childhood, please plan to get the shingles vaccine as soon as you turn 50.*

Shingles is an acutely painful rash caused by a reactivation of the chickenpox virus that was just hanging out dormant in your neurons since you were a kid. Most cases happen in older adults. Recent research is even demonstrating that the shingles vaccine may reduce the likelihood of developing dementia. Though really, I jumped at it like a fish on a lure because I super duper do NOT want to get shingles. The dementia thing is just a bonus.

* The recommended age in the U.S. starts at 50, if you live elsewhere check on the licensing in you country.