Passing for the Generations

As I said in my first post, I rarely pass as male. Besides the way my voice climbs in pitch when I get emotional (on a level on par with Elliott from Scrubs), I also have long hair which, no matter how much I tie it back, is still obviously long hair. However, I had a “passing incident” recently with the secretary of our music department.
Ms. A is not known for her intelligence, though she can be a remarkably sweet lady. Well, sometimes. On occasion. But it's disconcerting to see her happy at work. Regardless, she was actually conversational when I went to the music office to permanently borrow duct tape. The duct tape was for a ghetto tuba pad, and the only color of tape my roommate and I own is hot pink. When I explained to Ms. A that I didn't think hot pink duct tape would look professional on my tuba, she agreed, though pink duct tape would look “cute on a girl's tuba.”

I laughed it off, “It sure would,” and promptly went to laugh about it to my tuba professor. He and Ms. A have a love/hate/please-make-the-copier-work relationship, and he thought it was hilarious that she thought I was a guy.

In fact, most people who have passed me off as male have been older, whereas younger people just assume I'm a lesbian, a tomboy, or one of those strange girls from the gamer floor of our dorm (my straight, soon-to-be-married RA is so much more masculine than I am). Is this because our generation has a broader view of gender representation? I don't have the quote, but I believe in Sarah Waters' Tipping Velvet, one of the characters remarks that a woman can easily pass for a man if she wears pants, because only men wear pants of course. That doesn't hold water today, but there are still certain clothing items that are considered appropriate for one gender- such as a tie. I feel like middle aged people still associate the tie as a purely male clothing accessory. However, I grew up in the shudders Avril Lavigne generation, where women can wear ties all the time.

I think that, as each generation has a wider range of gender-appropriate clothing, the ability to “pass” for transgendered people becomes harder. So, after awhile, is passing even worth it? Because the acceptance of nontraditional clothing in terms of gender should also represent a broader scope of gender in the minds of younger generations anyways. This is a generation of straight girls that can identify as straight but still really, really like to kiss/make out with other girls. Hell, thanks to Katy Perry, they have their anthem. Is this going to be a generation where it's okay for me to not completely pass one way or the other?