Abstract
Among the uses of poetry in qualitative inquiry is its ability to help us reflect on, play against, or perform a topic of interest (Prendergast, 2006). This writer attended a conference on the “Pedagogy of Privilege” and immersed himself in the discussion of multidimensional diversities, hence the production of this poem. Written from an etic perspective, this ethnographic poem is not a representation of ethnographic reality (Denzin, 1997; Maynard & Cahnmann-Taylor, 2010), but an abstraction of composite identities. This poem interrogates categories of sexual and gender identities, acknowledges multiple emotions, embodied experiences, and space; with an invitation for others to integrate their own voices and experiences. This poem is a form of writer’s reflexivity. Pedagogically, this poem could help students of social work and other helping professions to grapple with the complexity and fluidity of gender and sexual identities and the definition of family.
Dear Janice,
Don’t be confused by this,
I’m your father still
And I’m also his wife
And if this assures you
I was your father first
Before I became his wife
After your mother, my wife, left
When she discovered whom I really loved
I was explaining the same to Janet
My husband’s daughter
She asked if I’m now her stepfather
Or would I prefer stepmother?
I said she should decide
Whatever she calls me is acceptable
We’re blending at every step
So Janet confided in me
That she is really a tran
And I am ambivalent,
Why didn’t she first tell her dad
she’s really a boy inside?
Bob should be gratified
That his daughter is the son
He has always preferred
If life is a card game
What hand am I playing?
For Janet’s mom keeps blaming me
For the confusion I brought
To her well-coiffed family
Her family or mine?
It’s our family now, I submit
Though she won’t admit
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.