Oh and...

Here is an AMAZING article (NSFW) that starts out with the story of a very extreme piercing and moves into one of the more interesting discussions on gender, change, and body choice that I've recently read. Highly recommended reading for those that want, but please consider yourself informed about the metal and the bits.

There is a person from my college days with whom I wish I'd been closer. We're acquaintances and have many of the same friends still, but we weren't in each others' nearest orbits. I had and have so much respect for her, the strong choices he made to become the person he knew she was, the self-knowledge and strength. Also very kind, very cute. And I always felt like his was a model of physical self-determination that I respected and wanted to emulate for myself, even if our methods, extents, and goals were different. The bottom line is, as I've said before, complete ownership of one's own body. If that means ink and metal, or if that means a different body than the one one's mind was born into, the people who are brave enough to create the vessels they want to live in--regardless of what the mainstreaming effects of society tell them they should prefer--well, those are the folks for me.*



*Also, my friends who are largely comfortable with what they have, with less "options packages," you are also alright by me. But not all of us are born finished.