Wilhelmina Wang is having a contest over at Hearbreak Nymphomania, wherein she asks readers to answer the intriguing question, “What does your gender mean to YOU?”

That’s interesting to me, because I never really think about “my gender” per se… I think about society’s gender roles all the time, because I butt up against them on a regular basis, but I never frame it as “my gender”, always as “society’s gender roles.”

I was blessed with a hippie mom who never chastised me for wearing “boy’s” clothes. In fact, she bought me boys jeans when I was little, because they had reinforcement patches in the knees. Apparently I spent enough time crawling around on the ground pretending I was a horse to wear out girls pants far too fast for the family budget.

So, I was lucky to be raised by a woman who put no stock in, “how girls are supposed to be,” and all stock in, “be who you are.” I do sometimes wonder if I’d been raised in a more “traditional” family, if I would have more gender issues than I do. As it is, my only gender issues are with society telling me how I should be, instead of accepting me for how I am.

For the record, I usually identify as a heterosexual woman. I have no disputes with my biologically female sex/gender. I am entirely more inclined to be involved with a man than a woman. I identify as bisexual when I’m involved in a conversation with people a) who are totally against homosexuality, and b) who are interested in discussing what you find attractive more than who you get into relationships with.

What does that all mean for what I think of my own gender? Nothing. I don’t really ever think of my “gender” as an important issue. I am who I am, and that is that. If you have a problem with me being assertive, not wearing a skirt, or knowing my way around the underside of my car’s hood better than a random man on the street? You are not someone whose opinion I give a shit about.

Gender, in my opinion, should not be an issue. That doesn’t mean gender isn’t an issue, and a damned important one for a lot of people, but it shouldn’t be. Gender shouldn’t be any more of an issue than who somebody loves… and that is apparently a huge issue for a lot of (sad, insecure) folks.

The rules for entering Wilhelmina’s contest follow the jump. :-)

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Yes indeed, it’s that time of the week again! Here’s a little HNT action:

Happy Thursday, everyone! ;-)

Any sex toy collector (or reviewer) understands these dilemmas: A favorite toy breaks, and you feel bad throwing a giant mass of plastic in the garbage. You get a toy you thought you would like, but it really doesn’t trip your trigger when you finally get your hands on it. While sterilizable toys can sometimes be traded or gifted among like-minded folks (like those of us on the Toy Swap Network … hit me up on Twitter if you’re interested), a hell of a lot of toys can’t be properly sterilized. And of course, sterile or not, the day comes when all toys with moving parts finally stop moving.

What’s an environmentally-conscious toy hound to do? What to do with your old jelly (ick) rabbit, now that you’ve learned about phthalates & switched to an elastomer or silicone model? What to do with that beloved bullet vibe when it finally bites the dust? There’s enough sex-guilt in the world as it is… who wants to worry about their old vibrators destroying the planet?! (X-rated B-movie idea there… anyone? Like Christine only dildos instead of cars?)

Never fear, the brilliant Sex Toy Recycling Program is here to save the day! Not only are these fine folks willing to disassemble your unwanted sex toys, and sort them into the appropriate recycling bins, for every package of toys you send, they’ll give you a $10 gift certificate to one of their affiliated toy retailers as a thank you! All they ask is that you not abuse the gift certificate offer by sending every toy in a separate box (boo to greed!), and that you do them the favor of washing the toys thoroughly before sending them in!

If you’re the slightest bit interested in the kinkier side of sex, THIS is a contest you MUST enter! Seriously. Bad Bad Girl has teamed up with the master kinksters at Extreme Restraints to offer quite possibly the BEST potential prize package the sexblogging world has ever seen.

Why do I say “potential” prize package? Well, because the collection of toys included depends entirely on the number of entries… and to enter, all you have to do is:

1. Create an account at Extreme Restraints and set up your own wish list.
2. Write a blog entry on your own site telling everyone about the contest, and the wish list you made (You can see mine right here!).
3. Then run on over to Bad Bad Girl’s site, and leave her a comment telling her about your blog post!

Now, how easy is THAT?! And if that wasn’t reason enough to enter the contest, here’s the list of potential prizes up for grabs:

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Yeah, an all-words-all-the-time adult site does get a little boring, no? So, I’m jumping on the bandwagon of a killer sex/photo blogger meme: Half-Nekkid Thursdays! Here you go: