Just because defining human beings by ethnic group or sex or age is absurd, does not mean it will not continue.
The nature of being human is to try to order the universe around us. Washing, cleaning teeth, making our beds, cleaning the fridge, cleaning our clothes. Because none of these tasks are sustainable unless we leave our night-shelter and work towards ordering our own lives or those of others.
When I first came to the United States 35 years ago, I was 27 and had spent the bulk of my life being educated in Australia. I had already traveled by boat from England to New Zealand as a young child, and as a young adult, traveled up and down the east coast of Australia, around New Zealand, around Nepal, Bangkok, Singapore, England, France. Anyone who looked different, sounded different, dressed differently, ate different foods: this was normal for me, and not worth noticing. I was always the odd one out. The only girl in a family filled with brothers, often the tallest girl in any room. And a British accent that has stuck with me through all my travels and travails.
However, having me around in the United States did not offend anyone's sense of order. So after 35 years I am still permitted to be around and fully participate in the professional lives of others. And so I have: first as a post-doctoral scientist in Philadelphia's Ivy League Uiversity of Pennsylvania, then as a medical writer, then and administrator at the university formerly known as Philadelpia College of Pharmacy and now for 5 years I have worked full-time as a publisher, teacher and writer, looking forward to Emerald Pademelon Press LLC reaching a profit.
What if I had not been accepted? If my qualifications had not been recognized, if I had the shape or size or voice or physical characteristics that do not fit into the order needed to run a university or a pharmaceutical company?
