Isaiah (name rant 1)

Isaiah is the name of two people I know.

The first is the baby who I'm connected to by a confusing string of blood. The child is a living and evolving example of alarming gender stereotypes.

They were born in California to my musical and humanitarian aunt JoanMarie (of my mom's side) and introverted author uncle Jay. Their upraisal is a point of disagreement in me. Circumcised, first of all. And raised with a very very caring touch. More an attitude of "Don't" and less a (more preferable to me) attitude of "Whatever". A child should be exposed, not protected. A child should be allowed freedom, not pampering. A child should start to experience the world as an adult as early as possible in order to transcend into a hyper-adult when it is time (and subsequently conquer the world, of course). A child should experience loss. A child should experience dirt. The ground. The feeling of possessing something broken.

And even though the parents are absolutely progressive, the entire notion of raising a baby gendered seems so, first of all, pointless, and second of all, problematic and unhealthy. A song written about a baby boy that I was unable to appreciate because to my understanding, baby boys don't exist, like baby girls. Babies are babies. They don't fucking need pronouns and they don't need stupid gender roles and they don't need color coding. Babies. Are. Genderless. (well, I also think that adults are somewhat genderless too, but that's another blog post)

Positively, the child is smart and creative and an awesome potential collaborator. I became sad to learn that they had achieved the point of embarrassment over feminine interests, what a tragedy. I hope that they will grow out of their parents.

The second Isaiah was abruptly introduced into my life like a new character in a play at the beginning of last year. He had left a Christian school to come to ratchet ass Grant and was accepted happily into both A Cappella and Royal Blues choirs. He's a chocolatey baritone.

Immediately, his defining personality trait was homosexual. I tried to dislike him for it but I quickly realized that he is smart, creative, talented, and obsessed with musical theatre. We're completely similar.

This year in student leadership I was eager to join the Clubs & Services committee with him as the leader. We're also still in both choirs together as well as choir board, Hooked on Harmonics (the all-men a cappella group that he's now the president of) and Thespian Club (which he somehow became president of last year, one month into his first year at Grant). He's a superstar.

Out of all the phases he's gone through, I like him best with blond hair. He dyed it lighter from his natural medium brown right before his Royal Blues callback last year, and then moved on to black, and then black with a green tuft in the front when he played the role of Audrey II in the ratchet ass Grant production of Little Shop of Horrors. This school year, I was excited to see it back at a simple blond. I think simplicity is good for his aesthetic because his personality is so outwardly complex and attention-demanding. He is a good friend and a valuable team member.

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