Nina

I am currently in a production of Wig Out! by Terell Alvin McCraney. In the play I am playing the role of Nina/Wilson. My character who Identifies as a girl and yet, in when confronted with the interest of pursuing a boy she likes, she takes off her wig and becomes Wilson. Wilson is masculine, and cocky and aggressive, everything that Nina isn’t. Wilson is that name Nina was given at birth because she was born a bay. She hasn’t yet decided if she wasnt to fully transition into becoming a woman and I still am trying to figure out if she identifies as transgender or not. What playing this character has taught me is to accept the fluidity of gender. I am not able to label this character as cis or trans, masculine or feminine, Wilson or  Nina and thats ok. Not everything has to be labeled and fit neatly into the boxed society expects us to fit into. Nina descrbes herself as “non-conforming” which I think is a powerful lesson I can take to heart in my own life.  I too do not know exactly where I fall on the gender spectrum. As of now i identify as a boy and am pretty comfortable with it being that way. However, I also love to play with makeup and girls clothes and want to delve deeper into the art of drag. Just because I do those things doesn’t make me a girl but if I wanted them to that would be ok too. I don;t know yet if I would ever want to consider myself as non-binary but the experiece of playing Wilson/Nina as taught me the true value and importance of such an identity. Gender is fluid, its something to discover and to play with. I realize that now.