No, It's Not Short For Josephine....

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me about my first name, I would be rolling in millions. My name is Joey, but somehow people get confused by this. I always get asked one of two questions:

“Why did your parents give you a boy’s name?”

“Is your name short for Josephine?”

You may be thinking, what is the big deal, right? But, every time some asks me this it seems to hurt a little bit more. People always questioning who I am or why I am the way I am. I could think of many stories throughout the years of this experience, but there are always a couple that sticks out in my head.

The first story I recall is when I was younger. I had to be in like the third grade. It was the first day of school and my teacher had a class list and seating chart with every student in the class. But, there was my name on the boys’ list. The other kids just laughed at me. The teacher never said anything. It was like I wasn’t even there. Looking back on this over the years, I feel that my teacher should have at least apologized to me or told the boys in the class to stop laughing. She should have explained that everyone is different in their own way, but of course, she didn’t do that.

Another thing I remember is when my name was called over the loudspeaker in high school. They were calling a “Joseph” with my last name over the loudspeaker for an absent note. Being me, I was like “WHAT…someone has the same last name as me…!” Then, eventually, I realized they were calling me. It took majority people all of my high school career to realize I was a girl, let alone my name wasn’t short for Joseph nor Josephine.

Another experience I had in high school was a teacher calling me out on my name in front of the entire class. She asked me why I had a boy’s name being that I was clearly a girl. I still remember how I felt my face get all red. I was completely mortified. How would I even answer a question like this? Being the timid freshman I was, I just put my head down.

Recently, I just started a new job. The boss at the job asked me if I was hiding something and really had a penis and wasn’t telling them. I just laughed. I didn’t want to be disrespectful, but I couldn’t help but think how rude that was.

These incidents still happen to this day. But, I notice that there are more people who have opposite gender names.  I feel that people shouldn’t be so quick to judge others especially in a world where people should now be gender neutral.

My name is a combination of things. My mom told me how she always wanted my name to be different, so this is one of the reasons why my name sticks out. My dad wanted my name to start with a ‘J’ after his mom, and my mom wanted me to have her dad in my name too. The ‘Cristina’ in my name isn’t spelled like it is usually spelled, but it helps to show I really am a girl. My family and close friends usually call me “Joe” or even “Jo”. Even though both are pronounced the same, I decided to name this blog ‘Jo’ to spice things up. I feel that instead of asking me why my name is a boy’s name or short for something, people should say my name is unique and accept me for who I am. I like my name because it is different and makes me who I am. I am meant to stand out and not be like everyone else. I am me and always will be.

"In a world full of hate, be love."

That’s the tea

xoxo
Jo 💗