At work today (which is where I seem to do a lot of musing), I was musing about my name.
I’ve come realize I prefer my full first name (Jessica) over the short forms (Jess and JJ). There are a few reasons for this.
It kind of hit me today, that I was pushing Jess instead of Jessica because I was trying to make family and friends that knew me before transition, more comfortable with my new name. Jess starts with the same letter, ends with the same letter, and has the same number of syllables as my birth name (I dislike the term ‘dead name’).
Yet, I’ve been noticing when people are using my full first name, I actually smile at it; it makes me feel good. I chose the name for a reason. I like it. The full version – Jessica – is not ambiguous in its gender at all, nor does it sound close to any male names.
Which brings me to my second reason for preferring Jessica. Jess is ambiguous in gender. Just how much so, I realized last week when a traffic control person, we were working with, was calling me Jess, and then referring to me as ‘him’ and ‘he’. I thought she ‘got it’ when I told her my name, but I was wrong.
I’m not requiring anyone to change how they refer to me (unless they’re using male pronouns still, or my birth name). I’m stating my preference, and hoping most of you will change because it’s what I would like.
Thanks,
Jessica