Year 9 Jewish Studies – gender and sexuality

Zoe Feigen

Last Tuesday, Ms Rosin’s Year 9 Jewish Studies Gender & Sexualities class had a visitor from a member of the Emanuel Alumni, Zoe Feigen. Zoe was actually part of Ms Rosin’s Tutor Group and graduated in 2007. Zoe qualified as a veterinarian and now works in Melbourne. Zoe visited us because Zoe is asexual and agender and was invited to speak about their experiences as a Jewish asexual person.

In Ms Rosin’s class we have been studying the LGBTQI+ spectrum and what Judaism says about differing sexualities. Zoe is Jewish, so this story was extremely important in our learning about this topic.

When Zoe came into the room, the very first thing that was asked was which are the correct pronouns to use when speaking about an agender person. With Zoe originally being female, some of us thought that she/her would be appropriate but Zoe said they/them is preferable. This was hard for many of us, including myself and Ms Rosin who are grammar freaks, however, we figured it was the correct and polite thing to do, so we tried very hard to use the correct pronouns.

Before I continue talking about Zoe, I would just like to point out some very important things that need to be understood. There are three categories that need to be filled when speaking about a person. The person’s biological sex, their gender, and their sexuality. Many people didn’t know that there was a difference between gender and sex, but interestingly enough, some people didn’t know the difference between agender and asexuality. A person’s biological sex is the genitalia they are born with, their gender is the sex they identify with, and their sexuality is who they are sexually attracted to. So, although Zoe is biologically female, they identify as being agender, which means that they don’t identify as being either male or female. And being asexual means that the person doesn’t feel a sexual attraction towards anyone, however, Zoe says that they feel a romantic attraction towards their partner, who is also asexual and agender.

Zoe was explaining how their mother wasn’t excessively pleased when they came out, but Zoe was prepared to be disowned by the family if they wouldn’t accept Zoe’s true self. Fortunately, this never happened. At the beginning of last year, Zoe had their breasts removed because it made them feel dysmorphic and is now much happier. Originally, Zoe had bound them in order to feel more like themselves. After the surgery they are fortunately now on the road to recovery.

It was a pleasure meeting Zoe, and I found their story absolutely fascinating because they enlightened and increased my understanding on such a controversial topic. I learnt a lot and I really recommend increasing your knowledge on this topic because what you learn is absolutely priceless! Our class would like to thank Zoe for being so honest and forthcoming with all of us, and also to commend them for such bravery in spite of many challenges.

Miriam Itzkowitz