Hello, I am looking for a gender fluid birthday card for a man.
Certainly sir, we have a wide range of cards for both men and for women, and for those who non-binary people who identify as both.
It’s a conversation that is easy to imagine taking place in today’s world.But what is a birthday card for a man who is fixed in a traditional view of being a man in these gender fluid days? What is there when you look at it, that makes you say that’s for a man? Let’s have a think.
The first thing to say of course, is that I am talking about the UK, and not for example some countries were same-sex sexual relations are punishable as a crime.
In those countries I am guessing that designers will steer clear of ‘questionable’ visual designs. Of course, there may be a thriving industry that designs cards that subvert the straight and narrow official line. There may be an underground creative movement that uses art and craft to stand up for its values.
We Are In The Gender Fluid Days
Talking about the UK in these gender fluid, non-binary days, the features of a card that say ‘this is for a man’ are a lot less hard and fast than they were in some other periods of history.
Well we think that’s true, but then we discover all kinds of things about the Victorians. And the Elizabethan era was another world. Women couldn’t appear on the stage but men could dress as women and play their parts. Where did that come from? And Nell Gwynne with her ample bosom displayed in paintings was surely not a strict puritan. In fact the Puritans set sail for the New World precisely because they couldn’t stand the debauchery in Merry England.
So what about the man-cave kind of man, the man of few words who likes things that reinforce his self image as a straight heterosexual male?
What are the visual elements he likes? Probably not pink ribbons and bows. And probably strong block colours, muted rather than garish or bold. Straight lines rather than curvy twists, and no frills or intricate details. And bold, blocky fonts rather than delicate curly fonts. In other words, probably not what you would imagine for a gender fluid birthday card.
Here are the manly man cards from our catalogue, with a card for every decade. We didn’t make one for twenty years of age because, well – just because. We did make one for eighteen years of age, which is now the age of majority in the United Kingdom. It is the age upon attaining which a person is an adult in law. It is not the age at which they can legally consent to having sex, which is sixteen years of age.
Key Of The Door
When the age of majority was twenty-one the rhyme had a certain cadence, as in He’s got the key of the door, never been twenty-one before. But now that the age of majority is eighteen we need a new rhyme. If you think of one, drop us a line and we might make a card along those lines.
And you can drive a car at seventeen. Or you can drive a car at sixteen if you have or have applied for the enhanced rate of the mobility component in a Personal Independence Payment (PIP). PIP is extra money to help a person with everyday life if they have an illness, disability or mental health condition.
I can see why someone might need to drive, but I don’t follow why a person in this category can legally drive a year earlier than a person who doesn’t fit in this category. Drop me a line if you know why the rules are as they are.
If there is a card here that you are interested in, click on it and it will link to the page for that card. And yes are completely aware that they don’t fit the image of a gender fluid birthday card. We might turn our hand to them at some point, but not just to chase fashion.
