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They/them | Note 28

Last week, after a long wait, a very personal essay of mine was finally published on Patagonia’s blog. The piece is accompanied by a five-minute video shot on a particularly cold December day in the forest. Despite adamantly stating that I didn’t care about my performance, I was actually nervous to climb in front of the camera. Odd how scaling a small rock can have more (forgive the pun) gravity, or at least feel more stressful, than candidly writing about my own mental health, fear of failure, and lost ambitions.


Apart from the climbing, I was also apprehensive about having my pronouns shared publicly through an outlet with a relatively big reach.

At first, after over three decades of going by she/her, changing my pronouns to they/them felt slightly uncomfortable, like a new pair of jeans that needs to be worn in. It took a short while for it to sit right. Initially, I only used the new pronouns with newly met people, then, gradually, also with those who have known me for a long time. After a decade of “she”, it seemed odd to have my partner refer to me as “they” but, as soon... continue reading now→

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"Beautifully written and well researched"

—   JOHNNY DAWES

BORN TO CLIMB

From Rock Climbing Pioneers
to Olympic Athletes

a new book by Zofia Reych

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