Friday Links: Trans Women Are Women Edition
"The first time I heard two women, a Puerto Rican and a Cuban, say the word 'nosotras,' I was shocked. I had not known the word existed." - Gloria Anzaldúa, "How To Tame A Wild Tongue"
Not that anyone asked, but I am an Elder in the Presbyterian Church. It’s a lifelong title that I was democratically voted into at age 17, and is still something I take seriously even if I haven’t been a member of a church since age 23 and have no real desire to change that fact. So when I say “the first shall be last, the last shall be first, and trans folks will enter Heaven before most so-called ‘Christians,’” it means something. Not to anyone that matters, but still: this is the Word of The Lord, thanks be to God.
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
Way back in a past life, when I was working the 7a-3p shift in a Parking Enforcement Office because it would pay my way through a graduate degree I ended up dropping out of, I read Gloria Anzaldúa and had a miserable time. It was not long after I’d woken up hungover on a friend’s church and perused some Christopher Hitchens until the coffee was ready, so I was big into not being attuned to the spirit world.
What a catastrophically ignorant mistake that was, dismissing Gloria Anzaldúa because I felt like I could make line edits to her poems and didn’t care about Tejano paganism. These books stayed on my shelf because I wasn’t certain that I wasn’t totally wrong about them, and goddamn, have I never been happier to be wrong. Anzaldúa captures the feeling of being inbetween—on la frontera—with so much depth that I am reeling at every other sentence. As someone who both loves and despises their homeland, as someone who has felt like I’ve had personal encounters with demons and gods or at least been sympathetic to those things as metaphors? Man, I don’t think that stuff is real, but I’m not doubting the experience.
There is also something relevant, in terms of double consciousness, that I think applies to more than we’re willing to admit. There is something to existing within the space between extreme dualities, there is a new consciousness that is worth developing. Oh hey look at the links:
LINKS!
Here is the excellent poet Kai Cheng Thom on whether or not joy in transitioning is possible. Turns out it is! But this point will somehow be contentious, five years after this essay. Hope this doesn’t come up later in this post.
God help me, I am a sucker for “instructional” flash fiction. Except when it’s bad, then it’s unbearable. What’s the difference? Ask Potter Stewart. But I love this piece by Nic Anstett from earlier this year, “Instructions For Meeting The Man Pretending To Be Your Husband,” in TriQuarterly. With these types of stories, I kinda always assume the “you” is the speaker. But the “I” comes in at the midway point, and God help me, I love a first-person story that is not remotely about the “I.” This story is the genuine article of a friend pleading with a friend, with enough specific details to really make you feel it.
Beautiful essay from Emme Lund on the joy of coming out trans. It includes the line “imagine a gleaming in the eyes of a straight, cis man for his trans woman colleague!” Reader, that line broke my heart. I’m a straight, cis man, and people have come out to me as trans/nonbinary before. One time, it was a coworker who hadn’t told anyone else on staff. We cis people need to fucking do better. No matter how transphobic you might be—even if the whole concept just doesn’t make sense to you—always remember that the trans person is more afraid of you. Do you want to be the kind of person that doesn’t create warmth and welcoming to those around you? If so, please don’t bother reading this blog anymore.
Not the first time I’ve linked to Parker Molloy, aka
on Substack, aka Chief Media Critic Of Chicago. Won’t be the last. Any time you are tempted to read Jonathan Chait, stop yourself and read Parker. Here’s an oldie but a goodie.Please enjoy this reading of “The Garden” by Jade Phoenix Martinez. Consider that it is pretty explicit in laying out one person’s journey, light up the empathy signals in your brain, and consider that other people have similar journeys, other people have different journeys, but this particular person chose to bear their soul and be vulnerable in this way, and be grateful that gift of vulnerability was given to you:
BONUS SIXTH LINK: Not to insert myself into the conversation, but here’s one of the earliest articles I wrote for Cracked, “Trans And Non-Conforming Badasses That Never Made It To History Books.” Researching it was the first I’d ever heard of what Indigenous Americans refer to as “Two-Spirit” people. Consider that trans people have been around for as long as people have been around. Happy (belated, this comes on Friday, obviously, pretend it’s last Wednesday) International Women’s Day.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris