On Liking Women Too Much
Gender failure & some nice lil updates
Subscriber, I’ve been long at work on a Big Confessional Lesbian Essay for a certain publication of which I’ve always been a great fan. Today, you can read that essay, titled “Performance Trouble,” online in The Point! First page below:
The idea for this piece hatched as I was percolating thoughts about what it means to “fail” in one’s gender performance and the strange intersection of transness and medical consumerism. I’d originally conceived of my essay as an autotheory-ish response to the autotheory-ish “On Liking Women,” in which desire-explainer Andrea Long Chu bravely shattered the cotton candy ceiling of the Belligerent Butch Manifesto. But in subsequent drafts, my essay evolved into more of a dialogue with Judith Butler, the rockstar Hegelian whose Gender Trouble has launched far more than a thousand transitions, and who is now a presiding théminence grise of the sex change world.
As I was writing this essay and dialoguing with The Point’s bracingly smart editorial staff, I learned some things that surprised me. First, that there is no such thing as a scientifically calibrated silver bullet — especially not when it comes to ailments of the spirit. Second, that the self is continuous and cannot be subdivided into convenient pieces like a tube of Pillsbury cookie dough. And finally, that ignoring the past imperils the future.
I hope you enjoy the essay, subscriber! I worked hard on it, and it’s a really special one for me. Now stay tuned for some cool updates after these pre-pandemic fashion choices...
I’m a judge for the Coppice Prize!
Run by the good people at the Red Bud Writing Project, the Coppice Prize seeks entries of short fiction up to 4,000 words. Winners will earn a cash prize and publication in the Coppice Prize Anthology, as well as feedback on their work from a literary agent. You’ve got from March 1 - 31st to enter, and there’s no entry fee!
I’m teaching a workshop!
On April 5, I’ll be stopping by the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis to teach a workshop called Exit Propelled By Bear: How to Keep Your Reader Turning the Page. It’s an in-person single-session class about writing propulsive, twisty fiction. I hope to see you there!
You can still commission original flash fiction by me!
It’s called a Prose Portrait and I’ve got a fancy new page on my website where you can order one, along with some past portraiture! (I’d recommend doing this sooner rather than later if you’re interested, as I’ll eventually need to put the shop on hiatus.)
Thank you for reading, subscriber! I hope you’ll stay as golden as this ponyboy:
