Blog
Secretamos la concha / We secrete the shell
Un ensayo ilustrado sobre el conocimiento / An illustrated essay on knowledge. Mini-illustrations about not grabbing too tight and instead growing that which we’ll carry with us. In English (plain text) and Spanish (in images).
Why do politicians ‘swear in to office’ on a Bible?
Doing so is supposed to appear solemn, but it can’t really bind them to their promise. The politician may not believe God holds them accountable for promises on a Bible. Swearing in on a Bible only shows the cultural power of Christianity.
Two Duggar memoirs: Jill and Jinger as adults
Neither their abusive older brother nor the IBLP Christian fundamentalist organization is part of their lives now. The IBLP not only opposes women’s rights and no-fault divorce, it also promotes the idea that husbands are the leaders of their wives and children.
I am not taking complaints about my face
Why the term ‘womanface’ is wrong. How is having a womanface or a manface different from having a face? What must I stop doing? I am trans and I woke up with my face. This is my manface?
The freedom to be left alone
We should have the choice, but we don’t always have it. In the past, when prompted to think about whether I’m ‘out’ or ‘queer,’ I’ve thought about the transgressive sense and about the meaning of visibility.
The system always leaves someone out
It doesn’t mean the person is strange. Any time we make a system of classification, someone won’t fit. This exclusion might say more about our need to classify people than about them.
Baldness isn’t just physical
It’s also performative. Labels describe how we live. Even when they describe reality, they’re about perceptions and performances. How we live interprets who we are.
When labels don’t feel right
She had two moms, and she didn’t like the word ‘straight’. If we have a stake in a shared outcome, we might avoid declaring how we’re different and separate from others, especially to imply our superiority.
People have been mad about ‘cisgender’ since at least 2007
If someone wants a world where no one is marked as cis, they must simultaneously fight for a world where no one is marked as trans.