David Foster Wallace Ad Absurdum*

Tom Scocca’s piece in The New York Observer on the Frey hoo-ha might be overstating the case, but this bit of parody made me laugh really hard:
Fine. Then comes the opening sentence: “On my first day in jail, a three hundred pound man named Porterhouse hit me in the back of the head with a metal tray.”
In other words: “On my first day in jail*, a three hundred pound man** named Porterhouse*** hit me in the back of the head**** with a metal tray*****.”
*The author never went to jail.
**Weight is an estimate; also the author, not being in jail, never met such a person.
***Not his real name; also the author never met such a person.
****Because the author’s head was not present in jail, such a blow did not actually land.
***** The composition of the tray is a guess, because the author did not actually get hit by it, because the author was never in jail.
Thanks to GalleyCat for pointing out this passage in particular & the article in general, while simultaneously pointing out that JT LeRoy’s sales figures actually increased last week as a result of the fracas, proving once again that sometimes, bad publicity is still publicity.
* David Foster Wallace has nothing to do with this controversy; he’s just famous for excessive footnoting in his writing, in a postmodern kind of way.

Five Questions With… Jade Gordon

Jade Gordon is the artist and author behind the trans-amorous comic Lean on Me.
jade comic
< A drawing from Lean on Me featuring the two main characters.
1) What motivated you to start drawing “Lean on Me”?
I thought it would be a good way to pick up chicks!
Oh, a more serious answer, eh? What motivated me was a fiery burning need. I am a genetic female who tends to prefer femininity in a romantic partner, regardless of physical gender. I had been repressed for a long time, and I just started to crack. I had to start expressing what I really felt somehow. I was, at that point, spending a lot of time alone in a small, dank apartment, stewing about my true feelings. I decided to try putting my ideas into a visual form. I had never done sequential art, and I think I instinctively knew that I could work out what I was feeling with fictional characters a little easier than direct confrontation.
I also really, really needed to reach more people like me. I grew up in an environment where loving someone of a different ethnicity was very wrong, never mind color, and anyone who was anywhere in the realm of GLBT wasn’t allowed to exist because it was the ultimate in wrong. I found myself not just leaning toward lesbian, but also embracing people who were, in my previous environment, the sickest of sick – the *crossdressers*, the *transvestites*. I *knew* in my heart that I was perfectly normal and healthy in my desires, but I felt like a complete alien among women who typically seemed to prefer freaking out about partners that wanted to crossdress or transition. The comic helped me connect with other women who maybe didn’t immediately want to kick their man to the curb just because he was pretty sometimes.
Continue reading “Five Questions With… Jade Gordon”

Felicity Huffman

Sometimes allies come from odd places.
Hillary Swank said nice things about trans people after she played Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry, and tonight, when Felicity Huffman won the Golden Globe for playing Bree, a transwoman, in Transamerica, she said:
“I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are, and so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are.”
So, trans people: consider yourself saluted. As much as actors aren’t always the best spokespeople, and shouldn’t really be spokespeople per se at all, they do make terrific allies. Winning the Golden Globe for her performance means that many more people are going to see a movie about a trans person who isn’t psychotic, violent, or crazy – which is, right now, a huge leap in the right direction.

Raising the Bar

I just caught a brief, red carpet interview with Johnny Depp as he was arriving at the Golden Globe Awards: it turns out he discovered the voice of Willy Wonka while playing Barbies with his daughter.
Ah, Johnny Depp. Raising the bar for men everywhere. No really, I’m beginning to think he is actually perfect.

TIC Update

The Translating Identity Conference, or TIC for short, was one of the best events Betty & I attended last year – so we’re going back!
It’ll be two days this year, February 25 & 26, which is Saturday & Sunday. The conference is free. FREE. The organizers rock.
I’ll be doing two workshops, and co-hosting a third with another partner.

  • “Trans Sex and Identity” has been scheduled for Saturday afternoon 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM.
  • “Partners of MTFs” (for partners only) is scheduled for Saturday at 3:15-4:45 PM.
  • “Trans Relationships” (partners of trans, and trans) will be Sunday from 1:45 – 3:15 PM.

On top of everything else, UVM is in Burlington, Vermont, which is one of the most beautiful places ever.

Worst of Both Worlds Season

I know I’m not the only football widow, and I know now – since the publication of My Husband Betty – that I’m not the only ‘worst of both worlds’ widow, either. Oh no. I know there’s Heather, who just sent me a lovely email about her own ‘Betty’ watching the game “in stockings, heels, and a nightie.” But I’d forgotten about playoff season, when there’s more football on than episodes of Law & Order. After yesterday’s screams and howls brought on by the Indiana/Pittsburgh game, Betty decided to try on some clothes a friend gave her while watching today’s game.
It’s like genius-level torture, having a skinny woman in my house trying on new clothes while she watches football and I clean the catboxes.
(She does vaccuum when and where I ask her to, though. I’m trying to figure out how to get her to vaccuum without me asking, next.)

Missing Email?

For those of you who emailed me at my helenboyd (at) myhusbandbetty (dot) com address in the past week or so, my apologies. Somehow with the hosting move and reconfiguring of everything that email account got temporarily “lost.”
It’s all back up now, but in case you were feeling snubbed… you weren’t.