tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242321492229602144.post4001971144001695478..comments2024-03-25T09:33:34.063-04:00Comments on A Woman Named Sophie: Burns and BoylanSophie Lynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04333071551207169892noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242321492229602144.post-88579602522850898562017-03-12T13:35:56.810-04:002017-03-12T13:35:56.810-04:00HI, Sophie. I am sorry if my reading--or the circ...HI, Sophie. I am sorry if my reading--or the circumstances around it-- left you feeling puny. You're right that my "presentation" at these sorts events has morphed over the years. I'm less concerned with Trans 101 these days, because I keep thinking everyone must have finally gotten the memo-- although your experiences make it clear that everyone clearly has not. But also because as an artist (sic) my attention and passions have changed over the years. The short piece about the necessity of love felt timely; and the long piece about teachers was, as you note, germane to the occasion of being back where I began. <br /><br />It is hard to spend your whole life on the outside. You describe being on the outside both in terms of gender and also in terms of social class and income. The Main Line is unique in this country-- I always forget how strange it is until I go back there (which now that my mother is gone, I almost never do). There is a kind of baked-in privilege there that seeps into everything. People are politically liberal, but emotionally conservative. <br /><br />I never understood it until I got out of there. After college I lived in poverty for a half-dozen years, and it nearly did me in-- that feeling of being on the outside, having no resources either financial or cultural. I clawed my way back into academia after a decade of failure. Now I am safe, in some ways, but I carry the memory of that hard time with me always, and I still live my life as if loss were just a motion away. <br /><br />I cannot solve the world for you, and you didn't ask me to. I do want you to know, again, that my heart goes out to you, that I know you are a brilliant and loving soul, and you deserve a whole lot more than the place you are, and not only financially. But surely that.<br /><br />I am hoping new opportunities arise for you. <br /><br />Your note did put me in mind of that William Gibson quote-- something like, "When you find yourself depressed and wondering what is wrong with you, don't forget the very distinct possibility that your real problem may simply be that you are surrounded by assholes."<br /><br />JJennifer Finney Boylanhttp://www.jenniferboylan.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2242321492229602144.post-10597453718526540782017-03-12T01:13:47.920-05:002017-03-12T01:13:47.920-05:00Sophie -
You are not shit. Don't ever believ...Sophie -<br /><br />You are not shit. Don't ever believe that!!!!<br /><br />Are there things you try to do to help keep people from misgendering you? <br /><br />MMarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18346866501735405647noreply@blogger.com