A few weeks ago, upon the publication of Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation with my little snippet included, one of my favorite people was all, “Yay, now you are a published gender theorist!”
This has been bothering me ever since. I don’t want to be bothered, because he was so genuinely thrilled for me, but…
Folks, I am NOT a gender theorist. I don’t read gender theory because I find it unbelievably boring. I’m glad many of you do read it, because it’s important to understand what is or is not gender, and ways in which our current world is terrible for people of any or all genders. But I don’t want to read it. And I REALLY don’t want to write it.
Also, while I often write about characters who are transgender (including, sometimes, myself), I am not writing theory. I am writing reality (even for made up characters in poems or fiction). I also write about kittens, pirates, long road trips, family dynamics, swamps, the Civil War, magic, alligators, AIDS, snow, faith, Rilke, dogs, coffee, blow jobs, diner food, lions, and many other topics. Nobody has yet suggested that I am, say, a published coffee theorist (although that would be AWESOME). Nobody has suggested that I am a kitten theorist, although I may in fact be.
Dear dear friend, I hope you read this, even though it will annoy you. You need to understand the difference between my view on gender and your view on gender, because performativity and reality do not always overlap (go read Julia Serrano’s essay in Gender Outlaws).
And I can’t wait for the day that you, dear friend, ARE a published gender theorist. I am all prepared to toast you.
(cross posted to Pony)
