You can probably picture the scene: a writer sits in front of a computer, typewriter, or piece of blank paper and wills their brain to function. Writing is so imbued in this mysticism of challenge, frustration, and stubborn endurance that, at least to my younger self, it felt entirely unapproachable…
I lived with my then-partner on the second floor of an apartment complex. I still remember the unit number. The tenants who lived above us fought regularly, probably at about the same frequency that we did. Sometimes we fought at the same time.
That was three years ago now. I…
For three-and-a-half years now, I’ve known that I am trans. Back then, when I started writing about gender, I was crafting the first narratives that would help me integrate my emerging identity into my established self-concept. These stories found roots in dissonance with childhood toys, with my body during puberty…
Something strange started happening two years ago. I would be out hiking on a trail I’d never visited before and someone would stop me for advice. “How much longer to the top?” they’d ask, though I was still on my way up as well. Or, it might be a query…
To my knowledge, there’s now a significant chunk of people (in the transgender community and not) with an understanding that trans folks’ genders are valid regardless of if their expression aligns with their identity. Usually, this assertion means sticking up for trans men who are assumed to be women, trans…
“GENDER IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT!” I don’t know if this ever-present trans rallying cry has been yelled from a rooftop, but I wouldn’t doubt it. From Judith Butler’s theorizing to the ways that gender non-conformists are harassed online and on the street, it is clear that, instead of being intrinsic…
I submitted this essay three years ago (5/29) for a writing course on the tech world of Silicon Valley that I took during my final quarter of college. Those four years were a lonely time in my life, especially regarding the absence of woman friends, and I can tell I…
I wrote this essay in the fall of 2016 for a senior-level anthropology course. The assignment called for an gender-related essay braided with personal experiences, course material, and further research from the field of anthropology. …
In spring of 2018, I wrote about my early experiences working as an instructional assistant in my city’s public school district. Though I didn’t know it then, I would continue in the same line of work for almost two more years. The first of April marked the second consecutive month…
I recognize her face the moment I enter the darkened lounge. We worked together at that restaurant, now over two years ago. Though we only shared a smattering of shifts, I fondly recall moments of ridiculing our terrible boss together. As I walk toward her on the way to the…
white, trans/agender, femme often disguised as masc, NW-based. exploring gender beyond traditional narratives. patreon.com/alixperrywriting
