let women live their lives

- “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith

- “Rubyfruit Jungle” by Rita Mae Brown

- “The Lavender Menace: A Memoir of Liberation” by Karla Jay

- “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel

- “The Disappearing L: Erasure of Lesbian Spaces and Culture” by Bonnie J Morris (currently reading)

- “Parable of the Talents” by Octavia Butler

 I asked her why she thought that the internet age coincided with queer theory taking over radical feminism in leftist/liberal rhetoric, and she said “The internet makes it easy to convince people what something is like when they’ve never experienced it. That’s why people began to rally against Michigan as transphobic when they had never attended.” She also said that trans women had been low-key attending Michfest the whole time and many of them caused no issues, but then disruptive individuals started protesting the fest in the later years. 

She also went on to mention detransitioned lesbians and some of their experiences to the class. She said that they were pressured to transition because of the expectations of living in a female body. Another really eye-opening thing she said was that queer theory and feminism are at odds with each other, because queer theory is about destroying boundaries whereas feminism is about setting them.

had to fight

for womanhood.

Cis women

just won

the generic lottery.

Cis women have privilege

handed to them

for being

born women.”

"Did you mean QUEER!?"

"DID YOU MEAN THE Q U E E R N E S S OF THIS MAN WHO WAS POTENTIALLY DEMONIZED FOR HIS SAME SEX ATTRACTION!?"

"~QUEER~"

1. Walked around without  shirt on and loved every second of it

2. Let friends and one stranger apply sun block to my back

3. Let my daughter live her best life and run free

4. Said the words.. “where are your pants?” to my child more than once

5. Had others tell me they found my daughter’s pants at the shower.. at least she showered

6. Sat on the grass, in the shade, while women walked by, and talked for two hours to a new young friend who just needed to talk to an older lesbian who understood her struggles and life.

7. Participated in a Butch/Femme tug of war.. and WON

8. Made many new friends 

9. Hugged many sweaty women and loved every DAMN second of it

10. Ate burnt potatoes and Peanut butter on a tortilla because I was too busy to really cook.

11. Finally met two on line friends (from Tumblr) and got to camp with them, share beer with them, laugh and cry with them. Best of all, I got to watch them experience the first time they were surrounded by only females and I saw the armor slip away.   They stood under the night sky and were safe and loved. 

12. I did too many shots of Fireball

13. I saw JLO get her ugly pink tie tied around her head because that is what one does on a Saturday night of fun and mayhem. 

14. Was not called “sir” once.. not even once!

15. Met Elizabeth from Betty

16. Drank an IPA and learned I don’t like IPA

17. Spoke with so many lesbians and bi women of all ages about our lives, our struggles and our joy.

18. I was assigned the spirit animal of The Beagle. because I love everyone and will happily run  up to greet all strangers.. and I love my ears being scratched. 

19. Had a full on conversation about marketing with a stranger while naked in the shower.

20. Cried from sadness after listening to young women tell me their stories

21. Cried from joy while hugging pretty much anyone who would let me. 

22. Farted in front of my new friends because, well. vegan, and was kindly asked “do you need to poop”. I appreciated the concern. 

23. Smiled until my face hurt and smiled more

24. Attended a workshop on lesbian cohousing