There are some days where I decide it's probably best to just destroy the concept of masculinity altogether haha.... But as a trans person, masculinity is something I long for, and there are also days when I think there may be hope for it. And I'm not ready give up on that project yet.
Anyway I really dug Gloria Anzaldua's call for a new masculinity, but also recognize that she was speaking about/to men of color in her essay... As a white transmasculine person, the masculinity I do/will move into is linked to intensely fucked up histories of oppression and violence. So for me, stepping into that role also comes with a huge responsibility to be accountable to that history. I'm still figuring out what this means, and it's honestly kind of terrifying, but I'm planning on focusing my utopian vision project on this dilemma so look forward to that! ;)
That aside, I have found some folks who are creating and living new masculinities, Gloria Anzaldua style... Yosimar Reyes is definitely one of them!
Reyes (20 y.o. queer immigrant poet/activist) edited a poetry collection called "For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly," which he described as an attempt to follow in the footsteps of lesbian womyn of colors' anthologies... he said that it's also important to make space for gay mens' specific struggles. A big theme in his work is decolonization and affirming that brown boys loving one another is resistant within a culture that expects them to destroy each other... this reminded me a lot of what Gloria Anzaldua was pointing towards when she described her vision of new masculinity.
Here's some more work by him series called 'Five Tips for Queer Boys.' The words are by Yosimar, art is by Julio Salgado.
kelsey, i love this. thank you for sharing and i am so looking forward to your utopian longing project re: potentials for new masculinities in the context of resisting white supremacy and patriarchy--perfect! some things you might want to check out/investigate:
ReplyDeletemattilda bernstein sycamore's work on faggotry (see upcoming post with link)
also, check out the organizers for the femme conference 2012. there are some really interesting conversations about the privileging of masculinity in envisioning/living queer and trans identities. these important critiques might give some directives on what else masculinity can be/must become.