<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Hi everyone,<div>I have been in this listserve since 2008 and I can’t recall ever posting, but I was inspired to share that seeing this conversation made my heart swell. I am also transgender, and transitioned early in my career. </div><div><br></div><div>I’m struck that just 15-20 years ago, seeing this kind of conversation about trans* people on a list for art people seemed impossible. I’ve found people who are trans* in every city I’ve lived in via social media as a way to make friends and find allies. First Friendster, then MySpace and now Facebook. </div><div><br></div><div>McKenzie, I am a fan of your work, and was so excited to see you present at CAA in NYC a couple of years ago. I remember seeing you and wondering if you might be family. </div><div><br></div><div>What else can I say? I’m grateful for this moment.<br><br><div id="AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr">Sent from my phone. Please excuse any typos or brevity.</div><div dir="ltr"><br>On Sep 10, 2019, at 6:05 AM, warkk <<a href="mailto:WarkK@newschool.edu">WarkK@newschool.edu</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><span>----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------</span></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">When i came out (on Facebook, natch), Sandy sent me a message which said: "Now you know why, when i met you, i made you nervous."<div><br></div><div>True story. I had so much internalized transphobia because i knew i was clinging on to masculinity by a thread. </div><div><br></div><div>"The internet" has a lot to answer for. It turns out media designed for extracting surplus information out of us is a great breeding ground for Nazis. </div><div><br></div><div>Then again, it is a space where trans ppl can find each other. I'm transitioning with the help of big sisters i know IRL -- but met on twitter. </div><div><br></div><div>Then again again, its a space for ppl who hate us. Its exhausting playing whack-a-mole with ppl who think you are not human.</div><div><br></div><div>The actual German-style Nazis started with queer and trans ppl too. The Nazi-book burning pictures you see most often are of the Hirschfeld library.</div><div><br></div><div>Who was Hirschfield? Who was Harry Benjamin? What was the medicalized model of the transsexual? Well for that you'd need to read this:</div><div><a href="http://www.sterneck.net/gender/stone-posttranssexuel/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.sterneck.net/gender/stone-posttranssexuel/index.php</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>-- in which Sandy became big sister to us all. </div><div><br></div><div>Ironically enough, for complicated reasons, i'm among sisters who all call ourselves transsexuals again. </div><div><br></div><div>But then one of themes is change, right?</div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 2:17 AM Allucquere Rosanne Stone <<a href="mailto:allucquere.stone@gmail.com">allucquere.stone@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br>
Hi folks, Sandy here. McKenzie and I met in the mythic time of the latter part of the XXth Century, when she (then he) met a busful of middle-aged theoreticians debarking at a conference venue. McKenzie glanced at me and then stared with an expression I interpreted as loathing, and which later I realized was something more akin to terror. I thought that they might be an F2M afraid of being outed, so out of courtesy I gave them a wide berth. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t. Roads not taken, ships that pass in the night…<br>
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At any rate, we’re here now, and it’s a great pleasure.<br>
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Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of young transpeople in what at some point in the past was a general catchphrase for personal turbulence: going through changes. Right. Ch-ch-ch-changes. Who knew.<br>
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Well. The present moment is so chockfull of changes. A close relative, an intelligent, perceptive, empathetic and caring person, is a Trumpist. J Epstein, an intelligent, perceptive philanthropist, was a raging pedophile. Valerie Plame has launched a campaign video that either reduces or elevates politics to the level of Hollywood spectacle — literally… all it lacks is Jason Statham and Vin Diesel getting out of the car behind her. A woman has given birth to a cow’s head. We’re all busy slouching toward our particular Bethlehem. What’s not to like?<br>
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I’ll say something about change that’s more related to this thread later. This is just a little introductory blurt until I have more time.<br>
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Sandy<br>
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Allucquere Rosanne Stone<br>
Drive-by Theoretician<br>
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Faust: How comes it then that thou art out of hell?<br>
Meph: Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.<br>
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Sent from my iPhone. Please enjoy all autocorrects and typos.<br>
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empyre forum<br>
<a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au" target="_blank">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au</a><br>
<a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu</a></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><p style="font-family:arial;font-size:10px;color:rgb(0,0,0);padding:5px 0px 0px 5px;margin:0px"><span style="color:rgb(232,46,33)">McKenzie Wark (they/she)</span><br>
<strong>Professor of Media and Culture</strong><br>
<span style="color:rgb(232,46,33)">EUGENE LANG COLLEGE</span><br>
<span>65 w11th st, NEW YORK, NY 10011</span></p><p style="font-family:arial;font-size:10px;color:rgb(102,102,102);padding:10px 0px 0px 5px;margin:0px">
<a href="http://www.newschool.edu/marketing-communication/email-signature.html#" style="color:rgb(102,102,102)" target="_blank">warkk@newschool.edu</a><br>
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:bold">T</span> 212 229 5100 2241 / <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:bold">M</span> 646 3697266 / @mckenziewark / room #456<br></p><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>empyre forum</span><br><span><a href="mailto:empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au">empyre@lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au</a></span><br><span><a href="http://empyre.library.cornell.edu">http://empyre.library.cornell.edu</a></span></div></blockquote></div></body></html>