[-empyre-] Situated body, Situated practices

Wed Sep 11 14:24:25 AEST 2019

Thanks Jaimes,
    When i came out, nobody who actually knew me even slightly seemed at
all surprised. And a lot of ppl who know me well were like -- finally!

I'd be curious to know what the experience was like of finding other trans
ppl on Friendster and Myspace. I didn't. I started with Tumblr.

I came out on Facebook because it seemed that was where my professional
identity was, and where ppl who knew me from Australia were.

But in terms of constructing the community i needed, that happened mostly
via coming out on twitter. Three trans women then reached out to me
direclty. All three i'd count as friends and one a sigificant big sister to
me. She connected to to a second who has that role in my transition, via
twitter dm. A third i found independently, but also via twitter.

I'm also now connected to a skein of networks of trans ppl via twitter, one
strand is writers, one is academics, another is about tech. Another is more
specifically New York based and is trans ppl i', friendly with but not (or
not yet) particularly close to.

I'm interested in this both as a trans woman and as a media scholar, of
course.

m

On Wed, Sep 11, 2019 at 12:12 AM Jaimes Mayhew <jaimes.mayhew at gmail.com>
wrote:

> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
> Hi everyone,
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> What else can I say? I’m grateful for this moment.
>
> Sent from my phone. Please excuse any typos or brevity.
>
> On Sep 10, 2019, at 6:05 AM, warkk <WarkK at newschool.edu> wrote:
>
> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>
>
>
> 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."
>
> True story. I had so much internalized transphobia because i knew i was
> clinging on to masculinity by a thread.
>
> "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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Who was Hirschfield? Who was Harry Benjamin? What was the medicalized
> model of the transsexual? Well for that you'd need to read this:
> http://www.sterneck.net/gender/stone-posttranssexuel/index.php
>
> -- in which Sandy became big sister to us all.
>
> Ironically enough, for complicated reasons, i'm among sisters who all call
> ourselves transsexuals again.
>
> But then one of themes is change, right?
>
> On Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 2:17 AM Allucquere Rosanne Stone <
> allucquere.stone at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>> 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…
>>
>> At any rate, we’re here now, and it’s a great pleasure.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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?
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> Sandy
>>
>>
>>
>> Allucquere Rosanne Stone
>> Drive-by Theoretician
>>
>> Faust: How comes it then that thou art out of hell?
>> Meph: Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone. Please enjoy all autocorrects and typos.
>> _______________________________________________
>> empyre forum
>> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
>> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
>
>
> --
>
> McKenzie Wark (they/she)
> *Professor of Media and Culture*
> EUGENE LANG COLLEGE
> 65 w11th st, NEW YORK, NY 10011
>
> warkk at newschool.edu
> <http://www.newschool.edu/marketing-communication/email-signature.html#>
> T 212 229 5100 2241 / M 646 3697266 / @mckenziewark / room #456
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu
>
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
> http://empyre.library.cornell.edu

-- 

McKenzie Wark (they/she)
*Professor of Media and Culture*
EUGENE LANG COLLEGE
65 w11th st, NEW YORK, NY 10011

warkk at newschool.edu
<http://www.newschool.edu/marketing-communication/email-signature.html#>
T 212 229 5100 2241 / M 646 3697266 / @mckenziewark / room #456
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