Those who remember my post about transgendered men will appreciate perhaps the extra headspin of this article [via MetaFilter, for those who are wondering.]
Those who remember my post about transgendered men will appreciate perhaps the extra headspin of this article [via MetaFilter, for those who are wondering.]
I think it’s important to be able to produce a narrative when you set about doing something like this. It’s the essence of our being “in” language. Can you imagine setting about something like this without the attempt to put it into words? It’s really no different from any mother’s attempt to articulate the meaning of the event. Perhaps a touch more convoluted than the typical situation. But there’s still this effort in the writing to make clear and familiar assertions of meaning. The writing of the scalpel is never enough. We need to make the words echo it, shadow it, to set the adventurous cutting into reality. Now you can’t call it unspeakable.
Sure, the cynical might say that the act of speaking or writing about it is just “spin.” And we await other attempts at counterspin over time. But still. Any attempt to narrate something is, in its nature, an attempt to spin. That’s what makes language interesting.
Eschew fantasies of absolute power and control. Speak the unspeakable. We should ALL try it. Nothing is ever too subtle, sophisticated, or “complex” to be narrated. Have your spin.