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 GASP: gender anarchist and sex positivism

straight homosexual

queer heterosexual

these were just some of the terms/ideas that kate bornstein threw out in her conversation today at bryn mawr. terms that are not used very widely, yet are innovative and different and real. i was so pleased i was able to see her both at bryn mawr and at villanova. it was interesting to really see her in am honest, straight forward relaxed setting versus her staged performance at villanova. she has so many ideas and lookouts on life, death, sex, and anything really. so much of what she said (like that the term "ally" was bullshit or gay marriage is not the right political fight) seemed so crazy but as she explained it, made so much sense. and her performance! what an actor. really. it wasn't a one person show, she embodied so many different characters, from different versions of herself from different phases of her life to her mother or a friend. she told it how it was and didn't hide any bit of herself from her audience. getting into graphic details of her surgery wasn't meant to scare anyone, it was meant to be honest. she knows not everyone will understand her, she knows it's not "the norm" to not define oneself as a man or as a woman. it was interesting in the setting itself too, at villanova. at one point she asked that if there was anyone in the audience who was gay, a lesbian, or bi to raise there hand... at first no hand went up and i'm pretty sure it was not because everyone in the audience was a straight heterosexual. then she added "and ally" and finally it was acceptable to raise a hand. it was just interesting to me to see people feel so uncomfortable to express themselves in that kind of environment. i mean students of the bi-co are not going to be living at bryn mawr and haverford their whole lives, there's a real world out there. a world where people aren't as open about telling people who they really are, a world where people will try to put you down and bully you, a world where even the slightest difference can make one an outlaw. but there she was, being completely frank about who she was and what she did to get there. and i was amazed.