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I'm a little embarrassed that I never actually posted about Kate Bornstein, seeing as I was so ridiculously excited about actually meeting her. Anyway, now I'll post.

Kate Bornstein. I remember a while back, in class, adalke mentioned something about whether Kate was calling for the end of identities, and I didn't think that she was. And I maintain that she doesn't; she mentioned at the informal conversation about how love and respect and magic happens when identities come together. She said that we can band together for identity, but for politics, we must triage. (Violence against women and children is the most pressing issue anyone faces.)

I thought the informal conversation was really interesting. Kate Bornstein seemed...unafraid of being blunt or politically incorrect or controversial, which was refreshing. Occasionally, that led to having to clarify herself when people misunderstood what she meant (when she said, "Gay marriage, excuse me, sucks" or "F*** allies. . . . We want members" or, in response to a question about the older/younger division on the word 'queer,' "We're gonna die real soon. Don't worry about it."). But I think that added something to the conversation because it meant that it wasn't really rehearsed. It was more of an actual conversation than a speech or performance.

In her performance at Villanova, I think my favorite part was the part about coming out to her mom. Telling her mom that she was her baby, her little boy, the daughter she never had, and that she loved her. I just sort of connected with that. It felt very truthful. There were other parts that were more scandelous, more outrageous, but that part was just honest and real. On a separate note, I also liked the part about how "'I' has no gender. Neither does 'you.'" It made me think of lol cats ("I haz no gender!"). :)