We’re at this really unique time, I think, in trans representation in popular culture where homelessness, depression, mental health issues, instability-in-general are still so very real and need to be talked about, but we’re aware that they’ve dominated “trans” stories for years and years. And we’re now finally at a place where we’re seeing some really positive representations of trans folks in pop culture, and there’s this new pressure -- at least, I feel it, within trans and trans-ally communities -- to only focus on the positive. Because we’re trying, in some sense, to overcompensate for the years and years of too much negativity. As a writer, you might feel a pressure to push the negative stuff away. But there are consequences for that too. Anyone who’s working with trans characters right now is going to have to reconcile that tension.— Mitch Kellaway ✦ Customize This Card SAVE: .PNG .JPG .SVG COPY DESIGN: ✦ EXTREME MIX THEME PATTERN FRAME CUSTOM BG: UPLOAD IMAGE ✕ CLEAR DIM: FONT: Playfair Display Cinzel Royal Cormorant EB Garamond Lora Editorial Merriweather Baskerville Roboto Slab Montserrat Raleway Oswald Bold Lato Clean Great Vibes Dancing Script Pacifico Caveat Brush Amatic SC RATIO: Auto Fit 4:5 Portrait 1:1 Square 5:4 Classic 16:9 Wide 9:16 Story 3:4 Poster RES: 1x Standard 2x HD (1080p) 3x Ultra (4K) 4x Extreme Print BG PAT TEXT FRAME We’re at this really unique time, I think, in trans representation in popular culture where homelessness, depression, mental health issues, instability-in-general are still so very real and need to be talked about, but we’re aware that they’ve dominated “trans” stories for years and years. And we’re now finally at a place where we’re seeing some really positive representations of trans folks in pop culture, and there’s this new pressure -- at least, I feel it, within trans and trans-ally communities -- to only focus on the positive. Because we’re trying, in some sense, to overcompensate for the years and years of too much negativity. As a writer, you might feel a pressure to push the negative stuff away. But there are consequences for that too. Anyone who’s working with trans characters right now is going to have to reconcile that tension.— Mitch Kellaway
That night I looked Stephanie [Burt] up online and started reading more about her work...I kept encountering a striking factoid...: she’s often cited as the most influential poetry critic of her generation. And she’s openly trans. This is not the world I was taught I would grow into when I was a young trans child -- the one where transgender people are heard, are brilliant, are influential, are even the best. At anything. Being trans, I’d learned subliminally, was supposed to keep you from being that -- even if you loved your trans self, and even if some other trans people and a few allies did too, the world at large would keep your potential tamped down." - from "Surface Difficulty: An Adventure in Reading Trans Poetry," Original Plumbing Magazine 2014— Mitch Kellaway ✦ Customize This Card SAVE: .PNG .JPG .SVG COPY DESIGN: ✦ EXTREME MIX THEME PATTERN FRAME CUSTOM BG: UPLOAD IMAGE ✕ CLEAR DIM: FONT: Playfair Display Cinzel Royal Cormorant EB Garamond Lora Editorial Merriweather Baskerville Roboto Slab Montserrat Raleway Oswald Bold Lato Clean Great Vibes Dancing Script Pacifico Caveat Brush Amatic SC RATIO: Auto Fit 4:5 Portrait 1:1 Square 5:4 Classic 16:9 Wide 9:16 Story 3:4 Poster RES: 1x Standard 2x HD (1080p) 3x Ultra (4K) 4x Extreme Print BG PAT TEXT FRAME That night I looked Stephanie [Burt] up online and started reading more about her work...I kept encountering a striking factoid...: she’s often cited as the most influential poetry critic of her generation. And she’s openly trans. This is not the world I was taught I would grow into when I was a young trans child -- the one where transgender people are heard, are brilliant, are influential, are even the best. At anything. Being trans, I’d learned subliminally, was supposed to keep you from being that -- even if you loved your trans self, and even if some other trans people and a few allies did too, the world at large would keep your potential tamped down." - from "Surface Difficulty: An Adventure in Reading Trans Poetry," Original Plumbing Magazine 2014— Mitch Kellaway