❌ Get in the Way ❌
As an editor, sometimes I deal with my frustration with the world by rage-assigning new pieces. It feels very proactive. “I've been wanting for a while to have a comic about female fury,” I wrote to an artist this week. “Just how absolutely infuriating it is to watch these misogynist pieces of shit in the news cycle every day and what we should do with that anger.”
She wrote up a great comic script (to be published next week) that includes a quote I had never heard before from feminist scholar Sara Ahmed: “When you expose a problem, you pose a problem.” How many people are willing to be a problem? A pin made by comedian Cameron Esposito and fashion designer Tuesday Bassen posts the same idea in a succinct way: Get in the Way.
I was thinking about that phrase this week while I was milling around New York Comicon. I was at the massive, hyper-commerical convention to sign copies of Open Earth, but after fulfilling my author-duties, wandering around the soulless conference just felt wrong. I didn’t really want to gawk at cosplayers or make small talk with artists or drop a bunch of money on new books. All I could think about was how angry I was. So I ditched out on the convention early and biked up to Trump tower. Maybe there would be a protest. It seems like someone should be standing outside Trump tower all day and night, maybe a team of people in shifts, just giving the building the finger.
When I got to Trump tower, which looms over New York as a menacing black monolith, there was no protest but there was a small group of people awkwardly milling around as if they, too, were waiting for a protest to materialize. I saw a family with a tween daughter holding signs that said, “Believe women.”
“Are you here for a protest?” I asked.
“Yeah!” they replied. “But maybe it’s not here? We thought there would be one.”
“Me too!” I said, “Well, we're here. We could just be a protest. But I don’t have a sign.”
“We have an extra!” The daughter excitedly reached into her bag and pulled out posterboard and a Sharpie. On one side I wrote “Believe Women” and on the other side I wrote, “We All Hate Trump.” When we stood there with our signs across the street from Trump tower, immediately other people started standing with us. A group of young women all showed up wearing red shirts that said “Believe Women”—they were students who had decided, like me, to just go to Trump tower to protest. Two women appeared on bikes with a tiny dog in their basket, wearing an even tinier harness onto which they’d embroidered, “Fuck Trump.” An elderly couple stopped to talk to me. “We are Canadian,” the woman said, in a thick Quebecois accent, “We also hate Trump!”
What does a protest like this do? Will it make Trump sit up and take notice? No. Will it stop Kavanaugh from being appointed? No. Will it end sexism? No. But it makes all of us feel less alone. It made me feel like I was in just the right place, when I was getting in the way.
This Week’s Comic
STUFF I MADE
30 Zines in 30 Days - During October, artists around the world participate in a challenge called Inktober where they commit to sharing one new drawing a day. I decided to make a short zine every day. So far I’ve made a zine about cats, a zine about mansplaining, and a Mitski fan zine. I’ll be sharing them all at the Instagram hashtag #30zinesin30days.
Sexy Book! Open Earth debuted last week. It got a really nice review in The Oregonian as an “audacious blend of genre fiction, interpersonal relationships and eroticism.” Critic Will Nevin writes: “Ultimately, ‘Open Earth’ is a cheerful exploration of open relationships and complex social networks in space with a blessedly diverse cast of characters. It is so very different as this fusion of science fiction and eroticism. It is smart. It is sweet. And, of course, just a little saucy.” If you want a copy, please consider buying one from me directly or ordering a copy from your local bookstore.
STUFF I LOVE:
Mazie Hirono - The Senator from Hawaii straight-up calls bullshit on the Kavanaugh appointment process. She has a great interview on the newest episode of the podcast Hysteria.
Earhustle - My favorite podcast, Earhustle, is back this week with a new season. Earhustle is recorded inside San Quentin prison and provides insight on what day-to-day life is like in prison.
All You Can Ever Know - I love everything Nicole Chung writes, so I’m excited that her memoir about adoption and identity has finally hit shelves. In the book, she asks, “What does it mean to lose your roots—within your culture, within your family—and what happens when you find them?”
Exit West - If you’ve talked to me in person over the last six months, I’ve probably told you my current obsession: downloading audiobooks for free from the library. I just listened to Exit West, a new book by Lahore-born author Moshin Hamid, that’s a really wonderful magical realism take on the lives of refugees. Give it a listen.
Drag Balls of the Civil War - I edited this comic by Levi Hastings and Dorian Alexander about the history of big cross-dressing balls hosted by Union soldiers during the Civil War. I didn’t know anything about this history, it’s super interesting.
SOMETHING TO DO
Write a Friend a Letter
Everyone I know is hurting this week. One of my friends proposed an impromptu craft night where we'd write postcards. I brought my rubber stamps and wrote a couple cards to long-distance friends just to say hello and that I was thinking about them and that they're great. In a pretty bleak time, it's extra important to support each other, and snail mail is a nice little gift to receive.
I’ll write to you in a few weeks! In the meantime, keep in touch on Instagram and Twitter, okay? If this is your first time seeing this newsletter, you can subscribe here.
Photo of Mazie Hirono by Laurie Shaull.