Zoe Whittall is the author of two novels, Holding Still for as Long as Possible and Bottle Rocket Hearts. Bottle Rocket Hearts was a Globe & Mail best book of the year and was shortlisted for CBC’s Canada Reads. Zoe has also published three books of poetry, most recently Precordial Thump. She won the 2008 Dayne Ogilvie Award and was shortlisted for the 2010 ReLit Award. Zoe lives in Toronto.
Here’s how Zoe describes her piece for Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme: “‘A Patch of Bright Flowers’ is a short story and both a satire of the Canadian publishing industry, and humorous exploration of intergenerational queer relationships and butch-femme clichés.”
What made you want to be part of this anthology?
When I discovered anthologies about femme and butch identities in the 1990s, they opened up a whole new world to me. At the same time, because it was the 90s, the ideas seemed fairly limited, retro and over identity-politicky now. There is such a lack of content out there that is both current and high quality. I’m honoured to be a part of this book.
What’s one of your favourite lines from your piece?
“Julia isn’t sure what to do about aging. She loves that queers are granted an extended adolescence and don’t really expect to marry, have babies, or own property until they are well into their thirties, if at all. She used to see ugly babies or annoying children and think, Oh, thank god I’m not a parent. Thank god I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. Recently, when she sees ugly babies, she thinks, I would love that little monster SO HARD.”
If you could say one thing to future butches and femmes, what would it be?
Everyone has already said variations of love yourself and know your history, and I echo these sentiments. I would add - don’t throw away your journals, read many books before you try to write one, don’t police people’s politics and have a sense of humour about yours.
Via persistence anthology
Showing posts with label Zoe Whittall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zoe Whittall. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Friday, December 10, 2010
hot fat girl manifesto
Because being a hot fat girl is a lot of work and is undervalued or unrecognized. Because a fat girl still has to pay more money for uglier clothes or spend 11 hours at the thrift store to find anything hot to wear. Because if you take the elevator, people think you’re lazy but if you’re on the treadmill, people laugh.
Because men like John Goodman and Bernie Mac get to have careers on television but sitcom-moms-of-three still have size-two waists. Because even feminist magazines publish fat-phobic articles under the guise of it being a “health issue.” Because anti-capitalist activists still use expressions like “fat capitalist pig.”
Because girls are dieting at the age of nine. Because side effects of the most popular diet drugs are seizures, heart failure, fecal urgency, breast cancer, lung disease, insomnia, nausea and vomiting, dangerously high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeat, psychosis, strokes, hallucinations and sudden death.
Because the Cooper Institute’s ongoing study of 30,000 people has found that those who are fittest live the longest, no matter what they weigh. Because the doctor who said that there were 30,000 “obesity-related” deaths each year received over $2 million in research funding from Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. Because that study prompted the FDA to approve Phen-Phen and Redux. Because fat-hatred is a money-making industry. Because fat people who exercise live longer than thin people who don’t.
Because if you lose weight ‘cause you’re sick, people telling you how great you look. Because hatred is so ingrained in every single one of us, especially inside the heart of even the hottest fat girl. Because even the most progressive people don’t talk or write about it.
Because I am tired of being ignored, invisible, de-sexualized and told that I have such a pretty face.
Because it’s not fat that kills, it’s fear of fat. For all that and more I am a part of the HOT FAT GIRL REVOLUTION!
This piece first ran in Shameless Magazine.
Zoe Whittall’s writing appears in Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets; Red Light: Superheroes, Saints & Sluts; and Girls Who Bite Back: Witches, Mutants, Slayers and Freaks. She is the author of The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life and editor of Geeks, Misfits & Outlaws.
via fuckyeahfemmes
Because men like John Goodman and Bernie Mac get to have careers on television but sitcom-moms-of-three still have size-two waists. Because even feminist magazines publish fat-phobic articles under the guise of it being a “health issue.” Because anti-capitalist activists still use expressions like “fat capitalist pig.”
Because girls are dieting at the age of nine. Because side effects of the most popular diet drugs are seizures, heart failure, fecal urgency, breast cancer, lung disease, insomnia, nausea and vomiting, dangerously high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeat, psychosis, strokes, hallucinations and sudden death.
Because the Cooper Institute’s ongoing study of 30,000 people has found that those who are fittest live the longest, no matter what they weigh. Because the doctor who said that there were 30,000 “obesity-related” deaths each year received over $2 million in research funding from Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. Because that study prompted the FDA to approve Phen-Phen and Redux. Because fat-hatred is a money-making industry. Because fat people who exercise live longer than thin people who don’t.
Because if you lose weight ‘cause you’re sick, people telling you how great you look. Because hatred is so ingrained in every single one of us, especially inside the heart of even the hottest fat girl. Because even the most progressive people don’t talk or write about it.
Because I am tired of being ignored, invisible, de-sexualized and told that I have such a pretty face.
Because it’s not fat that kills, it’s fear of fat. For all that and more I am a part of the HOT FAT GIRL REVOLUTION!
This piece first ran in Shameless Magazine.
Zoe Whittall’s writing appears in Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets; Red Light: Superheroes, Saints & Sluts; and Girls Who Bite Back: Witches, Mutants, Slayers and Freaks. She is the author of The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life and editor of Geeks, Misfits & Outlaws.
via fuckyeahfemmes
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