Week 9: Transformation Tuesday

I had no idea that today I would be hearing powerful words from a transgender artist, Rebecca Kling. Sometimes it amazes me how little I seem to know about the complexities of human beings, but I am grateful to have these opportunities to expand my knowledge. Kling gave a spoken word perfomance called "Uncovering the Mirrors" - a sort of coming-of-age personal narrative that she wrote herself. It is full of stories and metaphors, humor and wit, pain and pleasure.

Kling is the kind of person that can tell a good story. There were no gimmicky props, costumes, or distractions - it was all about the words and the movement of her body. There were times when I felt like she was looking right at me, and for a moment I was terrified. And yet at the same time, I was in awe of her strong presence. She's just that good.

Although I would be lying if I said I understood all of her performance clearly, there were several parts that stood out for me. She painted this great picture in our heads of The Land of Gender - a place that was once vast and beautiful, wild and untamed. It was full of secrets and the unknown, where explorers would make ambitious treks in attempts to understand its landscape. The Land of Gender refused to be defined, until one day an explorer named "He" arrived. He feared the unknown, and began to create a map that would "measure, manage, and master the Land of Gender once and for all." Instead of consulting other explorers for their unique perspectives on the land, He relied only on his own beliefs when mapping out the terrain. Ultimately, He was successful in mapping the landscape - but it only had two paths from which travelers could travel through. Both were very rigid and straight, and very much separate.      

I found these clever and evident metaphors fascinating. In fact, it provoked me to find more of Kling's writing online. You can read from her book, "No Gender Left Behind" right here: http://www.rebeccakling.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/No-Gender-Left-Behind-Rebecca-Kling-free-download.pdf

After the performance was over, time was left for questions of course. A decent amount of time was actually spent on this. A lot of times, it seems like only a few questions are asked by audience members. And even though the group wasn't that large, a valuable discussion began to take place. Kling was genuinely interested in our thoughts and curiosities, and was very honest in her responses.

For her, the "transitioning"process did not have a definitive starting point, nor has it ended. She rather sees herself as always having been "Rebecca," and believes that she would have committed suicide had she not taken the steps that brought her to where she is today.

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 Photo by Peter McCullough