Sophie Dufresne
I’m only cis on Christmas
Not that my family should care,
but it makes the festive period
more enjoyable for everyone.
Gender is apparently a taboo subject
among tourtière-enthusiasts.
Maybe that’s why I never enjoyed tourtière.
Either that,
or it’s because the photo of my cousin
kneeling next to a deer,
blood still on its neck,
is forever ingrained in my memory.
I almost went vegan
to spite the hunters in my family.
Well, almost almost.
Sushi, ice cream, cheese
and other delicious animal products
made veganism too unrealistic an achievement.
What’s the link between being cis and being vegan?
you ask yourself.
Well, there isn’t any.
Many queers are vegan, though.
But I shall content myself to almost being
the queer cousin—
who isn’t vegan, and
who is only cis on Christmas.
“You don’t know what it’s like to be disabled”
Don’t I?
Don’t I know what it’s like to be seen as able to do things I can’t?
Don’t I know what it’s like to lie in hospital beds,
Wondering if I will ever be able-passing,
A privilege I now wish I knew how to use wisely.
Don’t I know what it’s like to be pushed in a wheelchair,
Thinking I didn’t need it,
Wishing I didn’t need it?
Don’t I now see wheelchair-users differently?
Don’t I wish I could be seen differently?
My privilege is being invisible;
I should embrace it.
The irony of Labels
With labels
come stigma,
misconception,
discrimination.
No labels
means floating
in the void:
somewhere
between “normal”
and “other.”
“Other:”
A simple
yet infinite
box
one checks
on applications,
if a third option
is even offered.
“Other”
replaces
an infinite
number of responses,
all of which
are reduced
to Beauvoir’s
“Other” –
those defined
in relation
to the societal norm –
the “abnormal.”
But without labels,
the queer community
would not have power,
they would not
have Pride,
for how could they
be proud of
being othered,
if they do not
embrace new labels
or reclaim old slurs?
Labels allow you to be seen,
understood,
praised.
For
society outcasts
those who are different,
yet praises them
for their courage.
Just another
double-edged sword
of humanity.
The Irony of Labels was first published in Oddball Magazine
Sophie Dufresne studies psychology and creative writing at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. They developed a passion for poetry after reading "Hope" by Emily Dickinson in sixth grade. They have been published by Milk Carton Press, Oddball Magazine, Brain Mill Press, _voidspace, JAKE and Cosmic Double, among other publications. You can find them on Twitter @i_m_sope