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Quote by Claire Vaye Watkins

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Gold Fame Citrus

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Author

Claire Vaye Watkins
Claire Vaye Watkins

Claire Vaye Watkins is an American author renowned for her fiction, characterized by its distinctive narrative style and profound exploration of themes related to the American West and the human condition. Born in 1984, she has garnered recognition for her unique voice and insightful storytelling. more

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“Women and children are the tradition-carriers of the world. They pass on the folklore of hearth and kitchen, old beliefs, rites, superstitions, rituals, and customs. In the days when folklorists were inclined to make sweeping statements about the "strong feminine element" in folklore, it was argued that women and children were responsive to this field “because its origin antedates the emergence of reason." For many years old wives' tales were the target of ridicule, but in many old wives' tales there was, we know today, more than a bit of truth.”

“We autogynephilic transsexuals strive to become womanly in our bodies, but we can also strive to become womanly in our personalities. The feminine personas we create in the process of sex reassignment function as integral elements of the extended works of performance art that are our lives. We create our feminine personas by trying to express and embody the feminine virtues, whatever we think these are. For me, they include gentleness, nurturance, empathy, agreeableness, cooperation, friendliness, and grace. These qualities do not describe how I am naturally, but they describe the way I want to be and try to be; as such, they de fi ne a spiritual path that I attempt to follow. To try to express and embody these feminine virtues in our everyday lives makes us better people—especially if we have spent most of our lives expressing the kind of nerdy masculinity that values things over people, emphasizes competition over cooperation, and sometimes alienates us from our emotions and from other people. The transsexual journey is, in this case, less about finding our “true selves” than our best selves. Autogynephilia is a paraphilic sexual orientation, but it is possible to build a satisfying, passionate, spiritually fulfilling life around it—a life very much worth living.”

“Identifying as a woman of colour has been crucial in my understanding of structural politics in society. But this focus hasn't changed the plantation structure, the violence against black bodies and women's bodies. When we stake our primary claim on a racial identity, that identity can be used against us, to keep us in our category, to keep us divided. When we are so divided, it appears that it is impossible to address inequality, because it looks as though we're calling for "sameness" not equality. Which is, of course, not what we want at all.”

“Men's pain and existential angst are the stuff of myth and legends and narratives that shape everything that we do, but women's pain is a backdrop - a plot development to push the story along for the real protagonists. Disrupting the story means we're needy or selfish, or worst of all, man-haters - as if after all men have done to women over the ages the mere act of not liking them for it is most offensive.”