Morning feminists,

Patti Smith writes an article on reading a book and feeling like she had found a sister. This is a lovely piece about chasing a family you do not have, but think you could get back or make anew. This book has just been republished, too, so when I read it I will let you know.

I learned only that she was born in Algiers, was orphaned, had served time and had written two books in prison and one in freedom, and had recently died, in 1967, just shy of her 30th birthday. Finding and losing a potential sister all in the same moment touched me deeply. I was approaching 22, [and] on my own

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/03/female-genet-albertine-sarrazin%E2%80%99s-astragal

If you have not read Alison Bechdel’s beautiful graphic novels, I encourage you to do so at the next time that is convenient to you. Here’s a review of the musical (!!!) of Fun Home, which is the one to start with. If you’ve already read these, why not give them another spin this weekend? It’s probably been a wee while and you will not regret it.

But even if its implications remain unaddressed, Fun Home the graphic novel at least depicts Alison’s attraction to women as unavoidably enmeshed in her desire to be a man, and Bruce’s attraction to men as also a part of his allegiance to femininity. For the two of them, same-sex desire is simply the most irrepressible form of a more complete gender variance, as they try to survive in a heterosexist system that defines manhood as a desire for women and womanhood as the inverse.

http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/the-mirror-stage/

Happy Friday!

Alex.