Identity Writings
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Activist. Androgynous Queer. Drag King. Faggy Dyke. Feminist. Radical Revolutionary. Spazzy Geek.
Identity is extremely personal and fluid.  The terms we use to identify ourselves are inherantly problematic, changing and limiting, and yet these words are a place to begin, to both understand ourselves and to understand others.  Many terms i identify with, such as dyke, fag and queer, can and are used in a derragatory fashion in our society.  I find power in re-claiming these words, using them in a possitive and self-affirming manner, to lessen the pain of their sting and to find power in deviance.  Contained is a list of terms I personally identify, and what they mean to me.  Many of the concepts introduced here are discussed in-depth in the writings section of the website.   
Activist.
For the last 2 years i've been the spokesperson for GALA, Santa Clara University's Queer Alliance and starting next fall am taking over GASPED, SCU's Gay Straight Alliance.  Activism can be group organizations like these, with group support and awareness/education activities.  But also, the personal is political.  Activism often consists, more subtly, of conversations and everyday interactions.  With all my organizing at Santa Clara University, i feel the strongest impact i've had on the campus is simply through personal relationships and conversations.  I will always be an activist, even if i'm not passing out fliers and running meetings.  People ask what i want to do with my life and i say: change the world.
Androgynous Queer.
Androgynous: Even though i was socially conditioned as female, i don't identify as a woman.  I don't identify as a man, either and thus don't particularly identify as transgendered.  I exist in the middle, embracing a variety of both feminine and masculine traits (which i tend to wear like different outfits for different days depending on my mood)  I answer to all pronouns and don't correct people regardless of how they address me.  I like watching trip over "sirs" and "mams" and struggle as they try to fit me into their binary gender system.
Queer:  This word is commonly used as an umbrella term for LGBT individuals.  When i use the term queer in reference to my personal identity however, i'm referencing the queer theory construction of the term.  Definitions are inherantly oppressive because they limit and box identities, and are used to distinguish between "us" and "them" and thus "oppressor" and "oppressed."  Therefore, the word queer is in defiance of definitions.  Queer is fluidity, queer is spectrums, queer is beyond boxes and definitions, and that's how i feel about both my gender and sexual identity.  Most of my relationships have been with individuals born female but because i am attracted to a spectrum of genders; femme & butch women, transguys and queer men, i no longer feel comfortable in a lesbian identity.
Combine the two terms and you've got a wide range of fluidity in both gender and sexual identity.  Nothings out of bounds, everything's go, and that's just exactly how i like it to be.  I can claim a vague location in the middle and move around as i please.
Drag King.
When i tell people i'm a drag king, most look perplexed because they have never knew such a thing even existed.  Everyone has heard of drag queens, but kings are a relatively rescent phenomenon.  To learn more about the history of kings, buy a copy of The Drag King Book, and/or see on (from madkats.com) a drag king timeline.  
A drag king is anyone (regardless of biology) who imitates masculinity, challenging the notion that masculinity is a power reserved for men.  A drag king performs masculinities in a theatrical, entertaining way, using theater, dance, props, poetry, music... any and every medium he can, to express and challenge gender, but most importantly, to entertain.  I have always been a huge supporter of activism through theater, and i view drag kinging as an important way of expressing and challenging gender binaries.  I love dancing and being onstage, and through my Drag King persona Max Voltage, i can express my dreamy inner egotist stage whore.
Faggy Dyke.
Even though i don't identify as a lesbian, the term dyke, which feels more politicized, energized and genderized does apeal to me.  The word dyke describes both my physical appearance, and the community from which i come.  But because i don't identify as particularly butch, and because i experience my femininity more like a fag then a femme manner, i amend the term dyke with faggy. 
Feminist.
People shy away from this term and i think that's a fucking shame.  Feminism is asking for equality for women and the fact that some people can be against that boggles my mind.  I believe feminism needs to move further and focus on destroying gender binaries because they are inherantly oppressive to women.  Feminism can be both about embracing femininity as empowering (thus femme identities) and destroying and defying gender binaries (with genderqueer, androgynous, queer and trans identities).
above: drag king Andy Rogeny (center) and company.  Olympia, WA 2002.
Radical Revolutionary.
Radical: the problems/oppressions of our society: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Classism, etc, can all be traced to the root of the system, whether it's patriarchy or capitalism.  Therefore, to solve these problems we must also go to the root (radical means root.  like the vegitable radish, which is a root)  Revolutionary:  If the system is flawed to its very root, in order to solve the problems, we must overthrow
the current system and set up a society based on true equality and social justice. The more i read about oppressions and globalization, the more convinced i am that our society is not sustainable in any sense of the term, and we must seriously address these issues if humanity is going to survive.
Spazzy Geek.
Things i do that quality me as thus: if i trip, i hope there's someone around to see so we can both laugh at me. I dance alone in my room in front of my mirror.  I can burp songs, and i often take requests.  I can talk for hours about queer gender issues, and read queer and gender theory for fun.  When i tell stories, my voice gets increasingly loud and i gesture excessively.  I blush bright red when i have a crush on you.  I sit in a cubical at intel corp and spend the entire day re-working my website.
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