Show & Tell: Transphobia Amnesia, Meghan Shouldn't Relate, and a Haunting Denzel Interview
Unstacked Digest for the week of March 3-9
This is Show & Tell where I tell you some things I loved from the week and the one thing I hated, plus round up everything else going on around these parts. The first half of Show & Tell is free to all. The adoration and hateration are for paid subscribers only.
There is no clear theme tonight except that men ain’t shit and being wonky about your politics is a bad and terrible look. Other than that, we’re all over the place. Oh, and spoiler alert, I finished no books this week1.
Today is your last day to get 20% off Unstacked, so if you want to read my talk shit at the end of this post, or get bonus episodes, or get my Nonfiction Reading Guide, or hear me rank all my reads from least to most favorite each month, now is the time. If you’re already a paying member and want to gift a subscription, this works for gifts as well!
This Week in The Stacks
The Oscar’s recap and a little bit of other stuff.
was my guest on the podcast this week and we talked about her fantastic newsletter Extracurricular2, reading in community, and why she wanted to read They Were Her Property for book club this Women’s History Month.
I reflected on one year of Unstacked including the posts you all liked the most and least.
Books I Read This Week
Look, I didn’t finish any books this week, but I am deep into two long(ish) books, The Custom of the Country and There Is No Place for Us, so expect my thoughts on both next week.
Things I Love…
Book News
This isn’t a love. This is just a thing that happened this week that I feel like we need to talk about. You know what? This is actually a hate. You’re getting a bonus hate this week, maybe to make up for no book reviews. Or maybe because I am a hater. Either way, you’re welcome.
This week, The Women’s Prize released their longlist for their fiction prize. The list includes some books I have read and not liked very much, some books I’ve read and enjoyed, a few titles I’m curious about, and a handful of new to me titles. Which, like great. That’s all fine and good. The list also includes the latest book from Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, author of Americanah, and noted transphobe.
For those who don’t know the history of Adiche’s transphobic remarks, I will refer you to this comprehensive overview from 2021. The long and short of it is that Adiche refused to say that trans women were women and said they were trans women. She doubled down on that stance multiple times. She wrote a screed about “cancel culture” and went on to defend J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments. She has also been called out by prominent trans and nonbinary people including past students of hers.
Because I feel it necessary to say this part out loud. I do not fuck with transphobic language or people. I stand with the trans community and my heart breaks to watch as this debate around their very existence continues to happen in public ways.
But, that is not the hate. The hate is the way I see people, who should and claim to know better, having “good faith” arguments about why she is not transphobic. Or why we should read her work even if it is problematic. Or people doing events with her. Or people who are being so brave for being willing to read her work. Or the argument that a prize is based on merit and it’s not their fault her book is one of the best books written by a woman in the last year.
Before we continue, and for anyone thinking, “well, trans women are trans women, why was she wrong to say that?”. I want you to substitute “Black” for trans and try and explain to me how refusing to say Black women are women (full stop), but instead they are solely Black women, is not incredibly racist and hateful.
Great, now that we’re all on the same page.
I don’t care if any one person wants to read this book. I don’t think reading or not reading a book is really any great statement or protest. What you read is up to you. I do think going online and feigning ignorance3 around the issue or playing devil’s advocate to justify your reading of Adiche speaks volumes. And in the case of The Women’s Prize, which has had controversy in the past around their exclusion of trans authors, they should be thinking about what it means to include a transphobic author on their list4.
Let’s be for real, for real. These award lists are never strictly based on merit. I have been on a judging panel, and I know first hand how politics can play into the process. So the question becomes why platform this book? Especially given it has received plenty of mixed reviews, which suggests to me that it isn’t definitively the greatest book ever written. If you’d like to read a pan of the book, my favorite comes from Vulture.
The question of art vs artist is almost interesting to me in this case. But, I think it is disingenuous. We are never asked to separate art from artist when it comes to “own voices” artists. We are never asked to do it when we think the art sheds light on the artist in a positive way. In fact we rely on their art, in that case, to reinforce our notions of them. We are only given this impossible task when the artist has done something wrong. When they sexually abuse a child or kill someone or get caught being racist. Otherwise, it never comes up. So why are we so married to the idea that when someone shows us who they are (whether in word or deed) we need to prove to ourselves they are not who they say they are?
There is another question I feel much more compelled to think about. What does it mean to build a cannon in realtime?
What do we want the work of our generations and lifetimes to say about who we are? Because that is what a canon is. It is a sort of time capsule of great art and how it reflects the societies and eras in which it was created. So then what does it mean to celebrate artists in their lifetimes that we know are transphobic? Or racist? Or violent? What does all of that say about us? What is our legacy?
Beyond that, I think about what happens when the work is extraordinary. When despite the ways hate shows up in the work it still remains worthy of celebration. Then what do we do? Who are we? And what happens to the people who have been excluded or harmed in the making of or service to that art?
I don’t have an answer to that5. But it is a question I think about a lot.
The last thing I will say on this, is yes, this is book world drama. Small in the bigger picture of things. But, it is connected to all or the Right’s anti-trans legislative efforts. Celebrating a literary TERF says to people in other spaces it is OK to be publicly transphobic. Asking devil’s advocate style questions says it is okay to question the legitimacy of trans people and their very real concerns and fears. It is a declaration that it is okay to demean an entire group of people. There will be no consequences. And maybe, if you’re lucky, lots of people who know better will rush to hypothetically defend you or put you on a prize list.
And look, whether you see it or not, this is directly related to Gavin Newsom saying on his podcast6 that having trans athletes in sports is “unfair”. Whether Newsome got played by Charlie Kirk (his guest), or he thinks this helps him politically, or what he genuinely believes, it doesn’t matter. What he said is something he thought was okay to say into a microphone and release to the world. That is partly because we have made it safe culturally to be transphobic. We have said if you are transphobic we can and will debate your transphobia away.
So look, this has been very long and I get that. I am still working through all of my thoughts, but I think being a little vulnerable about this with you might be useful as we each individually and collectively think through what we are seeing now and will continue to see when it comes to transphobia (and other forms of oppression, no doubt).
I think the best place to end is just to say, I was talking to friend of the pod and co-owner of Loyalty Bookstores, Hannah Oliver Depp about all of this, and she said “The only thing this moment gives us that is any good is clarity, so pretending to be in the grey area is…not the vibe”.
And after all I’ve written, that simple sentence gets at the heart of this whole thing for me. Now is not the time to be wishy washy when it comes to the trans community.
Pop Culture
I finished this season of Love Is Blind and I really don’t want to spoil things for you, so what I will say, is I am thrilled to see the way politics is showing up in reality TV. There were a lot of conversations around voting and values when it comes to abortion, LGBTQ rights, and Black Lives Matter. Men on the season were trying to act like they had never thought about it, which is bullshit. I am glad Love Is Blind took the time to air out that tired tactic. Extra special shout out to Virginia who really gave first lady energy on the reunion. She said I can’t speak for others but here is what I know about my values.
I watched the reunion and truly Nick and Vanessa must be fucking with us because they never ask a single good question or follow up. Can Netflix bring in anyone else? Please for the love of entertainment.
Oh, and it needs to be said, most of the women had incredible glow ups and then men miraculously all still look the same. Incredible consistency my guys.