This Week's Writing 12/20/26
Weary like the kitty.
End of the year approacheth, and like the kitty I am tired.
Unlike the kitty I remain anxious about freelance options going into the new year as the media economy collapses. If you value my writing and would like to help, consider becoming a paid subscriber! It’s $5/m, $50/year.
Okay! this is what I published this week.
Politics
What raising a trans daughter taught me about the “crisis of masculinity.” (Dame Magazine)
The Indiana GOP defies Trump. (Public Notice)
Sometimes you need to fight fascism even if it’s not clearly an electoral winner. (EIH)
Men aren’t lonely. They just have guns. (EIH)
Cultural Criticism
Song Sung Blue does schmaltz right. (Splice Today)
Materialists puts the class back in romance. (EIH)
Everyone loves plot amnesia. (EIH)
Poetry
Poem about AI taking over poetry. (Synchronized Chaos)
Grim tale of woe. (Five Fleas)
Horror Story
I am
just sitting here
when the clutter
comes back
I enjoyed you piece in Dame Magazine. Except that my hair is not kinky, I suspect that our place in teen social life was similar.
The people preaching about the importance of masculinity often conflate two aspects in their definition. Protecting, procreating (which is optional), and providing are not masculine traits, they are grownup traits. Being a grownup means protecting and providing for children, elderly, and the wider community, because you are an adult and can. Your gender doesn’t matter. Adult men and women are on equal footing in this regard. The rest of “masculinity,” six-pack abs and golf swings, is just the battle to be cock of the walk. They desperately want their great plumage to make them the to top animal in the barnyard, and are very threatened when their display is ignored.
The AI poem- it got me. I feel it encroaching, trying to pick up little tasks here and there. It’s probably doing far more than I’m aware of. I keep fighting though.