Another year, another friend lost.
My Art Friend circle shrinks yet again as another young woman declares herself a "he/him" for the new year. This one is especially egregious as she is
very mentally ill (raging BPD exacerbated by severe social media addiction & autism) and obsessed with the girliest media ever. Like, as in, her whole personality is MLP, magical girls, pink shit, Lisa Frank, kawaii culture, etc. She touts herself as "a man" because she likes having a short pixie cut (dyed pink because of course it is), is slightly overweight, and does not fit the conventional definition of "attractive".
A person denouncing their natal sex is always depressing, especially when it's a friend, but this one pisses me off because, for all the post modern screeching about "body positivity", this young woman, who is the epitome of feminine other than her slightly unconventional appearance and affinity for practical haircuts, still thinks she needs to cause harm to her body (she has been toying with the idea of T) & tout lies all because she does not
completely fit the stereotypical mold of what she has been conditioned to believe "a woman" is.
It's a very clear manifestation of her self-hatred, which has been compounded each year I've known her, and I wish I could help, even though I know I can not. I wish she could see the potential in her that I see -- this is a talented young woman who is hyper-girly yet in a rougher, tomboyish way. Her work is gorgeous and steeped in the notion of friendship, happiness & female nostalgia, and she puts great effort into her appearance despite her natural physical flaws. She has such potential to be an inspiration to young girls (something she wishes to do with her art) yet she's denouncing the reality of her womanhood because A Cult Told Her To. She could show young women that "hey, you can do femininity AND still be hard-working, fun, and practical" but no. No, instead she has chosen to tell them, "in order to be hard-working, fun, and practical while also being feminine, you must declare yourself a man!"
Y'all, I'm getting so fucking tired of this shit.
