Don't Be Boxin'!

Ever been on facebook? Ever seen those boxes where you're supposed to check whether you're male or female? Or what about on OkCupid, where you have to check if you're gay, straight or bi? Or even the boxes on facebook where you have to check if you're interested in men and/or women. Are you ever left staring at the screen thinking, "What box do I check??? I can't check ANY of those boxes!!!"

The LGBT movement is seeing an upswing in publicity and visibility lately (which is all very wonderful), however we here at Don't Box Us are dismayed by the black and white way this issue is portrayed by all sides. Either you're gay or you're straight. Either it's a choice or it isn't. Either you're in the closet or you're out. Either you're a man or a woman. Either you had intercourse or you didn't have sex at all.

As June Jordan said to Jennifer Baumgardner,* "Look, I'm not a lesbian . . . I resent this huge resistance to complexity." We too resent this resistance to complexity, we resent it hugely. As recent graduates of Smith College, we feel rather like we're stating the obviously passé, but the world isn't black and white. It's made of lots of nice little continuums and spectrums. Clearly (and somewhat shockingly to us), this idea isn't passé to most of the world. Thus, Don't Box Us will be dedicated to all issues which don't fit into nice little boxes of 'gay' vs 'straight', "woman' vs 'man', 'white' vs 'of color', 'in' vs 'out', etc.

Consistant with the theme of not boxing, of coloring outside the lines if you will, Don't Box Us is not going to limit itself to just talking about LGBT issues. We're inclusive, yo! We're way into litereature (rebellious ad otherwise) and literary/cultural critisism so there will probably be a fair bit of that. And we all have our own little pet issues (*cough cough* independent bookselling) that will probably make their appearances as well. Also, posting will probably be pretty sporadic at first while we get things sorted out. Watch out!

PS- coauthors (i.e. badass writers) please feel free to edit this or add your own stuff if you disagree. -- Sarah

*Baumgardner, Jennifer. (2007) Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux: New York, NY.