Jan 7So You This Feminism has Become Irrelevant… (TW FGM)Any women’s rights that are left to fight for are in faraway countries with some very scary people who won’t hesitate to kill anyone who would even mention the subject. </longest run-on sentence since the history of typing> I met N in a small Western Cape town back in the…Feminism3 min readFeminism3 min read
Dec 19, 2022priviPrivilege is Blindness for All of UsPost-Trump America looks like a terrifying place to a lot of South Africans. We, too, are shocked at your vanishing democracy. Your mass shootings are terrifying. Your lost abortion rights are terrifying. …Privilege3 min readPrivilege3 min read
Dec 13, 2022I knew something was off about him. I fucking knew it“I knew something was off about him. I fucking knew it.” That’s how I used to end every unsuccessful relationship — picking up the rubble and realizing I’d known it was there all along. I always stayed long after I should have. In those days, tolerance was my highest goal…Mental Health2 min readMental Health2 min read
Nov 25, 2022So You Live in the Best Country in the World…This week, a hoard of US Citizens descended on my journal to tell me theirs was the best country in the world, second only to the US in their imaginations. I’ll admit there are a few things the USA has down pat. Pickles, f’rinstance. Respect, f’rinstance, and few Saffers can…USA3 min readUSA3 min read
Nov 23, 2022Yes, Virginia, There Are People Who Are Hurt by WordsSticks and stones break my bones a lot less than words do. That old rhyme is a playground attitude with a playground tune because it belongs in the playground. Yes, Virginia, there are, indeed, people in this world who are hurt by words. I am among them. …Abuse2 min readAbuse2 min read
Nov 22, 2022You Aren’t Entitled to MentorshipWhen I started my poetry career in the last millennium, I bought my mentor’s time through office work. Lionel had cerebral palsy, so he needed capable hands to fetch books and rearrange paperwork. That was the best I could offer him, so I traded my 50-cent skills for his million-dollar…Writing3 min readWriting3 min read
Nov 22, 2022The Internet is Not AmericaMost days, I have to remind internet folk that I don’t live in America. To many, the US is The Default. Facebook is America. The internet is America. Other people are America. If I share my opinions on America, I’m told to vote in the US elections instead. If I…USA3 min readUSA3 min read
Oct 25, 2022So You’re Struggling to Cope with DepressionThe three types of people who write most often when I post about depression are: Those who have been or are being, treated. Those who tell us to get over it. Those who are reluctant to get professional help. I don’t think the fact that those last two categories coexist…Mental Health2 min readMental Health2 min read
Oct 22, 2022How to Stop Being a BigotWhen I was 23, I was refused entrance to a game park because I’d arrived with an Asian boyfriend. Mixed-race couples were not acceptable to our ticket office worker, and so I ran headlong into a barrier I didn’t even realise existed in post-apartheid South Africa. As a straight, white…Transgender4 min readTransgender4 min read
Oct 20, 2022The Word “Cis” isn’t a Pejorative“Don’t call me cis. It’s offensive. “ So saith every cisgender conservative who ever got cissed, but the word is not a pejorative. All it means is that your gender identity matches the genitals you were born with. We use it because it acknowledges that trans people are people, too…Transgender3 min readTransgender3 min read
