No Gender November №14: Embrace All the People You Will Become
Just like Venom, Anna Piskoulian’s identity is a masculine feminine heroic anti-hero. Unlike venom, she’s not a we.
Note: This is part of the November 2018 “No Gender November” portrait series on my 6yo’s lunch notes. Follow along and learn non-binary with me!
< №13 Gender Gooey | << Start at the beginning | №15 Unclassy Comfortable
Anna Piskoulian of Anna’s Hair Lab uses everyday to create a safe place for her clients. Her chair is a judgement free zone where one can comfortably remove their mask, some hair and just be themselves. Anna’s self, like Venom from Marvel Comics is a symbiosis of whatever is in front of her. Biologically female, inside she doesn’t identify with gender, just Anna.
For those unfamiliar with Venom, they are an extra-dimensional symbiote from the Spiderman spider-verse that imprints with a host. Venom is all of it’s hosts at the same time, sometimes in different ratios. Venom is Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man, Eddie Brock and just about everyone in the spider-verse who accidentally stepped into the space goo. Though Venom refers to themself as “We”, there is still a singular host trapped inside that can dominate their identity.
Anna’s pronouns are she/her. She considered transitioning “but that never felt right. I didn’t want to end Anna, I like her. I looked inward and got to know myself. My darkest demons and my brightest light… after spending enough time with them, I realized I’m just a light floating through this meat suit vessel.”
In the comics Peter Parker broke free physically from the symbiote, Venom. Venom will always be a part of him. Anna didn’t transition but broke free of a shell that was and wasn’t her. “What I look like on the outside now, is a complete representation of my insides. I am both female and masculine and have found my balance with those energies, finally making me complete just as I am”
