I created the Forever Foreign series for Substack. Each story stands alone but holds more weight for subscribers who follow from the beginning. Each Saturday, I enrich Tuesday’s stories with a cultural psychology or sociopolitical article.
For the past two weeks, my parent’s stories naturally birthed themes of feminism and matriarchies, so that’s what I’ve been writing about.
The problem is, I’m a dude.
Although I don’t believe that cisgender white dudes should only write about themselves, there’s definitely a time for us to shut up.
Sometimes—okay, probably a lot more than sometimes—we need to learn and listen because all our white dude mansplaining and manpaneling has become tiresome, including this introduction.
So, without further mando, here’s a list of brilliant women, two-spirit, and gender-nonconforming people on Substack that help me to understand the world beyond my identity.
Common Shapes by (formerly Marlee Grace)
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There are many more authors and stories I could have mentioned. Please, feel free to self-promote and mention others in the comments.
And of course, this article wouldn’t be complete with Jua, the two-spirit person who came into my life the moment I needed them, and
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Thanks so much for the mention, Nolan! I see I have a few more writers to check out now. :)
I love Kat River, Samantha Childress, and Rachel Katz so much! Their writing is glorious, heart-opening, and perspective-enhancing. I don't know the others you mentioned (except Carlotta! Hey love birds! you two are so cute!!) but I'm glad to be introduced to them! Thank you, Nolan.