I wrote about inherited trauma and the way my relationships with my brother and father informed my attraction to men. This piece began writing me last summer after I listened to Jay Z’s album, 4:44.
Here is an excerpt:
I begin thinking about the way people both transcend and encompass gender. I think about the way I am absorbing and categorizing gender and I begin to ask what I mean when I say I cannot connect with men.
*This piece has brief mentions of assault*
[Image description: Red background with four black outlines of bodies that look like shadows. Standing in front of them are seven outlines of brown and silver body shaped armor wearing skirts. Armor is in the shape of bodies but there is no face or body inside it.]
https://theestablishment.co/you-had-no-father-you-had-the-armor/
Melanie Laura Speaks 