There’s so little representation for women over like 35 (which is wild, because 35 is fucking young) and even less representation for LBT+ women over 35 (cause every piece of media has us dying at like 19 or some shit).
It makes it hard to envision existing as an adult. I am an adult and sometimes it’s still hard to envision. There’s this idea that our visible aesthetics and flagging and cultural signifiers are things only for young people, but it’s not true.
Every time I see a woman who is super intentionally and visibly gender nonconforming (in ways that, in straight culture, are associated with teenagers) I get this surge of relief.
bless butch professors with gray hair. bless queer punk librarians with pink hair. bless older femmes who wear neon eye shadow to their day job. bless the out nonbinary trans woman who moderated a panel at a college and then gave a speech at a leftist protest three days later
media might try to push the idea that our identities are temporary– that we’ll die young or grow out of them– but it’s not true. We’re here, and we’ve always been here, and we kick ass our whole lives.