The end of gender
by Unmana
after Ada Limón
Enough of Kali and Draupadi and Penelope and Cleopatra, enough of mothers and princesses and more I am king, I am god, Florence, why not, enough of ladies and sisters and girlfriends, enough of man boobs and man buns and manbags, enough marriage, enough monogamy, don’t even get me started on taking the husband’s last name, enough of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day definitely fuck Raksha Bandhan all the way off, enough of gender reveals and colour-coded babies, enough of flattering and feminine and pretty and why don’t you cover your grays, enough of people like us, enough of women know/do/feel, enough of she she she she her, enough of gi not ga, enough of women’s prizes and women’s retreats, enough of however you identify and enough womyn, enough daughter and wife and bahu and bhabhi, I am asking you to see me.
First published in Unbroken (Issue #46, Summer 2025)
 | A guest post by
|
It's a long time since I've encountered such apocalyptically omnidirectional gender-exhaustion.
I can feel Unmana's ornate, end-of-the-line depletion, but gender does make the eorld go round (it also, as she points out, makes it go crazy and cruel) and it does requiore endless rethinking and some accomodation--not just weary rage.. Gender Iis a given, and it can be made creative and constructive--if we keep working at it. Railing away feels good but alas it doen;t help much