To Let the Shape Announce The Filling
On Authenticity, Cultural Contamination & Purity
Pop culture has shaped my life down to holding what has been called the first dialect borne of media; the class aspirational ‘valley girl accent’ (shoutout to Clueless on VHS). I grew up in an abusive home and looking outward helped me create a mirror of what life was and could be. Tbh, it’s kind of embarrassing how much I’ve realized about myself through my comfort watches.
If you didn’t know, I recently graduated from an MFA program from [redacted]. I had to write a thesis paper but didn’t want to write a ‘thesis paper’. So I made this…which in turn inspired me to start this newsletter (someone called it a blog the other day & yeah, we can go with that as well). Anyways, the ‘official’ document is in embargo because I wanted to own my own words & I’m very proud of this piece. I think it’s funny, when I was editing it my peers laughed a lot & it’s honestly probably the best representation of ~what I do~. There’s some art in there too. (ps. I hella had COVID when I submitted so please excuse any weird formatting, maybe one day I’ll republish).
References include: The sexy green M&M; Clermont Twins; Online Recipes that are way too long; Colonialism; Mel Chin; Shading Feminist Theorists who Navel Gaze; Vanderpump Rules; Pop Smoke; Rihanna; Jessica Simpson’s Dessert Treats; Existential Dread & the Fear of Eternity; Marie Antoinette; Shitty Brooklyn Grocery Stores; Glow by J LO, Holding on by a Thread; Gluten, Drake thinking about Jolly Ranchers; Real Housewives; Boxed Cake Mix; Matcha; Skinny Girl; Doja Cat; Plagiarism on the Internet; Celebrity Perfume; Azealia Banks; Proprioception; Urban Dictionary; Ayurveda; The Karjenners (Kardashians/ Jenners); Wisconsin (my birth place); Bodega Water Choices; Unpasteurized Cheese; TikTok; Megan Fox; Megan Markle; Cake; The Cube Rule of Food Identification; Dara Birnbaum; Instagram; etcetera.
