In the New Yorker...

[serious crayons]

I am even more behind than usual. I had two issues with me up at the house, and I just didn't feel like reading either of them.

Understandable. Hope you're doing all right, Jeff. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Understandable. Hope you're doing all right, Jeff. 

Thanks. I'm doing OK.

[Front-Ranger]

I'm reposting this comment that I made in the Armistad Maupin thread:

This inspired me to go back and read the clever and fairly short bio of RuPaul in the March 8 issue of The New Yorker. It's interesting that his husband Georges has a 60,000-acred ranch in Wyoming. I wonder if we could have our next rendezvous or BBQ there.

I didn't see anything about Cece Real or Ecce Rale there, but it does mention the Tennessee Williams play "Camino Real." That was the first performance RuPaul appeared in in drag, as a 15-year-old. The bio is by Ronan Farrow who seems entirely at home in RuPaul's world.

[Jeff Wrangler]

So I guess I'm a month behind, now, but if you didn't read the Feb. 26 article about the efforts to sell weed legally in New York City, I can recommend going back and reading it simply for its entertainment value. I found it entertaining that the author, Jia Tolentino, self-identifies as "a devoted stoner" and then writes, "[N]o one has ever actually died from too much weed."

(Did you notice what I did there? I don't know Jia Tolentino's insisted-upon pronouns, so I wrote the sentence to avoid using a pronoun.

I wonder when TNY will start including insisted-upon pronouns in the contributor list?)

[serious crayons]

(Did you notice what I did there? I don't know Jia Tolentino's insisted-upon pronouns, so I wrote the sentence to avoid using a pronoun.

I wonder when TNY will start including insisted-upon pronouns in the contributor list?)

I guess you can never be sure of anybody's pronouns these days, but I have sat in a meeting where fellow reporters talked to Jia Tolentino remotely and she appears to be a woman. She also used to write for Jezebel, a woman's website. So I'm going to boldly go with she/her.

(As to why we met with Jia, I'm in a group at work that picks out articles people think were well written and researched, then talks to the authors. Some members liked an article she wrote about people's emotions about climate change. https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/what-to-do-with-climate-emotions)

[Front-Ranger]

... I don't know Jia Tolentino's insisted-upon pronouns, so I wrote the sentence to avoid using a pronoun.

I wonder when TNY will start including insisted-upon pronouns in the contributor list?

Interesting that you used the words "insisted-upon" twice. I thought the term was "preferred." Can you say more about that?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Interesting that you used the words "insisted-upon" twice. I thought the term was "preferred." Can you say more about that?

It's been my personal experience that people who don't want to be referred to by traditional male or female pronouns can be quite insistent about that and even get offended if you slip up, so I feel they are "insisted upon" rather than "preferred."

I suppose there are some people who don't get offended and just quietly correct you.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I guess you can never be sure of anybody's pronouns these days, but I have sat in a meeting where fellow reporters talked to Jia Tolentino remotely and she appears to be a woman. She also used to write for Jezebel, a woman's website. So I'm going to boldly go with she/her.

Now that you mention it, I think you have mentioned it before; it sounds familiar. I just suppose you can't necessarily depend on what pronouns the person wants used based on their appearance.

[Front-Ranger]

Well, I have had a related problem nearly my whole life. I have a name that is gender neutral, so people who don't know me often assume I am a man. Many times people (usually men) would write to me about some business or other and the letter would start "Dear Mr. Lee R." I find this annoying but am resigned to it. However, I hardly ever end up doing business with such people.

Then, if I do somehow exchange phone calls with the business person, it amazes me how often, even after I've talked with them by phone, that they still assume I'm a man! And there have been more than a few times when, once I meet them in person, they are shocked to see that I am a woman. And they seem to feel like I'm some kind of impersonator or have been trying to trick them. This has led to some comical job interviews.

It is really interesting to see how their excitement at possibly doing business with me evaporates once they realize that I am just some...woman. I don't bother to even take offense. It's not worth it.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I was once mistaken for a woman on a phone call.