Clad in a purple shirt, green cords and a sparkly pink belt, Mattilda (aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore) talked about her newest book, a collection of short stories written by people who challenge gender categorization, people who might ‘pass’ as something they’re not.
Mattilda spoke about “Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity” As part of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Alliance’s Sex Week, and used herself as an example of someone who passes.
“In my day-to-day life, I don’t generally pass as a writer. When I walk down the street, I usually hear words like ‘faggot.’ Sometimes I get the occasional ‘I like your outfit!’ or ‘Are you a musician?’ No,” she exclaimed, “I’m a writer!”
She said that in reality, nobody can be so quickly categorized; in some way we all reject the rules of conformity. If only we could just relieve the societal pressure to fit into a category, endless new opportunities could be created.
“Nobody Passes” addresses issues that cross societal boundaries, some of which are domestic violence prevention, queer racism, rural poverty, misinterpretation, and AIDS. The stories included in the book were written by people from all over the country.
“I wanted to challenge the mentality that only experienced writers should contribute to a book,” Mattilda said.
She read a couple stories to demonstrate the importance of including people from all races, classes, genders and backgrounds in her book.
The idea for the book came from Mattilda’s publisher, Seal Press, the slogan of which is “Books by women and for women.”
Having read her first book, Pulling Taffy, they approached her to compile a book confronting the issue of “passing.”
When she presented the anthology to them, “they expressed concern that I would reach too far beyond the parameters and alienate readers,” Mattilda said. “They asked me to write a book about passing, and I’m not passing with them!” The irony, she explained, further proves the truth of the title.
Jen Cross, an author of one of the stories within “Nobody Passes,” also read selections from the book and talked about her experiences with finding her identity and trying to portray it to the world.
“What does it take to pass in a certain category?” she asked the audience. “If everyone is coming from a different place, they will judge you differently. You’ll never know what you’re passing as.”
One selection Cross read, from a story about an American girl trying to identify with her Middle-Eastern heritage, resonated with graduate student Joanna Vervoon.
“I try to pass for white even though I’m Latina, because that’s the way I see myself,” Vervoon said. “I love that Mattilda is tearing down these walls between races and looking at the similarities, not the differences.”
“I don’t think there’s a simple answer to identity politics,” added senior Johnny Correa, an art major. “I’m glad Mattilda is addressing it.”
Pre-Business Administration major Heather Haggard said that the United States has “strong attachment to categories” that forces unnatural assimilation.
“Nobody is as heterosexual as our society would like us to be,” she said.