a zine i made for a digital media class, with text transcribed for accessability.
A zine about queered bodies: LYCANTHROPY and it's sibling, TRANSSEXUALITY
Lycanthrope (noun): A person who can transform into a wolf, as described in folktales. Synonym: werewolf.
The lycanthrope is many things, but "heterosexual" or "cisgender" is not one.
To understand the lycanthrope, you must acknowledge it's nature. It cannot be easily categorized as "man" or "beast". Further, the lycanthrope, as it is caught between worlds, cannot be sexed. With a body that changes so willingly, human ideas of how bodies should look or perform simply do not apply.
A werewolf is a transient thing.
Transsexual (noun): A transgender person, especially one seeking sex reassignment. Synonym: werewolf.
The transsexual is a kind of werewolf, then. It, too, is caught between worlds. "Man" and "woman" are just as arbitrary as "man" and "beast". The transsexual cannot be sorted.
It's transformation may be slower, more intentional, but it is a transformation. The transsexual becomes othered in body and mind, just as the lycanthrope does. So I ask you:
Do you see the beauty in a queered body?
A queered body represents a threat, and so is vile to many. It's very existance is an offence to decent society.
But there's no fault to be found in the body of the lycanthrope nor the transsexual.
Even if shocking, or disgusting, or gross, there is not inherent harm done by the werewolves. A queered body is no less desirable than a typical one.
In fact, it can be more desirable.
"There werewolves take queerness a step further...
"By refusing to align with one species, they cannot be socially bound by the conventions of any sex or gender.
"Unfortunately, the price for such freedom is a monstrous form: Horrific in it's unquantifiable hybridity...
"A queer reality, presented only in the guise of fiction, might still prove an appealing alternative despite its physically dehumanizing effects:
"That is fantasy, and that is fear."
— Caitlin B. Giacopasi, The Werewolf Pride Movement (2011)
There are many kinds of queered bodies
And many kinds of werewolves
A queered body is a body made into a home. The transsexual and the lycanthrope relish in the act.
You can, too.
Become a werewolf today.