A Look at Willa Cather

Posted by: TMTW in GLBT, Transgender

WARNING: Controversial Material

Pulitzer Prize winning Willa Cather has been regulated to a “Quote of the Day”. Imagine that.

I first discovered this writer through her novel, “My Antonia”, which was an assigned reading project in my junior high English literature class. Cather’s writing style and attitude absolutely captivated me. Our school library did not provide other works by this remarkable woman and only the Encyclopedia Britannica offered any (woefully lacking) information. It would be many years before I could read her other works; almost a decade and a half before I could learn about Willa the writer.

Willa, who often referred to herself as William, was transgender in my opinion. Lesbians and women’s rights activists would disagree with me (go right ahead, it’s my damned blog!) She behaved boyishly and often dressed in a masculine fashion during a period of time when women of her social status were the epitome of grace and fluff. This was “just not done” during the Victorian era. She was managing editor of McClure’s Magazine prior to NYC suffragette parade in 1912 before women had the right to vote. It was she who saved McClure’s from financial ruin. “The mind of a man, the creativity of a poet of old”, Willa balked at society and took her place amid other male writers. She did not do this for women’s rights; she did it because she saw herself doing something perfectly normal for her inner gender: she failed to see herself as female.

I do grow weary of pointing this out: transgender people are not “cross-dressers” or “transvestites” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. They are people who do not identify with their birth gender. They spend their whole lives feeling that they are in the wrong body. Some have surgeries to assume the gender that they identify with (replete with private parts.) Some are gay: a man that becomes a woman but still is attracted to women would be an example. Some are straight: a woman who becomes a man and is attracted to women would be an example. Before you whack me with your cross and bible, please consider that hermaphrodites (those born with both sex organs) are permitted to choose their gender now. If you are still confused, feel free to e-mail me: autricedeldrago@aol.com subject heading: Transgender.

Willa never put her gender or orientation into writing (or perhaps she did. Willa did fastidiously burn her notes; she was a very private person.) Very few transgender writers have the talent needed to explain the frustrations encountered daily. One sophisticated essay entitled My Life as a Girl comes to mind. I have encountered little else.

What if? What if Willa had been born a century later? She would currently be two years younger than me. Her novels would not have had the same impact. Her accomplishments would have been mundane considering that women’s rights

have allowed all of us the ability to follow our dreams.

All that withstanding, what would she have to say about who she is and how she sees herself fitting into the world around her? How would she view the current political war raging between two parties? What would she think about gay marriage? Would her heart quicken upon learning that she could leave her old body behind and physically assume the gender that she identifies with? Would she shed tears over Matthew Shepard? I would like to think that she would use her talents to speak out about such senseless violence and death.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 and is filed under GLBT, Transgender . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .