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loatm — Why I'm Not Taking My Jacket Off

Published: 2012-12-10 06:51:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 593; Favourites: 9; Downloads: 2
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Description I don't know what category this should go in, as it's both drawing and writing. It was somewhat influenced by Ellen Forney and by a lot of zines I have read. I made it for Labyrinth, a campus magazine about feminism and marginalized identities--it remains to be seen if it will be accepted. It's probably hard to read, so the text says:

"I feel like people are always asking me with their eyes to take my jacket off when I'm inside. They wonder why I don't, but they're too polite to ask. It makes them uncomfortable. They wonder if I'm hiding something under there.
There's more under this wrinkled and smelly old denim jacket than a pair of breasts, a skin that doesn't always recognize heat the way most peoples' do, or a sense of shame and insecurity. There is an identity, and the jacket is connected to it just as my skin is to my body. My jacket is my second skin. There is more to this abnormal attachment to a piece of clothing than the obsessions or ritualistic behaviors that are part of my diagnosis. In some odd way, this garment is intrinsically connected to my sense of self as an autistic trans man. It does more than disguise the shape of my body and shield me from a frightening world. It's mine, I wear it all day long, and I'm not taking it off for anyone."
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Comments: 6

lippycat [2024-11-25 14:35:58 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Brightraven9 [2012-12-29 07:35:21 +0000 UTC]

I thought I was the only one who felt this way about my jackets and hoodies, good to know I am not alone. I hope this gets accepted into that magazine

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loatm In reply to Brightraven9 [2013-01-02 05:51:36 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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Raven913 [2012-12-10 06:57:25 +0000 UTC]

I hope the magazine accepts this... I think it's quite a powerful statement.

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loatm In reply to Raven913 [2012-12-10 06:59:02 +0000 UTC]

Really I think it's kind of silly that a jacket means so much to me. But thanks.

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Raven913 In reply to loatm [2012-12-10 09:17:06 +0000 UTC]

There are a lot of things that I feel silly to be so attached to, but I stick with them anyway. If the jacket makes you feel comfortable, then keep it on and don't let anyone tell you it's silly to not take it off.

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