Diagnosis: Crohn’s.
The Autoimmune Empire
has colon-ized me.
Crohn’s Haiku
My Former Brother
My former brother declared on Fecebook that humans can change sex.
I invited him on Heterodorx, the podcast I co-host with Corinna Cohn, to explain how.
He declined in a long email, in which he chastised me once again for my insensitivity to The Trans Community. He asserted men can become women. He referred to such women as “former men.”
Corinna wrote him an email in response that was a cutting, glorious thing. Corinna is the only man who has ever stood up for me to my former brother (or father, to whom my former brother bears much resemblance). He signed his email, “Former Man.”
After this exchange I decided to personally, privately disown my former brother. I have heard that other brothers defend or encourage their little sisters; mine has always done the opposite. Whenever I found myself bullied or attacked, he blamed me. Perhaps he blamed me for his own troubles too, since my role as the youngest in my family seemed to be scapegoat. When I first got viciously canceled for saying women don’t have penises, he sent me a long email urging me to apologize to everyone I “hurt.”
Following his logic, I reasoned that if men can become women — if history and biological reality can be fundamentally rewritten by will, identity, or “dysphoria” — then I could identify out of being his sister. I have Sibling Dysphoria. Having him as a brother never felt right; it felt horrible. From a very young age I knew I was born in the wrong family. My True, Authentic Self is not the sister of this man. From that point onward, I identified him as not-my-brother.
That was over a year-and-a-half ago. Last week, after numerous tests including a colonoscopy following months of symptoms, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. The number-one risk factor for Crohn’s disease is having an immediate family member with Crohn’s disease: a parent or sibling. My former brother has Crohn’s disease.
Maybe I should have removed any relation to him from my medical records, to affirm my True Identity. Medical forms have countless genders patients can choose from, which physicians are required to affirm; why shouldn’t they affirm my unrelated-to-asshole-with-Crohn’s-disease identity? Lord knows I’ve felt suicidal in the absence of its affirmation, such as during my entire childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
But regardless of whether I received that life-saving affirmation, I would have Crohn’s Disease anyway. Just like the “transman” who showed up at the hospital in pain was pregnant anyway. Because “former women” are still women, “former men” are still men, and my former brother is still my brother, no matter how much I hate it.
CANCEL CULTURE Playing Cards?
GENDER WARS Playing Cards were a hit of 2023, and I intended to make a 2024 edition. But recent schisms in the gender world have put me off, so I’m pivoting. I got into the gender mess because of my interest in Free Speech, and would rather focus on this subject. Therefore, I request your nominations for CANCEL CULTURE Playing Cards:
“We at Northeastern University stand for inclusion and diversity.”
Today I was supposed to speak to an animation class via video. College I’d never heard of, teacher I’d never heard of, small thing, figured they knew who I was. Made plans, blocked space in my calendar. Barely an hour before I’m supposed to log onto their zoom link, I get this:
Full email thread pasted below, because it’s so typical. I will never accept another speaking invitation unless they promise not to do this.
Every time I think, “good, they don’t care, it’s blown over,” and EVERY TIME this happens. I’m like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football.
This was such a small thing I was doing AS A FAVOR TO THEM.
No more.
Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com>
To:
Wadhwa, Parul
Cc:
Nina Paley
Tue, Nov 14 at 10:32 AM
Hello Nina
We at Northeastern University stand for inclusion and diversity. We stand against your stance with TERF as expressed on your website and will therefore have to cancel our lecture today and withdraw this invitation.
Apologies for the inconvenience.
Thanks for your understanding and interest.
Parul Wadhwa
On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 9:24?PM Wadhwa, Parul <p.wadhwa@northeastern.edu> wrote:
Perfect, thanks Nina. See you Tuesday!
Parul Wadhwa
Lecturer, Mills College
College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD)
Northeastern University
Oakland, CA
From: Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 2:05 PM
To: Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com>
Cc: Wadhwa, Parul <p.wadhwa@northeastern.edu>
Subject: Re: Guest Lecture request at Northeastern University virtually
Hi Parul,
Got it!
You can use the bio at https://sedermasochism.com/director/
See you Tuesday,
–Nina
On Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 02:36:18 PM CST, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Nina
I am looking forward to having you come to our class next week Tuesday at November 14th, 10am PST.
Can you please share your bio that you’d like me to use to introduce you to our students at Northeastern University.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Looking forward to meeting you next Tuesday.
Thank you for your time,
Parul Wadhwa
PS- Here is the zoom link for joining the class: Parul Wadhwa is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: ARTD2370 20327 Animation Basics SEC 30 Fall 2023 [OAK-1-TR]
Time: Nov 14, 2023 08:30 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://northeastern.zoom.us/j/91462978281?pwd=S1RXYmdQQ1NUTmUxWk44T0RDV1Z2QT09
Meeting ID: 914 6297 8281
Passcode: 881802
—
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,91462978281# US (Tacoma)
+12532050468,,91462978281# US
Find your local number: https://northeastern.zoom.us/u/abQwIVKUea
—
On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 3:34?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thank you!!
—Nina
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 30, 2023, at 5:27 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, that works too.10-11am PST, Nov 14th it is then. I will send you a calendar invite this week. Thanks!
On Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 3:25?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi Parul,
Can we do it an hour earlier?
—Nina
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 30, 2023, at 5:19 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Nina
That’s great. Tuesday the 14th of Nov works for me. Let’s keep it at 11am PST?
Would you have about 15 minutes any day before that so we can discuss the lecture briefly? I can meet on zoom/phone any Friday for 15-20 mins.
Thanks so much for your time. Looking forward to having you in class.
parul
On Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 8:26?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi Parul,
Great! Any of those Tuesdays would work. How about the 14th?
—Nina
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 27, 2023, at 9:27 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for your interest, Nina. Yes, my class meets virtually every Tue 9-12pm PST.
Would a meeting over zoom work for you?
Would any Tues between the 14th Nov-5th Dec work for you?
thanks,
p
On Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 6:44?PM Nina Paley <nina_paley@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi Parul,
I’d love to, but I live in Illinois. Would this be a remote video visit?
Thanks,
—Nina
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 27, 2023, at 4:23 PM, Parul Wadhwa <parwad@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Nina
My name is Parul and I am an artist and educator currently teaching at Northeastern University, Oakland as a Lecturer. My current offering is an Animation Basics course (syllabus attached) that introduces undergraduates to the 12 basic principles of animation and their applications in 2D and 3D using animation tools.
I am writing to you to invite you as a Guest Speaker to my class.
I teach Tuesdays 9am-12pm PST virtually so any coming Tuesday would work for me. Would you be available for about 40-45 mins + 10 mins Q&A to speak to my class?
I was hoping you could share about Sita sings the Blues (which is my favourite piece of yours) in the context of the class. I was wondering if you could introduce your journey into animation and working on this film, the animation techniques you used and the storytelling process. Also, anything else from your work that you might want to include.
There is a stipend of $150 from the university for your valuable time.
Please let me know if you are available and interested.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Have a good weekend.
—
Sincerely,
Parul Wadhwa
MFA, Digital Arts and New Media
<ARTD 2370 + ARTD 2371 .pdf>
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Maya’s Request
As you know, requests for my Hundred Hundred-and-Fifty Dollar Drawings are limited to two words or less.
But on March 11 I found this in my Twitter DMs:
Could you draw this as a picture for me
“it is a prime opportunity to get inside the tent with a goal-line defence, unless a clear upstream threat, accompanied by actionable intelligence, pops its head up”
Normally I’d say no, as that is batshit and impossible. However the request came from Maya Forstater, who explained:
It is a present for Helen Joyce – she has been training military types on how to write as a side-gig and this is the kind of thing they say.
Given the commissioner and the recipient, it was a challenge I couldn’t refuse, although I charged more for the extra words plus hazard pay (risk of head explosion). But first I gave it to AI art generator Dall-E:
Clearly this was a job for a human being. I felt so needed.
Although it was impossible to convey everything in the request, I did my best:
Looks like I won’t be replaced by AI anytime soon.