This is a long overdue post about the Second B.E.T.C.H. (Beautiful Educated Thunder Cunts from Hell) Rag zine published a few months ago. B.E.T.C.H. is one of the only organizations in Austin that is explicitly non-male; they do regular potlucks, consent workshops, DIY craft nights, movie screenings, and have published two compilations of writing by local women and queers. You can access the first Rag here.
Rag #2 hit home for us and so we wanted to thank the B.E.T.C.H. folks for helping us see some of the shared experiences women and trans* folks are having in Austin. The zine is filled with poems and stories about women who have been raped, non-consensually objectified, stalked, and generally treated as non-humans. The zine blatantly expresses the very real fear of men that a lot of women and queers carry around. A fear that we don’t often talk about and usually feel alone or fucked up for having. Expressing these experiences together is an essential part of the process of rebuilding ourselves from the marginalization we feel on a daily basis.
There are a lot of things about this zine that we can identify with. We, too, get scared on the street at night. We, too, have years of experiences that have taught us to be afraid of men, that we’re weak, stupid, rapeable. We, too, have armed ourselves with knowledge of consent and safety. All the things individuals can do to prevent being attacked.
For us, this feeling raises the question of whether we will ever be prepared enough to handle the gawker who drives by as we walk alone. Should we blame ourselves for not carrying enough mace or for not sleeping in the right place? Should we blame ourselves for feeling discomfort when we are the only trans*person in a group of all cisgender males (whether they be our friends or not). Will we rely on the state to protect us and make us feel safe?
No. We are angry. And we will not live like this anymore. So what is to be done?
We need institutions of struggle. We need organizations of women and queers capable of standing up to our attackers. We need our community to be strong enough. And individuals to know their own power and agency.
We will only gain our agency through collective struggle. Rebuilding ourselves as individuals is important because everyday we are broken down by this society. Everyday we are told our gender is weak and our sexuality is wrong. But a struggle is what is needed to smash the very system that forces us to rebuild ourselves on a daily basis.
Thanks to B.E.T.C.H. for another bad ass zine! We look forward to building bicycle gangs with you.
-We’re Hir We’re Queer
Here’s the Rag #2 link one more time!
werehirwerequeer 