In a world saturated with the cis-hetero-male gaze, Zoë Comeau’s F*cking Trans Women is a reminder that all bodies are deserving of intimacy, respect, and sexual pleasure.
This show has the power to change societal views of transgender women and empower individuals facing multiple layers of discrimination.
We learn more in this Q&A with creator and performer Zoë Comeau.
F*cking Trans Women plays at the Bus Stop Theatre on September 3-7. Visit tickethalifax.com for tickets and information.
This interview has been edited.
Tell us about F*cking Trans Women. What can audiences expect?
Articulating shared experiences, perceptions, and perspectives is one important step, but we also need to start talking about the parts of being a trans woman that are actually pretty great.
Our sexuality and bodies are used against us to portray us as monsters who are either too sexual or not sexual enough, usually both simultaneously. It’s all too easy to talk about the problems, shared difficulties, and frustrating situations that trans folks keep running into and commiserating about how hard it is to deal with these things. But what’s more difficult and more worthwhile, I think, is to start strategizing beyond that and start developing a shared, ongoing community conversation.
One of the best tools we have at our disposal for figuring out our bodies, learning about them and coming to delight in them is this kind of documentary theatre. My play will reshape how society talks about and understands trans women’s bodies.
What was the inspiration for F*cking Trans Women?
Months ago, my partner came up to me and asked me if I’d heard of F*cking Trans Women. And completely clueless, he showed me this self-published magazine written in 2010 in Michigan. It was a collection of articles and stories written by other trans women talking about all things sex and pleasure. It was a celebration of our bodies and, finally, not some depressing accounts of the horrible stuff trans women deal with regularly. I quickly became obsessed with it, and as I was reading it, images kept popping up in my head, so I started writing, and here we are. A fully adapted play ready for performance.
Why this particular show now?
Because it’s time to celebrate nonnormative bodies. Whether it be people with body dysphoria (trans, non-binary, gender fluid, agender bodies), body dysmorphia (thin, disproportionate, large bodies), or disabled bodies. We tell ourselves our bodies are not “good enough.” We fear judgment and rejection.
My play will support trans women and their allies in building healthy relationships with their bodies and each other. We are in the golden age of knowledge, and still, you’ll find so few mentions of anything positive in the media about us or our bodies, and I think it’s high time to change that.
What do you hope audiences leave F*cking Trans Women talking about?
This show asks audiences to bear witness to the specificity and simplicity of what it is to be desired and to desire. Yes, trans women have bodies that don’t quite fit the norm, but everyone’s body is a little different, and we all deserve to feel loved and utterly wanted by those around us. I want audiences to start talking about the good things in their sex lives, not just the troubles or difficulties, but honest, real conversations about what feels good and, most importantly, how to feel good.
Why should someone come to see F*cking Trans Women?
This show has the power to change societal views of transgender women and empower individuals facing multiple layers of discrimination. This script is an unapologetic form of resistance: lovingly calling out ignorant, transphobic, misogynistic beliefs without raising defences while inviting folks into a collaborative community care web and leaving them feeling grateful to be welcomed as an ally. It is a masterclass in educating from a place of respect. It moves beyond tolerance and models the celebration of trans women embracing pleasure and sensuality, providing a sense of belonging for the next generation of transgender women.
F*cking Trans Women plays at the Bus Stop Theatre on September 3-7. Visit tickethalifax.com for tickets and information.
The Halifax Fringe Festival returns to live in-person performances from September 1 through September 11, with more than 55 productions taking place at venues across the downtown and North End neighbourhoods.