Why You Should Love Assholes

I'd like to direct your attention to the discussion Amy King began last weekend. She was surprised by the overwhelming heteronormativeness she sees taking place in the new gurlesque poetry anthology. Being that the Riot Grrl movement was invoked by the editors, and given other ramifications that the editors say make gurlesque poems and visual art, Amy asks the question: are there not l/g/b/t poets whose work falls into the gurlesque category? (You can read Lara Glenum's comments here). I think it's a really valid question to ask, especially regarding gurlesque, since female sexuality (gothic, grotesque, burlesque/performative, feminine, and mechanized) is at the forefront of gurlesque dealings. I love gurlesque poetry, I love finding poems that I think falls into the gurlesque specifications, and I love artwork that I think is gurlesque. (Lara Glenum's books are pretty powerful and have changed my approach to poetry and language). Lara Glenum wrote an interesting piece about how Lady Gaga is gurlesque. The sunglasses made from lit cigarettes! How could she see except with machine eyes! Loving this new genre/school/aesthetic of poetry and thinking, I couldn't help but feel sad that Amy didn't find the Lady Gaganess, the performative blurred lines from a highly sexualized woman embracing queerness, in all respects. A few months ago, I put together a list of gurlesque poetry, using only books I had at home, and I now wonder if it was a hetero heavy list and how the list would've changed. Amy raises a valid point, a complicated one, an interesting one.

For a long time I've felt we should all write more about assholes. It takes the gender out of the whole thing. There isn't fairer genitalia than the asshole. We all have one. Some of them are pinker than others. Some of them are hairier than others. Some of them have hairs in the crumbs. Some of them look like slits. I mean, crumbs in the hair. You can put things in it or next to it. Asshole skin is soft and dotty. Gosh, I'm not sure if there's anything I talk about more than poop and poop comes out of all of our assholes. Some of our assholes have fissures. And they all do that cute puckering up thing when we tell it to. Or not! Sometimes it puckers on its own! I knew a kid who lit his farts on fire. I have two friends who love talking about polyps and butt doctors. There are even butt doctors who specialize in the asshole!!

Syllabus: The Gurlesque

Reading List:

"On the Gurlesque" by Arielle Greenburg (creator of the term)

Maximum Gaga by Lara Glenum

Baby by Carla Harryman

So We Have Been Given Time  Or by Sawako Nakayasu

Recyclopedia: Timmings, S*PeRM**K*T, and Muse & Drudge by Harryette Mullen

With Deer by Aase Berg, translated by Johannes Goransson

unfathoms by kirsten kaschock

Famous Last Words by Catherine Pierce

Frail-Craft by Jessica Fisher

In No One's Land by Paige Ackerson-Keily

Mommy Must Be A Fountain of Feathers by Kim Hyesoon, translated by Don Mee Choi

Film:

I Spit on Your Grave (Mier Zarchi)

Heathers (Michael Lehman)

Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson)

Ginger Snaps (John Fawcett)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (probably the Dracula, puppet, and witch hunt episodes)

Welcome to the Dollhouse (Todd Solondz)

Gremlins (Joe Dante)

Celine and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette)

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park)

Music:

Mariee Sioux

Neko Case

Tori Amos (sorry)

CocoRosie

Stevie Nicks

Goldfrap

Inara George

PJ Harvey

Retsin

Snowblink

Stina Nordenstam

Thao & The Get Down, Stay Down

Bjork

Art:

melanie belinker

Emily L. Eibel

Eva Hesse

Louise Bourgeois

Course Objectives:

Ain't it cute how there's something cute about women. Is there a Gurlesque school of poetry. It is kind of funny. This doesn't subjugate women does it. Can't women be gross without it being a big deal. What is feminine. What is gothic. Wait, but isn't this gross stuff supposed to be happening to women. Varietals of sperm and sperm pockets. Does it have to feature a woman (as in film; what about American Psycho) or be written/created by a woman in order to be Gurlesque. Women are good multi-taskers because they have to worry about being beautiful on top of everything else. Cute domestic. Animal bodies, animal skins. Be cool with sex.