Gender

I hate the words "men" and "women." "Men" sounds so stoic and curt, all sensibility and solidness. No cute little consonants like "k" or "p." Good, sturdy m and n. Still clipped somehow. "Men" sounds mean.

Woman, all loops and humps. The beginning of the word a girls-gone-wild whoop. Too big and clumsy, like every woman fears she is. All bulbous curves and no backbone. I am no "woman."

What makes a "slut." I fear I could like being one of those: the slinky s. The hard ending. It sounds like teasing. A vowel that doesn't scream or yodel for attention. And that luscious, lovely L.

I wonder if a slut dates a jerk. I hope so. A jerk--that foreign-sounding j. The self-effacing "rk" sound, like a squawking bird, like a nine-year-old boy mocking his younger sister. Maybe she has a speech impediment.

all material copyright laura podolnick, 2005-2006.