Embroidered tweet, 2015. Black silk thread and textiles repurposed from an antique nightgown. 16 x 17 inches. Originally published at Feminist Fiber Art.
This piece is an embroidery of a tweet by Shaadi Devereaux, a Black and AfroIndigenous writer who uses media to build narratives for Trans Women of Color.
Every once in a while, you come across a shard of truth that pierces your thick skull and shifts your perspective. For me, Shaadi’s tweet was one of those shards. When it popped up in my timeline, it immediately spoke to my growing recognition that I’d wasted a lot of time – years of my life – trying to make a heterosexual relationship with a man work.
And it made me laugh. Misandrist humor has a curative function. Many women are socialized to value men more than themselves. Misandrist humor, which rhetorically devalues men, can help women correct the dangerous imbalance of overvaluing men’s comfort and feelings at the expense of our own well-being and safety.
This embroidery is also a tribute to the blazingly smart women on Twitter and other social media platforms from whom I’ve learned so much.