A Note from the Editors: Issue 43
You Are Masters Of The Fish And Birds And All The Animals
Images from American photographer Shane Rocheleau’s eponymous book form a portrait of the psyche of white heteronormative masculinity and its visceral manifestations in the United States – accompanied with an artist Q&A
Butt Waxing: A Cheeky Ass Experience
"Yes – it was my ass. An ass that needed grooming. " In this comedic essay – nearly a standup skit – Gaurav Dewani recounts his first butt-waxing experience
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, Black Fathers, and White Women
EIC Zoe Patterson weaves together an analysis of Kendrick Lamar's new album with grief over her relationship with an absent parent
Familiar Traces
Directed by Izzy Mana and Enrico Bellenghi, Familiar Traces is a fashion film narrative which explores the internal pressure that second generation Black British youth face from a young age
Masculinity
Twisting myths, tropes, and figures – both human and animal – in and out of each other, Iranian multidisciplinary artist Zahra Mohamadi undercuts our constrictive constructions of gender
Love Not: 1 Plus 1 = 0
Logic and alpha-maleness stifle the potential for love in this poem by San Antonio poet, Catherine Lee
Hackles
Hannah Norris’ poem explores the discomfiting bizarreness of male behavior towards women in public spaces
Two Poems
Welsh poet Elizabeth Wilson Davies probes constructions of the female body through two lyric poems: "Eel Man" and "Blonde Ambition"
Dirty Laundry
"Like merchandise, men do not live long." This found poem by Ricky Novaes de Oliveira is composed entirely from words taken from clothes labels and tags. With artwork by Sandra Paris
High in Fire Country
With a wildfire looming in the distance, an author sets out to write something that will make him feel seen, in this evocative poem by William Doreski
Identity Academy
In this short story, Meirav Seifert tells the chilling tale of a school that erases individuality. With photography by Ashlyn Vickery
Ladies in Waiting
A short story by Kayla Koontz takes place in a vague, fantastical nowhere island, offering a gendered, implicit critique of the futility of imperialist conquest
UNBECOMING
A poem that questions the lines between love, care, gender, and sexuality and what it means to be and become
A Knotty Problem: Politics of My Hair
When cutting your hair is a radical act – Lubnah Ansari unpacks the social paradigms surrounding the politics of female hair in the South Asian context
Noise Borne by the Body
Visually raucous digital collages that dig into gender and the psyche
أمي
Sarah Afaneh's new poem explores the ordinary labors of womanhood, and the complicated bond of a mother and a daughter.
Excerpts from the Sisyphus Collection
In this project by Golbarg Jokar, women wear formal dress, but the housework is integrated with their body and costume – they cannot be separated from their responsibilities.
Utopia: Haiku Series
The latest instalment in our haiku column by Louise Gerodias.
MOM CAVE
Dark children’s fiction by Zoe Jane Patterson.