Aggregated Discontent: Confessions of the Last Normal Woman by Harron Walker

Aggregated Discontent book cover

Love the design!

Author Harron Walker

Big thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of Harron Walker’s collection of essays and articles titled Aggregated Discontent: Confessions of the Last Normal Woman. This book was not on my radar, but I am so glad I received a digital copy. This was a thoughtful and intriguing collection of essays and articles, showcasing Walker’s range as a writer and culture critic. I was not familiar with Harron Walker’s writing but will keep my eye out for her articles since I found these articles both humorous and enlightening. I laughed and learned throughout this book, while also appreciating Walker’s candor and willingness to share about her experiences as a trans woman since hers is not an experience that I am familiar with. When I started this book, I thought that maybe Walker was one of the first trans woman writers, but throughout her book, she frequently cites other authors, auteurs, activists, and artists who also happen to be trans. Reading Walker’s essays, for me, was like opening up a curtain to a new range of experiences for a group that it seems is increasingly marginalized and stigmatized. Walker makes note of this, but also challenges those perceptions throughout her essays. I thoroughly appreciated how her work humanizes a group that was mislabeled as a threat to children during the last presidential election. Although I no longer live in PA, I’m close enough to Philly to catch many of the radio stations, and I was shocked to hear that the current PA senator’s pitch to be elected was fear mongering about the (non) threat of trans athletes, promising to protect female athletes in PA. One of the last essays in the collection highlights the increasing number of legislation against people who identify as trans, and as Walker explains, often pushes them to seek out treatments, medication, and other care in the black market, which not only puts a vulnerable group like the Trans community at further risk, but it also possibly creates further health risks. While Walker documents the more recent legislation, Cynthia Carr’s amazing biography of Candy Darling (Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar) noted how her cancer was most likely a result of malpractice with doctors giving her bad hormone pills.

I really enjoyed all of these articles, but I felt like Walker is at her best when she is surveying the work of an artist or critiquing an aspect of society. “Pick Me”, the second essay, is an interesting critique of the kind of the performative activism seen on social media and more recently by major corporations. She starts the article by recounting her own experience working in a store, appreciating the people she encounters, when she is notified of a new campaign to elevate the voices of Trans employees at a popular store. This prompts her to visit the stores, wondering how many Trans workers they actually employ in several of their Manhattan locations. Furthermore, Walker documents the various statistics and Trans testimonials that are displayed on LED screens in the storefront window. I usually don’t think much about these kinds of events, but Walker’s thoughtfulness to dig deeper and be skeptical of this campaign speaks through her experiences and challenges with finding and maintaining work as a Trans woman. Many of the articles focus on Walker’s experiences with work, an area that often is a challenge for people who identify as Trans. Walker finds that despite the campaign, there are no Trans workers in any of the 6 stores, although many of the clerks mention that there may be some corporate employees who identify as Trans. Her questioning and critique emphasizes that while it is good to raise awareness of the challenges that Trans people face, they still face barriers to areas like employment, housing, and appropriate medical care, and this company seemed to not contribute to making things better. It was also interesting to consider how the media often reports on Trans issues, framing it almost always as dire and at-risk. While there disheartening statistics about the disparity that many Trans people experience, Harron also challenges this notion by presenting other stories highlighting Trans couples preparing for children and how supportive and “mothering” the Trans community is.

“Discontent”, the next essay, is a harrowing portrait of Walker’s work in media, and the challenges she faces navigating a problematic boss who wasn’t even sure what she wanted. While my work experiences have been mostly positive, I’ve definitely had some challenging bosses to work for; however, Harron’s job was providing her with health care that would ultimately pay for her transition, so her experience navigating the kind of harassment and disparity in treatment and expectations were downplayed to a certain extent to pursue her healthcare. This article demonstrated the kind of work challenges that Trans people face, as well as the difficulties in obtaining the health care that they need, and the kinds of mistreatment they might endure to obtain that kind of care. One of my favorite essays was “What’s New and Different?”, which is a fabulous sequel to The Devil Wears Prada that somehow synthesizes another Anne Hathaway film The Intern. It is a brilliant and hilarious creative juxtaposition that manages to also critique the cruelty of the “Girlboss” and how that kind of punishment of working women is almost like a generational trauma, passed down from woman to woman. Walker goes on to critique other 80s films that are predecessors of The Devil Wears Prada—notably Working Girls and Working Girl (the more popular film). Throughout these films, Walker highlights the ways that the woman bosses take advantage of and mistreat their workers, wondering if this kind of treatment (or mistreatment) in popular media stems from marginalized identities, and not just gender. It’s an interesting point to consider, and I loved how Walker investigates this through film, but also creates this speculative  sequel to popular films. It was also interesting to read about Working Girl, the Lizzie Borden film that preceded Mike Nicols’ Working Girls. I’ve read about Born in Flames before, and I’m pretty sure I’ve also read something about Working Girls, but I’ve never seen this film. Walker’s description and analysis of the film does make me want to track it down.

“Monkey’s Paw Girl Edition” presents a unique dilemma for Trans women, and again, it was not something I would have ever considered, but Walker presents her concern about walking down the street, being aware of her appearance, and encountering a group of men, hoping that they display misogyny rather identifying her Transness. This leads into the second part about what being treated like a woman really means, and experience the mistreatment, misogyny and harassment they experience.

My favorite piece was “She Wants, She Takes, She Pretends” which was about the artist Greer Lankton, who I am so glad that I found through Walker’s article. Taking a break during my reading of this piece, I looked up Lankton’s amazing doll work and other sculptures, and was transfixed—or maybe just enthralled with the haunting quality of her work. Walker provides both a biography and an overview of Lankton’s themes and interests in her work, highlighting some of the ideas. It was incredibly interesting to learn how Lankton transitioned, and how her parents played a role in supporting her, although Walker also notes that there might be some ambiguity or uncertainty about the role her parents played. Regardless, Lankton was able to transition with her father’s insurance. It seemed like her parents recognized that Lankton was different from other boys, and as a result, was possibly lonely. She began creating dolls, possibly as a way to keep her company, but also as a reflection of herself. One of the other interesting parts about this article was Walker noting Lankton had many photobooth pictures of her transitioning, which it sounded like was something Walker also did to document her own transition. Maybe the dolls were also a way for her to further alter her image or to further present the possibilities of her identity and presenting herself to the world. Regardless, I was fascinated with her work and couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of her before.

Another favorite was “A Trans Panic, So to Speak,” which examined Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda, described as possibly “an unexpectedly earnest plea for acceptance”, but it also seems to castigate transsexuals with the Alan/Ann subplot. As Walker explains, both stories have paths to acceptance, where Glen is social, Ann’s is medical, with hormones and surgery. I didn’t realize that there were these attempts to draw “some distance between themselves and other sexual deviants. Rather than trying to find common ground with all the homosexuals, transsexuals, and drag queens…” This article not only takes a unique approach to analyzing a classic Z movie, but also finds a way to examine how these attempts at representation and normalizing ended up further stigmatizing marginalized groups like the Trans community. Walker also brings in her own experience with her date, and questioning his own gender identity, possibly due to his “ethical non-monogamy”, which I wasn’t even aware was a thing. Again, I felt like I learned so much from this book. The last few articles, “Sterility”, “Fertility”, and In/fertility” all dealt with further barriers and complications Trans men and women face, but Walker also ties in her own experiences as well as those of friends and prominent Trans activists and artists. These were also some excellent chapters that all touched on topics related to family, relationships, and health. There were great points to consider, especially about the idea of family and what it means to people who identify as Trans. Walker explains how the Trans community has becoming mothering, and how many older Trans members end up taking on roles where they mother the younger generation who may have been turned out by family and face barriers to housing and jobs. Walker not only examines this supportive community, but is also turning her critical eye back to these barriers and access to care and basic necessities of survival, and how members of the Trans community are often more at risk due to their marginalized status in society. We see this even more within the past few months of the new/old administration that continues its assault on non-normative groups. If anything, Walker’s book is coming out at the perfect time to confront the disinformation and biases. Although I’m not sure whether anyone in the White House reads at all, I can see these essays being valuable in the kinds of anthologies used in first year writing courses. Walker’s perspective brings an important but often under-represented eye to important issues that most young people will experience either in college or after graduation. Plus, her work is funny and humanizing; that is, it shows us how Trans people live, laugh, and love, while also raising awareness about the barriers and issues with accessibility they often face. I really hope that instructors and curriculum developers consider incorporating any of these essays into their courses. Highly recommended collection!