Power: A Letter From the Editor

For the final issue of Gay Magazine, we wanted to explore power, this thing that shapes all our lives. Our contributors did not disappoint. In “As a Sex Worker I Didn’t Feel Exploited,” Kitty Stryker writers about the juxtaposition between sex work and writing and how she felt exploited in only one of those professions. It is an unvarnished look at the challenges of the writing life, the precarity of it for so many freelance writers who write for far too little compensation, with no safety net and few benefits. Sara Schaff explores the vulnerability women face, and how quickly we can learn about safety and the lack thereof, in the hands of men. The line between anger and love, the tenuous relationship between a mother and daughter, the complexities of North Korea, are at the center of Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s powerful essay, “Mother Land.” We often see the word “triggered” used in the most demeaning ways. Molly Ackhurst and Francesca Lee write about the ways in which our culture has co-opted the language of PTSD to the detriment of people who actually suffer from the condition. There are times when people assume you share their prejudices. Isaac Fitzgerald writes about the discomfort of bearing witness to his barber’s racism and misogyny, how he had to confront his own biases, and the ongoing work he does to be a better man. The ways cultural erasure, identity, and language are intertwined are at the heart of Noor…