Author: Aya de Leon. Dress: Betsey Johnson, vintage.
Accessories: Rag for incineration, Vice Magazine fiction issue featuring women writers suicide fashion spread.
1. Because being a woman and a writer is not a tragedy
2. Because my sexy feminist heist novel isn’t finished yet
3. Because I’m a mom
4. Because my life was worth living even before I was a mom
5. And for Toni Morrison
6. And Diane Balser
7. And for Audre Lorde
8. And Barbara Kingsolver
9. Because sexism is a cause of depression
10. Because I aim to see sexism end in my lifetime
11. And for June Jordan
12. And Tobe Correal
13. And for Mabel Maney
14. Because my spy novel about modern day COINTELPRO isn’t finished yet
15. And for Alix Olson
16. And Jill Dearman
17. Because my retro novel about black women in college fighting racism isn’t finished yet
18. And for devorah major
19. And because Coco Peila’s album isn’t out yet
20. And for Opal Palmer Adisa
21. And because Shonda Rhimes is just getting started in Hollywood
22. And for Buchi Emecheta
23. And Faith Adiele
24. And Shailja Patel
25. Because model Paige Morgan posed as Elise Cowan for Vice then spoke out publicly about being uncomfortable about the photo shoot and disappointed about the printed result
26. And for Adrienne Rich
27. And Madison Young
28. And Thea Hillman
29. Because I wonder what would happen if the fashion spread’s female photographer an stylist decided to stop cooperating with sexism and used their considerable powers for good
30. And for Chinaka Hodge
31. And Lena Reyna
32. And Dyanna Loeb
33. Because I want to live to see the day when the editors and publishers of Vice magazine actually understand what’s wrong with what they did
34. And for Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha
35. And Maiana Minahal
36. And Aimee Suzara
37. Because Sarah Palin is in the news again and I need a good laugh
38. And for Tina Fey
39. And Michelle Tea
40. And Galadrielle Allman
41. And because I can’t wait to hear Imani Uzuri’s next album
42. And for Zora Neale Hurston
43. And because women are the biggest book buyers and book readers but I want to live to see the day when we’re the biggest writers
44. And for Julia Alvarez
45. And Esmeralda Santiago
46. And Carolina de Robertis
47. And Sandra Garcia Rivera
48. And because women writers committing suicide is not a fashion statement
49. And because women writers committing suicide is not a fashion statement
50. And for Cristina Garcia
51. And Aurora Levins Morales
52. And Sofia Quintero
53. And Raquel Rivera
54. And Sara Campos
55. Because I have felt the kind of despair that made me want to walk into traffic
56. Because I have learned that some struggles can be released through writing but some can only be released through therapy
57. Because there have been enough feminists in the field of psychology that women can actually get some help these days
58. And for Nikki Finney
59. And AJ Verdelle
60. And Gail Burton
61. Because it does get better
62. And Arisa White
63. And Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene
64. And Simha Evan Stubblefield
65. Because I have learned that no matter how much people know and love your writing, it doesn’t mean they know and love you
66. Because I have learned that favorable reviews and artistic success won’t heal the places you don’t love yourself
67. And Mohja Kahf
68. And for Elmaz Abinader
69. And Suheir Hammad
70. Because we’ve lived through rape and sexual abuse and sexual torture
71. Because we’ve been been betrayed and exploited then told it was all our fault
72. But because it was never our fault
73. And for Patricia Smith
74. And Sharan Strange
75. And Ruth Forman
76. Because we’ve been thrown against the wall & locked alone in our rooms
77. And for Margaret Atwood
78. And Charlotte Kasl
79. Because these are not reasons to kill ourselves, these are reasons to kill somebody else but homicide in women is generally discouraged
80. And for Sarah Jones
81. And Lisa Marie Rollins
82. And Kirya Traber
83. And Pam Harris
84. Because Generation Five has a 125 year plan to end child sexual abuse
85. And for Gina Gold
86. And Toni Ann Johnson
87. Because I don’t write tragedy; I don’t live tragedy; I don’t believe in tragedy; tragedy is what happens when you end the story too soon
88. And for Natasha Trethaway
89. And Danzy Senna
90. And Toi Derricotte
91. Because I want to live to see the day women writers will always be captioned with the books they wrote, not the designers they’re wearing and their methods of suicide
92. And for Farai Chideya
93. And Susan Faludi
94. And Kirsten Saxton
95. And Jennifer Langdon
96. Because I want to live to see the day when magazine issues of women’s writing doesn’t need spicing up with a little scandal or sex or suicide because people are actually interested in our writing
97. And for Asha Bandele
98. And Shia Shabazz Smith
99. Because I want to live to see the day where all women’s lives are considered so valuable, where women and girls are so well treated, that we have everything to live for and suicide would never even cross our minds.
The women authors in this list are both living and deceased, established and up and coming. They write fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and have all influenced me greatly in one way or another.
13 Comments Have Been Posted
Thank you!!
Dyanna Loeb replied on
Crying and bumping Coco Peila's soon-to-come album as I read this! Aya, you are such a G!! THANK YOU
Beautiful!
Barbara Ann Yoder replied on
This is a beautiful, strong piece. Let's add #100 to the list: And for Aya de Leon. Thank you!
Fabulous
Shailja Patel replied on
Honored to be on this list and in this company. Thank you for this amazing piece.
First I have to say I did not
Monro replied on
First I have to say I did not see Vice's suicide fashion article; I've never seen Vice at all. And I get it that your response is an attempt to show solidarity and strength in the face of what sounds like (and probably is) an exploitation of the suicides of brilliant women writers.
I doubt that you meant to be insensitive, but I have a problem with your list because everyone I've known who has committed suicide had just as many and often similar reasons to live. In other words, the only reason you have for not committing suicide is that you are not driven to it by illness. And I hope you never are.
Instead of listing reasons for not committing suicide it would be more constructive to address the stigma of mental illness and our society's lack of understanding and support for those who suffer from it.
I agree with you that people
rachel east replied on
I agree with you that people I know who have committed suicide have tried valiantly to live in the face of tremendous despair. They may have many reasons to live but are in too much pain to continue. I work in mental health, am a mental health consumer-- but I am also a feminist and trauma survivor, and I believe in intersections-- people who suffer from mental illness and the stigma attached to it may not identify primarily with the mental illness community-- they may prioritize other aspects of their identity. Everyone who considers suicide has suffered tremendously, whether they have a mental health diagnosis or not. In my opinion the way to break down the stigma of mental illness is to break down other oppressions that cause such pernicious trauma.
Vice article
Veronica Anne replied on
I must say that I wasn't even aware of the Vice article until I read this. I know in literary history female characters are prone to be caricatures of A) object of a male's affection or B) the damsel in distress ie. diagnosed with madness/hysteria. Vice's fashion spread comments on what it's like to be a woman ... even in this day and age. Since it's fashion, let's look at what the deceased (or soon to be) is wearing and then perhaps judge her by what's on her body rather than her (i guess i'll say it) body of work. Thank you for responding to Vice's spread! (just had one question: why does Audre Lorde appear twice on the list?)
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this with me.....
Paige Morgan replied on
....and I'm glad that my words became part of a larger dialog regarding the larger questions at hand in this whole thing (models rights as workers, the reality of living with mental illness, the canard that is the "tragic genius")
Leaves me wondering if she
Anonymous replied on
Leaves me wondering if she ever read Sylvia Plath. Confused much?
Printing this out. Hanging it
Anonymous replied on
Printing this out. Hanging it up. Reading it every day.
Thanks!!!
Anonymous replied on
Hi there! There are some interesting discussions below the article, some of them - good points. However your post is friggin awesome and has a big role to play in what just happened with Vice. While reading I was crying, laughing and raising my fist in the air and screaming 'Yeah!'. Pretty awesome shot of you burning the magazine too! <strong>THANKS SO MUCH!<strong>
I love this. You make a
Simha replied on
<p>I love this. You make a sister proud. (Also, I did tear up several times.) Glad you are out there keeping it real.</p>
This is the topic guys hihi
easesiaBefe replied on
This is the topic guys hihi i am looking to find something more soon [url=http://www.thisisyourlink.com]this is your link[/url]
99 Reasons but a Vice ain't one!
shia shabazz smith replied on
Aya... what a brilliant response. thank you for leading the charge, for your "arrrgh!" WORD!
Add new comment