#Sweetiepie

Registering with the government's Cosmetic Enhancement Center is the law - so is registering social media, changes of address, identity, movements, sexuality, deeply held beliefs - but at least Mark knew his lipstick choices were flattering.

There is a scene I love in a play by Caryl Churchill, where two milliners are discussing the finer points of hats they are fashioning; beautiful, feathered, florid things. Their talk is banal and small minded, just everyday workers at an everyday task. They do this day after day after day, creating hats — for—?

State executions. These hats are worn by political prisoners being taking for a public execution in a strange and ludicrous twist concocted by an authoritarian regime. Silly and dehumanizing, the hats and their theatricality also steal focus, becoming the topic of discussion, not the people killed or why.

That got me to thinking about the nature of “othering” people, and how it moves from the revolting and shocking, to the banal. I’ve watched it in the last few years, as our public forums and cultural spaces have made less room for ideas and connection, and more for the amusingly mean-spirited.

#Sweetiepie is my response to this moment, a satire where all gay men are required to register with the Cosmetic Enhancement Office, and issued lipsticks dictated by the state, in a bureaucratic program designed to identify sexual “others." Mark must make his way through this world where identity becomes dangerous, sexuality is taboo, connections are all suspicious - and all while wearing government mandated Jujubee lip gloss.

I’ve serialized the story and will be posting sections on a (roughly) weekly basis: I hope you’ll subscribe and follow. I’ll also be using this space post other writings as well, in other Substacks.

-Herr Issyvoo