Summary

The article discusses the transformation of Joyce Carol Oates from a Twitter user with controversial takes, including transphobic comments, to a vocal ally for transgender rights, showcasing her personal growth and learning curve over the years.

Abstract

The text outlines the journey of Joyce Carol Oates, a renowned author and initially problematic Twitter user, who has evolved in her public stance on transgender issues. Initially infamous for her insensitive remarks, such as calling someone's transition a "horror," Oates embarked on a path of self-improvement and education. Over time, she began to recognize and challenge transphobic attitudes, eventually becoming an outspoken advocate for transgender people. The article emphasizes that her transformation was not immediate but involved making mistakes, acknowledging them, and actively striving to learn and do better. This progression is highlighted as an example of personal growth and as a beacon of hope that individuals can change their perspectives and become more inclusive and supportive of the transgender community.

Opinions

The author of the article initially expresses a sense of despair due to the prevalence of negative news and opinions on social media platforms like Twitter.
Joyce Carol Oates' Twitter account is criticized for its history of ill-advised posts, including transphobic comments and the sharing of an unsolicited photo of her feet.
Despite her initial missteps, Oates is acknowledged for her willingness to learn and adapt her views on transgender issues, demonstrating a commendable learning curve.
The article points out that Oates' evolution on trans issues involved a period of adjustment and education, during which she began to understand and challenge societal transphobia.
Oates' more recent supportive stance on transgender rights is presented as a significant departure from her previous views and is commended as a positive example of allyship.
The author uses Oates' transformation to argue that personal growth is possible, even for those with a history of problematic opinions, and that this should give hope to others regarding their capacity for change.
The article suggests that the process of learning and unlearning biases is a continuous journey, not a one-time event, and that making mistakes along the way is part of the learning experience.
The author encourages others to follow Oates' example by engaging in self-education and striving to become more informed and respectful of transgender individuals and their experiences.

Joyce Carol GOATs

There is one person on Twitter who’s capable of overcoming transphobia, and it’s the gross feet lady.

PICTURED: Joyce Carol Oates’ evolution on trans issues. NOT PICTURED: Joyce Carol Oates. Photo by Gaspar Uhas on Unsplash

It’s easy to succumb to hopelessness, in this business of posting. You spend all day sticking your face in the soup of bad news and worse takes, watching progress erode and situations deteriorate. Over time, you lose faith that things can improve.

That’s how I felt, just two short days ago. But that was before the phrase “Joyce Carol Oates trans Twitter redemption arc” came into my life.

Joyce Carol Oates has, famously, one of the worst accounts on Twitter. It’s bad partly because of the wildly ill-advised things she posts, all of which go viral — previous JCO hits include: Halloween skeleton decorations are disrespectful to dead people; the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park are real and endangered by big game hunters; her feet — and partly because, well, it’s her. She’s one of the most respected and prolific novelists of the 20th century, and now an entire generation knows her as “the gross Twitter feet lady.”

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce her by another name: Joyce Carol Oates, model of respectful allyship and personal growth.

It’s not just that Joyce Carol Oates is suddenly posting a whole bunch of rad stuff about trans people. It’s that she had a learning curve. She worked on herself. For years. Look, she starts off here:

Not great, Joyce Carol Oates! Granted, we’re used to seeing a certain level of transphobia from prominent white female novelists of the 20th century (Hilary Mantel was a heartbreaker) but referring to someone else’s transition as a “horror” is still not ideal. Also, we don’t call it “transgendering,” as in, “having come to terms with myself, I will now transgender.” We should, and I will, but we mostly don’t.

So far, so typical. But then, just six short months later, there comes the moment when Joyce Carol Oates starts to, like… get it.

Who indeed? By 2016, JCO is making the required adjustments. She’s listening. She’s learning. She’s even noticed that some of this trans coverage is just silly; that the basic premise of trans people being scary or threatening (a horror, if you will) seems fucked up.

They really don’t, Joyce Carol Oates. The reason they don’t mention it is called “transphobia,” and once you transgender (as I have) you learn that it’s a bummer. Yet Joyce Carol Oates, in 2016, is also on the verge of recognizing transphobia as a bummer — a tiny springtime bud of promise that the Trump years will bring to full flower.

By 2018, Joyce Carol Oates is getting political! Joyce Carol Oates is outraged! Joyce Carol Oates is ready to #resist!

The Trump years come and go; the trans tipping point recedes ever further into the distance; liberal complacency afflicts the land; but Joyce Carol Oates does not abandon her post, nor her posting. Oh, no: Joyce Carol Oates is reading Gillian Branstetter now. Joyce Carol Oates is in the loop.

So here we are, in 2023, with the now 84-year-old Joyce Carol Oates posting a non-stop stream of extremely supportive bangers about trans people. The process wasn’t instantaneous, and it wasn’t seamless; it involved mistakes. Still: one person started out from a bigoted cultural norm — viewing trans people as a horror show or a joke — then resolved to learn more about the issue, then did learn more about the issue. This shouldn’t be remarkable, but it is. I’ve seen a whole lot of people get worse on trans issues, especially on Twitter. It’s rare to see someone get better.

If you’re watching this as a cis person, politely waiting for the next time you can make fun of Joyce Carol Oates’ Twitter account: It’s any second now. She’s bad at Twitter. So am I. So are a lot of perfectly nice people. Yet I hope you are also absorbing the lesson here: This is literally all you have to do. You don’t have to start off knowing everything about trans existence. (Most trans people don’t start out knowing that.) You don’t have to get everything right the first time. You don’t have to be free of sin. What you have to do is learn, and, after a period of learning, get measurably smarter about the topic.

You can do that, because Joyce Carol Oates can do that. If one 84-year-old cis white shitposting novelist can become less transphobic on Twitter, then we are all endowed with the capacity for growth and change. I would not have believed it, had I not seen it, but I see it, and I believe it now: There is redemption for the gross Twitter feet lady. There is hope for us all.