This is excellent. I write about human reproduction and abortion in my newsletter, and the "public fetus" as an entity constructed by ultrasound data, out of context photos, and other data points is a figure I'm constantly returning to. There's a lot of great phrasing here about how that process works for any subject.
Though I find it notable that Tumblr now stands as a site of relative "authenticity" (a slippery word you're well-skeptical of, I know, as we should be). But it's ironic to me that what previously seemed like a vast self-service laundry for orphaned gif-socks is, in hindsight, a place of relative meaning and even, as you say, community. Amazing to think how quickly things devolved even further, after I wrote this for LARB: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/tumblrst-tumbl-ever-tumbld-found-angel-history-trapped-flypaper-social-media/
This is excellent. I write about human reproduction and abortion in my newsletter, and the "public fetus" as an entity constructed by ultrasound data, out of context photos, and other data points is a figure I'm constantly returning to. There's a lot of great phrasing here about how that process works for any subject.
Yes, indeed. Excellent as always, Rob.
Though I find it notable that Tumblr now stands as a site of relative "authenticity" (a slippery word you're well-skeptical of, I know, as we should be). But it's ironic to me that what previously seemed like a vast self-service laundry for orphaned gif-socks is, in hindsight, a place of relative meaning and even, as you say, community. Amazing to think how quickly things devolved even further, after I wrote this for LARB: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/tumblrst-tumbl-ever-tumbld-found-angel-history-trapped-flypaper-social-media/