Genesis: Wild Girl Becomings

by Pardis Aliakbarkhani

Coming out is seldom a singular experience. Instead, it can take years to understand and evolve beyond one’s conditioning to honour and witness the true, authentic self. Pardis Aliakbarkhani knows this more than most. Born to a religious Iranian family, growing up in Brampton, Ontario was hardly the open and LGBTQ-affirming experience she had hoped. She came out of, then sequestered herself back in the closet many times. The idea that gender and sexuality were fluid concepts informed by nature and life experience—mutable to change—was radical. Too radical for a single Iranian mother already prey to harsh criticism for leaving an abusive marriage. Thus, the cycle of abuse continued, with any perceived strangeness—queerness, slapped into cisgender, heterosexual conformity. Unfortunately, the more violently you attempt to suppress queerness, the more wildly it aches to show its true nature. Wild Girl becomings chronicles Aliakbarkhani’s experiences with navigating culture, faith, and queerness with a touch of humour and incomparable humanity. It is the latent desire of all queer folks who, despite their differences, want to be welcomed home. No matter the beast that “home” may be.

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 16, 2023

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, passionate and vulnerable