I'm glad I led you (or anyone) to this book; I think it's important.
I don't think anyone, including Slater and probably including Richard, is defending 16-year-olds playing with fire. I think Slater is just making the point that 16-year-olds do sometimes play with fire, and consequences ensue. I didn't really think she evaded the point.
As for gendered pronouns, they are complicated and deep. Again, I didn't get the slightest hint from Slater that she thought the EMTs and good samaritans should have been concerned with pronouns. (If I'm on fire, you can call me "it," and I'll still appreciate what you do for me.) I think the point is to widen the lens of the readers thoughts about gender/pronouns/identification, which the book does well, in my opinion.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2018-02-15 11:53 pm (UTC)I don't think anyone, including Slater and probably including Richard, is defending 16-year-olds playing with fire. I think Slater is just making the point that 16-year-olds do sometimes play with fire, and consequences ensue. I didn't really think she evaded the point.
As for gendered pronouns, they are complicated and deep. Again, I didn't get the slightest hint from Slater that she thought the EMTs and good samaritans should have been concerned with pronouns. (If I'm on fire, you can call me "it," and I'll still appreciate what you do for me.) I think the point is to widen the lens of the readers thoughts about gender/pronouns/identification, which the book does well, in my opinion.