Exploring All Your Identities — Meredith Talusan

The conversation around identity has evolved greatly in recent years, and this progress has been so important for many people.

However there is still a long way to go to a more inclusive and accepting world, and we are joined today by someone who is adding a beautiful and complex voice to the discussion!

Meredith Talusan is a transgendered woman, born with albinism in the Philippines, and who later immigrated to the US.

Her relationship to acceptance and belonging has always been a complex one, a relationship she explores in her book, Fairest, and in today's episode!

We get to dive deep into her journey, talking about external perceptions and inner realities, her writing for many prominent publications, and her current role as contributing editor at Them, Conde Nast's LGBTQ online platform.

We look closely at her move to the US and time at Harvard, and how this influenced her life's trajectory and her professional and personal decisions.

Meredith also talks about the art and literature that played a huge role for her, and how she tries to avoid too many comparisons and stark binaries.

This is a beautiful and nuanced conversation from someone with an amazing story and the ability to unpack it honestly and insightfully, so make sure to join us!

• Meredith's curious early years, growing up in the cultural melting pot of the Philippines.
• How being born with albinism impacted Meredith's feeling of never fully belonging.
• Meredith's work on a sitcom and soap opera, and the dynamic this created with her mother.
• Feelings around being treated a certain way due to appearance; Meredith's mixed emotions.
• Meredith's experiences and reflections on leaving the Philippines as a teenager.
• The constant process of learning and growing; navigating life with fewer examples to follow.
• Literature and stories that impacted Meredith and how these aided her on her journey.
• The evolution of the academic approach to 'minority literature' over the last few decades.
• How Meredith came to terms with and appreciated her particular experiences.
• The influence that Meredith's life story had on her success and publication as a writer.
• Uncertainty and complexity within the transgender experience; adding nuance to the discourse.
• Meredith's gender identity and her hope for a different world.
• Considering the possibility of a space beyond identity and Meredith's perspectives on spirituality.

References

Ignite Leadership Program - https://majo-molfino.mykajabi.com/ignite
Meredith Talusan - http://mtalusan.com/
Fairest - https://www.amazon.com/Fairest-Memoir-Meredith-Talusan/dp/0525561307
Meredith Talusan on Twitter - https://twitter.com/1demerith
Them - https://www.them.us/
Jane Austen - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Austen
George Eliot - https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Eliot
Virginia Woolf - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virginia-Woolf
James Baldwin - https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Baldwin
Langston Hughes - https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes
Jennifer Finney Boylan - https://www.nytimes.com/column/jennifer-finney-boylan<