User:ZionMoore/Carmen Maria Machado

Early Life

Machado struggled with her weight she was younger. This struggle mostly stemmed from her inability to find nice fitting clothes that were also in style. Her fascination with fashion and beauty started at a young age when she watched her grandmother get herself ready for the day by using different vials of perfume and jars of makeup. To young Machado, beauty and fashion was a form of magic.

Machado grew up in a very religious United Methodist household, and this upbringing led to her feeling guilty about her sexuality for several years. She saw Titanic when she was just 11 years old, and this is where she first developed her love of tragedy movies and stories. The drawing scene in Titanic (1997 film) was the first time Machado recognized that she found the female body riveting more than other women in her life did.

Education

She completed her undergraduate studies in 2008 and received her bachelor's degree from the American University in Washington D.C.

Career

Machado worked in the Iowa Writer's Workshop for two years after receiving her MFA. She met her now wife Val Howlett while in Iowa. After a rejection from Starbucks in 2013, she took up work at Lush, a soap store, while she taught writing as an adjunct professor at Rosemont College and other schools in the area. She also did freelance writing while she lived in Pennsylvania.

Personal

Personal Views

An image depicting some of Machado's fashion choices that she makes as a plus sized woman. She often wears simple black tops, glasses, and large earrings.

Machado speaks out against domestic violence in lesbian relationships in her memoir In the Dream House. She points out that abuse in same-gender relationships is often overlooked as the victim usually blames themself. She also explained her mindset that led to her, and many others, staying in abusive relationships. People in lesbian relationships often do not understand they are being abused as domestic violence resources are aimed at women in heterosexual relationships. She speaks out against homophobia in her book as many people often ignore abuse in lesbian relationships due to prejudice. This prejudice is the cause of archival silence about queer relationships.

As a plus sized woman herself, Machado talks about body positivity very often. She disagrees with the notion that fat people should be shamed for their size and asked to minimize their bodies. She prefers to use life hacks to dress herself and feel good about herself rather than an intense focus on weight loss. Machado believes that beauty, skincare, and fashion are for everyone, not just people with a specific body shape or size.

Machado believes that her writings are forms of activism. She believes that the world was modeled around white, cisgendered, able-bodied, straight males, so writings by anyone who does not fit those standards are a form of activism as they promote respect and civility for people of all backgrounds. Machado says that a form of activism is casually being queer or a woman writing about sex. Being a woman writing about sex or being queer does not define who a person is, so it does not have to be brought into a conversation unless it is pertinent. Machado thinks this is a very important way to make sure her writing is realistic.

Although she is hesitant to call herself atheist, Machado does not believe in God. She refers to the universe itself as an organism whose actions do not directly influence her daily life.

Writings and Writing Style

Machado does not have prologues in her books, or the prologues are very short as she finds prologues to be "tedious." Although her writing references many different genres, much of her work carries dystopian or horror undertones, a reference to her influence by Ray Bradbury and Shirley Jackson. Although she does not consider herself to be very religious, some of her writings that fall under the magical genre were inspired by her imagination that developed as a result of her religious upbringing.

In the Dream House

This memoir details an abusive relationship that Machado lived through. She exhibits her dystopian writing skills by telling the story of how her seemingly utopian partnership turned into a dystopian, abusive relationship. Machado uses fantasy and magical tropes throughout her memoir as she uses titles for her chapters like "Dream House as Folktale Taxonomy." She makes references to many fairy tales like the little mermaid, and there were references to her ex girlfriend being very witchlike.

Machado dives into the history of abuse in queer relationships. In this memoir, she speaks about the archival silence around domestic abuse in queer relationships. She explains her confusion with dealing with her abusive ex as there was almost no documentation of abusive relationships between lesbian partners. She also details the difficulty with legal proceedings as the legal system did not count her as a victim because her abuse was primarily psychological, verbal, and emotional rather than physical.