It’s a quarter to midnight. I’m going to change my pronouns on Instagram. It’s 11.46. I am opening the app and then I’m closing it again. It’s 11.47. I am tapping my screen, anxious for something I can’t name, feeling something raw and untamed clawing at my stomach. It’s 11.48. I am doing it. Who’s going to check my bio anyway? It’s 11.49. I am changing the pronouns on Instagram, erasing and re-creating my identity with a few letters. It’s midnight and I lock my phone with a shaking hand. I’ve changed my pronouns on Instagram.
Hilde Tillack lives in Germany and studies English literature. In their research and their own writing they're interested in exploring topics of gender, bodies, sexuality, and desire.