COURTESY OF THE ARTIST. DESIGN: GREG NEWCOMB. PHOTO: JIJI LEE.
I assumed Jody Kuehner was around six feet tall or more because of how she moves her body. As femme drag queen slash feminist performance artist slash choreographer slash modern dancer slash clown Cherdonna Shinatra, Kuehner’s long body is the medium from which she explores how a veneer of relentless happiness masks the true difficulties of the world.
I was close; she’s five feet ten. But before I asked her that, I asked if it was okay for me to write about her body. I know that sounds hand-wringingly PC, but I’ve been wrestling with this question for a while. As a spectator, what am I entitled to when it comes to women’s bodies?