Talk:Andrea Long Chu

Created section for Reception
I created a new section for reception of Chu's work, to distinguish between the facts of her writing career (which should be in the "Career" section) and responses and criticism of her work. This makes the article more in line with Wikipedia's aim for neutrality. CodexFelinus (talk) 17:32, 10 March 2020 (UTC)

Mention her being transgender?
Should the article mention her being transgender? Her writing is heavily affected by her experiences with being transgender, so it should probably be mentioned. ERBuermann (talk) 20:44, 11 May 2023 (UTC)


 * I think so too. I put that in but it got removed for being in the lede, but as you said her writing is heavily affected by her experiences and life so I think it fits in the lede Justanotherguy54 (talk) 02:13, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Chu's controversial writing about women should be clarified and included
I have repeatedly attempted to include examples of Chu's highly controversial writing about women to the page so that instead of just including the name of Chu's writing, there are noteworthy quotations so that the readers of this page can understand how this individual views and writes about women. But my edits have been repeatedly removed.

I attempted to add three entries that clarify the controversial nature of Chu's writings and add context to Chu's self-stylings as a feminist writer:

My first edit that was removed was under the "Career" section, about Chu's controversial 2019 book Females: "In Females, Chu writes that the "barest essentials" of "femaleness" is "an open mouth, an expectant asshole, blank, blank eyes." She also described her reasoning for her gender transition: "I transitioned for gossip and compliments, lipstick and mascara, for crying at the movies, for being someone's girlfriend...for feeling hot, for getting hit on by butches, for that secret knowledge of which dykes to watch out for, for Daisy Dukes, bikini tops, and all the dresses, and, my god, for the breasts." Chu stated in Females, "Sissy porn did make me trans." I included this edit to give examples of what is both Chu's most widely known and most controversial writing. When people discuss Chu, they discuss this book and these descriptions of women, womanhood, femaleness, and femininity by Chu. To remove these most famous and controversial quotations from Chu's own work, which describe and color Chu's writings on women so heavily, is not only unfair, but inappropriate to the point of censorship. It would not be acceptable to remove a white author's controversial descriptions of black individuals in a manner that dehumanizes them or reduces them down to their oppression and exploitation; in the same manner, it is inappropriate to remove the quotations of a male author describing femaleness in this manner. There is no problem with the source for this edit because it is accurate quotations of the author's most famous work, the book "Females" published by Verso, 2019.

My second removed edit was under "Reception" and said: "In a 2023 essay for Unherd called "Andrea Long Chu's Pulitzer win is an insult to women," the novelist, columnist, and chair of the Mayor of London's Violence Against Women and Girl's Board, Joan Smith, criticized Chu's writing as "full of porn-inspired misogyny." I made this addition bc there is only one example in the Reception section of feminist reactions against Chu, but they are stylized (in what I believe to be an inappropriately biased and politicized manner) as "anti-trans" and I wanted to include an example of someone criticizing Chu's work who is coming not from anti-trans sentiment, but rather from feminist work in the area of women and girl's civil rights. There is no issue with the source for this edit because Unherd is a popular independent news outlet that covers a variety of political issues from a range of perspectives and which includes accurate quotations of Chu's own writing about women and pornography.

My Final addition was to the "Personal Life" section: "In a 2013 essay for the Duke student newspaper, Chu wrote about her then girlfriend, "every day I oppress her because she's a woman and because she's Chinese...I fetishize her Chineses qualities and use them to massage my own colonial sense of multiculturalism. I relish the notion of having mixed-race children but I remind myself that I would never raise them with a backward Chinese notion of family. I objectify her. I exoticize her. I see her race and gender before I see her." I included this quotation to clarify to the reader of this page that Chu's comments on women are not just specific to academic writing, but also refer to Chu's person relationships with women which Chu has written about publicly. There may have been an issue with this source, which is the Jewish magazine The Tablet, which is considered a dissident and controversial source. I am happy to adjust the source to the actual 2013 Duke student newspaper as soon as I can locate it.

It is extremely important that Wikipedia not become a propaganda outlet for political parties or lobby groups. Andrea Long Chu is a highly controversial figure, with writings about women that many consider examples of sexism and misogyny against the legally-protected class of women on the basis of sex in the United States of America.

I propose to make these changes so that readers of this page are aware of the way Chu describes this group of individuals. Ejdep5 (talk) 22:58, 13 May 2023 (UTC)


 * You are absolutely right to attempt to include these things; currently, the article reads like blatant whitewashing of the career of a highly controversial figure. It is unfortunate that you've been censored. I strongly encourage you to make your edits again. If they are removed, I will support you. Just to be clear, you do need to source the quotes. If you need help, post to my talk page and I can provide the requisite sourcing to prevent the edits from being taken down. GreenLoeb (talk) 15:28, 3 August 2023 (UTC)
 * chu is not a "male" 2.30.180.216 (talk) 19:51, 5 December 2023 (UTC)