Episode 16: The Shield and the Mirror (with Delia Kropp)
Many of us, maybe even most of us, don’t give a lot of conscious thought to our identity, or to the various identities that make up how we see ourselves. We may have familial identities: mother, son, aunt, grandfather – and what that label means to us is so different from person to person. We may have an identity that is connected to what we do for a living, or a hobby that we’re passionate about. We may have an identity that is linked to a particular group, or religion, or political party. And we definitely all experience our age, our race, our sexual preference and gender expression, our socioeconomic status as part of our identity, whether as something we boldly claim for ourselves or as something that has been put on us by others. Our identities, the various things that come together to make us who we are, are as unique to ourselves as our fingerprints.
The more I talk to folks, the more I ask questions about beauty and truth, and especially about the intersection between the two, the more certain I become that part of what we’re all talking about has to do with our deepest sense of identity, our deepest sense of self. The way we define ourselves, the values and beliefs that make us who we are. How we move through the world, and also how we hope to move through the world.
My guest this week has made a lifelong study of identity. Delia Kropp’s first outlet for her fascination was as a portrait artist, then as a performer and actor, and most lately as an activist and advocate for the trans community. Talking with her about Beauty and Truth is a master class in the Self. She is a straight shooter and a deep thinker, she has a sharp, delightful sense of humor, and I could have talked with her for hours.
We range through the difference between Beauty and Truth, the standards to which trans women are held, and – of course – the nature of identity and Self. It’s a gorgeous, deep conversation with a phenomenal woman, and I hope you find yourself as fascinated as I was.
Rembrandt: Self Portrait with Two Circles