This week, I accidentally launched something I’m calling #Jenathon - a slightly ridiculous, mildly furious, unexpectedly popular fundraiser that started with being trolled and ended with charity donations and kitchen selfies.
(Want the full backstory? Here’s the original post on Facebook.)
So far, Jenathon has been good fun.
I’ve been running a little game called Miss Jendered, asking:
“Do I look feminine enough for Jen today?”
Today’s entry featured me in a kitchen (of all places!) somehow looking like I may have actually cooked something.
But I want to take a moment between props and petty fundraising to talk about something that’s not funny.
In one of Jen’s comments, which I’m sharing below, she referred to me as “it.”
Not “her.” Not “you.”
“It.”
And that word matters. Because “it” is what you call objects.Things. Inanimate nothings.
Not people.
It’s a way of removing someone’s personhood. Their identity. Their complexity. Their right to exist as they are.
And it’s not accidental. People don’t just slip into language like that.
They use it for a reason.
Othering as a form of self-elevation
Dehumanising someone doesn’t just tear them down - it elevates the speaker.
“I’m not like that.”
“I’m normal.”
“I understand the rules, and that doesn’t fit.”
Calling someone “it” is a way to reinforce your own place on the social ladder - by pushing someone else off it.
It says:
“I’m real. You’re not.”
“I belong. You don’t.”
“I have value. You’re a curiosity.”
And it happens all the time.
It happens to:
Women who don’t look "feminine" enough
Trans women, and trans men
Non-binary people
And anyone who shows up in public with a body or identity that challenges someone else’s idea of what a human is “supposed” to be
This is why Jenathon exists.
Because one woman’s unfiltered comment revealed something bigger - the way our society still tries to police who gets to be seen. Who gets to exist without explanation. Who gets to be human.
Jenathon is more than snark and screenshots.
It’s about what happens when someone shows up in public, unapologetically, and someone else tries to put them back in their box. Or worse, take away their humanity altogether.
We’re not having that.
Today’s Jenathon post might feature me, baking.
But behind it is a simple reminder:
I am not “it.”
And neither is anyone else.
If you’d like to donate “on behalf of Jen,” we’re raising money for:
And if you don’t feel like donating, sharing the Facebook posts is just as good.
Visibility shouldn’t come with conditions.
And nobody gets to decide who counts as real.
Much love,
Anna
xx
Good on you, Anna. Fuck the Jens. Go you, being you, being a strong, capable, independent, intelligent, lovely woman x