Patricia

“When I was given ‘P’ to do, I really thought, ‘Wow, this is really on brand.’ So my parents named me Patricia, and in thinking about identity and autonomy I really moved away from Patricia to be referred to as. And I go by Oskar. So seeing ‘P’ was like, ‘Shit, okay, this name is following me.’ I’m really in a period where I’m trying to understand what my relationship to Patricia is—why there’s discomfort, why I felt the need to change that name—and maybe even slowly incorporating it back into my life.

I am a sexuality educator, so I spend a lot of time with adolescent groups telling them to prioritize their agency. We are really in a period where we’re seeing that really taken away by virtue of laws, by virtue of discrimination and hate. And now more than ever, it is important to, one, value yourself as somebody who deserves agency. I think the hardest time is believing and giving ourselves the permission to take up space, to say that we have needs and wants and to be cared for and respected. And then the second part is acknowledging that you do not have to dim it for anyone to feel comfortable. You can let them choke on your wholeness, honestly. And knowing that it’s something you deserve—not because you have to work for it, not because you need to do anything to earn it, but because you exist.”

About Oskar

Oskar Sinclair (Vu/They) is a tough, mushy soft genderqueer femmeborg. An emerging creative hailing from Ghana, their work speaks of négritude, heritage, sex, queerness, desire, love, and being an explorer of and for Africa. So here they are. Puckish. Malleable. Aspiring to wholesomeness. Amusing in all the ways you’re grateful for. Catch them slanging dildos and safer sex materials doing God’s work.