‘Silicone is anything but shallow’ (an interview with Gargoyle, U of T’s University College paper)

Silicone is anything but shallow

by evelyn shaller-auslander (reprinted with the permission of the author)

Nina Arsenault wrote and stars in The Silicone Diaries, playing at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre from November 14th-21st. Based on a series of articles for wrote for fab magazine detailing the trials and tribulations of aquiring the many dangerous silicone injections needed to produce her very feminine body, Silicone details more cosmetic procedures than you thought possible. Directed by Brendan Healy, this is one queer show you won’t want to miss.

I may or may not have snuck into her dressing room to take her make-up and wardrobe hostage until she answered my questions…

Many people are surprised to hear that you have a Master’s degree and taught at York University. Do you ever feel limited by people’s expectations?

I feel like I challenge people’s expectations. I sometimes think people underestimate my intelligence –maybe because I’m trans, maybe because I have big hair and wear lots of lip gloss. I don’t think it ever limits me in the end though. It means I get to see the ah-ha moment when people realize that I’m fiercer than they thought. It’s fun.

Do you consider yourself to be a feminist?

I am a feminist who believes that every woman has the right to be the type of woman she wants to be, and that all women have the right to seek happiness and pleasure wherever they choose.

Why do hordes of gay men idolize you?

I just assume that anyone who is a fan of my work is someone who has felt at some point in their life that they have had to fight to be who they are. At the end of the day we are all meant to be as beautiful, as sexy, as creative, as bold, as flamboyant, as challenging as we want to be. I feel bad when I see truly fabulous outrageous people being pressured by society to be smaller than they are. I think a lot of fags, particularly femme fags, relate with that. And then there’s also fags who relate with me because they are also obsessed with their bodies.

If you could write a play with an unlimited budget, what would it be about and who would it star?

If they play had an unlimited budget it would star me and would be similiar to Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s play in Synedoche, New York.

What words of advice can you give to people who have to struggle every day, just to be true to themselves?

I don’t like to give advice, but I do think that in the long run it’s a more difficult, less rewarding life if you are not true to your own desires. I have found that when I change myself for someone else’s comfort they don’t respect me for it anyways. I’ve also foudn that it is a far greater struggle in the end to not be yourself. The amount of willpower, and it is willpower, that one has to exert in order to diminish oneself is immense.

First thing that comes to mind when you hear…

Sky Gilbert: legendary
Brendan Healy: genius
York U: Judith Rudakoff
U of T: cute guys
Puppies: kittens
Genderqueer: me
Transitioning: tough

Choose the one you like the best!

Punk of Disco?: Disco
Writing articles or writing monologues?: Monologues
Botox or Restylane?: Restylane
Collagen or Silicone?: Silicone, of course!