Rachel Rabbit White's Porn Carnival Is Without Blind Reverence

Shy Watson reviews Rachel Rabbit White's debut collection, Porn Carnival (Wonder, 2020), for The Rumpus. The book is "a lesson in performance," writes Watson, with its speaker "fully aware of the oppressive nature of female beauty standards and the male gaze." Further in:

One of the more unexpected themes in Porn Carnival is motherhood. In “DIAMONDS,” White writes:

my mother was my first love
of course I had to betray her

And later, in “THE INFAMOUS SPIDER DANCE,” she tells us, “no, / I have never committed the crime of maternity.” White writes of motherhood without blind reverence; instead, she approaches the subject with a sense of challenge which suggests that motherhood is not a passive position but an active choice not void of consequence. In “I’M LIKE MAKE ME YOUR WOMAN,” she exclaims:

but no one can!
not even my mother!

Porn Carnival speaks in volumes, less surprisingly, to queerdom. This collection is full or orgies, dildos, and the jouissance of gay love. “CHAMOMILE” is a sparkling poem which reads like a queer hymn, complete with biblical references and ecstatic holiness. White writes: “actually Jesus was trans / g*ogle it.”

Read on at The Rumpus.