I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter
I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter
The story's original title is taken from an Internet meme used to disparage transgender people. Some read the story as transphobic or as trolling, and at Fall's request, Clarkesworld withdrew the story after Fall—a transgender woman—was harassed because of it. This caused a discussion among writers and critics about the merits of art that some perceive as hurtful.
Synopsis
!The helicopter flown by the protagonist is the fictional "AH-70 Apache Mystic", possibly related to the [AH-64 Apache shown here.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/AH-64DApacheLongbow.jpg/250px-AH-64DApacheLongbow.jpg)
Synopsis
Some time in the near future, the United States is fighting a war against the "Pear Mesa Budget Committee", a local AI government that emerged from an environmental and medical catastrophe on the Gulf Coast. The story is told from the perspective of Barb (a call sign, not "Barbara"), formerly called Seo Ji Hee. The U.S. Army neuromedically reassigned Barb's gender identity to "attack helicopter" to make Barb a better helicopter pilot. As a result, warfare is now part of Barb's gender role, much as wearing skirts would be part of a woman's.
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