This story originally appeared in the 2021 October issue of Town & Country. Over time that very small part grew, and I came to understand that acquired tastes may be more challenging, but they are also infinitely more valuable. A very small part of me knew she was doing me a favor. I remember that breakup distinctly not because I’m still sad about it but because, as my ex was detailing everything about me she found too difficult to appreciate, a very small part of me knew she was talking about the best, most interesting parts of me. They don’t require any real consideration. Gay is the author of The New York Times best-selling essay collection Bad Feminist (2014), as well as the short story collection Ayiti (2011), the novel An Untamed State (2014), the short story collection Difficult Women (2017), and the memoir Hunger (2017). Things that are universally appealing are unacquired tastes. Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. It has no sharp edges, no flawed surfaces. Universal appeal is a dreary, bland thing.
I am not interested in much of anything that will appeal to everyone. There is a dangerous tendency to conflate representation and inclusion with universality. We now have a cultural obsession with universality. All too often, taste is used as a cudgel to force conformity, to create a social hierarchy where those with the right tastes are culturally valued and those with the wrong tastes are not.
