Amongst Andy Warhol’s crew in his Factory scene was a trans woman named Candy Darling. Candy was one of the many trans people on the Warhol production line, probably sharing the same experiences and struggles that any trans person would’ve faced at that time in the 60’s-70’s. Yet, she took the time to document her feelings and hardships in her personalized diary called “My Face for the World to See: The Diaries of Candy Darling''.
Within these diaries, we can come to learn more about her own personal experiences with being trans. The community as a whole can relate with one another with the similar stigmas and discriminations they face on a day to day basis, but each person is still different on their own parts and could experience something different from one another. With these diaries, we can get a better personal understanding of Candy Darling's own experiences and no one else’s.
We get to see the inner turmoils she has faced with coming to terms with who she truly was as a person and how coming out to express the way she was was difficult at the time. Of course, the times were obviously not at all lenient to people like Candy and she felt the full force of it. Regardless, she does not only document her hardships, but also her accomplishments as she demonstrates the successes she has had in achieving her dreams.
We get to see her relationships with not only herself, but with lovers and friends as well. Seeing how her change in identity has affected previous and new relationships in her life. These relationships also include those within the trans circles of New York. It all gives a better glimpse into the human experience and how we deal with love and heartbreak regardless of the place we are in in our lives.
We can also see her dreams and artistic ambitions in the creative industry. She was not only a performer, but also a writer and artist. We see and feel her struggles in tying in her own experiences with her artistic expression and how to go about it. Seeing how she first struggled to express herself authentically at first before making it her whole purpose to challenge societal norms through her works.
All in all, we got the opportunity to get a deeper glance into Candy Darling’s personal experience with being a trans woman in the production and artistic industry. How she has dealt with personal experiences, work related experiences, and her own self journey to discovery. Her diaries serve as historical documentation on transgender visibility. She encourages others to take the chance to make their own self discoveries and to not fear the retaliation of societal norms just for expressing yourself for who you truly are as a person.
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