All About the Energy

Danni sitting in front of a track sewing machine, next to a clothing rack with a few articles of clothing, in interview format.

Danni: Once I was able to get past a lot of my- a lot of the trauma, I was finally able to feel more like myself. And so in probably grade 12- grade 13- ’cause I did a lap year, end of high school basically, I started really feeling myself. So I would wear black cargo pants or black tights, and then I’d wear really tall thigh high boots, like heeled boots that you could hear from halfway down the hall, and some sort of shirt and sweater combo. Didn’t really care. I’d do my makeup every single day for school. And eventually people heard my footsteps and scattered, ’cause I didn’t take crap from anyone, because people would just sit in the hallway and not let anyone pass, and I’d just stand there and stare at them, like, move. And so they eventually were like “Oh crap, she’s coming, scatter.” Which actually made me feel pretty good.

I’ve had, depending on my style, because some styles I have more happy-go-lucky and very feminine, and other ones I have very masculine. The masculine energy ones, people cross the street. I’ve had actual people cross the street when I’m walking, which again, I don’t care if they’re uncomfortable, that’s not my problem. If they want to move, they can. And then if I’m in, like my really short dress with short shorts and stuff, people, they don’t care. They’re like “Oh, she’s fun. She’s quirky. She’s, like, it’s fine.” But I get treated very differently in very different ways with the different styles. Gender fluidity.