BOLT FROM THE BLUE
The colour blue does not exist in the singular; rather, it is a collective term for a multitude of hues and variations: cobalt, ice, peacock, duck egg, azure. But often our childhood education makes us think of blue, alongside red and yellow, as a ‘pure’ primary colour, existing in a fixed state.
Perhaps this is why this shade has so neatly come to represent the concept of male gender as an identity that is static and dominating. It is certainly no surprise that for their literary debut telling the story of their life — one that has withstood the entrapments of gender — George M. Johnson chose the title, All Boys Aren’t Blue. Published in the UK this month following a successful
US release last year, the book (reviewed on page 124) is a non-fiction ‘memoir-manifesto’ aimed at the young adult readership.
“The title speaks for itself,” George tells me over a video call from
