Maura Corman

Maura Corman (she/her) is the editor in chief of Venture. She is a senior English major who works at Rider University Libraries as a Student Back Processor. Previously she was on the editorial board and published in her high school’s  literary magazine, Insights. She has been spending the past year writing her own poetry about the American suburbs. In her spare time she likes to listen to music and read.

“It was so easy then never takin’ any stand
It was so easy then, holdin’ hands”
–Carly Simon

I used to watch
The Fairly Odd Parents,
every Saturday,
laughing at Timmy’s
neglectful parents leaving
him with Vicky
even though she had a bag
full of torture devices.

Mom sat with us with
half her attention
on us and the show.
Dad was upstairs
reading about some emperor.

I outgrew Timmy
and his suffering, so
I turned to
flash games and videos.
“A Day in My Life”
Factory Balls
“My No-Makeup Makeup Look”
Papa’s Pizzeria
“Top 10 Dieting Tips That Changed My Life”
The Impossible Quiz
“The Mandela Effect”
Disaster Will Strike 3
“Top 5 Weirdest Conspiracies”
Disaster Will Strike 2
“Conspiracies That’ll Blow Your Mind”
Disaster Will Strike

Pain was once
broken bones and
getting shot
with a NERF bullet.
Fear grew out of
school shooter drills.

Timmy cross dressed,
but it was just punishment
for saying it would be
“a waste of a wish”
to wish to be a girl.
His dream girl,
Trixie, cross dressed too.
She did it to hide
her love of
gore-filled comics.
Timmy ended up learning
the basic lesson:
boys can like girly things and
girls can like boyish things.

Forgotten like many
gender swap cartoon
episodes, Trixie returned
to the vapid popular girl stereotype,
and Timmy never had a girly interest
ever again.

My peers and I never changed.
Boys played with boys.
Girls played with girls. But
if your interests crossed the line…
You’re Gay.
You’re a Lesbian.
Nothing changed.