Tracy Dawson knows a thing or two about succeeding in a man’s world as a woman. The prolific writer, actress and feminist visited campus Sept. 23 as part of the English department’s creative writing series to discuss her experience in the creative field and her book “Let Me Be Frank: A Book About Women Who Dressed Like Men To Do Shit They Weren’t Supposed To Do.”
Dawson’s book recounts stories ranging from ancient to modern times of various women who broke traditional gender roles and achieved their dreams by concealing their identities as women.
In her book, Dawson gives readers an inside look at the sexist encounter with a studio executive that birthed her compulsion to collect and publish these stories through a contemporary lens.
“When I told her (what shows I wanted to write on), she replied plainly that none of the shows I had mentioned had any ‘female needs.’ … I learned that … I was not going to be judged on my merits or jokes,” Dawson said.
The anger from this encounter was compounded by the sobering reality presented in an article by popular author and blogger Catherine Nichols about the effectiveness of using a male name when submitting a story. This experience forced Dawson to think about all the women throughout history who had to conceal their identities to do what they wanted. This motivated her to write the book and bring these stories in front of a wider audience.
Dawson believes strongly in the power of storytelling and talked about why there is a world where women still face many roadblocks in regards to opportunity. Dawson emphasized that these stories are so important, both for her to tell and for women to hear.
“I’ve had readers reach out to me and say, ‘Oh my God, I’m reading about this woman from eons ago, but I’m relating to her story.’ And maybe they had the courage to go back and ask for a raise because the guy that they work with — who does the same job — makes more money,” Dawson said. “It’s all about women who refused to take no for an answer.”
Dawson also talked at length about her career in comedy and writing. She chronicled her early days as a child listening to Bill Cosby records to get her comedic timing right. Her introduction to writing was through a sketch comedy group she joined in Toronto. The timeline continued into New York, where she wrote her original play “Them & Us” and landed her first job as a staff writer on the Canadian sitcom “Call me Fitz.” This experience brought her to the publication of her first book.
At the event, Dawson also gave sage advice to students who want to pursue a creative career but might have reservations about the practicality of working in one of these jobs.
“I’m a ‘why not?’ kind of person. If you want to do it, if that calling is there, I think go for it,” Dawson said. “I do believe in 2024, a lot of people aren’t just going, ‘I’m doing this one avenue, and this is it forever.’ I think that is an older model.”
Professor Margaret Lazarus Dean, the host of the event, said students can take a lot of inspiration from successful writers like Dawson and highlighted some qualities of Dawson that aspiring writers might want to adopt.
“I think Tracy’s story is really inspiring to anyone who has a dream of breaking into the film and television business. It can seem like it’s really closed off,” Dean said. “Whenever she was given an opportunity, she just took it. I think that’s really inspiring, and I hope my students take that to heart.”
Dawson’s visit was one of the installments in the English department’s creative writing series that features various guest writers from a variety of genres. The next two events are Nov. 11 and Nov. 28. Dawson is currently in conversations with producers regarding an adaptation of her book for film or theater. She can be found on Instagram @dawsontracy.
