Conversation with Nancy Agabian, Yerevan, Armenia, 2005

In the conversation, artist and writer Nancy Agabian engages with generational perspectives on gender, family expectations, and cultural identity. Growing up as an Armenian American in a predominantly white town in Massachusetts, she describes how her sister initially introduced her to feminism. Her perspectives were also shaped by her mother’s evolving feminist views and struggles with traditional roles. "When I got my period, both my mother and sister wanted me to read Our Bodies, Ourselves... it’s a feminist book about women’s bodies and women’s health issues."

Agabian recounts how she began creating work inspired by her life: “My grandmother left an oral history tape of her life... She felt like her life was always in the hands of other people… In my writing and my performance work, my grandmother shows up a lot as well because she was a genocide survivor... She lost her mother, her sister, and her father during the genocide.” Her grandmother endured tremendous hardship and eventually emigrated to the U.S. in a forced marriage.
In her work, Agabian addresses the broader societal expectations surrounding marriage and family within Armenian culture. She shares, “I identify as bisexual... I came out in my early 20s when I was in college, and my parents had a hard time with that. It’s hard for me to completely be myself... So most of the writing and performances are all about these issues.” Her recent involvement with the Armenian LGBTQ+ community has reconnected her with her heritage, though she experiences some ambivalence about reintegrating.

The conversation also addresses Agabian's performance in Yerevan, Armenia: “My piece was about wanting to find more spirituality in the Armenian church, but not being able to because it’s so patriarchal.” Some audience members expressed concerns about feminism potentially destroying the family. “My sense is that there's a really big fear of change... and it's something that I had to struggle against.” Agabian observes, “There’s this real conservative backlash in America right now, and it's really harsh,” with "family values" often used as a tool for control. Rather than being isolated within a national context, Agabian expresses a strong need to connect with global feminist issues to avoid feeling powerless: “It’s very upsetting being in America and feeling like there's a war going on in your name… so there's a feeling like maybe you could stop it if enough people protested it.”