Tracy Schorn
American writer and cartoonist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tracy Schorn (pronounced 'shorn') née Sutton[1] is an American cartoonist, former journalist, book author, blogger known as "Chump Lady", and founder of the online community known as "Chump Nation", made up of survivors of infidelity.[2] One reporter noted, "For cheaters, there's Ashley Madison. For the cheated upon, there's Tracy Schorn".[3]
Career
Schorn was the state news editor at the AARP Bulletin and has written for AARP,[4] Smithsonian, and Reader's Digest. Her criticism of the term "conscious uncoupling" was noted by The New York Times.[5]
Schorn has been forging a new narrative about infidelity that champions self-respect and self-care for those cheated on (so-called "chumps").[6] Schorn believes infidelity is abuse, and uses straight talk, snarky cartoons and humorous terms like "schmoopie" and "spackling" to affirm her motto "Leave a cheater, gain a life". Her own experience as a "chump" inspired her choice to focus on infidelity and the "reconciliation industrial complex" as her subject matter.[2] She has written about therapists and their "dual accountability" fallacy ("What did you do to drive him into the arms of the other woman?").[7] She recommends acknowledging and learning from mistakes as part of coping with heartbreak.[8] She says affair partners "need the triangle, the unwitting chump, to give their affair the frisson of danger".[9]
Schorn advises cheated-on parents to remain respectful of their child's love for the cheating parent, but to give truthful, age-appropriate reasons for separation and divorce.[10]
She advises the 'other woman' to confess to the cheated-on partner, arguing "the least you can do is return a little of their dignity and tell the truth".[11]
Schorn's podcast with Sarah Gorrell is called "Tell Me How You're Mighty".[2]
Tracy Schorn's blog, Chump Nation was credited in the acknowledgment of Liars, by Sarah Manguso[12][13]
Schorn has blogged about both public figures glamorizing infidelity (e.g. Esther Perel[14]) and public figures engaging in extramarital affairs (e.g. TJ Holmes and Amy Robach).[15]
Criticism
An article in The New Yorker described Schorn's philosophy as "a mission to reframe cheating as abuse".[16] The Cut suggested that Schorn promotes unquestioning validation of women's assertions.[2]
Selected publications
- Leave a Cheater, Gain a Life: The Chump Lady's Survival Guide, Running Press, 2016. ISBN 9780762459056[17]
- The Chump Lady Survival Guide to Infidelity: How to Regain Your Sanity After You've Been Cheated on, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2014. ISBN 9781493554003
