GENDERQUEER KILLJOY | Maranda Elizabeth. Let me start this by telling you that I am not an encylopedia or a resource pamphlet, and I am only an expert on my own experiences, thoughts, feelings, and actions. I am really tired of explaining to cis people that I don’t feel like having another Gender 101 conversation with them, nor do I feel like providing them with links and resources so they can learn how to be an “ally”; and when I do tell them this, why does their response typically sound like, “Yeah, that must be really exhausting. But can you tell me more about how I can be nice to people who don’t fit my ideas of what ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ are?!” Also, stop asking me what “cis” means. Look it up. I’m sick of people writing things like “trans*-friendly” and/or “gender-variant-friendly” on fliers and event descriptions, as if simply saying that actually makes their event a safe/r space. I’m compiling a list of resources not because I wanna help you out, but because I’m sick of you expecting me to.
You don’t have to thank me. Why Misogynists Make Great Informants: How Gender Violence on the Left Enables State Violence in Radical Movements « INCITE! Blog. Queer, Interrupted. In February, the San Francisco Police Department released their contribution to the It Gets Better phenomenon.Watch it here. In it, SFPD officers tell their life stories, cry, celebrate their jobs, and offer words of encouragement to queer youth.
Each officer speaks of the painful silence of closeted life, suicidal tendencies overcome, the excitement of coming out, and final deliverance into a rewarding career as a police officer. The officers each assure us that it gets better, if we are only patient enough. Then they urge queer youth to call on them for help, insisting that until it gets better, SFPD will be there. Having survived the daily misery of growing up a fag in a conservative Midwestern farm town, I get sick watching these police officers attempt to identify with the pains of queer youth. This essay appears in Vol. 7: COPS.
Mary Nardini Gang, Towards the Queerest Insurrection Such was the reaction to what were commonplace incursions by the police into queer life. A New Queer Agenda. Talkin’ ‘Bout My S-S-S-Socialization | Sincerely, Natalie Reed. So a little while ago a twitter-friend of mine, LifeInNeon, linked this interesting post by When Cylons Dream (a bit nsfw) over at her blog, on the question of trans women’s socialization (the manner in which we were / are raised, relative to gender). I found it very interesting and wanted to share. Yesterday, in a post all about how not all feminists practice the same style of ninjitsu, I discussed some of the history of transphobia within feminism, and various policies (both official and unspoken) that often exclude trans women from feminist spaces or conversation.
Thus in voicing our desire for participation, we are “proving” exactly why our participation should be barred. In objecting to the bigoted, discriminatory policies, we are “proving” why they need to be enforced. But to me, the concept of socialization seems far more complex than how it’s presented when used to invalidate the experiences or identities of trans women. There is no singular, universal woman’s narrative.
Radical Sex Education; A Resource Guide. [photo description: image of Askari González and Lexi Adsit. two trans latinas looking off to their right with big smiles on their face, wind blowing through their hair. The background is a café with a glare on the front glass showing other buildings.] {*style:<i>*}{*style:<br>*}{*style:<i>*}Note: We are working on French and Spanish translations of this document, and seeking volunteers to translate into other languages.
Please contact us at: twoc.amc@gmail.com. {*style:</i>*}{*style:<br>*}{*style:<b>*}International Trans Women of Color Network Gathering{*style:<br>*}@ Allied Media Conference 2014, June 19th, 2014{*style:<br>*}Call for Participation/Submissions{*style:</b>*}{*style:<br>*}We know that trans women of color are magical, powerful, skilled and wise, yet there is still no international network joining us together to address the struggles we face. This network gathering seeks to change that. Whoooooooooops. So there's this article in Time titled "Masculinity, a Delicate Flower," which is all about how men are obliged to establish, assert, and constantly maintain their masculinity throughout their lives. It's a very basic article, so superficial in its examination of the concepts of gender construction and performance, and so imprecise in drawing any distinction between socialized gender expectations and gender essentialism, that it would hardly be worth mentioning to this crowd were it not for its concluding paragraph: The authors said this research also begins to illuminate the negative effects of gender on men — depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and violence.
And, at the very least, it may persuade ladies to cut their guys a little slack. "When I was younger I felt annoyed by my male friends who would refuse to hold a pocketbook or say whether they thought another man was attractive. I thought it was a personal shortcoming that they were so anxious about their manhood. Well.