"'It’s a girl,' the nurse said, softly. My mother smiled big, then nodded in silence. That was the first sentence of a book that describes my undoing. That was the first story someone else told for me."
Alok says, about people accidentally using he/him instead of they/them:
"It's not you speaking when you misgender me, it's everyone that has spoken to you before."
I really like this. It's true, and acknowledges our interconnected minds. And also, it's like, every time you use the right pronouns for someone, you're making a better world for everyone, going forward for a very long time, because you're a part of someone else's language.
We take so many of these statements at face value because they seem to make sense in our #patriarchal system, and then before we know it we’ve got terrible, repressive, socially-accepted "knowledge."
I finally found a rare gem of a supporter who cares enough about my fight for abolishing #gender specific #censorship that he goes the extra mile and PUTS UP HIS OWN VIDEO RESPONSES 🤯 Except now he's banned on #youtube from posting for a week, simply for linking to my website toplesstopics(dot)org 🙃 there's nothing whatsoever sksual on my site, literally just links to the "patriarchy unfriendly" versions of my videos I host on Peertube where my heinous female npls are visible as I just sit there talking about whatever, not at all sksual like the MILLIONS of "people who look male" posting top (less) thirst traps on every mainstream platform. I've known YouTube has blocklisted my website for years (and basically anything else I've ever linked to, see toplesstopics(dot)org/banned for hundreds of screenshots of proof), but someone ELSE, an MAN even, getting a week long ban for linking to my website is a new frontier of blatantly misogynistic fascist censorship that I've yet to see crossed.
It's so enraging, because this guy is such a BAMF for not only commenting on my social media posts, but making FULL-A** VIDEO RESPONSES, which is something I've had happen maybe five times ever in the ten years I've been making videos about top freedom. He says he'll still keep making new videos after the ban ends, and I appreciate him more than words can say for doing this. The ONLY way we can EVER convince these capitalist institutions to stop assigning different levels of censorship based on "what gender you look like" is if A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE are VERY LOUD in pointing out the hypocrisy, and dudes like this are precious all-stars in this fight ❤️
Although I couldn’t formulate it at the time, studying the Stuarts at school made me realise that the way I was expected to present myself as a male was not ‘natural’ but historical and social. It later made Boy George seem much more normal than everyone was suggesting. #gender
"Recent South Dakota policy threatens professors who include their pronouns or tribal affiliations over email. It's part of a concerning 'longer-term agenda' overtaking the US."
"A policy in South Dakota prevents some professors from listing certain details in email signatures. Public university faculty are prohibited from sharing gender pronouns or tribal affiliations. Experts say it's part of a broader attempt to roll back rights for protected groups."
Feminism and the mythopoetic men's movement: Some shared concepts of gender
Helen Gremillion, 2011 Women's Studies J.
"certain strands of feminist thought, which have gained wide popularity in various forms, share constructs of gender with the MMM: namely, a tendency to represent gender as binary and to imagine gender as a stand alone variable of social life."
"It’s telling that the #AI advisory council is composed entirely of businesspeople and entrepreneurs, not ethicists or anyone with an academic or deep research background..."
Saw a couple good #movies this week. First up was the classic #Hitchcock adaptation of REBECCA, one of the all time great Gothic romance thrillers. We got to see a lovely print of it on the big screen at the iconic, beloved Hollywood Theater here in #Portland. It's an extremely subversive film for the era (1940!!), with brilliant #gender themes and brazen #queer subtext. Was presented as part of a queer film series and the crowd was brilliant - knowing and engaged but respectful. Superb
In 2020, Swedish neuroscientists put 30 trans and 30 cis research subjects into a brain scanner and showed them pictures of their bodies. Then they showed them images where their body had been morphed to look more masculine or more feminine. The results support the natural order of gender identity.
It is unlikely that advancing women's equality can be achieved without major legal reform(s) in many countries... gender equality will not be achieved via organic social measures/trends (although they can be reinforced by legal measures).
If you have the time this week, this report from UN Women offers some compelling evidence why the law needs to reinforce & respond to demands for gender equality.
"Two common goals of these cosmetic 'normalizing' surgeries on children’s genitals are to enable #heterosexual penetrative intercourse, and to help the child #conform to #gender and sexual norms"
I was impressed by what my child was taught at primary school. It was about boundaries, staying safe, understanding the body & respect & acceptance. The kids had insights about gender & sexuality that my generation didn't have at that age.
Again Tories stoking gender & culture wars.
A ban is ridiculous.
More evidence that gender diversity is not only an issue of fairness but also an issue of efficacy.
Building on studies in other sectors that have shown diverse teams produce better results, new research into surgery show gender diverse teams in operating theatres enhance patient recovery from operations & reduce complications.
The more balanced the team, the better the result - suggesting gender parity in the (health) workplace has clear benefits!
We are looking forward to the last #Innsbruck#Gender Lecture of this study year: Tatjana Takševa from the Saint Mary’s University in Canada talks about "Tracing the Maternal through a #Transnational#Feminist Perspective"!
-> Wednesday, 22nd of May at 6pm, Hörsaal 5, GEIWI, Innrain 52e @uniinnsbruck
‘Transgressing into poetry’: Nationality, Gender & Sexuality in SONNETS FROM SCOTLAND by Edwin Morgan & THE PRICE OF STONE by Richard Murphy
by Prof Tara Stubbs
Both #Scottish poet Edwin Morgan & (Anglo-) #Irish poet Richard Murphy transgressed poetic norms: contradicting ‘nationalist’ poets of their respective traditions, making playful use of language, & treating #gender & #sexuality in daring ways