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.
‘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
Have you ever come across a person/character that you may feel deep connection, or respect, or deep admiration towards - and then, at some point, all of the sudden, they are somehow about to come in light in a sexual perspective, and then you suddenly find a strong feeling in yourself that seeing them as a sexual creature all of...
The social norm is constructed: not naturally occurring but created by the society in which it is found.
Hence there are no actions which in themselves are inherently #abnormal or universally condemned by all societies at all times. Deviance is thus situational and contextual.
The social norm is constructed: not naturally occurring but created by the society in which it is found.
Hence there are no actions which in themselves are inherently #abnormal or universally condemned by all societies at all times. Deviance is thus situational and contextual.
Here's a cool #Job at the #University of #Glasgow. Applications close at 23:45 BST, 06/05/2024.
"The University of Glasgow is seeking to appoint a James Murray Beattie Lecturer in #Fantasy#Literature within the School of #CriticalStudies...
"...We welcome applicants with proven expertise in any area of Fantasy Literature, but are particularly interested in #Gender and #Sexuality and/or global #Anglophone#Writing..."
I mostly play jrpgs, but after 100 hours of Unicorn Overlord, I needed a break. I have some games for Playstation in my backlog and I don’t normally collect for the console unless I find something at a good price or an exclusive. I bought two more Vanillaware games, Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown, which I intend to play later. However, I still had a copy of Cyberpunk 2077 laying around and never got to it after picking it up some months ago. I have a faint idea that the game had serious problems when it came out. If it had, it doesn’t anymore, just the occasional crash here and there. The most annoying one happened on a mission with Claire to participate on a street race. I suck at driving but, for some reason, I ride her pickup truck – aptly called Beast – fairly well. So I was in the middle of the first race and the game crashed. Then, I finished the race and won, and the game crashed. Then, I finished it in second place and the game didn’t crash. Well then, second place it is. I never experienced those crashes anymore and won the subsequent races. After we finished she asked if I’d help her kill her husband’s murderer during the last race. I obliged because I’m not in Night City to be a good person. I kill whomever I want, when I want, how I want and go to bed with everyone I fancy and pay for sex without a second thought.
In jrpgs we have to save the world to get the girl we like in the end. It’s real work and dedication. The character development is also so extensive that by the time we reach the end we have spent a while choosing the right things to say, advancing through a support level system, giving gifts, doing things together, a bit like in real life. In Night City, and also a bit like in real life, we can pay and have someone fake their interest in us. It’s the perspective from the other side. Since I’ve never paid for sex in real life, I might as well try it in a simulated environment and the experience was acceptable. I went to bed with a character after getting an sms to meet and it felt completely random because I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was that unlikeable Corpo executive woman right at the start of the game, when I was still getting my bearings. After the mission where she offered me money to retrieve a Militech drone, I didn’t accept it because I didn’t trust her intentions, and chose the less likeable dialogue options. So, by the time I got her sms, I chose the option «Shame. Was starting to like you…» not because I did but because I was being sarcastic. And then, bang, I ended up in bed with her. I enjoyed Night City.
Not long after, I was in another district ready to meet Evelyn and there were some folks on the street. A guy asked me something and I was so overwhelmed checking the menus and trying to learn the game that I said yes and paid a small fee. I honestly thought it was a mission of some kind. I went to bed with him, or I’d rather say, he went to be with me and that was it. So, I learned how it worked and approached a woman standing on the other side of the street and this time, armed with knowledge, I asked if she wanted to go with me and I paid the fee. I think I went to bed with more people but now, after some hours of gameplay, I don’t remember. In real life I have a preference for women, or I’d rather say, for people who identify as women, despite the body they were born with. One day I was talking about trans issues with my wife and I asked if she would consider staying with me if I transitioned from female to male. The question was relevant at the time because it came from a period where I had to figure myself out. She said yes, she would stay with me. She earned herself rank S++ with me without even knowing it. To those who are curious, I’m still very much a cisgender woman, however that realization didn’t come without some soul searching.
In Cyberpunk, people perform their gender freely and have all types of sexual preferences and fantasies. They also have agency, wants and needs. I met Panam and I was on a spree getting into bed with everyone in my way, or killing everyone in my way, depending on the mission. We were paying for a hotel room and she insisted on getting a room with separate beds. I still made an advance but she said no. Later down the line, another opportunity arose. I had to test the game. I made my advance and she said no again. Ok, a second no is much more awkward than the first one and by then I was just being creepy. I felt ashamed, but at the same time it’s only natural that not everyone is into us, contrary to jrpgs or L-word. Panam likes our V (it’s the name of our character) and that’s what matters. I see her as an annoying friend that’s always getting into trouble and calls me screaming for help and the help always involves me failing at stealth and killing everyone on my path and then getting scolded for it. I like Panam.
In jrpgs our character is usually a young boy. A clueless, naive boy for whom all the female characters fall for no matter what he does. Everyone says yes and the agency is on him to choose his partner. His love interest is by default in love with him. The only thing we have to do as a player is to rise in the ranks until the option to romance is prompted. In games like Persona 3 Portable we can romance several people (I’m not sure if we have to, to get max social link, but I think so – they changed that in Reload) and in Fire Emblem Three Houses we can only give our ring to one person. If the person is female she’ll always be interested in our character if we’re playing as male, as long as we get the A-support rank. In case we play as a female Byleth the same-sex romance options are more limited. If we play as a male Byleth and happen to be gay or curious, there’s only one romance option. This sends a message, doesn’t it? Or am I reading too much into things? All in all, thank the goddess that Rhea is bissexual. It was the only thing I wanted to know, since I refuse playing as a guy in jrpgs if I have the other option.
Back to Cyberpunk, no really means no, much like the no I had to give River Wards when we were having the conversation. I had no intention whatsoever in landing on a relationship with him, but the way they structured the conversation left a tightness in my chest. Still, I had to be true to myself. River is not my type. The last mission of his storyline was great and it had a good dose of creepy moments. The way his parents died when he was young was gruesome and like out of a home invasion horror movie. The mission went well, as much as things can go well in Night City, which is not much, just enough to get by. Then I jumped into another set of quests and I was hunting Cyberpsychos across the city as instructed by Regina.
By this time I’d already driven on my motorcycle collecting tarot cards. They have beautiful designs and I recommend getting all of them. However, the first cyberpsycho came before the tarot card hunt and I thought I had to kill him. After a while Regina started getting a bit passive-aggressive with me because I was killing what she saw as test subjects and it was most desirable to make a tiny bit of effort to keep them alive in order to save them. Well, I didn’t know about that! The last half of cyberpsychos were handled with care and in stealth mode or using my blades to defend from bullets, parrying melee attacks and doing counterattacks, or using quickhacks. Using defensive combat was as effective as using stealth. I had to take a break from my killing spree but the reward was nice in the end – probably could be nicer if I hadn’t killed the first half of them – a Playstation trophy popped and it’s always good when it does.
I still have the police side activities and some minor requests to do before progressing the main story but I don’t know if I’ll finish them. Before I make some progress, I have Judy’s quest to complete. I want to see where the main story goes but I also can’t get enough of Night City and its many secrets. It’s a nice game and much less buggy than Starfield which I also played for hours on end.
In the past decade, #Putin has taught the world a master class on using #homophobia as a political weapon. Now he is showing us what #homophobia looks like as a #WeaponOfWar.
Investigators have a chance to build a case in #Ukraine unlike anything ever seen under international law: that persecuting #LGBTQ+ people constitutes a #CrimeAgainstHumanity.
The targeting of #LGBTQ+ people in #conflict — such as #ISIS making a spectacle of executing men accused of homosexuality by throwing them off buildings — has received much attn in recent yrs, but no #international#tribunal has ever held that this kind of persecution violates #InternationalLaw.
Jurists have done painstaking work to make clear how existing international #law gives the #ICC the power to investigate persecution on the basis of #sexuality & #gender identity. #Russia#Putin#Ukraine
Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections by Emily Nagoski
In Come as You Are, Emily Nagoski, PhD, revolutionized the way we think about women’s sexuality. Now, in Come Together, Nagoski takes on a fundamentally misunderstood subject: sex in long-term relationships.
Did you know? Of the the respondents to our 2022 Transition Access Survey, 32% told us they’re Bisexual. But don’t just take our word for it, IPSOS’ 2021 research found that 26% of trans people identify as either bi or pan.
(Accessibility: Text says: According to a global survey, 26% of trans people identify as bi or pan. IPSOS LGBT+ Pride 2021 Global Survey. Image: illustration of 3 people holding a bi flag.)
When Tlaozolteol presents the beheaded corn snake, a metaphor for desire - She is showing us its sacredness. Even the corn snake bleeds the sacred fluid.
In opening the snake, She reveals its inner divinity.
In opening the snake, She makes us and our desires whole.
A canvasser knocked on the door today (I live in an apartment inside a secure building, you need a key to get in), scaring my dogs and me as you don't expect anyone to actually come to your door here.
I answer the door, I open the door only barely a fraction of a crack really. I see a middle-aged white male and I hear him say he's collecting signatures.
He said "We want to recall the education minister for allowing pornographic images in schools" and as someone who perpetually watches the #news like a hawk, and a member of the #LGBTQ community, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Essentially people like this are concerned about books that reference #SOGI -- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity -- in the school.
I was in shock, just disbelief. You see this shit on the internet but you never expect these assholes to show up at your door.
While he was talking, I was reading through the crack in the door (both of my dogs stuck their noses out to investigate, neither were impressed), the pamphlet he was holding, which read: "Will we let SOGI ruin our kids lives?"
I read it out loud slowly, I guess he couldn't hear me (too busy spouting his own propaganda to listen), so I repeated it again, "Will we let SOGI ruin our kids lives?" to which I responded I was fucking non-binary, I was LGBTQ, and to get away from my home.
I slammed the door in his face, and he told me to fuck off through the door.
Honestly, I'm just vibrating, and if I wasn't in my pajamas I would have gone out there with my phone, taken his picture, and said this is a secure building and you have no right to be here I'm calling the cops (I wouldn't, but I would have threatened him to make him feel uncomfortable, like he made me feel in my own home)
A few minutes later I got brave, put on coat over pajamas and went out looking for this dude to try to escort him out of the building because fuck, I don't want anyone else to have to deal with this. I checked 1st and 2nd floor, nowhere to be seen, like he disappeared into the mist, which is extra creepy because I would have rather known where he was than think he could be anywhere. Maybe he went up to the third floor but I wasn't gonna push my luck. I hoped he just fled out the door and left.
I have no idea what this person's real intentions were, or what he might be capable of particularly if he is confronted with beliefs that are not his own from a member of the group he's campaigning against. Because these people who have absorbed so much anti-LGBTQ propaganda can be unpredictable and dangerous.
This is a massive invasion of privacy and a huge security issue for LGBTQ individuals. I'm also a bit worried that this dude knows I am LGBTQ and knows where I live.
#CallForPapers (#online presentations welcome): Arcastar Lerinosse: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Arda: #Tolkien Workshop at the University of Freiburg
Whether the metaphorical mountain is close, far away, deliberately omitted, or right underneath one’s feet, the possibilities for authors, fans, and academics to engage with Tolkien’s Legendarium are nigh on limitless.
The powerful need/feeling not to try sexualizing specific people or fictional characters
Have you ever come across a person/character that you may feel deep connection, or respect, or deep admiration towards - and then, at some point, all of the sudden, they are somehow about to come in light in a sexual perspective, and then you suddenly find a strong feeling in yourself that seeing them as a sexual creature all of...