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Lambert, “How to Be a Woman in Any Boys’ Club”

The “Boys’ Club” is basically something used to show homosociality between men/boys. The author mentions how women are excluded and are competitive between one another.  I’m shocked that the only way to get into the Boys’ Club is by women showing their “Megan Fox” complex. I liked reading this article because it shows how women should be able to stand up. Hegemonic masculinity is shown by men depreciating women. Men must realize that women aren’t the ideal Megan Fox/super-model that they must accept the fact that women are human as well and deserve the same equality as men.

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Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Ch. 4-7)

Alison compares her life to The Odyssey with the father’s absense. I found it interesting because after the father invited men over, Alison put the pieces of the puzzle together and figured out WHY he invited these men over. Alison realizes she’s a lesbian and found out who she is as a person. She felt that “as soon as he died, the lies stopped and the truth came out.” Which was also one of my favorite quotes.

I feel that the books the father gave Alison were important because they had hidden meanings behind them (ex: Lizzie and her Father, Barner). Although I am confused why Alice became OCD. I felt that it was upsetting that one conclusion/reason why the father killed himself was because he was homosexual and it wasn’t accepted in society back then.

Overall, I loved this book. I felt that both Alison and the father had a connection that was unshared because they were both insecure.

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Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Ch. 1-3)

I enjoy reading this book so far. I thought it was mostly on her dad being the man of the household, however as I read into more depth it became more meaningful. It was about a father who always put his ideal looks first (like his decoration of his home for example) before his family.

The dad is a perfectionist and wants high expectations for not only himself, but for his family. He wants to show people that he lives in a “perfect” house because of the way the house looks, however the family is chaotic. The dad turns out to have sexual relationships with young men. This is ironic because he’s a perfectionist and usually perfectionists want everything to look well-put and look “normal”. The word “fun home” is also short for funeral homes which is also ironic because funeral’s shouldn’t be taken lightly. I feel that if Alison and her dad had connected about them both being homosexual, they would have been able to have a stronger relationship.

Overall, I enjoy this book so far and I feel that it shows so much meaning relating to gender relationships.

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In my watch list at Netflix, this looks really really good!

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Han, “Gay Men of Color”

The author mentions how seeing gay white men in society is the norm/ something that is ignored. The author mentioned how the media plays a role on colored gay men, including straight colored men. I think it’s upsetting to see that people still are racist/homophobic to colored men just because of their sexual orientation. I never thought that men of certain races are being discriminated against in different ways just because of their race. I feel that people should understand that being a certain race shouldn’t affect one’s sexuality. We must learn as to why this oppression occurs and stop it immediately.

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Katz, “Homosexual and Heterosexual...”

I liked this article because I didn’t realize that homosexual/heterosexuality became questionable in the 1970-1980′s. I find it really shocking that the terms were used as an “unnatural-fornication” or abnormal. Overtime, sexual categories have changed, but certain types of sexual behavior occurs, which I see in society. Many researchers/people have questioned whether being a homosexual is standardized in masculinity or femininity. 

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Chauncey, “Bowery As Haven & Spectacle” from Gay New York

I found this article really interesting because I didn’t know that “fairies” or men who dressed like women trended in the 1890′s. The author mentions how there was a boundary between the working-class and the middle-class which I also found interesting because Bowery was a place that made created sexual interests. I never knew that there was a borderline between working-class men and middle-class men, which I find interesting. There is a gender ideology which shows that men dressing up feminine was a sexual abnormality. The author also mentions how men learned to “reject the harsh judgments” of these saloons. I feel that this article somewhat applies to today because I feel that society has become more accepting to men who dress up feminine which we call “Drag Queens” today.

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“If you could pick any character to join the Justice League for a sequel, who would it be and why?

“Black Canary. We could use more women.”

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Preciado, “Techno-gender” from TestoJunkie

Preciado talks about being transgender and relates it to the Pharmacopornographic era. The author mentions how gender and how it relates back from the Cold War and capitalism. I think this article is interesting because the author mentions how gender denaturalizes one by bio-politics. I found this article interesting because Preciado mentions how sex assignments are used to tell whether one is more male or female. The author relates Ellen DeGeneres with the tv show Extreme Makeover which shows how people transform in different ways. I liked this article because  It made me realize that being transgender also deals with technology like getting surgery to change one’s genitals, but that we shouldn’t rely on technology. 

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Bornstein, “Be All That You Can”

I liked this activity because I didn’t realize that one thing, like clothing can affect the way you appear in society. In the first part, I felt that most things were gendered because it mostly talked about being comfortable in one’s body, like the way one dresses, or changes their name. Although some were trans gendered like having a genitalia change. It also made me think of the way I act and portray to society. I liked how the author incorporated 101 Things that people like about themselves. It made me feel that society must accept that being a transgender is important to society and we must stop being ignorant on this issue.

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Feinberg, “Transgender Liberation”

Feinberg explains how there are many social issues dealing with transgendered people. Society can never tell whether one is transgenered so they call that transgendered person an “it” or a “he-she” or even use the wrong pronouns. I liked this article because the author mentions why transgender people face issues with bigotry and being considered “unnatural” which is something that must be fixed. I agree with the author that we must stop bigotry. Society is so ignorant on transgender issues that they must inform themselves. We must make society a better and tolerant place for everyone to be accepted.

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McKenna & Kessler, “Transgendering: Blurring the Boundaries of Gender”

The authors explain in the text that a person who was considered a “transgender” in the 20th century were frowned upon because it wasn’t the norm. Being a transgendered person became big around the 1990′s and increased since then. Being transgender is a social construct and people use different vocabulary to identify a transgender (transsexual, crossing, bending, etc.)  I liked this article because it talks about the ideas that transgenders have to face daily. Many people say that there are only “two genders”, gender can’t change, and that one’s genitals considers one’s gender. This article raises questions as to why being transgender is an issue in society and it makes us think about how transgendered people are affected by society.

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“Fag” is not necessarily a static identity attached to a particular (homosexual) boy. Fag talk and fag imitations serve as a discourse with which boys discipline themselves and each other through joking relationships. Any boy can temporarily become a fag in a given social space or interaction. This does not mean that those boys who identify as or are perceived to be homosexual are not subject to intense harassment. But becoming a fag has as much to do with failing at the masculine tasks of competence, heterosexual prowess and strength or in any way revealing weakness or femininity, as it does with a sexual identity. This fluidity of the fag identity is what makes the specter of the fag such a powerful disciplinary mechanism. It is fluid enough that boys police most of their behaviors out of fear of having the fag identity permanently adhere and definitive enough so that boys recognize a fag behavior and strive to avoid it.

Judith Pascoe, ‘Dude, You’re a Fag”

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Baynton, “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History” from The New Disability History

“Disabilities have been used to target certain groups of people and shows inequality and is used in a hierarchy in society, in which I agree with. People who were disabled were considered “monstrous” according to Edmund Burke and forced an idea that these “monstrous people” should get treated differently. I find it shocking because for example, the deaf weren’t allowed to use sign language and were looked upon as “normal” people and not savages. 

I find the information used in this article shocking because inequality due to disabilities formed back to the 18th century. Today, inequality still occurs and we must end inequalities just because one is unable to have a high level skill or a genetic deform.

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Gavanas, “Domesticating Masculinity and Masculinizing Domesticity in Contemporary US Fatherhood Politics”

The author explains how men have become more feminized and responsible in families. The author states that three things cause this issue: 1. Heterosexuality, 2. Sports, and 3. Religion. They explain how the men make the family a “breadwinner” family and are role models. 

Heterosexuality is incorporated because men feel that women will take over the family, sports deal with men in a homosocial situation and are challenged by families, and religion separates men and women parenting.Christianity serves as the FRM leader and the FRM follows through it. The author explains how women are feared by men because they think women will take over the families. 

I found this interesting because I never thought of it as a problem up until today.