#Alex Myers

[wishingmyhairred]

"I'll tell you right now, This show should not have been cancelled cuz like it's so good"- Alex Myers

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Continental Divide by Alex Myers

goodreads

Ron Bancroft comes out as a transgender man at nineteen. His parents reject him. His girlfriend rejects him. Feeling trapped and miserable, Ron decides to leave Harvard and travel west to work on a Wyoming ranch to prove to his parents, his ex, and himself that he can live unequivocally as a man. As he embarks on this journey of independence, Ron must deal with the constant fear and anxiety of being discovered as a trans man as he enters a world more dangerous than he ever imagined.

Mod opinion: I hadn't known of this book before and I probably won't read this, but I do love the cover.

[semper-legens]

145. The Symmetry of Stars, by Alex Myers

Owned: No, library Page count: 273 My summary: Nature and Nurture. The dichotomy that rules the Earth; the two gods who vie for status in the heavens. Twin gods issue a challenge to each other, to see which will prevail, nature or nurture. Each chooses a pair of twins - Nature leaves them be, while Nurture incarnates herself in the world to guide her twins. But when the challenge comes, which pair will prevail? My rating: 3.5/5 My commentary:

I picked this one up because I thought the summary looked interesting. A metaphysical struggle between primordial beings, abstracted into two pairs of children and a very real challenge. What is actually the most important, the traits inherent to a person or the way you are taught and the things that you learn? The execution of the book, however, left something to be desired for me. I'm not sure the commentary it's making is as interesting as it thinks it is - and the overall analysis of its core conceit felt shallow at best.

The story is narrated by Nurture, who alternates between raising her own twins and spying on Nature's. Nurture's twins are born to a nobleman, a boy and a girl raised in the lap of luxury in their fantasy-European world. Nature's twins are born to a dying mother on an abandoned island somewhere in the fantasy-Middle East. It isn't quite real history, but it's not not real history either, which is sort of where the trouble begins. More on that in a bit. The two pairs of twins seem often unevenly matched because of that - Nurture's twins get more focus earlier on, whereas we never see Nature's response to his twins, just Nurture's view on them. And, indeed, it seems that the narrative isn't really that interested in one half of each set of twins. Specifically, the boys. A big deal is made of Nurture's girl, Bradamante, and her desire to be a knight; Ricardetto, the boy, gets far less focus. Same with Nature's girl, Marfisa, who takes the lion's share of the story, while the boy straight up disappears for a while.

And the reason for that is that gender plays a big part of this story. Both Bradamante and Marfisa want to be knights, want to be strong and fighters in the way of so many women in fantasy fiction. Bradamante, because she wants to prove herself; Marfisa out of trauma at being kidnapped and enslaved. Both have to deal with misogyny from their respective cultures. Maybe I'm jumping at shadows here, but it seems like the Middle Eastern-inspired culture Marfisa is born into is shown as being worse, harsher, more violent than Bradamante's European-inspired one. Which is unfortunate. What's also unfortunate is that this conflict in both storylines hardly goes further than the whole 'I wanna be strong like the boys!' and 'I'm gonna have to work twice as hard to get the same recognition a guy might get'. Not bad, per se, but it's very Baby's First Gender Imbalance. And we don't get much of the reverse with Ricardetto and the other boy - sure, Ricardetto likes to embroider and tell stories, but it's not given the same focus as Bradamante's story. The author here is transmasc, which goes a way to explaining exactly what's going on here - I get the impulse to identify with the masculine girl rather than the feminine boy. But it feels like a huge missed opportunity.

All that said, it's not like the book has nothing to give. My criticisms above aside, there was some subtlety in how the Nature versus Nurture debate played out. While we see Nurture constantly fretting about whether she's smothering her kids, and her scorn at Nature neglecting his, there's other aspects that aren't as obviously highlighted. That Nurture's twins are acting by their natures, and Nature's twins are nurtured by other humans, isn't quite highlighted in as many words, which I appreciated. Overall, it's a good story...I just didn't think it was as good as it could be.

Next, something completely different - it's Rick and Morty!

[bending-sickle]

Alex Myers - goodbye, Riverdale…

[jwood718]

A View from the Front Lines: 

“It’s not just trans kids: Republicans are coming after trans adults like me, too,” by Alex Myers.  The Guardian: Opinion

“...one receptionist told me curtly that the doctor didn’t see ‘transgendereds’. Another hung up on me. A third said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

The author on the experience of attaining care in different states 20 years ago, and what they think the anti-trans legislation today is really after:

“On Thursday 13 April, Missouri’s attorney general issued an emergency ruling that restricts access to gender-affirming care for both minors and adults, under the guise that hormone therapy is an ‘experimental use’ rather than an FDA-approved treatment...this move by Missouri’s attorney general is the first attack on gender-affirming care for transgender adults; assuredly, it won’t be the last.

The first time I tried to get access to gender-affirming care was in 2003. I was 24 years old and lived in Rhode Island...I told my doctor, who was kind and sympathetic and said she had no idea about the protocols for administration of testosterone to a transgender person...Rhode Island is not a large state, but still: three [doctors who provide trans care]...I called them all. Only one would see me, and only after I had gone to therapy and had a psychologist certify that I was ready to transition.

[”Gender identity disorder” is] the term Missouri’s AG uses in his emergency ruling and, in doing so, trying to return to the idea that being transgender is synonymous with being mentally ill...The narrative here isn’t really about a diagnosis or medical legitimacy – it certainly isn’t about the health of the transgender person...

...I hope people will see the mounting pattern here. The first wave of legislation came for transgender youth. This next wave is coming for transgender adults. Put these restrictions next to the rulings against abortion and you can see a larger picture of bodily control. Who gets to make medical decisions about their bodies?..

...It’s time to strip away the rhetoric and recognize what’s at stake: our rights to control our bodies, our rights to control our identities. And I’m not just talking about transgender people.”

Full story

[snoozingrabbits]

Ugghgghhhh somone get me testosterone please PLEASEEEE I need to look like these guys

I NEED TO LOOK LIKE ALL OF THEM UGHHHHH SOMEONE LET ME BE A GUY IN A 2010'S SLENDERVERSE SERIES RIGHT NOW

[glowl0]

brainrot

[smoshidiot]

s m o s h !

[twizel]

quick post shitty au height chart and SCRAM

[cicadasmoth]

doodles

[zombehlovejuice]

that one recent trend

thought id do it before everyone stopped

[jaymerrickscamera]

oh boy oh boy I have a Collection.. [IF U WANT U CAN GIVES ME REQUEST I LOVE DOING THESE AUSGHD]

[wasteworm]

aggie hab that i think turned out cute (+ alex)

[crabmaster64]

Im gonna show u alll the slender pomies ive made in pony town

Yes ive made exactly ten, most have been recent

[justlikebullets]

7/2/2010

reblogs are appreciated