#books about New York

[communistkenobi]

"Sex" is commonly used to refer to a person's status as a man or woman based on biological factors. Although sex reflects a person's biology, as opposed to gender, which is generally considered to be socially constructed, the biological aspect of the body that determines a person's sex has not been legally or medically resolved. Traditionally, a person's legal sex is established by the sex that the birth attendant places on the birth certificate. Thus, for infants born with unambiguous external genitalia, the external genitalia typically control the sex determination. If the genitalia appear ambiguous, sex is assigned, in part, based on sex-role stereotypes. The presence of an "adequate" penis in an XY infant leads to the label male, while the absence of an "adequate" penis leads to the label female. A genetic (XY) male with an "inadequate" penis (one that physicians believe will be incapable of penetrating a female's vagina when the child reaches adulthood) is "turned into" a female even if it means destroying his reproductive capacity. A genetic (XX) female who may be capable of reproducing, however, is generally assigned the female sex to preserve her reproductive capability, regardless of the appearance of her external genitalia. If her phallus is considered to be too large to meet the guidelines for a typical clitoris, it is surgically reduced, even if it means that her capacity for satisfactory sex may be reduced or destroyed. In other words, men are defined based on their ability to penetrate females, and females are defined based on theis ability to procreate. Sex, therefore, can be viewed as a social construct rather than a biological fact.

— The Road Less Traveled: The Problem with Binary Sex Categories by Julie A Greenberg in Transgender Rights (2006)

interesting to note that 1) the introduction of chromosomal information doesn’t actually provide more “biologically accurate” precision in sex assignment, only a more complex set of administrative and medical instructions on the procedures of assignment, 2) the only concern in sex assignment is maintaining the distinction that “females make babies” and “males penetrate females to induce pregnancy.”

This is why the idea that “sex is biological” or that we can just drill down to find the sex atom of the human body, be that chromosomes or gametes or whatever else, is premised on the notion that sex assignment is simply a record of a self-evident reality, not the construction of the category of sex as the mythological foundation of cis-heterosexual reproduction

[brittanybwrites]

Next read about New York (though it’s currently hurting me in the feels)

[rearviewghost]

one thing that really fascinates me about alex is his devotion to art – and more specifically, how he chooses to get some inspiration from scientific works of what he aims to implement in his art. every time one gets to examine some of his lyrics, or even how he explains these lyrics in an interview, they can be greeted by some bits of actual scientific information. an example is how he named his taquería on the moon with the term “information-action ratio”, coined by the critic neil postman, and referenced it in the song four out of five, something that might also indicate an interesting articulation with postman's concept. the line “cute new places keep on popping up”, for example, can express his well-known sardonic discontent regarding the flood of information being generated and transmitted over and over and, as much as it seems visually appealing and does give the idea of benefiting from advanced technologies, it doesn't really add anything substantial to the receiver's critical thinking – and worse, it distances the information receiver from the sender in a communication channel, according to postman.

what i'm saying with this interpretation is, it's known that alex is enamoured with the idea of gathering a bunch of references and condensing them into a mixture of metaphors in his writing, but it's so thrilling how, at times, we can find some bits of science inside of it – and it's even more exciting, just like playing a puzzle game, to find these references and analyse them by doing a similar research to what he did to create his works.

[franken-shits]

Thinking about punk herstory again...

[itsyagirljaz]

[greaseonmymouth]

logged into Netflix for the first time in a while looking for something brain dead I can watch while I zone out before I go to bed and Netflix immediately hits me with “suggestions for tonight! Explore personalised picks” so I go yeah sure why not and the first film on the list is 2004 classic The Day After Tomorrow. I’ve never felt more called out

[kyistell]

*cough cough* I heard someone say Baseball NY and Hockey NJ?

@alaskashigh *points aggressively* YOU!!!! I wanted to do this literally all day since I saw your post!!!!

I think this is like such a fun dynamic, whether it's shipped or just their normal bullshit (personally I don't ship them but I can agree with those who do ship them, they are very cute together)

They are arguing about who gets the backyard probably, a very common argument once the baseball season pops up I'd imagine (and I am), half the time the only reason they stop is because of a meeting lol

[madeline-kahn]

Music in Film: The Sun is Also a Star (2019) dir. Ry Russo-Young

[hell-river]

I also read Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry, which is a historical fiction with one of the most heart breaking trans stories I’ve ever read and Parry somehow also made it a happy ending? This book made me stare at a wall for five real life minutes. It was one of the most well done multi-pov/multi-plot-becomes-one-plot books I’ve ever read. The vibes were incredible, the characters were incredible, and I really don’t know how it doesn’t have more of a following. Idk much about New York, but Parry’s descriptions of 1890s Coney Island and New York made it the absolutely perfect place to set this story.

[secret-restaurant-press]

Nate Hoil's 24 Hour Monologue: Collected Poems 2017-2023

Nate Hoil's four psychological poetry books have finally been collected into one 270page volume. For fans of Anne Sexton and Charles Bukowki. Avaliable through Secret Restaurant Press.

[questwithambition]

Weekly(ish) update - 18th June 2023

I’ve moved out of my uni accommodation, saying goodbye to the city that has taught me so much after the past five years. So many other goodbyes: friends, lecturers, dance partners and teachers, silent goodbyes to the library and the spot where I always worked. I am glad to be moving forward though, it felt like it was time to move on.

[communistkenobi]

reading the intro to decolonizing trans/gender 101 this morning by b. binaohan and one thing that has been particularly insightful for me is their description of the closet as a place only white people get to inhabit - not only because it is premised on having access to a private sphere (whose origin lies in the private property relationship of colonialism & capitalism, a type of ownership only white people have historically had access to), but also that the body itself can be private, a site of individual expression that you both 1) have control over and 2) a desire to assert a liberated, enclosed, individual agency separate from the social fabric of your life (a privilege that, again, only white people have full access to).

I think this diagnosis is very helpful in revealing that a lot of white discourse about transgender identity is, if not outright biologically-, then bodily-essentialist - that gender is expressed and mediated through the individual, that the decision "to come out as trans" is a decision that an individual makes, that being transgender is a wholly private revelation disconnected from the history of gender as a social system of control, that being trans is really not a social relationship to gender, that if you don't "come out of the closet" you are not "doing gender." it reinforces cisgenderism as a natural default, something you don't do but rather simply are, in contrast to transgenderism, a type of gender expression you can only do, and only do alone by emerging from a private realm into a public one. this is in contrast to, as binoahan puts it, "being a non-white person in this world, is to immediately be rendered available for public consumption."

This is not to say that white trans people (or any trans person who engages in the practice of "coming out") are making up the social exclusion, harassment, and violence they face by publicly transitioning or announcing their transhood, but that this imagined white universal trajectory of transhood is one of individual self-actualization, a breaking away from the world to be your own individuated self - to be liberated from the world around you, to forsake an original set of (insufficient, backwards, hostile) communities for a liberated, individuated queer one. This is, again, the product of a white imaginary and a trajectory of identity only white trans people have access to. Again returning to binaohan, "because my experiences in either the trans or queer community have made it very clear that the 'community' is hostile to my existence. and so the request to sacrifice my current communities, the communities to which I properly belong, just to fulfill some (imaginary) obligation to a community that regularly lets me know how much i don't belong, seems ludicrous. but it is not just that: it creates a situation whereby not only is the white trans/gender narrative normalized but your value/goodness as a human being becomes dependent for how well you are able to locate yourself within that narrative."

[wishesofeternity]

“Throughout Henry’s exile, Margaret (Beaufort) seems to have been a faithful correspondent, keeping her son abreast of affairs in England. Though none of their letters from this period have survived, it is highly probable that they contained sentiments similar to those she expressed in her later letters to him: she often gave him her blessing, and on one occasion, in a reflection of her affection towards him, she assured Henry that ‘I trust you shall well perceive I shall deal towards you as a kind, loving mother’. At this time, however, Margaret was clearly considering the possibility of bringing about his return, though she also recognised that this would take time. As her standing with Edward IV improved, so too did her confidence to effect a reconciliation. If she could continue to win the king’s trust, Henry’s foreign exile could potentially be brought to an end.

By the beginning of June 1482, her efforts appear to have produced some results when Edward agreed that Henry could receive a share of his grandmother the dowager Duchess of Somerset’s lands to the value of £400 (£276,500) if he were to return ‘to be in the grace and favour of the king’s highness’. Edward signed the agreement on 3 June, attaching his official seal. A draft still survives and can be found among Margaret’s papers. The groundwork for Henry to return home had been laid. Edward’s grip on the reins of power was unchallenged, and with two surviving sons, his dynasty appeared to be assured—Margaret’s son was no longer a threat. Thus it was that, on an unknown date, Edward—curiously, using the same piece of paper on which Margaret’s second husband had been created Earl of Richmond—drafted a pardon for her son. Margaret began to hope that she and Henry would soon be reunited.”  

- Nicola Tallis, “The Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch”

[ilistentogirlinred]

that's certainly a chapter of a book

[rustchild]

currently jonesing hard for gritty but not gratuitously depressing queer media set in the immigrant working class milieu of 1930s new york. like if james cagney had kissed that priest in angels with dirty faces. or if paul newmann kissed that twink in the sting. for example.

[kindest-way-to-say]

writing annotations in a book for my friend to read later. texting him when i finished the book he lent me last week. talking about our favorite parts and tropes we enjoy. making fun of shitty writing and bad characters together. this is what love is.