#considering the subject matter of this and the taboo-ness of it

[noven-warsh]

I know this concept is small but I find it interesting when characters who end up raping other characters are shown to not understand boundaries and consent on a general level, like, at all

Like, two characters I can think off the top of my head currently are Yoru from Chainsaw Man and Jimmy from Mouthwashing. We see lots of instances of Yoru dulling down consent- two of them being how she possesses Asa's body and threatens her to make weapons and go to war with her otherwise she'll kill the rest of her human brain, and her justifying the objectification of her own children by saying that they're her "property" and therefore she's the one consenting about their fates. Jimmy also shows disregard for consent with how he forces the painkillers down Curly's throat (especially considering Anya's views of giving him the pills) and beats him to shut him up, and how he comes up with the plan to drug Swansea so that he can freely coerce Daisuke into crawling into the vents Swansea warned him about.

It adds another layer of depth to their character and the heinous actions they do/are revealed to have done later in the story, and asks the viewers the question of "If these characters show a blatant disregard for other people's consent and boundaries, what's stopping them from forcing themselves on other people?"

[peachyrm]

i feel like a lot of ppl on this site see a callout post for BTS, look at all of the problematic things they did in the past, and immediately ‘cancel’ them or see that as a valid reason to finally hate them or kpop in general, without considering the context of the situations or how the kpop industry works.

im definitely not here to defend the things they said or did, because it WAS gross. but those things are also from 3-5 years ago, have apologized for or had no control over whether it happened or not.

this post serves as a ‘clearing their name’ type of post, and will actually take a look into the problematic things theyve done and how they dealt with it, along with all the positive things they have done in the past few years. it will be pretty lengthy and will have lots of sources/screenshots. before i get into this though, i want to say that no one is obligated to like BTS, or forgive them for what they/their label did. you reserve the right to feel the way you feel, however that may be. that being said, this post is for people who never saw the apologies, who vaguely know who BTS are and saw only bad things about them, who want to get into BTS but aren’t sure if they’re extremely problematic, and more.

starting off, i want to explain the context behind the links of this post. i would link the original, but op has deleted it. so, obviously, yes bts did do all of the above. but like i said before, it was 3-5 (now, technically 6) years ago. when BTS debuted in 2013, they were all 21 or under. 15-16 year old Jungkook being the youngest, and Seokjin being the oldest at 21. they were merely teenagers and on top of this, had no or very little control of their self image. the hairstyles & photoshoots, the boys had no control over. bighit and bts’ stylists are in charge of these things. if you want someone to be angry at, be angry at bighit, bts’ label company. this includes RM’s hairstyle back in the ‘No More Dream’ era / early debut days, Suga’s dreads, and any other hairstyle, clothing, or photoshoot that caused controversy. (in case anyone, who isn’t familiar with kpop, is confused; kpop label companies usually control everything their idols do. from what they wear, to what their songs are about, to if they’re even allowed to date. it’s a very disgusting industry that has a history of abuse, but that’s an entirely different subject i could get into.)

here is an article where BigHit apologizes for the antisemitism + the ‘bombing’ shirt Jimin wore, and they explicitly state that “the band members were ‘in no way responsible’ for the controversy.” which further proves my point that the boys had no control over what they wore/how they looked.

here is a thread about RM’s racist behavior in the past, and admitting + apologizing for what he did, including how he has changed certain lyrics of songs because they could be seen as (or were) misogynist. to this day, RM hates and regrets how his hair looked at the time.

in case anyone doesn’t want to read the entire thread, RM says this: “As I went through the year 2016 I came to think about that. My words or behaviors, regardless of my intentions, could cause troubles or hurt others feelings. In the process, I thought I need to hold responsibility for that and I need to think about such things. What I said or did would not be undone. I thought so. Then I learned how to admit myself. [...] Anyways, to become a better person, I need to hold responsibility for what I do. I need to change my mindset. I need to change my way of thinking if it’s wrong. I learned I need to hear from many people. I mean, I came to think like that. Now when I do something, I think, ‘how would people feel about my act?’” 

again, this is not excuses for what they did, but rather how/why it happened or how they had no choice in the matter & what they had to say about it afterwards. BTS are living, growing people who have acknowledged their mistakes and apologized. in RM’s speech at the U.N. he says this: “Maybe I made a mistake yesterday, but yesterday’s me is still me. I am who I am today, with all my faults. Tomorrow I might be a tiny bit wiser, and that’s me, too. These faults and mistakes are what I am, making up the brightest stars in the constellation of my life. I have come to love myself for who I was, who I am, and who I hope to become.”

since the apology part of this post is mostly over, i wanted to talk about the good things that bts has done in the past few years. things like their continuous support of the LGBT community, the powerful messages in their music, the bending of the ‘typical kpop style’, etc.

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over the years and as their popularity grew, BTS have actually managed to seemingly take more control over what they stand for and how they present themselves and their music. since around 2017, BTS have made a very impactful social stance with their string of albums & their concept: “Love Yourself”. for people who don’t know, this concept consists of three albums over the course of 2016-2018 and are in order as follows: LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her', LOVE YOURSELF 轉 'Tear' LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer'

the summarized version of the stories are love at first sight, the failing/one-sided-ness of said love, and then learning how to love and accept yourself before you are fully able to love others. along with this concept came the partnership with the anti-violence campaign, UNICEF, who work to protect young people from all over the world. the entire album concept consistently promotes self-love and acceptance, something that is not very explored in kpop or even western pop music in general. while some of the songs in “LY: Her” use female pronouns, almost all the rest of them across all the albums use gender neutral or no pronouns. this was done intentionally by RM (who writes/produces a majority of their songs), as he believes “feelings/love transcend genders, cultures, and barriers between people.” the title song of “LY: Her”, “DNA”, (as stated in the screenshot) further expresses this idea with the lyrics: “None of this is a coincidence Because we’re the two who found our destiny - I only focus on you You steer me a little harder The DNA of the genesis wants you This is inevitable, I love us We are the only true lovers”

and in “Serendipity”, as well:

“The universe has moved for us Without missing a single thing Our happiness was meant to be Cuz you love me, and I love you”

while, obviously, there is one ‘her’ pronoun in the song, most of it expresses what RM says. and bighit being bighit, im sure they had some say in how the lyrics were presented, esp since it was the title song. what i’m trying to say is that i truly believe BTS are doing their best to support the lgbt community, even with the tight restrictions that their label and the kpop genre puts on them. being on the topic of LGBT+ and support of the community, here is suga pretty much saying he’s bi. + and of course, his iconic lyrics in “Cypher Pt.3″

here is the bisexual flag colors in j-hope’s music video for his song “Daydream”.

RM saying he liked “Same Love” twice as much after reading about the lyrics, and Suga outright saying “Nothing is wrong. Everyone is equal.” in the first screenshot.

Jungkook’s love and support for troye sivan + Jimin wearing jeans with lyrics of troye sivan’s “Youth” on them

bts defying gender norms over and over and over.

fondness & friendship with/of multiple lgbt artists

RM referencing the film “Moonlight” in the song “4 O’Clock”

RM wrote the lyrics for GLAM’s song “XXO”,  that say “Are you a boy? Girl? I don’t care, passion is the key”

Jungkook and Jimin covering the song “We Don’t Talk Anymore” and not changing the pronouns.

an excerpt from RM’s speech at the U.N. ;  “Tell me your story. I want to hear your voice, and I want to hear your conviction. No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin color, gender identity: speak yourself.” + full transcript here.

and these are just things i can think of off the top of my head. as for their political stance and social messages in their music, & talking about other things considered taboo in kpop (such as mental health/illness), here you go:

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suga talking about (his) mental health and struggles in various songs on his mixtape.

their ENTIRE “IDOL” music video is basically a response to how people stereotype them/the kpop genre & have said that they are “too westernized”. the song includes a “traditional African-Korean sound”, the boys wearing hanboks/traditional korean clothing, on top of lots of korean history references & symbolism, and how they take pride in what they do. here is a really good video analyzing & explaining the mv. heres 3 more posts explaining why it sounds/looks the way it does, and how BTS did it intentionally. in case nobody has seen/heard the song, here is the first verse: “You can call me artist (artist) You can call me idol (idol) No matter what you call me I don’t care I’m proud of it”

the song “Epiphany” on “LY: Answer”, is (as you can imagine) a song about having an epiphany about loving yourself. the lyrics are pretty self-explanatory. the chorus: “I’m the one I should love in this world Shining me, precious soul of mine I finally realized so I love me Not so perfect but so beautiful I’m the one I should love”

RM talking about his mental health/depression in “Forever Rain” on his mixtape “mono.” + as well as in “Reflection.” the outro of the song which i wanted to add, is just a repeated “I wish I could love myself.”

the lyrics to the song “I’m Fine” on LY: Answer express being able to love yourself without relying on somebody to fix you or make you happier, because only you can complete yourself.

the outro to the album, “Answer: Love Myself” concludes the Love Yourself album series, and has extremely beautiful lyrics. the full translation here, if anyone wants to read all of them. it’s about, as im sure you can guess, loving yourself even with all your flaws and mistakes & striving to be a better person each day.

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SO TLDR; BTS absolutely have made mistakes, like every person does, but have apologized and learned from those mistakes. they have moved on, and have done more good in this world than bad. they have grown over the past 6 years and continue to grow every single day. as a young gay fan, their message and their presence means a lot to me. that fact that they’re so popular and use that power to spread kindness & self-acceptance (no matter Who you are), is really important especially in today’s society. doubly to youth who, themselves, struggle with mental illness and family issues, school/education, and any typical problem young people face in their lives. i have struggled with self-hate, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, trauma, the whole ordeal. their songs have helped me heal, even if only a little. and they give me another reason to keep going everyday. even if you don’t like their music or the boys themselves, there is no denying the positive impact they’ve made on millions of people, adults and children alike. BTS are absolutely not perfect, but they acknowledge this and do their best to BE the best they can be.

[poisonbooknerd]

The Art of Worship by Kilby Blades

Description:

Teenage virgin Reed Whitney stands to inherit a cache of lovemaking wisdom that has been passed down through generations. There's only one problem: the knowledge is shared directly from father to son. Sorely lacking in confidence and skill in the bedroom, Reed is desperate to please his girlfriend, Aubrey. But can he survive the awkward embarrassment of instruction from  his dad, and learn the art of worship?

* * * * *

"Son, you are here to receive a precious gift. It is one that my father bestowed upon me, and that his father bestowed upon him—one I will pass on to you now and expect that you give to your own sons when it is time."

"You are a Whitney, and were therefore born with certain natural—endowments—that predispose you to success with women. But, there is a beauty in sex which, if you could only grow to appreciate it—an art which, if you could only commit to learning it—will bring you and the women in your life such divine fulfillment as most mortals never know. It is the art of worship, Reed, and it has very little to do with sex."

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

First off, NEVER HAVE I EVER heard of parents talking this way to their children about sex. Like. Never. In fact, most of my (meager) knowledge about sex comes from books I've read, movies and tv shows I've seen, and the little research I've done myself.

I truly want this conversation to be taken for granted... as in something that everybody does. This book, while at times a little weird, was funny and approached sex with both an adult point of view and a young adult point of view. Now mind, they are eighteen so they are considered adults in America, but that shoudn't matter. The characters in this story are merely vessels that deliver a an important message: TALK ABOUT SEX WITH YOUR KIDS.

Kilby Blades made me laugh while simultaneously providing me with knowledge about sex. Which seemed impossible. I was actually really hesitant to read this book because of the subject matter and just everything about it. But honestly I'm glad I did. It kind o opened my eyes to the fact that perhaps more discussions should be had about sex and its permutations. And not just focus on the pro abstinence lessons being taught in public schools.

I forget where I heard it but a quote I quite like about sex goes something like this: I don't understand what is humans' obsession with sex. It's considered a taboo subject but then we put it everywhere and one can't hide from i.

i am a firm believer of taking away the mystery of anything. It makes whatever it is seem a thousand times less evil and less enticing. It takes away the forbidden-ness of it.

Maybe school districts should have this book on hold for everyone. I know I'm going to be referencing it for years to come.

[transamorousnetwork]

The Best Way To Be Awesome And A Minority

WARNING: Contents of this story may be triggering.

In our opinion, a person can't for long explore transness without furthering exploring race. Both topics are near-identical.

And while we prefer not to refer to ourselves in certain, socially-accepted ways, it is this socially-accepted identification which prompts our writing.

You see, before 2015 or so, we identified as a black male human being.

However, since that year, we've discovered some number of things which make that identification irrelevant. That is, unless, we feel the impulse to write about topics like this one.

Then that identification adds credibility.

Today, we are writing about our blackness, our maleness and our cis-ness because sharing our experience might help just one person. If it helps just one person, we consider the time investment a win.

Transgender is the new black

Humanity continues to expand into itself. What that means is, the potential that ishumanity, is being explored byhumanity. Some of what humanity discovers about itself shocks itself. That shock often causes reprehensible-seeming human behaviors.

Eventually though, everything balances. And the exploration continues merrily.

It took a while for example, for humanity to begin seeing "blacks" as worthy enough to merit rights and privileges "whites" enjoy, at least under law, if not socially and culturally. We are putting "blacks" and "whites" in quotes, simply because that distinction is a fiction. There really is no appreciable difference between a human described as "black" and one described as "white".

Indeed all that stuff was made up specifically to divide humanity. Briefly: In the "new world" wealthy land owners created the idea of "black" and "white" to cause poor "white people" to reject their economic and human peers who happened to have darker skin. For a time in colonial America, many "blacks" and "whites" who were poor, lived closely with and felt solidarity towards each other. They slept together. Ate together. Had sex with each other. They married. They ran off together. They saw each other as comrades.

^^Photo Jose Escobar

That is, until the wealthy divided them with this made-up distinction.

Why? This multicultural group far outnumbered wealthy landowners. That was a problem. So the wealthy concocted a new belief: whiteness.

Over time poor "white people" began believing they were better than poor "black people".

The rest is history.

And that is enough history.

· · ·

Our point is, weno longer see ourselves through many false lenses which have no relevance to who we really are. But many people still do. Even though they are fundamentally no different than we.

Most humans identify themselves by something which separates them from the rest of their kind. Hard to deny, right?

We don't have a problem with that.

Except that while distinctions can bring people together, the "coming together" is always also an exclusion: those who are not distinctly similar become outsiders.

Comparison happens. And judgement. In judging, insecurity rises. "Judge not lest ye be judged" is a reference to that. Insecurity always fosters fear. And in that fear and insecurity one always finds external life circumstances that justify one's fearful and insecure feelings.

Whether you're black, trans, gay, latino an original people, or, in today’s, world a cis-het-white male, nearly everyone goes in and out of fear and insecurity.

We suggest being transgender is the new black when it comes to social justice and equal rights. That's because transgender people experience today, socially, what blacks did in the 50s and sixties and earlier. There are differences, of course. Rarely was a black person shunned by their family, for example, the way many transgender people are.

^^Photo: Photo: Ken Treloar

It's a common, although unnatural human reaction to try to "one-up" one's historical suffering. It's as though humans see suffering as a badge of honor. It isn't. So when we compare the black experience with the transgender one, we are not saying they are equal. What we're saying is transgender and black people face many similar struggles. And in that similarity can be gained huge leverage towards positive change.

But neither can do that while standing in fear and insecurity.

For example, segments of both groups appropriate self-referential slurs and recast them as terms of empowerment.  "Nigga" is the most obvious from the black community. "Tranny" and "bitch" are similar in some parts of the transgender community. The more impoverished the subgroup, the more empowerment such appropriation seems to be. That's been our experience.

^^“Blacks” taking on such identity have participated in their own oppression. (Photo: bimo mentara)

And, while "nigga" as a term of empowerment in the black community is well known, "tranny" and "bitch"  as similar empowering terms may not be as familiar to some transgender community members. Among transgender people of color, however, it is far more common and understood.

Of course, enormous experience diversity exists throughout both groups. And, while it may be taboo to acknowledge, it can't be ignored that intense inter-group hatred also exists within both groups. It's odd to us that members of an oppressed group would turn around and oppress one another. Behavior we see between in-group members sometimes rivals that which comes from those who are recognized haters of said group.

^^Two trasgender women going at each other

This is so consistent, one has to wonder why more transgender and black people aren't more understanding of the people who hate them. For the same insecurity and fear transgender and black people feel in their lives, is identical to that being experienced in the minds and hearts of those who hate them, don't understand them or who refuse to acknowledge their very real existence.

Human is human.

It doesn't matter what triggers fear and insecurity. It is a fact some "white, cis, males and women" feel fear and insecurity when faced with both the "transgender movement" and the "black people". It doesn't matter why they feel frightened and insecure. The fact is, that's what they are feeling.

And if you think about any time youfelt those strong emotions, you'll remember how difficult it was for you to think straight. Let alone open-mindedly.

If you're triggered right now, you may be feeling that lack of ability now.

Now we're not denying the very real power and leverage other groups have over transgender people and "black people". Our experience with the few people we've worked with however tells a compelling story.

The story is corroborated by our own life experience: A belief is a powerful thing. Humans are far more than human. When an individual human does something about the beliefs they have, instead of directly confronting their life experience, their experiences faithfully reflect work done at the belief level.

^^Photo: Steve Johnson

In other words, when a person examines then changes their beliefs about life rather than confronting life experience directly, their life experience begins reflecting the newly held beliefs!

This is not the case at the group level. Groups, for example, have a hard time accomplishing what we're sharing here because individuals comprise groups and individuals are the main event, not the group. No group of people shares life experience. Each life experience is unique. So making changes of the type we're describing at the group level is not possible.

But when an individual chooses to change their beliefs about anything, the reality of the thing that is the subject of the belief changes!

This is why we do not advocate humans joining other humans, even though that seems like the expedient method of change.

An individual human is always more powerful than millions of humans grouping together when that human becomes aware of what they are underneath their humanity and exercises that in the direction of what they are wanting.

But when a human lives in fear, insecurity and vulnerability, they have no power at all. They are literally at the mercy of their life experience. In that, it seems their world and the people in it have far more power than they do. And while they remain in fear, insecurity and vulnerability, other people do have more power. And so, it makes sense so many would want to join forces with each other, in order to even the odds.

We're not arguing against joining others in pursuit of what you want. We're just offering perhaps a new perspective for individuals, which can make individuals more powerful.

Whether they join with others or stand alone.

"Black" and "transgender" are deeply disempowering

A person who identifies with an identity such that that identity disappears becoming part of their "what is"-ness, the belief and identity also diminishes who they are into a single dimension. A belief held long enough becomes "just what is." It is no longer questioned. It is no longer thought about. It's just there in the background. There, in the background it shapes all life experience to be consistent with it.

That's how powerful beliefs are. They are alive and are literally the stuff of life.

When a human creates for themselves, or takes on a belief such as this, they lose their connection with their natural invincibility and instead experiences directly the disempowering nature of the belief.

When a person identifies as "black", for example, they take upon themselves all that is conveyed by that. Both the good and the bad and all the experience lumped under that story/belief. Same with transgender identity.

^^Taking on labels can empower. Usually though they greatly diminish one’s real identity.

A "black" person therefore acts in cahoots with those on the other side of that belief. He or she reinforces perspectives held by "the other side" as well as those on their ownside. It doesn't matter if that "black" person is financially, materially or socially successful. They become a function of everything it "is" to be black.

Taking on the belief, they look out in life and identify with experiences of "blacks". They look at people attacking "blacks" and identify with the vulnerability of those being attacked. Identifying with that vulnerability, they get angry. Anger is a natural response to feeling vulnerable because vulnerability is decidedly not what any human is.

But the moment that vulnerability is embraced –– and it happens in milliseconds –– life experience begins reflecting that. Held onto long enough, life experience will reflect more and more overt experiences consistent with being vulnerable.

Until the person chooses a more empowering belief.

A personal example may clarify.

· · ·

We remember when very young, after our parents' divorce, our "mother" moved us from California to the east coast. She needed support from her family as a single black mother of three boys. We (the we that is Perry) loathed that move. Our love of California was absolute. Leaving it filled us with resentment.

Arriving in Virginia, we were immediately treated poorly by people who looked like us. Our manner of speaking, our scholastic excellence, our west coast behavior attracted attention that was stark in comparison to how people who didn't look like us –– "white people" –– treated us in California.

Thus anger, resentment, then fear and more vulnerability fomented in us. Did the life experiences generate the feelings and beliefs? Or vice versa? To gain clarity, lets back up a bit.

In California for a time we lived in a black community. Our family experience was not the best and so we developed beliefs quite consistent with being vulnerable and fearful. Taking those beliefs outside the house, we had met people who looked like us which reinforced those beliefs. We were bullied, got into fights, were attacked by dogs, etc.

There's a saying: every old sock meets an old shoe. It applies to beliefs and experience: every belief will draw to it a corresponding experience.

Later, we moved to an all-white community as our prosperity increased. We felt relief leaving an environment we interpreted as hostile (not recognizing the connection between beliefs and reality).

There, we made friends. Everyone around us was "white". Life got better. Our feelings of insecurity and fear soothed as our family situation improved. Or seemed like it. We were there long enough so that we developed a sense of peace, security and comfort, even as our parents' relationship deteriorated.

When the divorce happened and it was clear we'd be moving, our old beliefs resurfaced. Landing in Virginia rekindled more underlying fears. Every old sock meets an old shoe: experiences with "black people" consistent with those beliefs returned.

We attempted to compensate becoming proficient in martial arts. It helped shift old beliefs into new more empowering ones. But the momentum of old beliefs weren't done with us.

One day while delivering papers on our paper route, a gang of "black" youths cornered us in an apartment complex and attempted to rob us. We had no money, but the experience was insightful.

It wasn't until three months ago (some 40-plus years later) that we saw how our beliefs created all our youth experiences, leaving us with a profound sense of empowerment.

What insight!

Recognizing how our beliefs created our life experiences inspired new possibilities in us.

Those possibilities implemented in the last five years leave us where we are today. Today where we no longer feel the need to identify with labels created by those seeking to soothe their insecurity by keeping us in our vulnerability.

We now look into the world through these insights. What we see are humans doing their best to make sense of a world around them, not understanding how much leverage they have over that world as an individual. So they join into groups and fight against that which they want changed, not knowing that in their fighting they are allying with their oppressor.

Again, we're not saying don't join groups and don't work to change the status quo.

What we are saying is, individuals can be far more productive than they are when they assume identities (beliefs about themselves) that, paradoxically both give empowerment to the individual and legitimizes within the person their "less than" status.

We've noticed an interesting phenomena around this topic among transgender women of color and trans-attracted men of color. Before we detail the peculiarity, we'll provide some context.

· · ·

Three years ago, we launched The Transamorous Network. It was an exploratory project. Through it we intended to help men who are attracted to transgender women and transgender women interested in having wholesome relationships with cis-men. We felt we could help soothe the struggle both parties have finding love in their lives.

Our own trans-attraction, and our struggle to find meaningful, wholesome relationships with transgender women legitimized our desire. We believed our approach, which has eliminated the struggle weexperience through our trans attraction, could be helpful for others. Others who resonate with our message.

^^ A meme from our work at The Transamorous Network

Over the years we received emails from different kinds of people. Not just trans-attracted men, but women and transpeople wanting help. We consider these people, people who are attracted to transgender people, part of a "broadened" transgender community. All of them were relieved to find a website like ours, one that assures them their trans-attraction is wholesome and normal.

Not long after launching the website, we began interviewing people in this demographic on YoutTube and through a podcast. Then we began a Facebook Live show talking about more urgent issues our audiences was interested in from our unique perspective only.

From the beginning we've always approach each topic from the same accurate perspective. This perspective can be frightening and off-putting for people deeply immersed in the struggles of their lives. So we have some experience hearing the thoughts and beliefs people in the broader transgender community have about themselves, their struggles and why they think they struggle.

Curiously, a far larger share of men of color seem to comprise the population of trans-attracted males. In one private Facebook group of 100 such men, 60 of the men are men of color, for example.

When we look at that, we believe it represents an "entanglement" between male people of color and transgender people. But that's another story.

Our perspective in our content is highly confronting to transgender and black people. What we are essentially saying is if you change how you think about yourself and your world, then take action from those new perspectives, your world will easily change. But if you try to change the world first, before changing the way you think about it, you are going to have a frustrating, painful and unhappy life experience.

The reason we believe this is so confronting to these two particularly oppressed groups is because they can not fathom that they are at the center of all they are experiencing. And, being in the center of it all, they have all the power to change their experience.

^^Excerpt from a letter from a trans-attracted man.

Consider a person who believes in "man" and "woman" so deeply, the belief disappears into their consciousness, becoming simply "what is". Then that person is confronted with what they see as a "man" who claims to be a "woman". The dissonance, incredulity and shock of such an experience blows away this deeply held concept of life, even though life is sitting right there in front of their eyes, telling that person that their belief is too narrow as it regards human life.

Such a deeply intimate relationship between a person such as this and their belief can't tolerate confrontation. The only response to such confrontation is retaliatory confrontation. Feeling intimate insecurity of a deeply held belief, this person will knee-jerkingly try to control the circumstance (the life experience) so that it reconforms to the belief.

When instead, the more simple, more powerful approach is to just change the belief.

We know. Easier said than done.

Well the same is true for a person whose deeply-held belief goes thusly:

"I am a single, vulnerable, fallible, mortal human being. Here for god knows what reason, in a physical world that is scary, upsetting and cruel. Sure there are moments of happiness, but on the whole this thing is a struggle. And the fact that my blackness/transness makes it so much more of a struggle is so unjust! What else am I to do about it???"

So when we suggest to a human to change your story and your life experience will change, and we offer evidence from our life, our clients' lives and our colleague's life demonstrating the accuracy of what we say, we get the same response from transgender people that blacks get from white supremacists and transgender people get from transphobic people (and that gay people get from homophobic people): They can't even fathom the possibility that what we're suggesting will work.

Transgender people and the people who love them, particularly trans-attracted people of color, are here as powerful examples to the rest of humanity. Part of them being here is to live their wonderful, joyful and convincing example of the farthest, further-forward-est edge of what it is to be human.

^^ Possibly the leading edge expression of humanity

But they also are here to demonstrate something to themselves. Like we were in our youth, many have temporarily forgotten to examine the beliefs in our backgrounds.

What's great about this is the sweetness of the return to awareness is so directly proportionate with the amount time one is oblivious.

When wehear "social justice", we think about the day when "the meek inherit the earth": when those who appear to be oppressed realize they can at any moment turn the tide with but a thought, consistently applied. That's what is happening underneath advances we are seeing in entertainment, business, politics and more. As more transgender people as individuals come into their own individual power, then decide to act from that,they change the entire world.

The same is true for ordinary individual black people.

And ordinary individual trans-attracted people.

The most powerful potential lies in transpeople of color. For they represent "both" "and". What a powerful human combination.

Coming into the world for every human, was a decision you made in joy and eagerness. The world awaits the imprint you came to make upon it. We too are eager to see what you do as you explore who and what you are beyond what you think that to be.

[ccorinnef]

The Art of the Human Figure

The human figure has been a significant focus and subject in art for centuries. From the very earliest cave drawings and statues to the most recent developments in modern art, the human figure has played a key role.

I think from a very straightforward point of view, this is because we like to create art we can relate to, and what is more relatable than us? Some of the earliest sculptures and paintings that have been found depict everyday life, stylised figures or significant battles worth remembering. Even later artworks, such as the Greek and Roman statues, like to anthropomorphise, that is to make human, ideas and stories which are inherently unhuman. In this way, the idea that is being portrayed by the artwork, sometimes often very difficult to understand concepts, is suddenly made relatable and easier to access for the majority of viewers. Perhaps in a similar way that the Catholic church has used stained glass window scenes to depict stories from the Bible for its illiterate congregation.

The human figure was used to explore hidden meanings and ideas of sexuality and beauty. Throughout the classical period of art, a particular focus was paid to sculpture. Artists such as Phidias refined the technique for carving cloth draped over their figures to emphasise elegance and make many of the statues appear almost ethereal. The drama that these refined sculptures contained helped to portray ideals of beauty and grace as imagined in a human figure.

In more recent times, the use of the artists own body to inspire and create a piece of artwork, sometimes performance art, has seen increasing significance and is often used by the artist to establish a discussion about a taboo or difficult topic. Since the advent of photography and film, many artists have used this medium, along with or instead of traditional media, to create compelling and thought provoking pieces of artwork.

Since the 1960's the human body and its appearance has been used and decorated in a way that creates or rebels against an identity, imposed or otherwise. The human body is dressed in certain clothes, painted in certain colours, or decorated in certain styles which either conform or rebel against the dominant social norms of the time. At the same time, the boundaries of ideas of sexuality, sexual-ness and gender were also being pushed.

A compelling piece of performance artwork by Yoko Ono can be viewed as questioning the boundaries of social autonomy; the audience were asked to participate in cutting pieces of Ono's clothing off one at a time. A similar, more extreme, performance, Rhythm 0 by Marina Abramović, placed the artist herself in a gallery with instructions for the audience to do anything they wanted to her with 72 objects she had placed on a table, ranging from a feather to a loaded gun, while she simply stood without emotion or expression. These sorts of performances push the boundaries of social autonomy and pose the question: what will people do if they are allowed to do whatever they want. By keeping the element of the human figure central to these performance pieces, the audience is forced to consider the 'other' as an equal and their actions become mirrors of their morals.

A significant contribution to performance art were Hans Namuth's photographs of Jackson Pollock creating his 'action paintings' which show him using his entire body and his full range of movement to paint. This in a way brought art out of the small and delicate and into the loud and expressive. Similarly, Yves Klein used women's naked bodies as a kind of paintbrush by covering them in paint and then pulling them across a canvas to create abstractions of the human figure.

Francesca Woodman explored the idea of identity and presence through her photography which used a prolonged exposure technique to capture ghostly shadows of her own body. Her artwork shows her ghostly presence while also capturing her marked absence - how much can we really know another person?

Our relationship to ourselves and to others is a fascinating one. And one that has been explored for centuries by artists through a range of mediums and performances. As the Artweb blog so eloquently puts it: "Why has the human form had such a timeless and impacting effect on the arts?"

"The reason behind this is simple: we are human. We can only fully relate to something that we recognize within ourselves. The moment we are made aware of a rustle in the bushes, of a whisper, of the possibility of another human, we freeze. Human interaction is the basis of everything we do and it rattles us down to our very being and self-understanding. Humans in art have the same effect, whether we like it or not, they are understandable only because of and up to the point that we understand ourselves." - Artweb

Why has the human figure had such a dedicated focus throughout art history and into modern day? Artists like to practice their skills by drawing what they see, what they have around them, and what will be conveyable to the most number of people. I practice my skills everyday by drawing and painting different subjects, from landscapes to still life to portraits so that I am able to progress with my techniques and styles. Using a range of subjects makes this practice easier in a way as it always forces you to look at what you are drawing.

Most subjects don't often have to be exactly correct to look like the object its meant to, landscapes and plants are particularly malleable. The human figure, however, has to be almost exact or it can quickly look very odd, and because we see so much of the world through a human lens we notice a misplaced hand far more than we would a misplaced leaf.

Practicing the human figure has been a central component to many of the best art curriculums from as far back as the very first art school set up by The Carracci in Bologna in the 1580s. If we are trained and well practiced in being able to see properly and draw exactly what we see then we should technically be able to, or at least adept at, drawing just about anything at all.

And, for anyone that needs a self-confidence boost, remember, no matter your shape, size, age, patterns, height, etc, we are all 'the human figure' therefore we are all art.