#gender representation

[destinationtoast]

Canon gender representation & shipping

[I posted this in a thread that started out partly about something else, then realized it would be hidden beneath Expand for lots of tumblr users. So I'm also sharing here with light edits.]

Here's some 2018 data about canon representation and how it relates to fandom shipping ratios, e.g. amount of F/F vs. M/M:

TL;DR: there are way more men than women in movie canon...

...and the women don't talk as much -- or presumably get as much screentime -- on average.

Canon gender ratios partially predict the shipping ratios we see in fanworks -- I explain the math of this more in my shipping chapter -- especially on AO3. But AO3 has more M/M and less F/M than predicted by canon (and Fanfiction.net has WAY more F/M and WAY less queer fic than predicted by canon)... I get into some of the other factors like archive history that might be relevant at the source, and I also talk more about how the popularity of different movie genres may affect gender representation in fanworks.

Also [addressing another question raised in the original thread], fans do add various forms of new gender diversity to works that wasn't in canon:

I'll definitely be bringing this stuff up in my forthcoming F/F vs M/M stats. In the meantime, you can read more about all of the above in at the source, Gender representation in movies vs. movie fanworks. I recommend starting with the TL;DR chapter, because it's lonnnnnng and possibly overly complicated. :)

[letsplaygenderbinary]

Lvl 3: How to Mod the Sims for Diverse Gender Representation

Ready, player?

In my last blog post, I wrote about how recently the Sims 4 has made great progress with gender inclusivity. But today I wanted to discuss how mods and cc (custom content) can improve these features.

So, let’s get into it :)

Quick Download Tutorial

Installing mods for the Sims 4 on Windows is quite easy :)

First, you have to pick out the mod or custom content that you want. Most creators use SimsFileShare or their Patreon to store their mod files. Follow the ‘download’ button and your file will appear at the right of your screen.

Then as it downloads, open up your file and click on Documents, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 4, then that will lead you to your Mods folder.

You will then click your downloaded file and drop it into your mods folder. For custom content, I organize my files into categories like hair, makeup, and outfits. However, for mods, you should just drop it in because layering files might cause the mod to break.

Then, boot up your Sims 4 and click Options on your main menu. This will open your settings and you will click Other, and check the box that says “Enable Custom Content and Mods.”

Then, restart your game, and once it is loaded back up, a mods folder will open up and list the mods you have in your game!

Queer Mods

Some of the best mods for gender representation in the Sims 4 are:

Lumpinou’s LGBTQIA+ / Gender & Orientation Overhaul Mod

Meep62’s Ingame Gender Transition Mod

PimpMySims4’s LGBT Mod

Zero’s Hormone Replacement Therapy Mod

Lumpinou’s mod encourages players to free their sims from the binary and is a fully customizable mod that expands the base game’s gender and sexuality features. It’s massive and allows players to make incredibly queer sims AND queer spaces with the LGBTQIA+ lot trait.

Meep62’s mod allows players to realistically represent their sims transition without enabling cheats and going into CAS. Through gameplay, players are given options to undergo gender affirmation surgeries, take hormones, and take voice training.

PimpMySims4’s mod is very similar to Lumpinou’s, where it expands on current gender and sexuality features, but this mod adds in LGBTQIA+ events like charity events, protests (City Living Expansion pack is needed), and queer gatherings.

Zero’s mod implements Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) where sims can get prescribed hormone medication, which impacts the sim’s moodlet buffs, their ability to gain and lose weight, and their appetite.

Custom Content

The world of Sims 4 custom content is MASSIVE. For this post, I will only focus on custom content that improves diverse gender representation. Here of some assets that I thought were cool:

amythesailor’s and leansims makeup that looks GOOD on masculine frame sims

sim_saurus’s recolored base game posters included 30 new variants

mightypistachio’s pride flag head scarfs

Although there is MUCH more to explore when it comes to the world of Sims 4 custom content, these are the ones I thought were some I’d add to my game in the future :)

What are some of your favorite mods for the sims? Do they help you expand the game and create sims outside of the binary? Drop a comment and I’d love to find more mods :)

Works Cited Full PimpMySims4 Mod Image: “MOD REVIEW - Issuu.” Issuu, issuu.com/simmedup/docs/simmedup_magazine_issue_11_sml/s/12718209. Mods Image: “Mods/Custom Content Doesn’t Show Up.” Crinrict’s Sims 4 Help Blog, 8 Mar. 2023, sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/11/mods-custom-content-doesnt-show-up. Lumpinou Mod Image: Lumpinou. “Lumpinou’s LGBTQIA+ / Gender and Orientation Overhaul Mod (Sims 4):” Lumpinou’s Sims 4 Mods, 8 Apr. 2023, lumpinoumods.com/2022/06/07/lumpinous-lgbtqia-mod. Meep62 Mod Image: “ModTheSims - Ingame Gender Transition Mod.” Mod the Sims, modthesims.info/d/663209/ingame-gender-transition-mod.html. PimpMySims4 Mod Image: Stiv, Jey. “🐴 LGBTQIA Mod v2.3 EN ESPAÑOL - LOS SIMS 4.” Marcianitos, 15 Aug. 2023, jeystiv.wixsite.com/mods/post/lgtb-mod. Zero's Mod Image: Patreon. “BG - Hormone Replacement Therapy | Zero’s Sims 4 Mods.” Patreon, www.patreon.com/posts/hormone-therapy-41742316. MighyPistacio CC Image: Mightypistachio. “Mightypistachio.” Tumblr, 11 June 2023, mightypistachio.tumblr.com/post/719871805531340800/mightypistachio-sul-sul-mighty-pistachio-is.

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Gender

The philosophy of gender examines the concepts, theories, and issues surrounding gender identity, roles, and equality. It delves into the nature of gender, its social and biological underpinnings, and its impact on individual lives and societal structures. This field of philosophy addresses fundamental questions about what gender is, how it is constructed, and what implications it has for justice and equality.

Key Themes in the Philosophy of Gender

Nature vs. Nurture:

One of the central debates in the philosophy of gender revolves around whether gender is primarily a biological phenomenon (nature) or a social construct (nurture).

Philosophers explore how biology and culture interact to shape gender identities and roles.

Gender Identity:

Gender identity refers to an individual's personal sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with their biological sex.

Philosophical inquiries into gender identity examine how it is formed, experienced, and expressed, and the implications for individuals who do not fit into traditional gender binaries.

Social Construction of Gender:

Many philosophers argue that gender is a socially constructed category, influenced by cultural norms, practices, and institutions.

This perspective highlights how gender roles and expectations vary across different societies and historical periods.

Feminist Philosophy:

Feminist philosophy is a major area within the philosophy of gender, focusing on issues of gender inequality, patriarchy, and women's rights.

Feminist theorists critique traditional philosophical ideas and advocate for greater gender equality and the dismantling of oppressive structures.

Intersectionality:

Intersectionality is a framework that examines how various forms of social stratification, such as race, class, and sexuality, intersect with gender.

This approach emphasizes that gender cannot be understood in isolation but must be considered within the broader context of other social identities and power dynamics.

Transgender and Non-Binary Perspectives:

The experiences and perspectives of transgender and non-binary individuals challenge traditional notions of gender.

Philosophers explore the ethical, social, and political implications of these identities and advocate for greater recognition and rights for trans and non-binary people.

Gender and Language:

Language plays a crucial role in shaping and reflecting gender norms.

Philosophers analyze how language can reinforce gender stereotypes and explore ways to make language more inclusive and representative of diverse gender identities.

Gender and Power:

The relationship between gender and power is a key focus, examining how gender roles and expectations contribute to power dynamics in society.

This includes analyzing how gender influences access to resources, decision-making power, and social status.

Gender and Ethics:

Ethical considerations surrounding gender include debates about gender justice, rights, and equality.

Philosophers explore issues such as reproductive rights, gender-based violence, and the ethics of gender reassignment.

Gender and Representation:

The representation of gender in media, literature, and art shapes societal perceptions and attitudes.

Philosophers critique stereotypical and limiting portrayals of gender and advocate for more diverse and nuanced representations.

The philosophy of gender provides a rich and complex framework for understanding one of the most fundamental aspects of human identity and social life. By exploring the nature, construction, and implications of gender, philosophers seek to uncover the underlying dynamics that shape our experiences and strive for a more just and equitable society.

[crow-or]

This reminds me of a different post I saw that said something along the lines of 'everyone has a different gender' and I think that's relevant now (If someone could help me find who posted that, I would greatly appreciate it)

When I was younger and more abled, I was so fucking on board with the fantasy genre’s subversion of traditional femininity. We weren’t just fainting maidens locked up in towers; we could do anything men could do, be as strong or as physical or as violent. I got into western martial arts and learned to fight with a rapier, fell in love with the longsword.

But since I’ve gotten too disabled to fight anymore, I… find myself coming back to that maiden in a tower. It’s that funny thing, where subverting femininity is powerful for the people who have always been forced into it… but for the people who have always been excluded, the powerful thing can be embracing it.

As I’m disabled, as I say to groups of friends, “I can’t walk that far,” as I’m in too much pain to keep partying, I find myself worrying: I’m boring, too quiet, too stationary, irrelevant. The message sent to the disabled is: You’re out of the narrative, you’re secondary, you’re a burden.

The remarkable thing about the maiden in her tower is not her immobility; it’s common for disabled people to be abandoned, set adrift, waiting at bus stops or watching out the windows, forgotten in institutions or stranded in our houses. The remarkable thing is that she’s like a beacon, turning her tower into a lighthouse; people want to come to her, she’s important, she inspires through her appearance and words and craftwork.  In medieval romances she gives gifts, write letters, sends messengers, and summons lovers; she plays chess, commissions ballads, composes music, commands knights. She is her household’s moral centre in a castle under siege. She is a castle unto herself, and the integrity of her body matters.

That can be so revolutionary to those of us stuck in our towers who fall prey to thinking: Nobody would want to visit; nobody would want to listen; nobody would want to stay.

[trendynewsnow]

The Cultural Significance of the Power Shoulder in Politics

The Power of the Shoulder: A Symbol of Authority in Politics This is an installment of Visual Studies, a series that explores how images move through and shape culture. When we examine the personalities and policies of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, we find two figures who are remarkably different in many respects. However, they share a commonality that extends beyond their political ideologies:…

[roboartrevolution86blog]

[ahb-writes]

"Men are just boys who can shave."

Bryan Cranston ("Advice to Aspiring Actors" on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend)

[letsplaygenderbinary]

Super excited for this update, but I wonder if they are going to expand options on gender in the future... It would be cool if they were to take their rather genderless player frame and just tweak some of the gendered language and mechanics!

Here is a sneak peek of the new content we’ll be getting with the 1.6 update!

[kawaiitrooper]

I like how people nowadays be hating some kids shows like Transformers and owl house and yet they be missing some juicy dialogue like this in a Pokemon game

Not only that this game is officially 10 years old

and I have a feeling that the Nintendo/Pokémon company want to have some sort of open gender neutral representation for their characters and shi

[nicholasandriani]

Inspiration: Bryce Mattie. Exploring the Pioneering Work of a Media Scholar and Games Studies Expert + TEDx Talk on the Activism of Play

Brilliant mind, game scholar, and media critic, I first encountered Mattie Bryce by way of a games and the environment course I was building for a summer camp centered around “Games and You.” In the dynamic world of media studies and game analysis, few voices have made as significant an impact as Bryce Mattie. With a deep passion for dissecting the intersections of media, culture, and digital…

[destinationtoast]

How to address non-binary characters in fandom stats about gender

@once-a-polecat asked a thoughtful and interesting question in response to my post about Canon gender representation & shipping:

So, I know this is a VERY small number of characters (statistically speaking), but how do you deal with, or plan to deal with, the increasing numbers of characters who are non-binary in canon? (Jim Jimenez in OFMD, or Desire in Sandman for instance.) If you’re documenting how prevalent it is that fans introduce gender diversity to binary characters at some point you have to address the question of canon characters who do not have a binary gender. And I understand how much of a tricky question this is because it’s less easily traced across fandoms and some characters may not have a binary gender in ways that do not track with Western human society (they may have culturally significant genders or be non-human beings etc…), but small numbers and diverse types of genders gets difficult for data visualization purposes.

I wanted to give a long-ish answer (or really, to discuss a number of possible answers, all of which sometimes apply but aren't complete on their own), and I also wanted to open it up to others for ideas, so rather than reply in the notes, I'm replying here.

One answer is to say that I'm limited by the data I have available about canon (e.g., in that past 2018 work I was pointing to about Gender representation in canon vs. fanworks, I was working with someone else's movie data set, which didn't contain any data about canon nonbinary characters). That raises a question for future analyses -- does anyone know of a reliable list of canon nonbinary characters that is kept up-to-date? How good is Wikipedia's List of fictional non-binary characters, e.g.? Also interested in lists of canon trans characters.

(A quick aside, because I'm about to talk about limitations: I'm incredibly grateful for the AO3 tagging system, and everyone who makes it work! In part because it allows me to do far more complex stats about all this stuff than any other fandom platform -- or other media platforms, period. And because it gives us all some pretty outstanding sorting and filtering superpowers. Hallelujah! Okay, now onto some limitations. :) )

Another possible answer is to say that my stats are about how people tag things on AO3. So for the most part, I just follow however people are tagging things on AO3 -- and if AO3 users start tagging more ships as "Other" as they often do when a canon nonbinary character like Jim Jimenez or Desire is involved, some of my tag-based stats will pick up that kind of thing (even though I'm currently investigating F/F and M/M specifically, about which more below, I do often include more shipping categories than that). However, this is also only somewhat satisfying, since tagging practices differ between fandoms and change over time (e.g., I *think* more people used to tag some ships involving nonbinary characters, like LaFontaine/Perry from Carmilla, with gendered tags like "F/F" rather than with "Other" -- though maybe that particular example was just because L/P was often a background ship). And I know the use of "Other" can also be touchy; it can be frustrating to lump together human-only ships like Oluwande Boodhari/Jim Jimenez with ones like Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, for one thing. (And AO3 could even change some of these tagging options in the future, which might make such data even less useful.)

Another answer is to say, "Nonbinary characters are usually just noise, statistically, because there are so few of them -- I can ignore them most of the time." (Which you nodded to in your question, though you didn't suggest being so dismissive about it. :) ) There are some times when I make those kind of omissions or oversimplifications, though I avoid it when possible. For the purposes of my upcoming "F/F vs. M/M" analysis, this answer and the previous one both come into play -- my initial goal is to look at how explicitly queer fic differs between fanworks tagged "F/F" vs. "M/M." Which will unfortunately miss a whole bunch of queer fanworks featuring nonbinary characters. But I am going to simplify things by initially focusing on those two largest and most explicitly queer ship tags.

A final answer is to say that I've tried to make up for limitations in my other work by explicitly seeking out and analyzing gender diversity in some of my stats, like my analyses of Trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse characters on AO3. [Edit: and then I addressed the possible visualization complexities by looking at each of the common tags -- like "Nonbinary Character" -- separately.] At the same time, because I don't know which characters are trans or nonbinary in canon, those stats have been vague about which gender diversity is coming from canon vs. from fandom -- see my above question about good lists of canon gender diversity. (Also, this doesn't capture types of gender diversity that aren't reflected in the tags.)

Finally, a shoutout to @centrumlumina who does a fantastic job hand-labeling the gender and race of all the characters for the annual top AO3 ships analysis. I am in complete awe. Canon race and gender are both things I wish were easier to analyze/find data about -- but at least for the characters in the top 100 ships each year, Lulu has provided a great data source!

Thanks for the question -- curious to hear if/how others think about this topic.

[letsplaygenderbinary]

If there is any games that you don't see on the list, make sure to comment! I would love to find more games with diverse and inclusive gender representation :)

[pebblegalaxy]

Historic Approval: Women's Reservation Bill Gets Green Light from Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet’s approval of the women’s reservation bill marks a significant milestone in the realm of Indian politics. Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel’s statement highlighting the Modi government’s moral courage in fulfilling this longstanding demand resonates with the momentousness of the occasion. This decision is indeed a cause for congratulations, not just to Prime Minister…

[dyke-will-graham]

Sometimes I get weird about labeling my gender then I remember Crowley exists and I’m like omg gender doesn’t even fucking matter I can go through life as Crowley would and then I’m fine again

[dailytransitiongoal]

transition goal <3

[machine-unlearning]

Women will watch a 1-2 hour purely summative video essay and say they “went on a deep dive” on that subject.

Men will read 2-5 vaguely related Wikipedia articles and say they "fell down a rabbit hole" on that subject.