#p sure that was before the term asexual was even coined

[llitchilitchi]

Idk what "disho" or "dh" is but I fully agree on that I wish people would be more accepting of subtextual queerness. Like I get it, because part of the point is that people become more accepting and if it isn't outright stated then they can just ignore it, but like. If someone's queerness has 0 plot relevance, then I don't think it /should/ be outright stated.

I like how the McElroys did it for TAZ, where they just straight up stated "hey this character is trans, it's absolutely never gonna come up in the story so we just wanted to say it here so that it was known." Even though with having a twin that /could/ have been plot relevant. I guess that's harder to do for other media but ngl I would mind a book foreword saying "yeah that person's ace but it's not gonna come up so just wanted to say :)"

Anyway. I agree

DH and Disho refer to a Particular Game Series that I didn't tag nor mention by name fully as not to spam the tags. lots of queer rep in there, none of it stated outright beyond mentioning that a female character had a girlfriend, or hinting at another wlw couple being a thing, a trans character being talked about being 'a different person than before' or how 'she'd been born into the wrong life, so she set about making it right' in relation to her transition and similar. it's handled really tastefully, in my opinion.

what TAZ did sounds really sweet, too! it's definitely a way to go about things, though as you said, not entirely possible for all media (I can't imagine watching a show and every time a new episode starts they have to put a THESE CHARACTERS ARE OF THESE IDENTITIES before the actual plot starts)

to be fair it's likely best different stories and different media do things differently. I personally like subtlety so if a sexuality or gender identity is only hinted at it's fine. (I do also like when it's brought up more directly once or twice without it being relevant to the plot. sure, your macho man warrior casually mentions how he had a male lover back in the day while your heroine bitches about soldier boys)

it also makes sense that within a more casual medium like a podcast or an improv show (I am looking at all the MC roleplay servers) it might be stated a lot more bluntly and in your face, and that's really cool! but it would feel off to have a disclaimer or a character making such declaration in a regular novel, or in a movie. there's a lot of space for nuance here.

[keiyokoi]

Reflection “Essay” #2

Hey everyone! I just wanted to take some time this week and talk about something that I think is extremely important, so buckle up, because this piece is kind of long.

Activism is something we encounter in our everyday lives, whether it be in social media, the news, or something ordinary like laptop stickers.  Most recently, Black Lives Matter was under the spotlight (as it should) in the wake of America’s track record of police brutality and George Floyd’s death.  Unfortunately, the movement that was fueled by public outcry and outstanding shows of allyship in the early summer months has largely vanished.  

The voices of many celebrities and influencers on platforms Instagram and Twitter have gone silent, moving on as the news turned away from BLM protests despite the thousands of people that continued to rally around the country and the world.  As we wrap up election season and move into December, what the US is focused on now is the soon-to-be former POTUS and other political news.  (My point is that the world of media has largely deemed BLM “no longer relevant” despite the ongoing struggle BIPOC folxs continue to face even after thousands of protests nation AND worldwide.)

To all the people who posted black squares with the hashtags #BlackoutTuesday and #BlackLivesMatter, where are you now?  Where is the support, the public outcry that had been so loud in June?  Why do civil rights only matter when they’re relevant in the media, when you can score easy clout from it?  

I’m sure most of them had their hearts in the right place, but the fact remains true that they fell victim to ‘ally theater’, a term that Anderson and Accomando credit Princess Harmony Rodrigez for coining.  The two authors go on to say, “The concern here is about activists who focus on performing an identity for an audience of disadvantaged folk rather than doing the hard and often unseen work of social change.” (P 713) and “To get out of the surface-level ally theater loop, white people need to challenge other whites about racism—even when no one else is watching.” (P 714) in their article The Pitfalls of Ally Performance.  

That’s where many people fail the first step of being an ally; they mistakenly believe that for a month of sparse posts concerning awareness, they gain the privilege of being an ally.  They forget that allyship is a title that needs to be earned.  It’s not enough to play activist for a month and then move on with your life—to be an ally, you must continue to be an activist, even if that’s something as simple as shopping at BIPOC small-owned businesses instead of Amazon.  (Here’s a little help for those of you who don’t know where to start: 42 Black-owned beauty brands to shop at instead of Sephora, and 108 Black-owned businesses you can check out.)  You have to acknowledge the hard work of POC the exact same way you praise white celebrities and influencers for being ‘woke’.  A fantastic example is Harry Styles.  

For the 2019 Met Gala, Styles showed up to the red carpet in heels and a sheer black Gucci blouse.  This made fans go nuts; they praised him for being a camp icon but glossed over equally stunning outfits like Billy Porter’s golden, winged ensemble (who was carried in on a litter!!! by SIX MEN!!!) or Lena Waithe’s suit.  This year fans ran to social media again, this time to gush over the photo spread of him in a dress, thanking Styles for ending toxic masculinity (yes this was a Tweet I read with my own two eyes), congratulating him on defying gender norms, and completely forgetting about others who did it before him.  

Male and AMAB (assigned male at birth) non-binary stars like Billy Porter, Jared Leto, Ezra Miller, and JVN are only a handful who’ve appeared in public in dresses and/or skirts before, making it unfair for people to heap gratuitous praise onto Styles’s photoshoot.  I’m not trying to bash him or anything and I think that cover was gorgeous, but you can’t be an ally while you idolize Harry Styles for wearing a dress but ignore POC/queer folx who did too.

Now, the second topic I wanted to address: a second helping of fake allyship, this time in the corporate realm.  

I love June, but it’s also a mentally exhausting month queer individuals who are sick and tired of fake allyship.  Cisgenderists crawl out of the woodwork to whine about ‘straight pride’ as if they don’t have enough of it, influencers capitalize on Pride’s popularity to promote their brand, and large corporations break out the rainbow merch to make a pretty penny off the same people marginalize the other eleven months of the year.  

June is for people like me to celebrate our identities together, whether it be at a public Pride event or in the privacy of our own homes.  It is not for big businesses to slap rainbows on their merchandise and boast false claims of LGBTQ+ support when corporations like Walmart and Starbucks have done nothing at all to support the message or the mission of Pride.  

Building an Abolitionist and Trans Queer Movement With Everything We’ve Got by Bassichis, Lee, and Spade writes “transgender and gender-non-conforming people are repeatedly abandoned and marginalized in the agendas and priorities of our “lead” organizations” (P743) and I couldn’t agree more.  The fact of the matter is that under this capitalist regime, queer individuals are just another tool for the privledged elite to take advantage of.

Mega corporations claim to be on our side for a month, playing at queer allyship with rainbow beer cans and happy ads that feature more rainbows and scripted proclamations of LGBTQ+ support, but disappear just as quickly come July.  

Certain celebrities tweet during Pride, garnering the applause of the public and cause people across social media to ‘stan’ celebrities that post “Happy Pride!” just for the shallow allyship it grants them.  And it’s so normalized for public figures to post all month long about Pride, and suddenly stop in July that we don’t question it.

Donald Trump occasionally preaches about his support of the queer community (which we all know is a joke) and how he’s “the first president to openly support the LGBT community” despite the fact that he gutted LGBTQ+ legislation and his terrible track record concerning queer folx.  If he really was a queer ally then why, as Bassichis, Lee, and Spade say, is there “ no inheritance, no health benefits from employers, no legal immigration status, and no state protection of our relationship to our children.”?  

That’s why I want to put the spotlight on a game called The Last of Us: Part II.  It’s a post-apocalyptic survival horror game so it’s the last place you’d expect to find LGBTQ+ representation, but the main character is a lesbian who has a (Jewish) girlfriend and has an Asian (not white!!) transman, along with another character I strongly believe is aromantic and/or asexual.  Their character arcs tie into the story well despite many fans calling out the game developers for pandering to the queer community, and the exhilaration I felt when I saw myself (mostly) represented in a character (who was voiced by an Asian transman!) is unparalleled.   

They didn’t have to include any LGBTQ+ content or accurate representation, could have left the main character’s sexuality presumably heterosexual, but they went where most bestselling games don’t, because they’re genuine allies.  They brought in voice actors who were Black, Asian, and Latinx to voice characters who were Black, Asian, and Latinx.  

That’s what we need more of, not trendsetting celebrities and people who say trans rights just to feel better about themselves.  

[tayrco]

Hey who wants to read my paper on the lack of LGBT representation in feminist movements?

It’s not due until thursday and i’ve met the page minimum. I just need someone to look it over and make sure it makes sense and let me know if anything needs to be elaborated upon. It’s under the cut for anyone who wants to. 

Feminist Movements and the Lack of LGBTQIA Representation Within Them

Most of what is known about early feminism shows that it first picked up speed when Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Coffin Mott, along with many others, began campaigning for women’s rights in the late 1800s.  This is known to the world as Women’s Suffrage.  Throughout the last century, feminism has taken big steps in changing the world’s view on women’s rights, with the #MeToo movement of 2017 and 2018 which focuses on sexual harassment and Women’s March of 2018 being the latest in what is sure to be some of this century’s biggest movements for those causes.  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA) rights have been contested for just as long as women’s rights, possibly longer, because while people have conceded to the fact that women have always existed, the word “homosexual” was not even coined until the late 19th century by German Psychologist, Karoly Maria Benkert (Pickett).  Solutions for the LGBTQIA community did not come to light until mere decades ago instead of almost a century ago when the feminist movement first gained traction.  Those who identify as a part of the LGBTQIA community have been ignored, not only in feminist movements, but in society overall, as if pretending they aren’t there would somehow make them go away.  While Feminist Movements, such as the Second Wave Feminist Movement in the late 60s and 70s and The Women’s Marches of 2017 and 2018, have been striving for gender equality for almost a century, they often leave out those within the LGBTQIA community, sometimes purposefully and sometimes without realizing they are doing so.

The 1960’s and 1970’s were a time of great rebellion among some minority groups in the United States.  This was when the term “free love” was coined and when Woodstock, the most famous concert ever, happened and when bell bottom jeans and tie dye were the height of fashion.  This was also when the Second Wave Feminists began speaking out, likely making use of the accepting culture they found themselves in.  However, feminists like Betty Friedan,   president of the National Organization for Women (NOW),  and many of the members of the NOW refused to include lesbians in their revolution.  In her memoir Life So Far, Friedan describes her feelings toward homosexuality at the time as being, “'not, in my opinion, what the women's movement is all about” (Friedan, 222).  She once said, “that outspoken lesbians were a threat to the feminist movement, arguing that the presence of these women distracted from the goals of gaining economic and social equality for women” (Napikoski).  Friedan did not see homosexual rights as an issue that needed addressing; if they managed to gain rights for homosexuals while on their mission for women’s rights, then she might have been annoyed at the progress but largely indifferent.  The term “Lavender Menace” has since been reclaimed by lesbians in the 1970s, changing its connotation from negative to positive, even humorous (Dalzell, 157).  The damage NOW, Friedan, and “Lavender Menace” did during their peak was quite hurtful and exclusive to lesbian women who only wanted to be accepted just as every other woman was at the time.

Lesbians during this time took the rejection of mainstream feminists and formed their own lesbian feminist groups in return.  These include the likes of “Radicalesbians”, a group of lesbian feminists who refused to be associated with anyone who still had ties with the heterosexual world (Rapp, 2).  Two extreme feminist groups are seen here, one that excludes lesbians all together and one that believes that people who support heterosexuality or still associate with anyone who is heterosexual are not people they want in their feminist group.  Both groups have made good points as Friedan and NOW see feminism as being a bigger issue than LGBTQIA rights and Radicalesbians have been hurt (physically and emotionally) by heterosexual people before.  However, neither of them is truly in the right because in one way or another, they are excluding women and those within the LGBTQIA community due to personal priorities and a hatred for the heterosexual people in the world.

In the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, a movement known as “The Feminist Sex Wars” was introduced, with different feminist groups such as Radical Feminists and Libertarian Feminists publicly debating on issues of sexuality, pornography, sexual role playing (butch/femme), and interests such as sadomasochism.  Both groups are said to have lesbian members, “Historically, radical feminists have been those who are members of or who identify with a lesbian feminist community…” and “Libertarian Feminists tend to be heterosexual feminists or lesbian feminists who support any sort of consensual sexuality” (Ferguson, 107).   Though both groups advocate for women’s rights and support LGBTQIA rights in some way, the Radical Lesbians are in some ways more conservative and less accepting of others’ interests, as if being a lesbian and advocating for their rights is doing more than their fair share and supporting a woman’s right to engage in pornography is going too far.  A part of the Radical Lesbian’s ideology states, “Sexual Freedom requires the sexual equality of both partners…It also requires the elimination of all patriarchal institutions (e.g. the pornography industry, the patriarchal family, prostitution, and compulsory heterosexuality) and sexual practices (sadomasochism, cruising, and adult/child and butch/femme relationships in which sexual objectification occurs” (Ferguson, 108-109).  None of the practices listed here, besides adult/child, seems particularly harmful or offensive as long as all partners are consenting to the act or idea.  In this way, the Radical Feminist group is excluding lesbians who identify as a butch or a femme and those women who partake in pornography or prostitution, not necessarily because they enjoy it, but to support themselves and their family.  Their ideology also eliminates those who are bisexual, transgender, and asexual persons who engage in a heterosexual relationship, which is not necessarily harmful to their individual sexuality, their feminist beliefs or lesbianism as a whole.  Feminist groups such as the Radical Feminists say they are advocates for equality among all genders but outwardly discourage those who partake in activities such as pornography and prostitution, thereby excluding them.

In the 1990s, almost 20 years after “The Feminist Sex Wars” and the height of Second Wave Feminism, a feminist movement known as the Riot Grrrls controlled the punk scene.  They were LGBTQIA inclusive for the most part and the language within their “zines” and lyrics are not outwardly exclusive.  Though the bands, such as The Butchies and Bikini Kill, associated with the Riot Grrrls did not outwardly show any kind of discrimination toward any of the LGBTQIA community, their actions speak differently.  In 1992, a trans woman was kicked out of a music festival called “Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival” solely because they were trans, which went against the festival’s “Womyn born womyn” policy.  This “Womyn born womyn” policy basically means that to attend the festival, a person must have been a woman for their entire lives.  Many transgender women believe they qualify for this policy because they have always been women mentally, if not physically yet are still not allowed unless they possess a vagina that they’ve had since birth (Eminism.org).  Bands within the Riot Grrrls movement have spoken out for trans rights, but also continue to support this openly transphobic music festival, specifically former Butchies frontwoman and Team Dresch member Kaia Wilson who said, “... that while she supported trans-inclusion in the queer community at large, she did not think that women’s space need include transsexual women” (Driver, 62).  This is an obvious case of the phrase “actions speak louder than words”, in that while Wilson says she and other Riot Grrrl members say they support trans people and the struggles they are going through, openly supporting a transgender-exclusive music festival very blatantly says something different. Though the Riot Grrrls movement strives for equality among genders and says they are an “inclusive movement” (Marcus), their exclusion of transgender people, specifically women, from music festivals because they were not born with female parts shows that they are not as inclusive as they think and say they are.

The Women’s March is a movement that was started in the wake of Donald Trump’s election in November of 2016 and his inauguration in January 2017.  One year after his inauguration and the first March, many Women’s Marches were held worldwide, attended by celebrities, activists, and everyday people alike.   However, in their attempt to advocate for Women’s Rights, March attendees excluded Trans people not necessarily from participating, but from feeling as though they had representation within the movement.  Some of these exclusions are done inadvertently, like when marchers showed up with signs with sayings such as “P*ssy Power” and “The future is female” (Vagianos and Dahlen, pictures 25 and 31).  Many March attendees showed up in pink hats with cat ears, known colloquially as “P*ssy hats”, which can be seen in just about any picture from either the 2017 or 2018 march (Vagianos and Dahlen, picture 18).  Even Supergirl got in on the action, with actress Melissa Benoist proudly displaying her sign which said, “HEY DONALD, DON’T TRY TO GRAB MY P*SSY--- IT’S MADE OF STEEL” (Benoist).  These are exclusionary for Trans people because it is assuming that every woman has a vagina, which is not necessarily true, especially for Trans people who cannot or decide not to physically transition.  They also assume that everyone with a vagina is a woman, which is also not necessarily true for the same reasons.  Throughout both Women’s Marches, Trans people were alienated through attendees perpetuating the idea that only people with vaginas have the ability to protest against sexism and the patriarchy.

The speeches at the most recent Women’s March went much the same way that the signs and physical representations of femininity did, in that they were delivered almost entirely by famous straight women who honestly had the right idea in mind, but in many ways failed to promote the right message just by speaking at the March in the first place.  Celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Halsey, Viola Davis, and Eva Longoria gave speeches at the LA March this January, and while they were all inspirational in their own right, none of them truly touched on the struggles the LGBTQIA community goes through daily and only one of them mentioned the LGBTQIA community at all, “Ask her story and then shut up and listen/Black, Asian, poor, wealthy, trans, cis, Muslim, Christian”, even if it is in passing (Halsey, 2018).  There are only two records of a trans person speaking at either Women’s March, including transgender activist Janet Mock at the 2017 Women’s March on Washington and transgender activist and celebrity Laverne Cox at the 2017 Women’s March on Los Angeles.  Janet spoke about her experiences as a trans person of color, saying, “I stand here as someone who has written herself onto this stage to unapologetically proclaim that I am a trans woman-writer-activist-revolutionary of color” and "Our approach to freedom need not be identical but it must be intersectional and inclusive” (Mock, 2017).  The words she spoke were poignant and important and seemed to be well received by the crowd.  Mock may not have been the highlight of the March on Washington, but among a sea of Halsey’s and Viola Davis’, Janet Mock was the only transgender representation at the March and that is something to be proud of.

The only other trans person who spoke at any of the rallies was well-known celebrity and activist Laverne Cox, who attended a rally on the other side of the country.  Her speech included lines like, "I stand before you a Proud, African American Transgender Woman from a working class background raised by a single mother” and “I believe it is important to name the various intersecting components of my multiple identities because I am not just one thing and neither are you” (Cox, 2017).  According to the only video that captured this moment on youtube, Cox was only on the stage for a couple of moments, yet the cheers she received were deafening.  Cox’s speech seemed like a watered down version of Mock’s which she was able to get away with likely due to her celebrity status.  Watching the three minute video someone took of her made the entire experience seem like she was performing at a concert rather than a protest.  The fact that there are only two documented accounts of any LGBTQIA speeches, specifically by trans people, are from opposite sides of the country really says something about the way this country sees, or rather does not see trans people.  Both Janet and Laverne’s speeches included similar themes and elements such as the fact that they are proud transgender women and that intersectionality is one of the most important things to be achieved.  Though both Cox and Mock spoke at their respective rallies, they were the only transgendered people to do so, along with the fact that there were Women’s Marches across the world and the rest of the United States, yet there are only two records of transgender people giving speeches.

Sometimes the absence of action is more telling than an action itself.  That is true of possibly the most modern feminist movement this decade in every sense of the word, the #MeToo movement.  The name itself has a modern element to it, using “text speak” to appeal to younger generations and allowing it to navigate the internet easily.  The movement is entirely online and happens predominately through social media, a development only recently available in the last 20 years.  The movement, started by Tarana Burke about a decade ago, but only picked up speed after actress Alyssa Milano encouraged victims to share their experiences on social media in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal (Rodriguez-Cayro).  While many of the participants in the movement are LGBTQIA members or supporters, the media coverage of the movement is represented largely by hetersexual victims.  Time Magazine named the entire movement as its “Person of the Year” for 2017, coining them as the “Silence Breakers”.  In the article covering the movement, though, not one person interviewed nor photographed was explicitly a part of the LGBTQIA community (Zacharek et al).  In instances such as these, the media tends to show women who have some kind of authority, a celebrity or a state senator for example, to show that not even they are immune to the predators of the world.

The same can be said for most media outlets and networks like CNN (LaMotte) and Good Morning America (Behrendt).  Sexual harassment, misconduct, and domestic abuse allegations rarely make the news as the stereotype has always been the “damsel in distress”, a woman being abused by the man in her life.  While that scenario does happen more often than anyone would like, LGBTQIA sexual harassment/misconduct victims are just as likely, but are not likely to report it or be taken seriously if they do report it because they are a woman who was raped by a woman or a trans woman who was raped.  The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) cites that 44% of lesbians, 61% of bisexual women, and 47% of transgender people experience some kind of sexual assault or rape in their lifetime, yet are hesitant to report it because of the discrimination surrounding their sexualities (Sexual Assault and the LGBT Community).  The same situation is currently in progress as the #MeToo movement continues to grow in spades while sexual assault and misconduct accounts from trans, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and non-binary people are being ignored by mainstream media outlets in favor of reporting on another straight woman’s story.  While the #MeToo movement as a whole is very powerful, meaningful, and doing a lot of good work by bringing sexual predators to justice, LGBTQIA victims of the same crimes are not getting nearly as much respect, acceptance, or reassurance as their straight counterparts are.

Women have been fighting for their rights to just about everything from voting to contraception to sexual freedom for centuries, though a fix for those problems took place only a one-hundred years ago.  This effectively created a snowball effect that is still rolling well into the twenty-first century.  Those who identify as some part of the LGBTQIA community have been fighting for their own rights for at least as long due to the fact that homosexuality was largely frowned upon and even illegal in places.  Feminists like Betty Freidan and the members of NOW during the Second Wave of feminism were some of the first feminists to publicly exclude lesbians and those who identify as a sexuality other than heterosexual from their group, though unfortunately they would not be the last.  In the 1980s, there were the Feminist Sex Wars, which saw groups like Radical Lesbians and Libertarian Lesbians publicly fighting over whether various sexual acts were acceptable or not.  Radical Lesbians took the conservative stance, coming to the conclusion that they should not associate with lesbians who still had contact with heterosexual people or participated in prostitution.  Just a decade later in the 1990s, punk bands like Bikini Kill and The Butchies participated in a feminist movement known as the Riot Grrrls, which was openly accepting and supportive of queer women.  Actions speak louder than words, though, and many band’s choice to perform at a known trans-exclusive music festival which sported a “womyn born womyn” policy caused them to lose fans and respect from the LGBTQIA community.  More recent years show that while feminism is much more well known and supported than it has ever been, both women and sexual minorities are still having trouble gaining respect in the workplace, from their families and friends, and in society in general.  Evidence of this is seen through two different feminist movements, including the Women’s Marches of 2017 and 2018 and the #MeToo movement.  The Women’s Marches took place globally in late January, with attendees sporting pink p*ssy hats and signs with similar language.  They meant well, intending to show sexists that they will not allow their genitals to be used against them in any way, unknowingly excluding trans people in the process. The Women’s March also had very only two transgender speakers, while there were marches happening globally, which is an injustice to the trans and LGBTQIA community.  Something similar is happening with the #MeToo movement, in which LGBTQIA victims are telling their stories of sexual harassment or misconduct on social media, yet are getting little to no coverage in the media.  Instead the media is choosing to favor conventionally pretty, straight, and famous victims like Taylor Swift and Viola Davis for the cover of their magazines.  Women’s and LGBTQIA rights have come a long way from fighting for the right to vote in the early twentieth century and gay and lesbian people being institutionalized for their sexual preference, but there is still a long way to go.