#queer perspective

[cancmbyn]

So as faithful fiction readers know, I haven’t written anything in a long time…

To get out of this drought, I decided to write a movie review. Not exactly fiction, but still writing. In my book that counts as progress!

If you are interested, please check out Bones and All and Salvatore: A queer perspective on the latest from Luca Guadagnino.

There ARE spoilers from both films in my review, so don’t read if you haven’t seen BAA.

Thanks, in advance, for your support! 💜

[catfish1965]

[leandrocrossard]

something really cool happened today that i wanted to share:

my nephew is 9 years old, and a stereotypical little boy. he likes dinosaurs, minecraft, and ninjas.

today i walked in on him excitedly watching Nimona with my dad. (minor spoiler warning!)

i had never heard of it, but i sat down and watched some of it, just to see why he was so happy.

he started narrating it, anticipating parts of it, almost as if he’d seen it before. he had.

we didn’t get to finish it, but i watched it on my own, because it looked fun and i wanted to see how it ended.

and i loved it. it was a fun, exciting, fantastical adventure about the importance of acceptance people who are different to us.

and it had a very clear queer subplot.

one that my nephew hadn’t mentioned at all in his explanation of the film. his summary was “it’s about a monster who helps a knight that was framed for killing the queen”.

and honestly yeah, that is what the film was about.

before sharing it with us, he had watched it all, engrossed himself in the story, took it in entirely, and the part he cared about most was whether Nimona got her acceptance. he wasn’t indoctrinated, or confused, or questioning anything about himself.

he didn’t bat an eyelid over a gay love confession. he just enjoyed the film, raved about it, made my 60 year old dad watch the movie about the monster who didn’t fit in.

he’s still the same little boy who’s been asking us how to get a girlfriend.

the only thing a movie centred around queer and queer-coded characters taught my nephew was that those who are different to him are not monsters. that’s it.

and that dragons are really cool.

[growmydarling]

[bc-maq24]

I obviously attest to the #BLM movement, because humanity, but I’ve never been terribly vocal about it. But here you have this insane situation in which all parties, police and civilian, are all black. These officers, all of which who look relatively young, all had a chance to mediate and mitigate the contention between the black and “blue” communities.

How the fuck does this happen?

How did 5 black officers perpetuate the prevalent issues that already existed between law officers and civilians of any and all black descent? And without any type of motive or provocation, it all just looks abysmally barbaric.

There is absolutely no justification, no words, nothing that makes this okay. But I still want to know: what the actual fuck has to be going on in their heads for them to act in this manner toward “one of their own”? In a time that the black community (and all oppressed communities individually and together) should be coming together against seemingly oppressive forces, how, HOW, can 5 black men do this when none of the same force was being used against them?

This feels like a bad plot of a Prime Time drama. There’s no way it can be real life. It feels too scripted to pit people against each other. It seems to be deliberate to completely undermine the BLM movement as a whole. How is any of this even real life?

[valgodd]

You lie in our bed and watch me struggle to button my pants.

”Damn” I mutter under my breath, trying to force the button into the loop.

”Whats wrong babe” you say innocently.

”They just wont close” I say exasperated.

You quietly enjoy the show for a while beforing rising to your feet.

”Here, let me help you darling…”

”Absolutely not” I push you away.

”Dont be silly love. You obviously need a little help with those”

I sigh. 

”Okay. Fine” 

You come up behind me. Your hands linger for a while on my protrouding belly.

”Poor baby” you whisper in my ear, your lips touching my earlobe. ”Did you gain s little weight?” I grunt in response. ”Mhm… Okay love… I need you to suck it in. Can you do that for me babe? Okay…here we go…”

”Godness me” I huff, looking at my swollen reflection in the mirror as you try to do my pants. ”well i think my love for your cooking is starting to show”

After a few attempts, the button gets in the loop. You squeeze my muffin top that is spilling over the waistband.

”There you go. Can you sit down im them?”

I carefully sit down on the edge of the bed, the button creaking.

”Its digging in a bit but its-”

With a snap the button pops off and lands on the floor. My belly oozes out.

”Oh shoot. I-I think I could stand to loose a couple of pounds”

You sit down beside me, one arm over my shoulder, the other one rubbing my belly in comforting circles.

”Dont be so hard on yourself babe. You let go a bit recently, but you can get back into shape in no time. Hey how about some breakfast? I… could make your favourite. The golden pancakes with jam and whipping cream”

I hold back a moan at your suggestion.

”Mm that would be…lovely”

You give my belly a little squeeze.

”Okay love. Just stay here in bed and I’ll soon be back, okay?”

[dognonsense]

4 hour painting. Sun goddess.

[productomag]

''gender is a performance'' hunter schafer for purpose and perspective magazine, april 2018

[kausijuoppo]

Bitches

[tardis-stowaway]

The Doctor: He [Isaac Newton] was, wasn't he? He was so hot. Oh, is that who I am now?

So what personality trait of his new regeneration is the Doctor mildly surprised by here? He doesn't sound shocked, but it seems to be enough of a difference to mention out loud. A lot of people seem to be interpreting the that as referring to being into guys. To be fair, I think that's how Donna understands it in her next line.

My understanding of the line is slightly different. Feeling attraction to men (along with other genders) is nothing new to the Doctor. Nine and Captain Jack Harkness kissed full on the lips onscreen! Look at any interactions between Ten and the Master. Consider that changing gender presentation is something that any Time Lord might do at any regeneration, so treating gender as a limiting factor in attraction wouldn't make sense for the Doctor.

No, what has changed is that Fourteen is the sort of person who will directly admit when he finds someone hot while gossiping with his BFF. Not brilliant, or fascinating, or even beautiful, but hot. That's what's new.

[direquail]

One of the many things I find funny and irritating is the slant of a lot of interpretations of Alecto's name (that it's about feminine rage)--on this here wlw internet in the year of our lord 2024, it's easily made to figure as rage against God, or rage against patriarchy, or religious oppression, and therefore an allusion to the idea that she's going to get her vengeance on John for betraying and oppressing her somehow, but like

John is the one who named her Alecto. He's the one who named her that. So, naming her "Alecto" is alluding to the embodiment of John's rage--their rage, since they are joined inseparably (John even explicitly says that when he first perceives her: "You wouldn't stop screaming. You were so scared. You were so goddamn mad").

He says of Alecto to Harrow, "In a very real way, you are [Alecto's] children". At a very surface level, Alecto is (depending on the text or tradition), one of the Furies--famously, in several surviving Greek tragedies, who punish Orestes for the crime of killing his mother. In fact, in Aeschylus' Oresteia, they declare that they are specifically bound to avenge matricide.

So the name "Alecto" alludes to the nature of John's mission and how he sees it.

It also implies that his divine rage, the rage that gives him power, the power that makes him divine, that he either represents or wants to represent, is feminine rage. He was chosen by Earth (which, Furies are sometimes the daughters of Gaia); he is her champion, however he's managed to fuck that up. Once the truth of that comes out, it becomes clear that all of his power comes from her.

And that's why you get statements from Tamsyn Muir like:

“[T]he God of the Locked Tomb IS a man; he IS the Father and the Teacher; it’s an inherently masc role played by someone who has an uneasy relationship himself to playing a Biblical patriarch. John falls back on hierarchies and roles because they’re familiar even when he’s struggling not to. Even he identifies himself as the God who became man and the man who became God. But the divine in the Locked Tomb is essentially feminine on multiple axes – I think Nona will illuminate that a little bit more."

So yes, he plays the role of Emperor and God and Teacher, with all of the things that implies. And I don't think it should be discounted. But he also is (and partly sees himself as) the chosen champion of a goddess, or what is for all intents & purposes for a human like him a goddess. He is her avenger, and while she sleeps, her avatar.

And I don't think we're meant to read him purely as a parasite who's taking advantage of her to gain power for himself, either. Or an oppressive, Kronos-like figure. Especially if you consider Palamedes' theory of the Grand Lysis, even if he was purely motivated by desire for power before (which I really doubt), there are parts of each in the other, now. What was clear and separate before is uncertain and interpenetrated. Is his rage his own, or hers? Is his mission of revenge his, or hers? If he wants power, is that his own selfishness, or her desire to survive?

And does it matter?

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

the loneliness and sadness that creeps into you in a way that only growing up queer can cause. your parents can accept you and still make you feel like an outsider. your parents can love you and still reject parts of you. that old-fashioned kind of love where they think trying to mold you, make you tough, is better for you. or that quiet status quo where you just don't talk. and where everyone is accepted, though some are more than others. generations and generations it's just been easier to let it slide. to let it be. not cause a fuss. but then we sit there with a knot in our chests all our lives wondering how it got there

[growmydarling]

i haven't really been *secretly* fattening you up...you just never noticed. all i did was kept your favorite foods at a lazy arm's reach, served your plate with double portions (and triple the butter) to my own, and kept you happy and secure. only subconsciously did you notice how my hand lingers on your lower stomach and only absent-mindedly did you realize your gut had started hanging out from under your old t-shirts. i didn't put the food in your mouth, you did. i didn't ask for thirds, you did. i didn't outgrow my widest pair of sweatpants, but you sure did. what i did do was infuse your life with love and cuddles and of course delicious food, which made your comfortable and self-confident and heavier than ever before. 💖

[artronenergy]

Honestly if you're looking at Doctor Who (2005) as a piece of fiction with, you know, themes and intent, it's really necessary to engage with it as actual queer media. At least a little. I think it's status as a fandom show from the mid 2000s means people are quick to dismiss this as some sort of transformative read rather than something that actually informs the storytelling and characters, but it can not be understated how it's fundamentally part of the same body of work as Cucumber and It's a Sin and Queer as Folk

[valgodd]

You’ve been such a good boy, letting me fatten you up like this. You’re so adorable when you open your mouth so obediently, allowing me to feed you spoonfuls of pudding and cream. You’ve been gobbeling up everything I put in front of you, like a really good boy. Just like you should. And you’ve gotten nice and fat as a result. Mhm, you like it when I squeeze your belly roll like this? Mhm. You like being reminded of how much I fattened you? I really put my mark on you, didnt I tubby…. God those buttons are holding on for their dear life, arent they! And you were so slim when we first met… When people see you now, they will see how well I’ve fed you. How I made you mine by fattening you up, slowly but steadily. They will see that you belong to me now.

[hillbillyoracle]

So I saw this screencap earlier

And I thought it was a great chance to talk about something.

A lot of progressive folks are familiar with the fact that right wing circles use feminine as a derogatory term and that there's a real cost to that for women.

What people are less familiar with is how it hurts men - queer and straight, cis and trans.

And I'm not shocked given how common it is in left leaning spaces to be reactionary (read: dismissive or outright harass) when men try to talk about these what these issues look like for them.

When men talk about how they've experienced toxic masculinity and anti-feminine bias, in addition to the usual right wing responses, I'm starting to see a bunch of supposed feminists and trans/queer allies harass them as well - saying they're hurting women/feminine presenting folks by "centering men", dismissing their concerns as made up (even when there's research to back it up), "why aren't you talking about what this is like for cis and trans women instead??".

I've seen trans men accused of being TERFs or being liars (by other trans people even - wtf) when they talk about their experiences of allies actively excluding them from trans spaces or harassing them for using T4T tags. I've seen men be accused of lying about publicly accessible clinical research that shows men make up 75%-77% of suicide cases - or worse suggest they deserve it. I see posts about how men's complaints "aren't unique to them" and dismiss them because women also suffer things those authors assume are the same (even when the research contradicts this).

And here's the thing:

When you assume feminine=good/safe/gentle and masculine=bad/unsafe/enemy - you're parroting a conservative talking point.

There is no way around this fact.

A big part of what underpins child rearing being "the woman's domain" in conservatism, is the idea that men are inherently dangerous and therefore shouldn't really be around children without women present.

The reason why they blame women for abuse and rape - because they believe men are inherently dangerous and if a woman trusted them then it's her fault.

Part of why women have been effectively banned from many trades and careers for so long is the assumption that being around that many men presents an inherent danger to a woman.

"But!" you might be saying, "This person is clearly talking about men engaging in open conflict as good here!"

Yeah because conservatives see politics as an inherently male/dangerous/toxic sphere and uphold it as such.

I could go on and on really.

All of this is to say - please be more thoughtful in what you consume, comment, and reblog.

There are experiences specific to being masculine. Erasing that is one, a dick move, but two, particularly violent toward those talking about trans masculine, minority masculine, disabled masculine, and queer masculine experiences.

All privilege comes at a cost. Listening when people talk about that cost is key building a new more fair reality. Seeing the privilege is not worth the cost makes fervent allies. Want more allies? Don't be a dick to people having that realization.

Push back against the assumption of woman=good and man=bad when you see it - especially in community spaces. The amount of times I've seen domestic violence services only available to women is insane...

Do not let identarian politics blind you to the fact we're all human and working toward our own liberation should not come at the oppression of another. Believe me, those with real power would much rather you stay raging out at men in a similar class with you than directing your efforts at them.

The right wing wants you to believe it's either/or. Fuck that - it's both/and.