#y'all this look speaks to me......lesbian fashion

[graycereal]

OK Y'ALL, JUST WENT TO SEE THE NEW GHOSTBUSTERS MOVIE, AND HERE ARE MY HONEST OPINIONS;

(Spoilers ahead!!)

Ok, so to be completely honest I don't really remember the start of the movie. I think the girl -Phoebe- from the last movie broke a building, the mayor from the classic movies got mad and she was put on the ghostbusting bench?? Also it's been 2 years or something because that Finn Wolfhard dude keeps saying he's 18?? But whatever, it starts getting really good when Finn finds Slimer in the attic. (Did I mention they live in the old fire station? Well they do, and Phoebe is getting them evicted, because of course she is.) They don't expand on Slimer being in the attic by the way. He's just.... There now, I guess. Also, Ray is in this movie. And he's running this shop with that podcast kid from the last movie (He's really just living in his basement.) And this awesome dude comes in, and he's a fire master but no one knows it yet. Anyway, he tries to sell Ray this orb that he thinks is haunted for $50, and Ray is all like "Ohh, let me do that wing thingy that tells me if it's haunted" and it's SUPER haunted. So Finn and his lesbian girlfriend hear about it from this British dude -(I HATE HIM HE CONTRIBUTED NOTHING BUT BEING ANNOYING.)- and Ray bought it of course. So that PENIS SUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT with a British accent starts OPENING HIS MOUTH and gets too cocky. Back to Phoebe, she discovered some emo blonde chick who's really good at chess. Butttttt, in Ghostbusters fashion, the one with glasses starts to get a little fruity. With a ghost. She's dead. And I guess Phoebe really liked her because she turns herself into a ghost for like 2 minutes. And, of course, she turns herself into a ghost RIGHT in front of the haunted orb. And wouldn't you know it, that wasn't a good idea. The millisecond she walks towards chess-emo, her eyes start glowing and shit. Just to be clear, not her human eyes, her ghost eyes, but her human body starts speaking in tongues. And then this grotesque, ugly, slimy, scare crow, SCP, bald piece of chalk looking demon walks out of some black smoke like Darth Vader. Like get back to the death star. And some timer goes off, and Finns lesbian girlfriend busts open the door with a backpack thing and my brother freezes it??? Like he freezes the distortion of particles??? But however, I didn't make the movie. But he gets bored or something and goes away. I would too to be honest. (NOTE: I just fell asleep writing this, it's like 11 for me and I gotta wake up at 4 😭) Back to the AWESOME fire master finds out from Ray that he's probably the fire master because British, Finn, and the lebanese girl go to his grandma's old sex dungeon (they say it's a container for the ball and that demon dude, but I know Grandma was getting freaky.) Anyway, the firemaster is bending some AWESOME fire when, conveniently, everyone is in the same place and the sky starts going dark with Darth Vaders edgy smoke. Also, there's some odd sub plot with the demon needing horns to be powerful, but they don't expand on that. So yada yada yada, they fight, bad guy=dead, good guy=living. But you came here for my opinions, didn't you? Well, here you go.

First off, Phoebes character. She had so many chances to grow, and the movie blew it. In many circumstances, she does something bad, like for example; cussing out the mayor, WHILE IN JAIL. They seemed to brush it off, while everyone in the movie forgot that she was 15 now. She needs real consequences, or she will grow to be undisciplined like her grandfather. I would honestly like to see that taken into account if there is ever another movie. She clearly already values and looks up to her grandfather even though he neglected his family, so maybe in the future she will start to grow more distant with her mother? Just a thought.

Second, this is kind of a short thought, but chess-emo reminds me of that girl from Wednesday. I think her name was Echidna?

Third, it seemed like all of the new characters, (and even some old ones), felt like MAJOR side characters. Even the main character felt insagnificant! We saw no bonding, no expanding on any characters, and no thinking about how the characters would live their lives outside of the main points of the movie, just purely thinking about how this character should react when this happens.

Fourth, the "Main Villain" felt inconsequential. We really saw nothing of what he could do, and that made him SO much less of a threat. In the last movie, that dog bitch at least TRIED world domination, but the ugly skinny demon from the new movie went straight for the firemaster.

Fifth, there were a lot of unnecessary characters, just there to give you enough nostalgia to give it a good rating in your Facebook circle. Slimer? Funny, but unnecessary, unlike how it ACTUALLY did something in the last movie. The baby marshmallow men? Also not needed, cute, but contributing nothing. This is not to mention the new people *Cough* British guy *Cough*.

Anywho, I don't know how to end this, so I leave you with a handful of confetti! Have fun, throw it on someone (or me) in the comments, or even another post!

[niccolos]

Marwan Kenzari interviewed for Romeo and Juliet on April 9, 2009

[nevermindirah]

Matthias Schoenaerts movies, ranked by my transmasc feels

a very scientific analysis you’re contractually obligated to agree with read and maybe reblog if you feel like it! proud to be joining the ranks of these excellent Matthias movie posts, hair edition and vibes/plot/nudity/etc edition

first of all, dishonorable mention / disqualified: all the ones where he plays a Nazi or a rapist or otherwise dealbreaker-to-me levels of creep:

A Hidden Life

Red Sparrow

Suite Française — though if you don't have the immediate ABSOLUTELY NOT reaction to a Nazi uniform that I do, I hear it's a beautiful movie, and you may enjoy this lovely little post-movie fic by @mprosperossprite​​

The Loft

The Drop

Blood Ties

Loft

Left Bank (though that one gifset, you know the one, is so valid)

and now, with one exception, all the ones I’ve seen:

The Danish Girl

I have never seen and will never see this movie. a trans woman is played by a cis man and Matthias doesn't even have a beard so the stills from it aren't even fun to look at what the fuck

Racer and the Jailbird | Le Fidèle

a tragic absence of beard and a tragic fear of dogs and tragically heterosexual fashion, but very romantic and sexy and has what I choose to read as a happy ending. something/10 will watch again despite the Heterosexuality of it all

Rust and Bone | De rouille et d'os

wow this guy's a terrible father with major entitlement issues. however, ARMS. (it's totally just the arms yep just the arms)

Close Enemies | Frères ennemis

he loves his friends!! what a smart and resourceful boy just trying to survive in a fucked-up world!! but he kisses his ex-wife despite her repeated verbal "no" and as a result we do not stan.

Our Souls at Night

dude, let your mom have a boyfriend!! it's sweet that you're worried though, maybe you can ask her how it's going while y'all go shopping and she helps you pick out something nicer than those dorky polos you beautiful sad-dad idiot. (in his defense, his mom's boyfriend is known Bucky Barnes terrorizer Alexander Pierce so his concern is understandable)

The Mustang

prisons are trauma factories and should not exist. I could go look for sources to link you on this or on how animal therapy reduces future incidents of violent crime, but instead I’m gonna sit here and stew in my feels over this sad dad who's such a mess but he sure is Trying

Brothers by Blood

lorge. wears a kippah in that one scene. so gentle with the person he's dating. cares about his friends (I think, I watched it once a year ago and barely remember the plot, only vibes remain). lorge.

The Command | Kursk

HEARTBREAKING. WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT OF COMMUNISM IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO THE WORKERS YOU BASTARDS. oh and before all the heartbreak there's some very domestic sexiness on a couch, that part was a joy, who am I kidding the whole thing was a joy and I am in pain about it

The Laundromat

NO I WILL NOT LEAVE MY WIFE NOT EVEN FOR A BILLION DOLLARS. ALSO LOOK AT MY SUIT DON'T I LOOK SHARP IN THIS SUIT

Tunnelrat

it's hard to have social dysphoria when you're trapped in a collapsed trench tunnel with only one other person who doesn’t even speak your language! downsides include dehydration, starvation, potential asphyxiation, knowing if you escape all the mud you'll probably get shot, and— wait no actually I like the mustache that's not a downside the mustache can stay

ps this is a short and you can watch the whole thing right here

A Bigger Splash

why will tumblr not let me locate let alone embed that gif of him on his knees for Tilda Swinton WHY. I suppose this one will have to do

Far from the Madding Crowd

hey look, look, rugged masculinity can be SOFT!! he loves his dog and all the animals under his care and he proposes marriage with a lamb. if only this book weren't written by a misogynist then Bathsheba could be free and happy and probably a lesbian like she deserves but at least I get to look at SOFT MASCULINITY WITH A DOG

A Little Chaos

oh the joys of a time and place where ornate fashion and long hair are a normal and celebrated part of masculinity. God I wish my jawline looked like that so I wouldn't get misgendered 100% of the time if I grew my hair out.

oh and also the little thing of treating a woman as an intellectual equal and changing your opinion and your behavior as a result of new information I am SCREAMING

Disorder | Maryland

I, too, have ptsd. however I also have the experience of being afab and knowing how scary it is when men stare too long and randomly punch things. so, like, dude. Vincent. please get therapy. in the meantime I'm gonna keep staring at you and reminding myself of how femme of center people might be understandably wary of me sometimes and I need to not do accidentally scary shit like walking too close on the sidewalk, it's cool I only worry about this a normal amount

The Old Guard

I'll just go ahead and point you here and here

And the winner is...

Bullhead | Rundskop

this guy's got major boundary issues, hmm wonder where that comes from, could it have anything to do with his parents thinking it was ok to stop him from accessing hrt he desperately needed wtf

content warning, esp for fellow trans people thinking about watching this movie: there's literally a scene where, shortly after young Jacky experiences testicular trauma (that scene isn't the very most graphic physically but is extremely graphic emotionally), a doctor tells his parents that he needs to take testosterone and their reaction is basically "no child of mine!!" >:(

it's a great movie though and my asks are open for any questions you've got! just say so if you want a private response <3

[jodiwalker]

A Bachelorette Recap: Rachel Is the Queen and We Are the Sorry People

"Let me tell you something. I'm not here to be played. I'm not here to be made a joke of … So I'm really going to need you to get the fuck out." – Rachel Lindsay of the House Bachelorette, First of Her Name, the Un-to-be-trifled-with, Queen of the Fuckbois, Ruler of the Mansion that Venereal Diseases Built, Breaker of Bullshit, and Mother of Reads

Can you all hear Rachel's perfect Texas drawl in your head as keenly as I can while reading the quote of the century? Has any Bachelorette ever held. that. shit. down. as deftly as this one? No. Because this isn't any Bachelorette. This is the Rachelorette 2K17 and if you are not a man who is ready to hold it down just as tight…than she is going to need you to get the fuck out.

I did not expect myself to be very interested in this DeMario storyline. I liked DeMario and his hollering out of wedding plus-ones in the premiere; so I wasn't rooting for him to be the creep [ed. note: hey, stay tuned on that creep front, 'cuz it's a big ol' YIKES] with a girlfriend. Plus, his girlfriend seemed a little too eager to be delivering her gotcha-moment on national television, and a little too unabashed about wearing a stone-cold waffle-weave scrunchie on her wrist while doing it...

But who cares about DeMario and how many man-rompers he left over at Lexi's house — this storyline is all about Rachel and how she managed to take the drama-covered receipts from Lexi, the slimy "new phone, who dis" excuses from DeMario, run them through her logic-o-meter (a brain, as it's called outside of this franchise), and calmly inform these people that she has 25 boyfriends, a dog who can currently only use three of his legs for unknown reasons, and a rented house in what appears to be an upper middle class retirement community to take care of...so she doesn't really have time to be running on some bullshit. 

As Rachel has stated multiple times throughout her three-episode tenure, she keeps it 100. And if any of these knuckleheads keeps it any less than 100, then they better have a background in computer sciences to make their own sub-100 emoji, and some fresh New Balances to — let’s haveRachel reiterate this one last time — GTFO of here.

Never could I have imagined what it would be like to have a Bachelorette so fully in command of her own experience. Rachel doesn’t accept excuses from anyone, including herself. She seems completely aware of the Hellmouth she has willingly entered herself into, and the only way to make that Hellmouth work for her is to take it seriously and flush out one of these vampires to marry. [Ed. note: Is this metaphor falling apart? Who's Angel? Who's Spike?! Obviously Dean is Willow and, yes, he will develop a complex and moving witchcraft/lesbian storyline in season 4.] And speaking of the dumb-dumbs Rachel is dating, I want to take it all the way back to the premiere for a minute when there were 30 contesticles still hoping to woo Rachel. 

It seemed like all anyone could say about Rachel—and the character that the editors seemed to be carving out for her—was that she was so beautiful and smart. Indeed, they had never a woman like her. I quickly ran through a list of all of the women that I know well and couldn't think of a single one who I would not describe as smart and beautiful. Which is fantastic for me and concerning for these donuts. 

So, I'd now like to turn it over to my girl Hailee Steinfeld — who is quietly an Academy Award nominee, a budding pop princes, and definitive queen of the teenage eyebrow Hunger Games — and her song of the summer:

Yes, Princess Hailee. Most girls are smart and strong and beautiful. If these dudes don't know any other women that they deem to be both smart and beautiful, then they are not good enough for Rachel. Also, heads up — these dudes aren't good enough for Rachel! 

Rachel's only flaw seems to be that she’s not aware when a dude isn’t good enough for her. Rachel can be as smart and funny, and hand as many asses to as many duplicitous dummies as many times as she wants to, but the fact of the matter is, we have this wonderful Bachelorette…because she once truly wanted to be engaged to Nick Viall.

And that is as good of a reality check as any to remind us that this is still the Bachelorette, and two bros will still play a game of homoerotic "I'm not touching you" in the driveway when they get kicked out. Because a peacock cannot change its feathers (which would be a much better reference if this came on NBC!). Yes, of course, I wish that Rachel, Queen of the Fuckbois, Ruler of STD Mansion, Breaker of Bullshit, and Mother of Reads could be a little more like Hailee Steinfeld's breakout song of summer 2015, “Love Myself.” That’s right, the one where she boldly declares that she maybe, definitely screams her own name while she masturbates. I'm not talking about that declaration, though; I’m talking about the other, less intriguing, but altogether more important: Gonna love myself, no I don’t need anybody else (Hey!).

Alas, us women of a certain age weren't raised with the raging independence of the SnapChat generation. We must marry, and we must do it quickly — before our wombs rot and there are no Tickle Monsters or sociopathic amateur drummers left for us. We can scream our own name during orgasm, sure. But society and ABC contracts dictate that it would be much better if there were a Peter or Kenny beside us while we do it. Let’s get to know them, shall we...

DeMario's Return

Y'all. After being told to "get the fuck out," this dude thinks it's a good idea to Uber back over to the mansion for a little more screen time. But all it really does is give Rachel another chance to show off her PhD in rhetoric. I mean—the woman can talk, and I think anyone who watched Farmer Chris or Des with Bangs' season could reiterate the importance of that one simple skill to you.

However, there's nothing simple about the way Rachel pummels what's left of DeMario into the ground. DeMario tries to tell Rachel that Lexi assassinated his character and he was just caught off guard. Rachel kindly responds that all that can be true (in a tone that says it's very much not true), "But I need a man, that when confronted with a difficult situation, does not lie about it." Similarly, I need a Rachel that will speak for me every time I'm confronted with a difficult man. DeMario says that he had a little chat with his Uber driver on the way over, and that Uber driver — who was, without a doubt, a male— encouraged him to not take no for an answer. Bad advice, brother! Always, always, ALWAYS take no for an answer.

Once DeMario starts spouting "in order to experience joy, you need pain" quotes to Rachel (who literally has 20 other guys waiting inside for her, 18 of them hotter than DeMario) she's had it. "I'm glad you realized that you need to move forward," says Rachel, gearing up for something good. "But what I need you to understand is that forward isn't that way toward the mansion. Forward is outside of it." Do you understand that, DeMario? Do you smell what the Rachel is cooking? The other bros shuffle their feet behind her hoping they can somehow spin her hate of another man into a love for them. They ask if DeMario is coming back. "Fuck no," says Rachel. 

The Frontrunners

Going back a few episodes, it must be noted that a few frontrunners have already emerged. And they are tall, strapping, brunette white men, because Rachel has a type.  

Bryan is a 37-year-old chiropractor who doesn’t look like his name is really Bryan, like he's really a chiropractor, or like he's really 37-years-old. All of that is a compliment. 

I really liked Bryan because Bryan is hot and speaks Spanish; I could even get past his Dementor-like kissing style…right up until some of the fellas went on a group date to Ellen and it was revealed during a game of Never Have I Ever—always a cool thing to play with eight guys, one gal, and a live studio audience—that half of the guys on the group date had already kissed Rachel. To the half that had not kissed her, this comes as a surprise. Because, I guess, they've never met a human woman and cannot imagine how Rachel might meet 30 dudes, which probably adds up to, like, 150 different abdominal muscles, and want to kiss some of them. To Bryan, this serves as an opportunity for him to showcase that he was the first guy to kiss her, which he unfortunately does by saying to another fella, "You got my sloppy seconds." It is proof that Rachel likes Bryan that she did not whip off her lace-front and cut him with words right there.

The other guy that had already gotten his kiss? Peter, who got the first one-on-one: a romantic day with Copper the Dog. I don’t care if Peter is boring. I would climb that man like a tree—and I would ask him to keep all of his fashionable suits on while I did it.

Of note: Anthony, who Rachel goes on a one-on-one with, riding horses down Rodeo Drive (not a thing, girl, no matter how many times you say it's a thing), might actually be good enough for Rachel…but he seems far too mentally and emotionally intelligent to be long for this world.

Do We Have To?

Honestly, if it weren't for the one incredible conversation regarding a banana during the saga of Lukas and Blake, I wouldn't even get into this because these two are The Worst. Lukas is the guy who nearly gives himself an aneurysm every 10 minutes trying to be funny. His idea of humor is just to scream a word: Whaboom. My idea of humor is listening to all of the other men genuinely not be able to remember what the stupid word he keeps saying is: Whabam? Kabloom? Ska-douche? Who cares!

Blake is the guy who talked about his dick for a full five minutes in his intro package, but thinks Lukas is in this for the wrong reasons. These two somehow know each other from the outside world, because Lukas used to date Blake's roommate, who Blake says is now being evicted from his apartment for calling him a maniac…ladies, try to keep your panties on, okay?

This all comes to a boil when Rachel tells Lukas that Blake has been questioning his reasons for being on the show, and Lukas responds calmly and not at all like a drunken, unhinged person, saying that he recently caught Blake standing over his bed eating a banana while he was sleeping. Blake's response to the claim of a moron: "Heh, impossible. I don't even eat carbs." Blake, you fucking tool.

Let's Detox with a Little…

The Pretty Boy Pitbull, Kenny King. If you had told me my favorite man in this group would be a pro-wrestler who goes by the name of the Pretty Boy Pitbull Kenny King, I would have said…Yeah, Jodi, that sounds exactly like you—nothing has ever sounded more like you. 

But still, I did not expect Kenny, the pro-wrestler with a 10-year-old daughter to be quite so cuddly. He has endeared himself to me if for this quote alone: "Being a wrestler, I know all about white dudes acting crazy. And these white dudes are buggin'." These white dudes are buggin', Kenny, and you are not. Please stay this pure, and continue not to bug. Also, at some point you have to stop leading every conversation with your adorable love for your daughter. Because I don't know if Rachel is ready to be the step-mother to a teen. Mentioning that you used to be a Chippendales dancer, however, is a good start.

Lee Is a Sociopath Who Must Be Stopped and Since I Just Saw Wonder Woman, I Wouldn't Mind If Rachel Donned Leather Armor and Lasso-of-Truth'd His Ass

Ugh, another annoying storyline, but a complex one, at least. Actually…it's not that complex. 

Eric is a young man with Steve Buscemi eyes who has clearly never seen this show, otherwise he would know that if you speak a word about the Bachelor(ette) that sounds like anything less than the complimentary rantings of a stalker, you will be taken to task by some dude named Iggy. See, Eric really likes Rachel, and he's getting frustrated that he can't tell if Rachel likes him back. He wonders aloud to a few friends if Rachel might be keeping her emotions in check since she's dating so many men at once.

And men quite literally come out of the woodwork to tell Eric that he is the devil and he'll never know love.

Listen, I don't really even like Eric that much. He doesn’t seem particularly interesting, and definitely isn't mature enough for Rachel, who could legitimately be the President of the United States right now. But there is no doubt that Lee's sociopathic behavior toward him is fueled by the fact that he thinks Eric is inferior to him. This is obvious because since this season has aired, sleuths have uncovered many a racist tweet from Lee, but also because Lee is a walking microagression with cold, dead shark eyes.

 After Eric naively tries to float the idea that Rachel might be playing this gameshow like a game, some dude named Iggy that you don't need to retain to memory comes out of nowhere to confront him about it. Eric raises his voice because Iggy was out of line, and because sometimes people raise their voices when they're upset and consisting on a diet of protein powder and Belvita breakfast bars.

Lee latches onto the fact that he heard Eric yelling and will not let it go. He tells Rachel that Eric’s aggression made him “uncomfortable” (you code, bro?) and he does’t think Eric is right for her. Rachel asks Eric about it and Eric explains that he just wants some validation; Rachel validates him with the group date rose; Lee demeans and condescends to Eric by repeatedly saying creepy shit like he thinks he's "an amazing person" and he “loves him to death,” but he heard him get "aggressive," and that scared him. Then to the cameras: "I don't care if Eric disrespects me, okay? He means nothing … this is one kid with a bad issue."

Hey Lee, real quick: Fuck. You. You are transparent, and you are dangerous, and this season pretty much rides or dies on how soon Rachel gets rid of you. No pressure, Rach. 

Just kidding, there is a ton of pressure on Rachel for this season to work out okay, and it's very unfair to her. Happy reality TV, everyone! See you back here, hopefully sooner rather than later. My only thoughts on Bachelor in Paradise for now: Sad, sad, sad. Bad, bad, bad.

[infiniteglitterfall]

I was wondering if you had any queer and/or social justice books you could recommend? (Also completely different topic but what does "Don't be a dick, Alan" mean? Is it a quote or reference or something?)

excellent question! it is an in-joke with myself. someone was being a passive-aggressive racist douchebag on Nextdoor, and I replied with “Don’t be a dick, Alan.” which i think we all know is surprisingly pithy for me. I thought it would be a good thing to use to replace the default text people see when they write an ask. I didn’t realize at first that I had actually replaced the text of the “ask me anything” link on my blog. But it didn’t seem to stop people from sending asks, so I left it there. I can’t say it STOPS people from being dicks, but most people who send me asks are very nice either way. Queer/social justice is kind of a broad topic (two broad topics really) so I’ll just give you a sampling of my favorites and my to-reads: Boys Like Her: Transfictions - I don’t know how it would hold up today, but it was amazing in 1998. IIRC, at least one of the authors is intersex and trans, and writes about that, and there are a lot of pieces about being genderqueer and/or queer in general. (The book is “a provocative collection of fiction and images from Taste This, a queer performance group including Anna Camilleri, Ivan Coyote, Zoe Eakle and Lyndell Mongomery.”) 

I really need to read For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly, by “undocuqueer” poet Yosimar Reyes. He wrote A Poem So That The Weight Of This Country Does Not Crush You. He is an amazing author/activist; I follow him on Facebook, and even his Facebook posts are perfect: 

“My art is for my Undocumented people I could care less if the average American doesn’t know why I can’t become legal and I am no longer going to answer that question. They can go on google. My priority is making sure my people don’t despair. My audience is my own and I’m unapologetic about that!”

“You think it’s just about a social security number but just imagine how much that number gives you access. There are so many young people of color that give up cause this country tells them it’s not their home and they were born here. I know this country is not mine to claim according to some people but when is this country going to acknowledge that they uprooted me from my home? When are y'all going to start facing the violence of your history?” 

Sunnybrook: A True Story With Lies, by Persimmon Blackbridge is short and colorful, and groundbreaking for me in exposing the ableism in the mental health industry, and helping me understand disability rights around mental health in general. It’s “he hilarious and angry story of a young woman who fakes her way into a job that changes her life. One cover-up follows another as Diane hides her learning disabilities from her new employer, the ‘Sunnybrook Institution for the Mentally Handicapped’ and her girlfriend. But her dreams of becoming ‘a professional’ are threatened by her identification with the inmates at Sunnybrook. And when Diane meets Shirley-Butch at the bar, her lesbian identity and her psychiatric history become irrevocably intertwined. Moving back and forth between Diane’s job and her personal life, Sunnybrook is by turns funny, tragic and sexy. It is a riveting and visually arresting story about a group of people whose lives are made up of small acts of resistance, who steal moments of joy whenever possible.” Very Tumblr. Persimmon Blackbridge’s entire body of work is amazing, lots of radical queer working-class mentally-ill fiction. I loved Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman, which is sort of a combination of a memoir and a stroll through people who transcended gender norms throughout history. It’s not a well-sourced historical text arguing that each person was trans, it’s basically a trans person going “look at this, these people’s experiences were similar to ours.” 

I don’t know how it would hold up today, but there are two books that do a more “real”, rigorous, intentional historical exploration of trans people that I really want to read: Transgender History, by Susan Stryker (a bi trans historian) and um… 

Ok, and that’s the only one, because I thought the other one was an updating of Transgender Warriors, but it’s actually a collection of trans writing and art from people all around the world: Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation. One review says, “The editors have made selections representative of the diversity to be found in the global trans* community - those sharing their thoughts and experiences express a range of gender identities - and some decline gender identification all together. While many of the voices come from North America, there are contributors from all around the world - Spain, Singapore, Mexico, Argentina, Kenya among others - and from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. The contributions range from the deeply personal to the highly theoretical, from formal essay to autobiographical narrative to poetry to visual art.” 

I need to read Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution, by Shiri Eisner; River read it last year and the bits I glimpsed (or got to hear out loud) were too good. 

Ditto Queer And Trans Artists of Color: Stories of Some Of Our Lives, where Nia King “discusses fat burlesque with Magnoliah Black, queer fashion with Kiam Marcelo Junio, interning at Playboy with Janet Mock, dating gay Latino Republicans with Julio Salgado, intellectual hazing with Kortney Ryan Ziegler, gay gentrification with Van Binfa, getting a book deal with Virgie Tovar, the politics of black drag with Micia Mosely, evading deportation with Yosimar Reyes,” [oh hey!] “weird science with Ryka Aoki, gay public sex in Africa with Nick Mwaluko, thin privilege with Fabian Romero, the tyranny of "self-care” with Lovemme Corazon, “selling out” with Miss Persia and Daddie$ Pla$tik, the self-employed art activist hustle with Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha, and much, much more.” On the “bi trans author” topic, I really want to read Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive, by Julia Serano. She is a very clear and well-reasoned writer, and it also seems like a “very Tumblr book”: “Among LGBTQ activists, there is a long history of lesbians and gay men dismissing bisexuals, transgender people, and other gender and sexual minorities. In each case, exclusion is based on the premise that certain ways of being gendered or sexual are more legitimate, natural, or righteous than others…. Serano advocates for a new approach to fighting sexism that avoids these pitfalls and offers new ways of thinking about gender, sexuality, and sexism that foster inclusivity rather than exclusivity.” I have a lot of concerns tho because at least one reviewer noted that she totally leaves race out of it, which ?????W HYYYYYYYY???? why would you do that when talking about feminism OR inclusivity?????????? It’s possible that Whipping Girl would be a better read; it’s certainly an extremely highly recommended one. This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color is old but is still fucking amazing, and was ground-breaking as hell. I can’t do it justice, click through and read the reviews. As one of them says, it’s a must-read. 

Back on to-reads, “Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency “ by Willy Wilkinson is one I’ve only flipped through in the bookstore but it looked really good and fun. “This poetic, journalistic memoir shines an intersectional beacon on the ambiguity and complexity of mixed heritage, transgender, and disability experience, and offers an intimate window into how current legislative and policy battles impact the lives of transgender people. Whether navigating the men’s locker room like a “stealth trans Houdini,” accessing lifesaving health care, or appreciating his son’s recognition of him as a “transformer,” Wilkinson compellingly illustrates the unique, difficult, and sometimes comical experiences of transgender life.”

ok, i think that is a good start!