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the-voodoo-cat · 5 years

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I do want to genuinely apologize about the post regarding Caleb and Essek. It was meant as a jest, though I see now that it was in bad taste and I apologize. I’m not trying to hurt people but I clearly did and I really am sorry for that. I’ve deleted the post since because it does not reflect my actual thoughts and feelings on the topic and I want to be very clear that I have no problem (nor would do any thing about it even if I did) with Caleb ending up in a romantic relationship with a woman in canon! I was speaking about a very specific hypothetical in a very exaggerated way that was meant as a joke, but I understand that many people did not see it that way and I apologize that I let my own passion cloud my judgement. I will not make posts like that in the future, and I will do my best to not hurt people again in the ways I have with my past posts.

I also want to explain where this all came from so here’s the essay. The whole thing. Hopefully more eloquent than I’ve been on here recently. It was written months ago, so some of the things in it may seem strange in the context of current canon but I don’t feel like completely revising it.

I am putting the essay under a cut to avoid clogging up people’s timelines, but I do encourage people to at least try to read some of it. If there really are biphobic flaws in it, please please tell me genuinely, because that is so far from my intention as a critic and an academic. All I wish to do is point out harmful rhetoric, and in the context of this previous episode explain why I was so upset in the first place. (also if you’re wondering about the pronouns and addressees in the essay it was actually written as a letter to the cast but I couldn’t find an email to send it to)

I want to be clear before I continue that this entire discussion has nothing to do with shipping, but also that while the canonization of ships is irrelevant to representation that does not mean it should be mocked or trivialized either, because the concept of shipping is often an outlet for queer people to explore relationships or romance in ways they do not get in media. In regard to Fjord’s sexuality, my insistence on giving confirmation that he is gay also has nothing to do with shipping, or any form of feeling that he should be in a relationship with any of the other characters. I mention this because it is an argument often weaponized against queer fans, and I do not want it to be seen as any part of my motivation for writing this letter. I have seen many queer fans feel the need to walk away from twitter and the Critter community because of the abuse they suffer for promoting any form of gay or trans speculations, and while I understand that the cast has absolutely no power over this behavior, the least you could do is not participate in this abuse.

As it stands now, the way the cast and Brian discuss Fjord and make jokes regarding him is contradictory, and it is in this contradiction that the homophobic rhetoric I mentioned originates. Fjord is described in Talks as a gay man, through frequent allusions to ‘sword swallowing’ or him being a bottom, yet also described as (or at least hinted at) having romantic intentions toward Jester. This contradiction between showing him as gay and showing him as straight (or bisexual) is not only confusing, but cruel and demeaning to gay men—the discussions of his sexual relationship or interest with men becomes the butt of a joke, something to laugh at or something to mock, while you placate non-queer fans by ensuring us “don’t worry though, he’s straight.” This reinforces an extremely harmful rhetoric that gayness is a joke, or a fetishistic hypersexual phase that can make a character quirky or weird but still eventually normalized to straightness. Not only does this behaviour harm and invalidate gay fans on a personal level, it also encourages straight fans to fetishize or trivialize gayness in the community, and further silence gay voices.

The jokes made on Talks about sword swallowing or bottoming, specifically, belie a particular brand of straight ignorance or apathy that is actually as harmful as outright homophobia—if you don’t specifically say you’re mocking a gay man or gayness, then you aren’t, right? Unfortunately, this argument is inherently flawed because it ignored the significance of microaggressions in systemic oppression and abuse of minorities. When you mock a man for his sexual interest in men or allude to a man having these desires while also claiming that he is romantically interested in a woman, you turn gay sexual desire into joke and improbability. That is to say, when you paint a gay or bisexual man’s interest in men as purely sexual, you trivialize the importance of man loves man (mlm) relationships and invalidate their social qualities by making them seem inherently lesser to male/female relationships. Moreover, you contribute to a systemic fetishization of mlm relationships that turns them into an object for the sexual desire of straight women and dehumanizes the men involved. Thus, by constantly alluding to Fjord’s sexual interest in men while reinforcing his romantic interest in a woman you paint all potential sexual interactions (both in his history and his future) Fjord has with men as fetishistic, trivial, petty, socially nonviable and ultimately meaningless, and in doing so also paint all mlm relationships this same way.

Furthermore, your jokes about Fjord being a bottom were, perhaps unintentionally, a direct reference to Fjord being mlm. Although they are used in colloquial speech rather casually now, the words “top” and “bottom” are not synonymous with “dom” and “sub” but rather specifically refer to gay sexual intercourse. As such, when you say Fjord is a bottom, you are saying he has had or has interest in having sex with another man. The joke about Fjord taking the “Pact of the Bottom” is rather humorous, so long as he is actually a bottom. However, if he is a straight man with no interest in having sex with other men, it instead implies that gay sex is a fetish, something weird or strange and inherently unnatural, and that men who have it are subordinate, lesser, and/or weak. Similarly, if he is bisexual but only engages romantically with women this rhetoric still creates negative connotations and hypersexualization of mlm relationships by making them singularly about sex in a way that is typically used to discuss fetish and kink.

If Fjord is gay, all of these jokes and allusions are not so inappropriate, and so long as he eventually finds, or has in his history, a fulfilling romantic relationship with another man there is nothing wrong with the way he is being discussed. The need for him having a long term mlm relationship stems from the lack of proper mlm relationships in media, and also avoids the trope of the hypersexualized fetishistic object of the gay man that I discussed above. Also, there is an evident gap in Critical Role’s general representation of gay happiness, and although I would never force or even request that representation, I want you all to be aware that you are falling into a trope of tragic and ultimately lonely or unloved gay men both in the depiction of Tarry and of Gilmore. That is not to say that they (particularly Gilmore, whom I adore) are not outstanding characters that are dynamic and interesting, but just that they are the only major gay characters and thus neither of them finding fulfilling romantic love falls into a bit of a trope. As a note, when I say “gay” here, I do mean gay (as in mlm) not queer (as in LGBTQ), which is why I do not include the lesbian relationship between Kima and Allura.

Finally, one last note: sexuality is not a ploy, or a backstory, or a secret. Sexuality, like race, class, and gender, are key and immediate aspects of a character that, on a meta level that can be confirmed and discussed on a show like Talks Machina, should be available to the audience right away. I get that backstory is something all of the players are being cagey about, and I understand why, but I encourage you to not think about a character’s sexuality in this way—the character may not reveal their sexuality to the party but that does not mean the cast should be keeping that information away from the audience.

Finally I do want to apologize once again for some of my own rhetoric, even in this essay I know I refer to Fjord’s interest in Jester (or women generally) as “straight” instead of immediately acknowledging his potential bisexuality. For me, I have seen Bi-ness used as a ploy by writers so many times to make a character quirky, while still putting them in a m/f relationship, that for us queer fans I think it is important to remember that m/f bi relationships are the only ones that straight fans find acceptable the majority of the time and this does really hurt a lot of queer people.

#shits personal #sorry for all my unaffiliated followers for having to see all this shit show #but to the rest of yall im really sorry #i was being immature and I am an adult enough to recognize and apologize for that #also i'm turning off anons for rn #and for whoever it was speading my posts on twitter maybe do me a solid and spread this too bc i haven't seen any of this on my feed #so idek where to go to apologize on twitter

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alvizbeldamarcos · 5 years

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The Youth: Different But Not Indifferent

The present youth, otherwise called Generation Z, has been branded "self-centered" and lazy by other previous generations. To onlookers, the act of taking a lot of “selfies”, and actively posting or updating on social media equates to being narcissistic. This biased view has been a long-held against the youth, even branding them as "me me me generation.” Although the youth may be inclined to think about themselves, they are not simply what they are portrayed to be. The current generation of youth is more than just the self-absorbed robots that people deem them to be; they are the youth who believes that their small actions could have a big impact.

These days, we see the youth dominating social media; not only posting about their personal lives but also sharing information about current happenings. As it turns out, they are not what older generations make them out to be. As they see problems, they take it upon themselves to act on it. Contrary to what most people believe in, they are far from indifferent. If anything, they are aware, active, involved, and hopeful.

This can be seen in their concern over issues such as gender, sexuality, irrational traditions, unequal opportunities, and politics.

Bisexual Invisibillity

Gender and sexuality have long been topics of debate. In the past, socially constructed gender roles were strictly followed, with men being breadwinners of the family and women staying at home. The only legitimate sexual orientation was heterosexual, and homosexuality was thought of as a mental illness needed to be corrected. In the years of 1925 until 1964—in other words, the years of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers—the world was unkind to those who strayed from the heterosexual norm. It was only during the time of millennials or Gen X (1965-1980) that LGBTQ+ rights were constantly fought for, and even then, real change was far from happening (Johnston, 2019).

Despite gaining more visibility, the LGBTQ+ community continues to struggle: though gays and lesbians are more accepted and tolerated, bisexuals are left out of the picture. Society is more inclined to believe in monosexism, in which only single-gender sexual orientations (such as heterosexuality and homosexuality) are considered legitimate. Sexuality remains in a strict binary: you’re either gay or straight, nothing in between. However, times are evidently changing as the youngest group of people, Gen Z, has a tendency to view sexuality and gender on a spectrum (Cieslik, 2017). A survey by J. Walter Thompson group proved that Gen Z is more open about gender and sexuality politics. When asked to choose a number on a scale of zero to six where zero meant completely straight and six meant completely homosexual, most chose numbers between one and five, indicating that they view sexual orientation as something more complex than just belonging in a binary (Tseng, 2016).

Another survey from Pew Research center showed that the majority of those from older generations think same-sex marriage is either negative for society or will not make a difference (Parker, Graf, & Igielnik, 2019). In contrast, most Gen Z participants thought of it as positive. From this, it is clear that Gen Z is definitely not the conceited, apathetic generation that others perceive them to be, as they believe the LGBTQ+ should have the same rights as straights. With the internet and social media at their palms, they have a platform wherein they can meet all kinds of people. While the marginalized or the Othered may not have a space in the real world, they can definitely express themselves freely online (Tseng, 2016). With that, Gen Z is able to learn about, empathize, and connect with such groups the most, proving that they are the opposite of indifferent.

See more: http://youthink.co.vu/post/184762016538/bi-bi-bi-bisexual-invisibility-in-the

Kpop & Androgyny

As mentioned previously, the youth is more open to the fact that gender is not exclusive only to “male” and “female”. The younger generations generally view gender as a spectrum comprising of different possibilities of classification, rather than a simple dichotomy. Furthermore, the youth is not only aware of these new genders and differences but is more accepting of it. They are able to view gender not as a basis of someone’s character or capabilities rather, simply as a part of a person’s preference that should be respected. Often times, these people are even the ones commonly seen defending and fighting for the oppressed minority (in gender). As previously mentioned, they push for gender equality. Petro (2018) states that a research conducted by Brand House shows that “38% of Gen Z respondents “strongly agreed” that gender no longer defines a person as much as it used to”. Members of Gen Z, or Generation Z, was also said to be more open with the use of third-person pronouns such as “they” and “them” in addressing non-binary people. Simple acts of using these pronouns show the generation’s recognition and support of the new trends in gender.

The support even goes as far as being utilized and acknowledged in popular culture. The younger generations’ taste in fashion, music, books, and movies show how they either look past an individual’s gender or how they consider it a factor for their choices. As Bieniek & Leavy (2014) said, “having fewer perspectives behind the scenes will lead to a more limited pool of representations”. Media and popular culture play an important role in gender representation, which is why the current generation is consuming more gender-diverse outputs to show recognition and support to all types of people. Such an example could be seen in K-Pop, where most idols (especially males) are seen to be androgynous. Gender, in this case, works in two ways; people support it because of the representation, and idols utilize their androgyny because fans favor it. Although arguably, “bashers” of the movement exists, androgyny in K-Pop is still widely supported and is at least recognized by many. Despite the negativity, the awareness of androgyny, and other non-binary genders is a step towards progress and towards more open-minded individuals.

The avid support for K-Pop coming from the youth shows their openness to unfamiliarity and change. From supporting local or more recognized artists, they started to be more welcoming of new music coming from foreign singers. From the binary “male” and “female”, they also started to be more inclusive of queer genders. They have even coined new terms such as “LGBTQ”, “non-binary” and use new terms for addressing people such as “Mx.” (a gender-neutral Ms./Mr.). The youth is open to transcending stereotypes and leading the change. They are socially-aware, righteous, independent and ambitious. Consequently, they are bold and they speak out; as opposed to the common notion that the youth is indifferent. Although the Gen Z may be relatively young, and although older generations may view them as incompetent, unwise or inexperienced, they are usually the ones with fresh new ideas to offer. Due to their younger perspectives, they are more hopeful and more aspiring for the changes they wish to see.

See more: http://youthink.co.vu/post/184762006118/on-male-k-idols-looking-gay-and-how-theyre

Male OB-GYNs

Aside from participating in the more modern, LGBTQ+ struggle, the youth is also very much aware of and are fighting for the traditional gender inequality between men and women. Many organizations recognize the youth’s role as fundamental in not just addressing, but solving these long withstanding issues. The fast-increasing population of the youth has become a force, only impending its recognition as a stalwart supporter of varied causes. Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, require their meaningful participation for its fulfillment ("Building a Youth-Led Movement for Gender Equality", 2018).

Gender inequality persists because of the subsequent generations who perpetuate the status quo, with gender stereotypes used as a frame in assessing other people (Ridgeway, 2013). Hence, reform is forged only through the collective action of the youth, with the formation of a community comprised of advocates and ambassadors. The need for representation is amplified by the continued increase in the socio-political issues to be addressed, with inequality taking on many forms in society. Gender inequality, for instance, remains to be a problem in the medical field.

The gender gap in occupations related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics has been previously prevalent, although it has already decreased in the past few years (Reinking & Martin, 2018). However, it still resurfaces at some points, as seen in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology where male providers are often stigmatized, resulting in most being discouraged from even entering the field (Buck & Littleton, 2016).

The ones most affected by this are the medical students who aim to pursue a career in Obstetrics and Gynecology. However, the youth do not turn a blind eye on this issue, even concerning those who do not belong to the medical field. This problem may have been historically-based, but it was only normalized and unrecognized back in the day.

As such, the recognition of the problem served as a catalyst for identifying its solutions, with the youth's increasing awareness constructing the platform where inputs are formulated and publicized. This critical engagement asserts that they are not indifferent—only different people with a united stand against social issues.

Solutions could not be realized without first recognizing the problem. The patriarchal system which espouses on gender-linked occupations will continue to exist as long as gender stereotypes are widely held, including the stigma against the male OB-GYNs. To resolve this, youth movements continue in advocating their cause in different countries, where they even encourage the participation of young boys and men in challenging the patriarchal system. In Cambodia, women trained men in delivering presentations regarding violence against women and their role in ending such violent practices ("Engaging boys and young men in gender equality", n.d.).

Rallying for this cause can dissolve the gender-linked traits established by the patriarchal system. This translates to more acceptance for both men and women in different occupations, thus fueling the notion that youth movements serve a purpose in debunking previously-held beliefs. For instance, the use of educational messages to reduce the stigma against male OB-GYNs proved to be effective, for skills and competency had now replaced gender as the primary criterion in the selection of OB-GYNs (Buck & Littleton, 2016).

See more: http://youthink.co.vu/post/184761966398/to-be-or-not-to-be-issues-in-becoming-a-male

Adult Literacy/Education

Inequality takes many forms, with it being part of an array of discourses. Aside from gender inequality, it also manifests in the Philippine educational system which conforms to the Westernized educational standards. Due to this discrepancy, the indigenous people have been disregarded and marginalized, seemingly as if they are the weeds of the society meant to be plucked out.

The intrusion of the colonizers has initiated the westernized tradition in the Philippines. This established the dichotomy between the indigenous and the non-indigenous, with the latter amassing power, and the former being labeled as the disparaged and denigrated. Those who conformed to the westernized tradition had then become the dominant law-makers, thereby causing the indigenous people to become even more marginalized (King, 2000). This is where adult literacy emerges as it becomes necessary to provide the indigenous people with a legal ground for their claims.

The youth cannot be considered indifferent in this issue. For instance, Bakwit schools were established in the University of the Philippines Diliman to provide an alternative venue for the education of the Lumad children. This project was created to respond to the conflicts in Mindanao, which had caused the burning and conquering of the tribal schools. Another purpose of the ‘Bakwit’ schools is to raise awareness regarding the culture of these indigenous people and their motivation to continue pursuing education ("'Bakwit school' for Lumad children opens in UP", 2017).

On the other hand, a program called International Training Office (ito) of Northern Illinois University trains participants worldwide to respond to the societal and institutional needs of Third World Countries. It aims to equip the participants with the necessary skills to improve the condition of their countries, with its actions directed towards addressing human rights concerns such as income inequality, extreme poverty, racism, and discrimination. The leaders of this program are classified into two age groups: the adult and youth leaders. The youth leaders must be between 15-17 years old and must have concern for the community, leadership skills, and strong academic and social skills (Ty, 2010). The engagement of youth leaders in this project shows that the youth does not just initiate social discourses, but are also acting upon it.

See more: http://youthink.co.vu/post/184761927423/education-with-no-reservations-adult-education-in

Hazing

It is not only in perspectives on gender, sexuality, and cultural differences that tradition holds a great amount of power: even in a simple institution like college, dangerous practices such as hazing persist because “that’s just the way things have always been.” Hazing has been around for as long as Plato had established the Academy in 387 BC. It served the purpose of demonstrating the social hierarchy among students and to emphasize the power that upperclassmen had over lowerclassmen. Though hazing could involve extreme activities such as physical and mental abuse, it has been defended for the sake of tradition and the strengthening of bonds or “brotherhood.” As a result, hazing victims would go through brutal accidents, injuries, violent behavior, lower self-esteem, and even death. However, it has never been properly addressed, even when hazing deaths became commonplace.

This concern over hazing and its possible repercussions gave rise to the implementation of anti-hazing laws. The Philippines, a country where hazing is particularly widespread, has had an Anti-Hazing law present since 1995. However, the effectiveness of the law is questionable—there had been around 18 reported hazing deaths ever since the law was executed, meaning hazing is still being practiced in secret despite the prohibition (ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, 2017). Furthermore, the law itself has its own flaws, as it only punishes hazers if there is evidence of the victim’s injury, death, or rape. It disregards mental health as well, only criminalizing the act of hazing if a victim becomes “insane, imbecile” (Gavilan, 2017).

One might argue that the youth, being participants of such hazing activities, are adamant and indifferent about this. Although this may be true to an extent, it cannot be said about all of the youth, as they are using their voices to take a stand against the preposterous tradition. In 2014, the National Youth Commission addressed the inefficiency of the Anti-Hazing law in the Philippines, urging schools and organizations themselves to engage in a collective effort and create their own anti-hazing policies (The Manila Times, 2014). Two years later, the College of Mass Communication in UP Diliman released a public statement online denouncing alleged hazing practices of a UP student organization whether physical or verbal (Rappler, 2016). The most recent hazing death, UST student Horacio Castillo’s, received a lot of condemnation on Twitter, many of them coming from the youth (Rappler Social Media Team, 2017). The youth certainly understands that staying silent about such issues is not an option. For them, being ignorant is the last thing that one should be. How, then, can they be described as apathetic?

See more: http://youthink.co.vu/post/184761161073/so-wrong-its-rite-hazing-in-college

Political Apathy

Aside from voicing out opinions on social issues, the youth is also actively participating in political discussions. Despite appealing as a “boring” topic for the younger people, politics is actually a common subject of casual conversation among Gen Z. They concern themselves with this as they feel the need to be involved with matters that affect them (and will affect them in the future). Schwarz (2019) reports:

In Pew's latest survey, though, 64% of millennials said they believe the government should do more to solve problems, a figure higher than those older than them but lower than Gen Z, 70% of whom said the government should do more to solve problems.

According to the comparison made above, members of Gen Z are portrayed to be more liberal and bolder in their political opinions. In this data gathered from Pew Research Center’s online survey (with 1,178 Gen Z respondents), a large percentage (53%) believe that they could make a difference, which is why they actively participate.

People may often invalidate the youth’s efforts, saying they’re too young to know anything about politics and social issues. A common prejudice for the youth is that they are “individualistic”, “selfish” or “stupid”. However, as previously seen, they are involved. In fact, they are able to creatively utilize whatever resources they have. For instance, in the aforementioned case of androgyny, the youth (the idols themselves) use pop culture as a way to express themselves and as a platform to declare their perspectives. This way of speaking out may actually be considered effective as it gains the attention of the masses. Kahne & Middaugh (2012) adds that digital media plays a role in civic and political engagement among the youth. Being digital natives, most members of Gen Z gain information online and use social media as a platform to declare their opinions. A positive side was found on the “Youth and Participatory Politics Survey”, conducted by Kahne and Cohen mentioned in the paper, which involved 3,000 respondents (ages 15-25 when the survey was held) of different nationalities. According to the survey, a majority of the sample population actually stated that they needed help verifying the information they take in. This shows how the youth values the validity of the “facts” which they see on the net, further strengthening the proof of their willingness to be in the know and to be involved.

However, online activeness and participation are often viewed negatively by the older generations. To them, such is a display of self-centeredness and laziness. Coe & Vandergrift (2015) corrects this by saying, “instead of seeing youth problematic, our review suggests that scholars should examine potential to be emancipatory and to signal new directions of social change.” The youth is not indifferent—it just happened that they have a different way of participating and expressing. According to Greenberg (1941), “our political state needs a thorough cleaning and it is evidently up to us, of the younger generation, to get the busy.” This statement indicates how the youth could greatly contribute to the future, especially since they are the one affected by it. A major reason as to why the youth refuses to be apathetic is because of the fact that all the decisions they make in the present, could greatly affect their futures. Their political choices and personal decisions now would determine how their tomorrows would be like; all the more reason for them to act now.

See more: http://youthink.co.vu/post/184760795008/why-care-about-not-caring-political-apathy-as-a

A New Hope

The youth is a compelling force, but not without a cause. Their inclination to initiate social discourses have become their defining feature—engineered by their exposure to the erratic movements in the political landscape. Despite this, critics confine the youth to stereotypical notions, acting as if they are not liable for a great deal of matter. The accusations of being indifferent have naturally accompanied the youth's character and are all subsumed under the previous generation’s modern, yet implicit form of imperialism. Granted that this had become all too extensive, the youth must not only show, but assert, that they are not predisposed to commit the crime of passivity. Social movements, thus, have become their platforms to both engage and disengage the public from either advocacies or false presumptions, although the ideal is still far from being attainable.

References

'Bakwit school' for Lumad children opens in UP. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/178069-bakwit-schools-lumad-children-university-philippines

Ty, Rey. (2010). Youth and Adult Education for Social Change in the Philippines: Linking Education with NGOs, Social Movements and Civil Society*. King, L. (2000). International Survey on Adult Education for Indigenous Peoples[Ebook]. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000198908

Reinking, A., & Martin, B. (2018). The Gender Gap in STEM Fields: Theories, Movements, and Ideas to Engage Girls in STEM. Journal Of New Approaches In Educational Research, 7(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2018.7.271

Building a Youth-Led Movement for Gender Equality. (2018). Retrieved from http://restlessdevelopment.org/news/2018/02/06/building-a-youth-led-movement-for-gender-equality-1

Ridgeway, C. (2013). How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World. Retrieved from https://scholars.org/brief/how-gender-inequality-persists-modern-world

Engaging boys and young men in gender equality. Retrieved from http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/youth/engaging-boys-and-young-men-in-gender-equality

Tseng, Z. (2016, March 10). Teens These Days Are Queer AF, New Study Says. Retrieved from Broadly: https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/kb4dvz/teens-these-days-are-queer-af-new-study-says

Cieslik, A. (2017, October 18). The future is fluid: Generation Z’s approach to gender and sexuality is indeed revolutionary. Retrieved from The Daily Dot: https://www.dailydot.com/irl/generation-z-fluid/

Duffy, B., Shrimpton, H., Clemence, M., Thomas, F., Whyte-Smith, H., & Abboud, T. (2018, July 6). Beyond Binary: The lives and choices of Generation Z. Retrieved from Ipsos MORI: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2018-07/ipsos-thinks-beyond-binary-lives-loves-generation-z.pdf

Johnston, T. R. (2019, April 19). Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Story of LGBT Gen Xers. Retrieved from American Society on Againg: https://www.asaging.org/blog/two-steps-forward-one-step-back-story-lgbt-gen-xers

Waltham, L. (2018, July 16). OPINION: LGBTQ+ Community Using Social Media To Empower Itself. Retrieved from HuffPost UK: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/luke-waltham/opinion-lgbtq-community-using-social-media-to-empower-itself_a_23481905/guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMyNUIZ1xUxqtpzr1F0lJBmZGicBZskJkepbx7UZ23uzKz1aAZn-bAl

Parker, K., Graf, N., & Igielnik, R. (2019, January 17). Generation Z Looks a Lot Like Millennials on key Social and Political Issues. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/01/17/generation-z-looks-a-lot-like-millennials-on-key-social-and-political-issues/

ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group. (2017, September 27). Deaths Caused by Hazing. Retrieved from ABS-CBN News: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/multimedia/infographic/09/27/17/deaths-caused-by-hazing

The Manila Times. (2014, July 10). Student and youth groups, fraternities unite vs hazing. Retrieved from The Manila Times: https://www.manilatimes.net/student-and-youth-groups-fraternities-unite-vs-hazing/110534/

Gavilan, J. (2017, September 25). What you need to know about the Anti-Hazing Law. Retrieved from Rappler: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/183279-fast-facts-anti-hazing-law-philippines

Rappler. (2016, March 3). UP CMC condemns 'dehumanizing' hazing incident. Retrieved from Rappler: https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/124489-up-college-mass-communication-hazing

Rappler Social Media Team. (2017, September 18). 'You do not murder your brother': People demand #JusticeForHoracio. Retrieved from Rappler: https://www.rappler.com/nation/182532-justiceforhoracio-horacio-castillo-hazing-aegis-juris-fraternity

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deathbystraybullet-blog · 7 years

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Throwing Down The Binary One Queer At A Time

The social construction of gender, relies on the binary gender, biological sex or a breaking of the two. We know that many things are gendered and that many of them are ridiculous. From the colorization of gender before birth to what job fields are considered feminine and masculine, gender is by far the biggest social construction that exists in society today.

Because we are human we tend to look for representations of ourselves in media all the time, but since medias construction of reality is always a bit exclusive, we don’t see everything we need to. Some forms of media allow more restrictions of what is deemed acceptable, like the YouTube restrictions of LGBT forms, or letting a cis person portray a trans person in a film or television show. In the movie Stonewall they whitewash and cis-wash what happened. Stonewall was a bar in the 60’s and 70’s that was known to be a place that LGBT would gather. During a police raid on the Stonewall, a trans-woman of color named Marsha Johnson started the resistance and riot of Stonewall that night. “Johnson was a patron at the bar who "really started it" on the night of the riots” (King).

In the 2015 movie, Johnson was portrayed by a cis white man. Which is not only erasing Johnson being the originator of the riots. It paints what many mark as the beginning of the fight for LGBT rights, as something a white man started. When we see bad representations, sometimes it feels like you must accept it because somehow bad representation feels better than no representation at all. “Viewers who take the dominant-hegemonic position can be said to decode images in a relatively passive manner. But it can be argued that few viewers actually consume images in this manner, because there is no mass culture that can satisfy all viewers’ culturally specific experiences, memories, and desires” (Sturken Cartwright 73). When media is formed, the producers know that even if their portrayals aren’t the best, that people will watch or read it because they want to feel verified, and in most cases, it works. In the socialization of the binary gender system, we can take examples of how there are many genders and what media does to belittle those who don’t fit into this category or just completely ignore those who aren’t cis-gender (the idea that you align your gender with your biological sex) straights or in some cases cis-gender gay.

In the concept of gender, I identify as a non-binary person. Which basically means that I don’t identify as a woman or man. I just want to be is a person who gets respect. “Media content plays a hugely significant role in shaping our perceptions of what it is to be ‘male’ or ‘female’. It also carries a set of hegemonic assumptions about human sexuality. Research on media representations of gender has focused on how women are objectified and exploited in media context (especially in advertising and in pornography) and on the gap between social reality and media constructions of femininity and masculinity” (Devereux 214). I discovered this idea about three years ago, while watching a web series on YouTube called Carmilla. Which many of the episodes are now unavailable if you turn on restricted mode in YouTube. There is a character who identifies as non-binary, and once I discovered that not portraying gender was a thing you could do. I was investigating what it was and if this is what I’d been looking for.

When I was younger, I always said that I was a girl who acted like a tomboy, without doing “boy” things. Looking back, this was the first time I claimed a gender identity, even if eight-year-old me, didn’t know what that meant. It was my way of defending the fact that I wasn’t a “girly-girl” but I wasn’t “tomboy” enough to be a tomboy. “Media representations pertaining to be ‘a man’ or being ‘a woman’ are not fixes entities and they, demonstrably, change over time, if you were to undertake even a brief content analysis of the representation of roles ascribed to women and men to contemporary television advertising” (Devereux 214). Gender is messy and hard and I wish we didn’t live in a society that values one gender over the other or makes it known that they think one gender is superior. Or that expects everyone to fit in this box, based on what’s between your legs and then chastises you when you don’t. Gender is a hard and scary place once you learn that it’s not just box to tick off on an application. Unless you’ve never had to struggle with your gender identity, then I’m jealous of you.

I like media that uses queer people, either as a character, or an actor themselves. I’ve noticed that if an actor comes out I find myself consuming almost all their media, from following them on twitter to watching everything that their name brings up on a Netflix search. I’ll go on Amazon and look at things that they endorse or contemplate buying something with their face on it. “Media content acts as a powerful source of social meaning. The media are centrally involved in the social construction of reality for audience members, giving them an understanding – however limited- of both their immediate and their more distant social contexts, Media audiences are informed and entertained by the media industries. A significant amount of people’s leisure time is taken up with media consumption, and media content itself plays an important role in the day-to-day conversations and interactions in which members of society engage. Media content draws upon and contributes to the discourses or forms of knowledge that we have about the wider social world” (Devereux 20).

A commodity of self are things that we use help us construct who we are through what we deem necessary. What I like to think is necessary to myself and self-worth is probably different than what you think is necessary and that’s what it’s about. For instance, a few days ago I purchased a binder, which is something that either trans-men or gender nonconforming sometimes wear to make their chest flat. It’s basically the opposite of a bra. This is something that I would view as a commodity, whereas I’m sure some people don’t even know that such a thing exists. Commodities don’t have to be things you wear or something you watch. They can also be something like our phone cases, since our phones are what we use to consume a lot of media, the outer appearance of it says a lot about what we want others to think about us.

When we look at actual social media, this can be attributed through banners and profile pictures. We want others to see our best selves and see what we think is important, and judge us through that. “Logos are ubiquitous. They appear on clothing and shoes, on household objects, cars, knapsacks, computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Because consumers are so accustomed to the presence of brands and ads and see so many ads over the course of a typical week, they tune ad messages out. In today’s media environment, advertisers and marketers are compelled to constantly reinvent the ways in which they address and hold the attention of increasingly jaded consumers, who are always on the verge of turning the page, hitting the television remote control, fast forwarding on their TiVo’s, or browsing to a new website” (Sturken and Cartwright 265). We live in a day and age where advertisements have always been a part of our lives, no matter where we are or what we are doing. It seems like in the technological era that you can’t think about buying something, with no actual browsing of the internet and poof there it is on the side-bar of your Facebook timeline, and that is terrifying.

I mentioned before that I had just recently purchased a binder, I believe that since the only thing we ever learn about is the gender binary and how our society functions on that basis, products like binders aren’t advertised unless you go to a website with cookies on it, and that’s just taking things you’ve already looked at and showing them to you again because that’s the best way to keep you coming back to the site to purchase things. One can assume that objects like binders, stuffers, and any other products one might use to pass as a different gender aren’t sold in the same ways as other products because there is a niche to it. “Advertisements affirm this meaning that people relate to each other on the most intimate levels through consumerism, depicting commodities as facilitating familial emotion and communication… In the same way that advertising sells the ideal of belonging it also establishes codes of difference in order to distinguish products. Ads often establish norms by demonstrating things that are different from the norm; this happens through the process of marking and unmarking” (Sturken and Cartwright 277). While this was talking more about who we all relate to how and what we buy, I think that we can think of the lack of adverts for trans items in the same way. “We could equally create a list of men who do not conform to the dominant discourses surrounding masculinity and who are largely invisible within mainstream media content. This is particularly true in terms of men who are gay or bisexual” (Devereux 215).

One thing that has become a staple in the lesbian community is flannel. I would also argue that I’d consider this a commodity. Even though it is something that everyone basically wears there’s a community acceptance that we are trying to make flannels a lesbian thing, we just want it to become part of our identity. “A look at different kinds of products can help us to see how exchange value works. Certain kinds of products have important use value in our society- food and clothing for instance, that we feel we cannot live without.” … “This refers to the process by which mass-produced goods are emptied of the meaning of their production and then filled with new meaning in ways that both mystify the products and turn it into a new fetish object” (Sturken and Cartwright 280).

For instance, when I see a girl in a cute flannel, I often think to myself if she’s trying to give off a gay vibe too or if she is just a girl who likes flannel, and admittedly that is a big flaw in the “lesbians reclaiming flannel” plan. “As many critics have argued, however, the ‘chic’ visibility of gay men and lesbians in the mainstream media is not unproblematic, … Nearly all of these portrayals skirt the realities and implications of homosexuality by desexualizing the characters – i.e. by almost never depicting them as in a romantic or sexual situations” (Devereux 216). I’m defending this because it took me so long to accept and embrace my sexuality. If there is something that can make me feel like I am more a part of the community, then I’m going to commodity it to myself. “Such a show also sells the idea that people can connect and transcend their differences (including differences in sexual orientation) through the cultures of taste and consumption. Other television programs simply hawk products by putting them noticeably on the screen” (Sturken and Cartwright 299).

We know that media constructs a lot of different things in life, to people in phases of life. For those to embrace who they are, whether that be who they were born as, or who they’d like to become. Gender is one of the biggest social constructions that exist in society today because it’s implicated from before birth and after death, and people will get frustrated with you if you don’t fit into their boxes of what gender should be. From not announcing the sex of your child to strangers on the bus asking if you’re a boy or a girl, gender shouldn’t be that hard for people but it is.

Works Cited

Cartwright, Lisa, and Marita Sturken. Practices of Looking, an Introduction to Visual Culture, Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, 2nd Edtion. Moorpark, CA: Academic Internet Incorporated, 2011. Print.

Devereux, Eoin. Understanding the Media. London: Sage, 2014. Print.

King, Jamilah. "Meet the Trans Women of Color Who Helped Put Stonewall on the Map."Mic. Mic Network Inc., 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

#Queer #Queer Media #Essay #School Things

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designcontextsbh-blog · 7 years

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Response: The Representation of Sexuality and Relationships in Games

Games have a unique opportunity when creating characters because they don’t have to rely on physical acting so they can create a character to be any race or gender and find the voice actor that fits. The issue with this is that developers tend to create characters that appeal to what they believe is their largest audience, so straight white males are a popular character for games. It seems like deviating from the norm and introducing alternative character types opens up a world of fear that it will polarise too many players. For instance, 2013 was branded as the year of the female protagonist because there was a total of 3 big games announced that had a female protagonist: Tomb Raider, Bayonetta 2 and Beyond Two Souls, then Call of Duty decided they would include female characters in their upcoming multiplayer for Call of Duty: Ghosts. The industry and players rejoiced that finally there would be more females in games, well, the male ones did at least. It seems that people in the majority think that having one or two characters that fit into a minority automatically makes everything more diverse. A few gay characters here, a female protagonist there and maybe just for kicks they won’t all be white. That’s not how diversity works. Having one character in one game that fits into a minority doesn’t suddenly eradicate the massive amount of sexism, racism, homophobia or transphobia that exists. With realism and immersion becoming more popular we see some developers scrambling to implement romance systems and making the most stereotypical LBGTQ+ characters ever seen, like repeating the ‘year of the female protagonist’ with less effort. The problem is you can’t really get away with butchering things that we experience in real life without anyone noticing.

Developers don’t seem to know how to handle increasing the amount of LBGTQ+ characters in their games, instead of looking at the competition and standing out from the crowd they seem to rely on the same old character types. A lot of games work with a pre-made character, they tell the story of a character the studio has created that the player will follow on their journey. They tend to have a limited opportunity to express much in terms of sexuality and relationships due to the story taking priority over the few characters that the player interacts with. But it seems that they constantly waste the few opportunities they do have by choosing the majority over and over again. Even games with large casts with the option to pursue a relationship arc seem to struggle with sexuality. Take Bioware’s massive RPG franchises Mass Effect and Dragon Age, even though their romance subplots are a big draw for players, they still keep the homosexuality to the bare minimum. One gay option is available for each gender, one bisexual option and the rest are either straight or non- romanceable. It seems a wasted opportunity to have such a strong system and then limit the options for any players that want to create an LBGTQ+ character. As levels of realism in games increase, so should the diversity of the characters we play.

In an interview with games journalist Kate Gray, she highlighted how allowing players freedom and full immersion are important to players “If games want to have full immersion, and are already aimed at adults, I think it’s hugely important. I don’t think every game needs sexuality and relationships … but I also think that, if you’re going to include it, it should be done properly… Romance is so personal that it’s vital to have options that cover the majority of your players.” This is all very true, not every game you play should have you romancing everything that moves or trying to tackle the massive issue of sexuality but maybe some more should. If even one game this year attempts to portray such issues in a way we’ve never seen, we’d notice a huge difference in how we speak about it.

The intimacy of relationships may be hard to translate into a 40-hour game and not just feel like a lecture on how to they should work but a few developers appear to want to avoid even trying to portray something real. Bioware once again comes up short in the representation department. Simply pick the right options in conversation, do their loyalty mission and you will unlock the ultimate ‘prize’ for game relationships – sex. In the later entries in their two biggest franchises, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, there is an attempt to portray platonic relationships between the player and the NPC characters but it still seems to suggest it won’t take more to become more than friends. But as Gray pointed out, that’s not how it works “Friendship doesn’t have a “win state” like romance does - sex - and though I obviously disagree with sex being a “prize”, I can see how it’s easy to gamify. That doesn’t exist with friendship, which is more of a sliding scale.” But for games, the focus is always set on winning the prize in every category including relationships. There are varying degrees of these prizes of course: for Mass Effect, it is a sex scene while in Harvest Moon it is a baby. Even though it may seem odd to compare a SC-FI action RPG to a farming game, their idea of using “friendship as a step to romance” is always the same - do or say the right thing for a little while and you will win that prize every time. That may make perfect sense for games, they aren’t exactly the most realistic forms of entertainment, I can become the ultimate warrior or a highly skilled spy by sliding a disc into the tray but just because people want to escape when playing a game doesn’t mean they don’t want something real in it. Expressing ourselves is a massive part of life and games, we can customise the character’s hair, voice, clothes, skills – the list is endless really. Sometimes though, you may want to make a character that reflects you as a person and without something as basic as sexuality you won’t really ever get to have that choice.

There are so many players that are underrepresented in games today as developers still play into the white straight male-centric view that people have of the world. So many people are LBGTQ+ these days that the choice to exclude them makes no sense. Developers are missing out on strong characters, world building and storytelling because the fear of being boycotted by the loud minority of homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic and racists who will make it their mission to have your game tank is stronger than the need to represent people who will still pick up your game and play it.

Fable is a great example of a game that implements sexuality so subtly you might not even notice it. When you are walking around in any Fable RPG you might notice some hearts above NPC’s heads, they indicate that they are in love with you. Look closer and you will find some above both women and men, in the second and third instalment pulling the left trigger will bring up some more information and you will find that Albion is filled with gay, lesbian and bisexual people. It makes the world feel more real and although Fable doesn’t have a big focus on relationships, it allows the player the choice and that is the big difference. It is done in a way that you can completely ignore it and just focus on the main story or you can decide to start a family with whoever you choose.

In the past 50 years expressing yourself as an individual has slowly become an integral part of life, it allows people a freedom that was never explored before. Dye your hair, dress how you like, listen to whatever music you like, date who you want to. It has all become so common place that most people wouldn’t bat an eye at someone with neon blue hair walking down the street. However, we are still faced with bigotry in regards to race, gender and sexuality in a world that preaches acceptance. Where this acceptance has flourished is in the forms of escapism we live our lives surrounded in. TV, movies, music, the internet and games all offer a few hours of being cut off from the world, of experiencing new things and broadening our horizons through someone else’s eyes. Take RuPaul’s Drag Race as an example of a TV show that opened people up to the niche world of drag. It showed how much of a market there is for simple expression of self in a time where people are still attacked for who they love or how they dress. And since Hollywood and big TV companies crumble under the protests of close-minded people, wouldn’t games be the perfect place to allow someone to express themselves within a fictional world? To experience the struggles faced by people under attack for being themselves through the safety of a computer screen? It is sad to see such an amazing industry that can create entire fantasy universes shy away from problems faced by so many of their consumers.

That being said, games are a wonderful thing. They tell stories, create universes and let you escape into a fantasy at the push of a button. But they lack in an area that has become so important and so fundamental in the last few years that they are quickly coming under fire from their dedicated players. Representation is an overlooked issue in every entertainment industry these days that the excuses we hear are becoming so predictable it’s almost laughable. The highest rated TV shows and movies this year? Probably starring the same straight white guys we’ve been watching for years. The artists taking home the most awards at the big music events? I can name the top five of them without even trying to think about it. This year’s biggest games? Well hopefully in the industry that creates its own stars, maybe we’ll get to see a few surprises this time around. It isn’t that every game needs to have a gay, trans ethnic lead to be inclusive – far from it in fact - but maybe if just here and there we got something a little different than what we’ve seen a million times before, then we can be proud to say that we include people for who they are when everyone else is pretending there isn’t an issue.

References:

Please note that throughout this response I didn’t access outside material other than game names and my interview with Kate Gray. Therefore these references are purely games that I mentioned.

Tomb Raider. 2013. [computer game]. Crystal Dynamics

Bayonette 2. 2014. [computer game]. Wii U. Platinum Games

Beyond Two Souls. 2013 [computer game]. Quantic Dream

Call of Duty: Ghosts. 2013 [computer game]. Infinity Ward

Dragon Age. 2009. [computer game]. Bioware

Mass Effect. 2007. [computer game]. Bioware

Harvest Moon. 1996. [computer game]. Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Amccus

Fable. 2004. [computer game]. Xbox. Lionhead Studios

RuPaul’s Drag Race. 2009. [tv show]. World of Wonder

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