#but i definitely do not have the same issue with culturally communicated norms | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wardenparker · 7 days

Note

I'm excited for this AMA because it finally gives me an excuse to finally ask about the world building that has gone into all of yours and @absurdthirst's Soulmate Sundays. Do all or some of these stories (excluding the Viper's Bride of course) take place in the same universe or are they all taking place in separate universes?

I ask because I've been low-key obsessed with the societal, cultural, and legal norms y'all have introduced into Hummingbird Has Landed and the implications of those 2016 norms would mean for their historical development. Things like Marcus's divorce from his wife when she found her soulmate - while devastating for Marcus - seems like a common experience in that world and suggests that no-fault divorce must have existed at a much early time in their universe compared to ours. Or the prejudice against non-soulmates marrying - assuming the statistical likelihood of soulmates being born in the same region has not changed over time, then the prejudice against non-soulmate relationships should be relatively new, developing over the past 100 years as the likelihood of finding your soulmate increased due to modern transportation, telecommunication, and living patterns.

Which brings me back to my question about this being a shared universe. We've seen hints of some of this world building in your other Soulmate stories, like Marks Match and Pero being guaranteed a green card because he's Sassenach's soulmate. But the societal reaction we see to non-soulmate relationships feels far more intense in Hummingbird (i.e. venues refusing to host non-soulmate weddings, Birdie's whole "freedom of affection" stance). I mean, clearly the reactions to non-soulmates marrying is a metaphor or at least influenced by how the legalization of same-sex marriage played out in American society in the mid-2010s. But we didn't get glimpses/hints of that "culture war" in your stories set (at least in part) in the 2020s. Is that because these stories are set in separate universes? Or is it because Hummingbird is, for all intents and purposes, a historical AU that deals with issues that are no longer viewed as issues to the vast majority of Americans in the 2020s, like (most of) Vampire Waltz?

(And yes, I am absolutely horrified at myself for calling a fic set in 2016 a historical AU, but here we are. 😅)

This is such a wonderfully in depth question and ever so much more than I thought we might get today! Thank you so much for reading and I hope we're able to do this answer justice in any small way.

Starting at the beginning -- we have always viewed these stories as taking place in the same universe. To us, The Viper's Bride with Oberyn is sort of the "ancient world" version of this universe and potentially stories with Din or Ezra might be the future. That will depend on whatever plots we choose for those stories.

Hummingbird Has Landed deals with more politics purely because we made the reader the First Daughter. We leaned into it not to make a political stance, but to have a story that was both relevant to our interests and fun to tell. I'm going to be honest, dear -- it was something I pushed because I grew up watching things like The American President and The West Wing. And @absurdthirst, like the wonderful enabler she is, agreed.

I won't say that a parallel between the relationships of non-soulmates and any likeness to the LGBTQ+ community was intentional, but...read queer writers and get queer prizes. If the metaphor works for you and gives you a depth of understanding for the situations these characters find themselves in? Then awesome!

Stories set in the 2020s (for instance, Vampire Waltz with Max Phillips) didn't have a plot that centered around those cultural topics, so they weren't featured. But we definitely have dealt with the pervasive preference toward soulmate relationships multiple times. The very existence of Mate Marks as far back as Frankie's story The Alewife is evidence of that. We've mentioned legislation that gives soulmate couples preferential treatment, and the existence of chapels for quick and easy soulmate marriages.

Call it an expanding universe, if you will. With every story, the mythology and the world building gets a little bit deeper. Just as it should be!

#WardenThirst AMA #Sunday Funday #This one was a HELL of a question!#Thank you so so so so so much for reading!!

9 notes · View notes

femme-enby · 5 months

Text

For anyone who isn’t into Doctor Who, or who hasn’t been active in the fandom or really engaging at all online… folks are STILL fussin over Doctor Who “turning liberal” “becoming a part of the left wing media” etc etc.

Now, me, having ADHD, struggling a bit durin the winter months, I decided to start watching doctor who from the beginning. I’d never done that btw, I think in the end I’ve watched just about every episode OF (New) Doctor Who, but not in order. Just went through a time where every single time it was on I’d watch it. Didn’t matter if I sat there for hours watching BBC show Doctor Who reruns, I was watching.

But I digress, a bit, what I’m sayin is I have started watching it, in order, back to back episodes. I work third shift, ain’t much else to do since the world didn’t really go back to having “24 hour” stores and such, so I just gotta chill at home really.

But here’s the thing… the fuck do they mean Doctor Who BECAME liberal/leftist???

I’m watching this show and while sure there have been one or two moments that made me go “ah yeah, definitely still an episode from 2005” where they make a small comment about like, Mickey screaming “like a girl” (I’m seeing a frilly skirt, and pigtails!”)

Doctor Who has still been LARGELY progressive, since the first episodes of “New Who” in 2005.

We got Captain Jack in 2005. A dude who seems fairly masculine, could potentially “pass” as straight at first glance… until he turns that EXACT same charm he’s using on some woman onto the man right next to her. Because as Doc said, humans are… curious creatures. We find out there’s a whole bunch of other sentient species out in the stars, we go out and socialize and… we “dance.” Again, 2005.

Doc directly shut down a controlling misogynistic husband, in the 50s mind you, when that sort of behavior was the norm. Him and Rose even had a bit of fun with needling at him, puttin him down. 2006.

First direct mention of racial issues was 2007, very brief of course but it was still mentioned that Martha had concerns being black at a time where there were indeed enslaved Africans, and she even was like “wtf” when Shakespeare was “complimenting” her with outdated terms for a beautiful black woman.

Then we get to the Great Depression episode, and they’re in a Hooverville, and they have a man mention “they’ve got money to continue building the Empire State Building, while they’ve got hundreds of folks starving in the parks just below.” So still 2007, critiquing how money will go anywhere BUT the folks in need of help.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten in my binging, but let’s skip ahead a bit for now, the eleventh doctor, who btw if anyone has forgotten, thought for a moment he had regenerated into a woman bc his hair was a bit long. So yeah, we knew then it was a possibility for Doc.

2013, The General, (who apparently had supposedly always regenerated into a woman? AFAIK or remember these previous regenerations were unseen) an older bald, seemingly white man, regenerated into a younger black woman.

In 2014, we meet Missy and find out she is The Master’s latest regeneration. A character who was a man regenerated into a woman.

In 2015 Missy mentions having cared for the doctor since “he was a little girl.” So the doctor had been a girl at one point.

This is all “Pre Thirteen,” before the show “went terribly woke” as some folks have said.

Those are folks that clearly just could never get the undercurrent theme of Doctor Who, which was that we, as todays humans, are generally considered “behind the times” by most other planet’s and time’s cultures. Doctor Who has always been about the fact that on these adventures, plenty of times WE are the “aliens” who need to learn and adapt to these new cultures.

Another thing… the companions have always been there as a stand in for viewers. As folks gain rights and are more proud of who they are, yeah, you’re gonna see more marginalized communities represented as companions and human friends of the Doctor… bc they’re SUPPOSED to represent all of us, and new companions are gonna more closely resemble new fans, so they can have their turn traveling with The Doctor.

#ryan rambles #doctor who

2 notes · View notes

kipandkandicore · 1 year

Text

we’ve decided to put together our syscourse opinions using @/nightfallsystem ‘s code that you can find here. please let us know if y’all have any thoughts on this or need any clarification!

it’s going under a cut because it’s kind of long…

Question one - Do you believe in endogenic plurality

👍(Y)- Yes

Question two - Opinion on tulpas

❤️(TS) - Supportive

💜(TNU) - Nuanced opinion / other:

we believe that the practice is not cultural appropriation, but the name is. we think it would be best to move away from “tulpa” terminology in the future, as the term itself seems more offensive than the practice. we firmly believe that no one group owns the capability to create headmates. we use “thoughtform” and “willomate” instead of tulpa terminology.

Question three - Do you think endos just don't remember their trauma

📗(MTR) - I think a lot of them don't

📘(NETR) - People sometimes misunderstand their identity, it doesn't mean everyone is misunderstanding / not remembering.

📙(NTR) - No

maybe some endos have repressed trauma but that certainly is not the norm among endo systems from what we can tell.

Question four - Opinion on shared spaces

🔺 (YSP) - Supportive

🔸(NSP) - Shared spaces are good but there should also be specific spaces for disordered, traumagenic, endogenic, etc spaces.

Question five - Do you think endogenic plurality is comparable to transX

🔵(TXA) - No, and I'm against transplural

⚫️(TXNU) - Nuanced opinion / other

we don’t believe transplural exists or should exist. if you want to be plural, then make a system… there’s no need to call yourself “transplural” - you can just be plural.

Question six - Do you think you can have DID/OSDD/UDD without trauma

🌘(DTO) - No, but a DID/OSDD/UDD system can form endogenic headmates.

after reaching a better understanding of disordered systems and what it means to be diagnosed with a complex dissociative disorder, we believe that no, you cannot form these disorders without a trauma history. however, we will never push anyone to ever disclose their trauma to us or anyone else, and if a cdd system is not ready to face or acknowledge their trauma, it is none of our business and we won’t get involved.

Question seven - Do you think introjects from other cultures should be able to use that culture's names if they aren't bodily part of it (eg. Japanese introject using Japanese names, while in a white body)

🟨(CNP) - If they're given permission by a member of that culture

🟦(CNNU) - Nuanced opinion / other

it genuinely depends on the name itself. if the name is known to have sacred ties or members of that culture have spoken out against outsiders using that name, then no. but otherwise, we don’t see why not. cultural exchange is not the same as cultural appropriation - just do your research and be respectful/willing to change!

Question eight - Opinion on researched self diagnosis

🌲(SDXY) - Supportive

🌳(SDXI) - If the person has done extensive research it's okay

Question nine - Sysmed as a term

🌦(SMA) - Against it

the similarities between transmedicalism and sysmedicalism are stark, but the pro-endo community misuses this word/does not adhere to a clear definition/uses it as an insult more than a label to describe someone’s beliefs. so we are against the sysmed term.

Question ten - Traumascum as a term

🥖(TSH) - I think it's harmful

🥧(TSA) - I am against it

regardless of their takes, “traumascum” sounds like calling someone scum on the basis of their trauma history. we don’t like that.

Question eleven - Endogenic systems using the term 'system'

🐊(ESY) - Supportive

Question twelve - Endogenic systems using the term 'alter'

🦋 (EAM) - If they are medically recognised

🐞 (ESNU) - Nuanced opinion / other

from what we understand “alter” is a term with specifically medical connotations. however, we (as an osddid system) have no issues with endo systems using “alter” to describe their parts, though we think “headmate” and “sysmate” are better terms personally, and we will assume someone is an osddid system if they use the term “alter”

Question thirteen - Xeno-origins

🐳 (XEY) - Supportive

fuck yeah xeno origins! define your experience with language that works for you and helps you understand yourself and your system!

#syscourse #syscourse code

9 notes · View notes

digilotl · 9 months

Text

i wanted to have a fit, but i just dont get made the same way i used to.

i am so tired of sex essentialism. and people who use terms like “gender ideology”. there isn’t one ideology that impacts how gender is used in society. heteronormativity is a gender ideology. chauvinism is a gender ideology. feminism is a gender ideology. there isn’t one “gender ideology” and the existence of transgender people isnt some universal idea either!

i used to be really into gender abolition and post-genderism. despite how the name would read now, it would be the great equalizer: no sex could do better than another, no gender more important than another, and all could be truly equal. it was about bringing out means of fairness. finding ways so you had more freedom beyond the limits of your body, physically and socially. it was cool!

but that catch 22 is that you cant be post-gender and say “you go girl” or “attaboy!” you could hurt someone, because for them gender is affirmative, not a burden. once i grew past that, i stopped talking about post-genderism, and really just focused on myself. what i want and how i identity.

i used to love the Gender Queer colors, but now TERFs have ruined that. i hate having to navigate labels because they are subject to change. i want to be able to actually communicate about ideas, but you need to set terms and meanings beforehand. there are no universal meanings!

i spent a good chunk of my college career and beyond tackling these topics. heck, ask friends and i was touching on these topics in high school in my limited awareness! i was happy to discuss and question these ideas! but now i hate it. because the people who want to discuss it arent cool: they want to destroy anything that isnt cisnormative. they want to insist on the easy version because it matches their existing beliefs. they dont want to find answers, only doubt those who are really living!

im just so tired of TERFs. any their biggest lies. if simply not conforming to gendered norms worked, we wouldnt have labeled and insulted people for living life beyond what was originally perceived. we wouldnt have evolved language to acknowledge such a simple and yet complicated issue! but they would rather leave it behind. because of some unclear selfishness.

i dont have a point to this. im not even going to tag it. im just tired of being to be gendered. and of people who cannot understand that life is not as simple as to reinvent major social ideas. transgender was not the term before, and wont be the term in the future. time will change as we develop cultures and definitions that help describe reality as it is: not as we want it to be.

2 notes · View notes

genderqueerdykes · 1 year

Note

Thank you so much for your kind answer, I just feel as if the queer community has left aroace people behind. So much of the fight and culture is about sex and romance, and while I in no way want to diminish the importance of either of those, it sometimes feels like you are truly watching from the sidelines of being queer by knowing everyone else gets to experience an aspect of queerness you don’t. Hopefully I can find people, especially other aroace ones, who make being aroace much more bearable than it currently is. But until then, thank you for making me feel a little less alone

-Q

i appreciate you taking the time to send your asks!

it's strange, because the community definitely has taken that approach lately, but i've been thinking for the past few weeks- in a society that dictates that people must be in relationships and be sexually active to be "normal" and "happy", how is it not queer to not participate in those things, or, have an experience which deviates from the norm with those?

saying that you don't experience romantic or sexual attraction elicits the same, if not usually a worse response from cishet people, generally speaking. i've had the hardest time coming out as on the aro and ace spectrums out of all of my identities, aside from fighting for my life for my transness. it's really hard to get cishet people in modern society to wrap their heads around aroace issues, so i don't quite get why the queer community for a while decided "ah, yes, in-fighting. let's fight our own, that's a good idea."

i'm sorry you've felt sidelined, hopefully we won't see much more of that. i'm hoping we start to realize it just doesn't do any of us any good to shut down our own and to try to prioritize some queer people over others. we need to work together, not to downplay one another. hope you can find some solace, it's not easy considering how small the aroace communities are now due to incessant insulting and raiding and whatnot.

take care of yourself, hope you feel better soon.

#asks #answers #aroace #arospectrum #arospec #acespec #acespectrum #asexual spectrum #asexual

9 notes · View notes

nikkisticki · 6 months

Text

Anyone whose been following my ramblings about radicalization might know I've been watching r/Jordanpeterson as it's been declining in real time from the original group of Peterson fans, who were still misinformed fools following the words of a clown but had clear intellectual interests and were trying to understand the world through Petersons writings. Well, now it's hit the end stages and it's almost exclusively bigots and fascists doing their usual dance you'd see anywhere on the internet.

It's actually a very intriguing (but also very boring and depressing) thing to witness as I've seen it happen multiple times, but it was even more obvious in this case then normal. All of a year ago, you'd still see people talking about psychologists, therapy, self improvement, trying to understand issues and LOTS of arguments with the bigots.

Now? It's just the bigots.

I'm not going to spend the time actually disarming this lie (The TLDR is that the numbers are bunk and based on reporting of cops, armed can mean anything from guns to knifes to sticks to rocks to they had all four limbs, why are the pro-carry people willing to draw the line when a black person has a gun, etc etc) but there isn't a SINGLE argument against it in those 63 comments. One person tried to point out that 11 people is still 11 lives being lost, but nobody responded to them.

This has been the standard for months, and I can assure you reflects Petersons own attempts to shake his old base off as they are no longer his core demographic (because he's a far right bigot who "DEFINITELY ISNT A NAZI" pretending to be a centrist) so I suppose he's gotten what he wanted.

Case in point, Doctor Bobolas is one of the most terminally online individuals in this community, posting constantly since the accounts inception. I'm fairly sure he got his account deleted and was previously doing the same before hand as well, as Reddit likes to pretend they are banning bigots while they can just put on a new hat and walk back in, right as rain and clear of their bans.

What can be taken from this and the greater movements of fascists online, in my dumb little bitch opinion, is three things.

1) Those trying to radicalize others have begun to move onto other targets (Ex. Canada at large is beginning such a descent and we shall see if our own cultural norms will reject it)

2) That these people will never go away and will very rarely deradicalize without active interference and the removal of their propaganda sources, but will instead continue to act after the greater movement fails (if it does, which I think it will)

3) Expect further attacks on infrastructure by doomsday members (hey did you know that right wing radicals have been taking down the power grid at increasing levels for years in minority areas) and general violence if they believe to be pushed into a corner.

#Tbh Theres a greater problem at large with grifters trying to use this sense of danger to grift you so just make one yourself #Backpack with a decent survival knife + Gps/compass + map of local area + foraging guide + canteen and some long lasting rations #There's more useful tools you might want but the point isnt to go live in the woods its to be able to haul your ass outta town #Then go somewhere else thats safe like a relative or what have you #Firestarting tools can be useful too but as i said you shouldn't expect the downfall of America you should expect chaos for a few days

1 note · View note

straightfromthetorturedpoetsdept · 2 years

Text

The reason feminism sucks is because it started out of racism and holds up the white definition of gender in order to do any sort of critical analysis because that is the lens in which their white community has gendered them.

Any organization, no matter how "reformed", cannot be saved if the root cause of that organization was racism. In other words, white women created feminism as a way to harm black people and that cannot be divorced from the harm it continues to do with outdated and racist gender ideologies that do not take into account a world view on gender that is not the colonized mentality of gender=sex nor the needs of marginalized women, even in so called "intersectional" feminism (white voices seem to be louder every time, funny that).

The attempt by white feminists to rebrand feminism as inclusive and not racist actually undermines the entire concept of feminism in the first place (that there is 1 thing that unites all women together and that is our gender (or sex, by some definitions)) by broadening the focus of the movement so far beyond the original point- so called "womens" issues- that it is overwhelmed by trying to solve EVERY problem at once and stagnates, as it has in the US- where society literally continues to gaslit and abuse survivors while letting rapists in both the supreme court and the oval office.

Feminism, all feminism, works only on the idea that there is some universal concept of gender that affects all women in the same way but that necessarily stems from the bioessentialist view of gender that the white women who created this movement were socialized to understand their relationship with their body and the world.

Unfortunately for feminists, there is no universal concept of gender that affects all women the same, regardless of anything else about their environments or their identities. For example, the ways in which white women and white men interact not only are different than the ways in which black women and black men interact, but the root causes and reasons of those differences are also vastly different from one another.

White men oppress white women because they need to keep us under control and our needs for individuality and freedom arise from this.

From what I understand, black women are not mistreated by black men because of their own cultural norms but rather because of the ways in which slavery and colonization forced an idea of masculinity on black men that is more in line with the white idea of masculinity. This results in different needs for black women for their equality that involves an additional layer of racism that cannot be divorced from how they experience their gender.

I've heard many black women say that they identify as a "black woman," not just a woman. In order for them to be liberated, they need both sexism and racism to be addressed.

Disabled women, for example, also need disability reform in order to truly be liberated. They also cannot divorce the disability from their womanhood, either, because the way disabled women vs disabled men are treated cannot be divorced from the ableism nor the sexism.

Queer women also have different needs based on their identities and their gender also intertwining. I could go on and on about all the different intersections but all these different women are not oppressed solely because they are women, nor are they oppressed solely because they are marginalized in some other way.

Despite what feminists claim, there is no 1 thing that unites all females as women, not even oppression. Black women are not oppressed because they are female, they are oppressed because they are black women. The ways in which black women experience gender cannot be divorced from racism because black women have had to defend their female nature since the colonizers came and decided they were males due to the equality they had in pre colonized Africa.

This is to say that if white people never went to Africa, black women would likely not be oppressed at all because of their female nature. To downplay the role colonization has had in the gender inequalities that African women face across Africa today is exactly what feminism does when it claims that all women are oppressed due to their womanhood, and ignores all other causes of said gender oppression.

And honestly, you can trace a lot of women's oppression back to racism, including gender itself. This is why we are seeing a rise in TERFs, especially in colonized societies, because the powers that be cannot allow women to realize that the root cause of their gender oppression is racism. It really boils white women's blood especially to hear this, because they refuse to accept the fact that their racism could shoot them in the foot.

Because feminism is a white movement, it reacts to any threat to white supremacy in the same way as any other white organization: deny, attack, reverse victim and offender. This is why they are focused so heavily on defining a woman as a biological female because without this definition of womanhood, their hold on white women falls apart. If that falls, so does racism and capitalism.

Feminism dies without people believing that there is an innate quality to womanhood that defines our oppression, instead of the actual reality that without racism and colonization, our oppression as women wouldn't exist.

Anyways, I say all of this to say that feminism is a red herring. Gender is not what ties "women" together but colonized ideas of gender and the effects of those ideas is what ties women together. White women do not want to accept the fact that colonization and racism is why they are oppressed as well (indirectly), and so they cling to this notion of universal gender struggles, ignoring the reality that white people caused those gender struggles when they injected both Christianity and Islam into those cultures.

We talk a lot about "colonization" but not a lot of us really define what that actually means and how it occured. For example, my boyfriend said to me "gender roles still existed before colonization. Like in feudal europe" without making the connection that feudal Europe was already colonized by the church. White people don't make the connection that we were the first group to get "colonized" in a sense and this affects how we see everything, even our own bodies. Even if we claim to be atheists, if we do not do the work to decolonize our mindsets, we cannot see the connections between our transphobic viewpoints and our own colonization and the Christian values they stem from.

In order for white people to decolonize their mindsets, they need to understand that "white people" is a colonized group in and of itself. White women point to the gender inequality in colonized countries and say "see! It's universal!" And completely ignore what we did to force that inequality there.

This is why feminism is dead, because our understanding of race issues and how it has come to affect all aspects of our lives has outgrown the outdated notion that feminism originated from- that women are oppressed because we are women- and we have moved on from defining ourselves by our genitals.

When second wave feminists redefined woman to mean a person, they ironically demolished the whole concept of gender, just not in the ways they expected. Many educated afab people now look to the science and make their opinion on gender based on this. With more studies coming out showcasing how the differences between men and women are virtually nonexistent, with more people engaging in anti-racism, with more discussions with non-white people and how their view of gender is different from our own, we are slowly coming to the realization as a society that "women's issues" don't exist. Not really- not without racism existing.

This is why so many feminists are proud to be hateful to trans people now, just like they were proud to be hateful to black people when it was created. They want to hold onto the bioessentialist views that define their gender analysis because they do not want to confront the racism in their movement.

They do not wish to be held accountable for the role white women played in making sure black and brown women across the globe suffer for being born with a vagina. So they hide behind "intersectionality" and claim that they wish to hear out non-white voices, while refusing to listen to the actual causes of gender oppression in these societies (because white women is one of those causes).

Feminism is dead, and it needs to stay that way.

Anti-racism is truly the key to liberation for all of us.

#gender discourse #feminism #feminism is dead #racism

6 notes · View notes

theremightbecupcakespodcast · 2 years

Photo

#disabilitypridemonth #disabilityawareness Posted @withregram • @theseatedview “We are more disabled by the society that we live in then by all bodies in our diagnoses.”⁣ ⁣ When I first heard those words by Stella Young in her revolutionary TED Talk #LinkInBio, it changed my life. I grew up with and in the medical model of disability, the one that views illness and disability as wrong, something to be fixed and if it can’t be fixed, a failure to be hidden. It's the origin of much of the stigma and the foundation for a society that sees health as the norm (rather than the privilege it i) and accessibility as a nice to have, rather than a right.⁣ ⁣ Switching my thinking to the social definition of disability changed everything and it might do the same for you. When you see disability as a result of the barriers in your environment, rather than an isolated personal issue, it blows up your worldview. And it shifts the responsibility for inclusion in a way that could truly change our culture. Instead of the disabled person being in charge for creating the accessibility and change they need every single day (trust me, it’s exhausting), placing that responsibility where it belongs — those in charge of the environment — is likely to create more access and faster, too.⁣ ⁣ I believe in being part of the solution, contributing my lived experience and professional expertise to ensure that any changes made will actually work for the disabled community. But understanding that I am not responsible for the entirety of the solution was, quite frankly, an incredible relief.⁣ ⁣ Your disability is defined by an inaccessible society. What could you do if your community was accessible?⁣ ⁣ [Accessibility description: a photo of oxidized bars on the banister by concrete stairs. Text: “my disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment is accessible.” – Stella Young.] https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcqXV5pXOc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#disabilitypridemonth #disabilityawareness #linkinbio

1 note · View note

qatarali · 6 months

Text

Minister for LGBT Affairs and Inclusivity: Ali Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari

Over the past few years, the Islamic worldview has undergone significant changes, particularly in matters of morality, gender, and sexuality. Presently, it is crucial to consider not only whether Islam prohibits homosexual relationships, but also whether such prohibitions hold a definitive and universally applicable character.

You're right. Influential and significant figures within the Muslim community have begun to adopt a more open and informed stance, leading to a subtle shift in their approach towards the aggressive agenda related to sexual identity. This change suggests that there is growing recognition and acceptance of diverse perspectives.

Based on publicly available information, official figures in Qatar, such as the Al Kuwari family, have been publicly showcasing their evolving attitudes towards the LGBT movement. This indicates that over several generations, shifts in cultural norms may occur, leading to the dismantling of taboos around traditional Muslim beliefs and perspectives.

It is crucial to highlight the close partnership with representatives from the United States, where freedom is highly valued as a political principle. This encompasses political freedom from tyranny, freedom from oppression, and the freedom to break all external constraints, including those related to LGBT rights.

For example, it's worth noting that the infrastructure of the major Qatari bank, Qatar National Bank (QNB), is built and maintained by Microsoft. In 2023, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari had a meeting with Brad Smith at the headquarters of the Qatari Ministry of Finance. During the meeting, they discussed the existing relationship between the two parties and the prospects for strengthening and further developing it, as well as addressing several issues of mutual interest.

It's worth mentioning that Microsoft is associated with a consortium of companies that support the legalization of same-sex marriages. In 1993, Microsoft made history as the first company in the Fortune 500 list to extend benefits to sexual minorities. During the same year, Microsoft also formed the corporate community known as GLEAM, which comprises more than 700 members who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals.

The organization Credit Suisse conducted an analysis of the global market to identify companies and enterprises that demonstrate tolerance and inclusivity towards open members of the LGBT+ community. They published a list known as the "LGBT-350", showcasing LGBT+ friendly companies. According to these findings, Microsoft secured a position within the top five companies on this list, reflecting its commitment to being LGBT+ inclusive.

youtube

In a rapidly evolving landscape of attitudes towards gender, sexuality, and identity, even in the business sphere, it is possible to shape various moral frameworks in communication. During the 2023 World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari had a meeting with the Swiss Minister of Justice, Karin Keller-Sutter.

Keller-Sutter's viewpoint reflects the stance that "those who love each other and wish to marry can do so, regardless of whether it's two men, two women, or a man and a woman", adding that "the state is not obligated to dictate to citizens how they should lead their lives". As of July 1, 2022, same-sex marriages have been legalized in Sweden. Considering the close and strong relationships between the USA, UK, and Qatar, this has also played a role in shaping norms within Arab male relationships. Through collaborative efforts, they continue to globally showcase their gender and sexual paradigms, positioning Western norms as morally imperative.

On June 16, 2022, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, held a virtual meeting with Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari using video conferencing technology.

In August 2023, the Prime Minister of Britain, Rishi Sunak, was able to formally apologize to members of the LGBT community who had served in the armed forces and had experienced harassment, violence, and dismissal due to their sexual orientation.

The head of the government commented on a government report that detailed how servicemen and women had experienced "the most horrific sexual harassment and violence, homophobic bullying, and persecution" during their service. The document was based on data gathered from over a thousand military personnel, many of whom underwent electroshock therapy and chemical castration as part of investigations conducted by the military police. The report was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence and the Veterans Affairs Administration. The authors of the report provided 49 recommendations, including the return of former military medals that had been revoked, improving pension conditions, and providing compensation of £50 million to those affected.

An important event in November 2022 was the meeting between Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari and the Minister for Economy of the Welsh Government, Vaughan Gething. They discussed investment interests and the "values of Wales" in the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Vaughan Gething confirmed his intention to wear a rainbow badge in support of LGBTQ rights during Wales' match against England. During this meeting, bilateral relations were also discussed, and aspects of further cooperation were considered.

It's crucial to highlight that the dissemination of the LGBTQ paradigm, the project of normalizing LGBTQ issues, which originated in the West, is now finding acceptance in other societies with different religious backgrounds.

#lgbt #lgbtq #lgbt pride #qatar #muslim #quran #Youtube

1 note · View note

islamiclgbt · 6 months

Text

Minister of LGBT Affairs in Qatar Ali Bin Ahmed Al Kuwari

Minister of LGBT Affairs in Qatar

On June 16, 2022, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, held a virtual meeting with Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari using video conferencing technology.

issuu

#lgbtqia #lgbtq #lgbt #qatar #qatar gp 2023

0 notes

missbaphomet · 11 months

Note

I think theres a big gap in understanding the definition of kink for a lot a people since I've seen wildly varying definitions thats led to a lot of confusion and of course, huge fights. To me, before I decided to look up the definition, kink was inherently sexual, and Im a kinky person, but also enjoy things that other people would consider a kink in a completely non-sexual way, and I would not define those things as a kink because they were non-sexual. I would say "Not in a kinky way" and would not include it in the context of kink. I defined kink as "sexual attraction to a particular act (or verb)" and fetish as "sexual attraction to a particular thing (or noun)" Now I've decided to research more into it because I was insanely confused by "kink isn't inherently sexual" and now I think I'm just extra confused? lol, theres so many different answers and definitions that I don't really know who to believe or what to think. I think this also has to do with things like cultural context, the way one was raised, the communities they are/were in. Like for example, I used to be pretty active in the agere community some time ago, but not so much anymore. I'm not into agere sexually in any way and I'll never be, it squicks me out to think about it in a sexual way, but I dont mind people who are into that way (or as I used to say, people into it as a kink), it's not really my business and I personally don't care, but as you may or may not know, a majority of the agere community did care. A LOT. there was a big separation between ddlg/abdl/ageplay (sexual) vs agere (non-sexual). I'm not sure how to best explain it but... if you were into something like that completely non-sexually, you wouldnt refer to it in the context of kink EVER. Like you wouldn't mention it if you were talking about or listing off your kinks, or you would say "in a non-kinky way", and there was a difference between "agere/petre kink" and "agere/petre" (or anything else you want to apply it to, like bondage and such) same with "ageplay/petplay" as "play" indicated it was sexual. I of course understand enjoying the non sexual aspects of kink and having non sexual feelings with kink but to me they were always tied to the sexual part (to me sexual doesn't necessarily mean having sex either, just sexual pleasure/gratification/feelings) and I just thought that was the norm? And for "kink" things I enjoyed non sexually (completely non sexually I mean, getting no sexual pleasure from it), I never defined those things as kink or being kinky, and I probably wont either (out of personal preference really). I think I can see like, enjoying aspects of kink separately from sexual stuff if you enjoy it sexually? I'm not entirely sure how to word it, like being into petplay but enjoying wearing a collar non sexually because it makes you feel safe (or you just like wearing it) even if sometimes you enjoy wearing it sexually?? If that makes sense?? Or that part being completely non sexual despite being attached to the kink part? Or how some people enjoy kink completely non sexually because coping/pain management/etc? But I would've defined those by their terms outside of the context of kink or without the word kink, or define it as what it is done for. I'm not sure, it's so different and there's so many definitions and stuff it's kind of making my head spin. I hope this is at least somewhat intelligible, I just wanted to explain what the definition was to me for the longest time and where I got that definition from, and maybe help understand where the confusion is coming from?

Oh boy I juuuuust woke up so do forgive me if I'm not perfectly coherent right now.

You're right. That is exactly the issue, and I think it's because people don't actually talk to kinksters to get their definition. I'm probably not putting this the best because I am mega sleepy-brained right now but the dictionary definition is devoid of context and nuance and lacks any sentiment of the deep emotions that lie at it's core. BDSM isn't beating someone up to cum, it's two consenting adults in a mutually agreed upon situation where one (the submissive) wants and receives the action of the scene and the other (the dominant) wants to provide and gives these sensations to their submissive. What these sensations are and if they're sexual or not can vary wildly from individual to individual. The dictionary doesn't care for that level of nuance. I have a redefinition somewhere on my blog that is more mindful but it would be an archeological dig to find it among 20,000+ posts.

I used to be on agere too and I was pretty controversial back then as well. I was most active between 2016-2017 but I didn't find myself fitting in with the community even then because I have always been an age player, not an age regressor, and age play isn't sexual for me. I say this to illustrate that there is a difference between an age player and an age regressor. I think the terms get erroneously used as synonyms but they're two different mental states. Same with pet play and pet regression. I can only explain my own mindset and experience but age regression is called this because it's a regression, the way you think actually literally changes. I was never able to get there, I always felt like I was just putting on a mask. Age play, however, doesn't imply true mental regression. I don't mentally age down, but I act in a way that would be considered younger. It's the difference between mind and body. Or at least that's how I see it. Other people may have different definitions but I can only speak for me rn.

You can be both a regressor and an age player, and that's perfectly fine, but that's why the distinction between regression and play matters so much as well as also being why the two are used as synonyms. Same for pet regression/play etc. Both are extremely therapeutic in many of the same ways but it's understandable why some people don't want sex during.

My primary point is that BDSM is different for every person in it. Some people are exclusively sexual, some people aren't sexual at all, and then you have most of the community where we have a mix of sexual and nonsexual kinks. Unfortunately I don't think the misleading definition is likely to change, not unless the same work is put into understanding kink in the same way that we are working to understand being LGBT. You can't wrap up kink in a nice little bow of "this is always only ever sexual" and call it a day.

I'm sure I'll touch on this a bit more tomorrow when I get a chance to write my thoughts on headspaces but I need to get back to bed.

#baph bleats #asks

1 note · View note

globalgabswithash · 2 years

Text

Blog post #1 - I have a Tik Tok Addiction

By now everyone knows what Tik Tok is, if not let me explain. TikTok a social media platform where users able to make 10 second - 2 minute videos and share it to the public. It’s just a simple app but it captivates me and the billions of others on the app. 5 minutes of scrolling then turns to 10 minutes of scrolling then an hour. There’s so much to watch, from dance trends to politics to education to specific niches. I think this is a force of globaliztion. Why? Well, globlization doesn’t really have a definitive description, but how I think of globalization as how we are economically, socially and politically interconnected with one another all around the world. I like to use World Health Organization’s definition of globalization, “the increased interconnectedness and interdependence of people and countries.”

Tik Tok users are able to communicate to whoever, whenever and wherever. With the ability to communicate to 1.39 billion users, you start to be exposed to collective cultures, trends and lifestyles that were not easily accessible before. This can give some people a culture shock, seeing such different cultures from their own. Not only that it brings a sense of a closer global community, but a socially constructed epicentre for media. It’s so easy to create new friends, and see and build a platform with people with similar interests, beliefs and ideologies. I think the most addicting part of Tik Tok, is the ability to learn new recipes, take inspiration from different cool styles and find a common space with like-minded individuals. It somewhat validates how I think since so many others have the same thought or have been through the same experiences.

However, with so many people, they're are bound to be differences. TikTok has a lot, I mean a lot of political content. So much news and current events are shared on the app daily. I’m not going to lie, I sometimes get news off of TikTok, like the queen being dead… However, it’s crazy to think an app which started growing because of its dancing content is now sharing a platform with political space. Thousands of creators with millions of followers share their political ideologies in short 10 seconds-2 minute video clips, either just voicing their thoughts and opinions, addressing the current issues or just educating people about the current events. The political spectrum on TikTok is wide and expansive that is not just the Right and Left-wing politics seen on the news every day. I think what really made politics an increasingly hot topic and norm on the app was during the George Floyd protest and Black Lives Matter movement. The coverage of this event was huge on Tiktok. The range of content that arose during that time was empowering, enlighting, devastating and sometimes graphic. On TikTok anything goes, from people sharing the footage of George Floyd’s death, communicating when and where to protest, sharing tips on how not to be identified at protests, and educating people about the long history of systematic racism. George Floyd’s death reverberated around the world, with media new coverages, papers and even social media apps like Tik Tok. It has awakened users that they were able to take charge of current events by using the platform in a more serious way. Creators have started bringing attention and spreading awareness to local and global issues affecting the world.

Everything spreads so fast across the Tiktok. Within seconds millions of people could view your video. Whatever is posted on the Tiktok can cause global consequences.

To be honest, I do feel out of touch with what’s going on with the world when I haven’t been on it for a while. As a person who consumes the news through media platforms like TikTok, it has become an integral part of my social and global awareness. In a 30-second video, I can easily catch up on the unrest in the Iranian protest and in the next video, I can learn how to make an easy 5-minute mug cake. Maybe being addicted to TikTok isn’t as bad as I think it is. Right?

#globe1ao3

1 note · View note

thevalleyisjolly · 3 years

Text

Ok, I’ve rewritten this post several times because I really want this to be a productive and respectful discussion, but this is a conversation that does need to be started. I’ve been thinking about the whole cultural appropriation story line in this season of The Unsleeping City so far, and of course I think it’s great that Cody is starting to realize why that’s wrong and that Murph is making it explicitly clear that it is wrong, but I want to reorient the conversation away from Cody now and talk about Ricky as a Japanese-American character.

Because when Zac went “Just to paint a picture for you...” during the museum fight episode, there was quite a bit of surprise from non-Asian people in the fandom that this was really a serious issue, and one that Ricky would be bothered by or speak up about. But why wouldn’t he? I mean, the character is Japanese-American, and so is the player. Doesn’t it make perfect sense that he would at least be a little bothered by a white person appropriating Japanese culture? Asian fans certainly noticed and pointed it out before that episode aired. Ricky/Zac certainly noticed - go back through the episodes and observe how every time Cody pulled out a kunai or threw a shuriken, Ricky was cringing or facepalming with an uncomfortable laugh. Even with seven different camera perspectives to watch at the same time, it should have been pretty clear in the fandom that this was an ongoing issue that would bother and was bothering Ricky.

And I think there are several different facets to this, but the one I want to address is how there’s a tendency in fandom to ignore or erase Ricky’s Japanese heritage. Not literally (although there is a particular sting every time I see another Ricky fancast where the actor is of another Asian heritage than Japanese - Asian people are not interchangeable). But especially prior to Season 2, there was a general trend in the fandom that liked to simplify Ricky’s character and overlook him as a complex player character because of traits that are very common in East Asian immigrant cultures.

Perhaps it’s because my heritage is East Asian and I’ve had more exposure to general cultural customs and behaviours among East Asian immigrants, but Zac’s portrayal of Ricky has always read as a very obvious Asian-American child of immigrants to me (and, y’know, Zac and Ricky are actually Asian-American children of immigrants). Not expressing negative emotions out loud, not verbally articulating thoughts and feelings but expressing them through actions, deferring to other peoples’ needs first instead of expressing his own wants because it’s not about him. With the caveat that I’m Chinese and not Japanese, these are common practices that I’ve observed in my own family, among friends and acquaintances (of various Asian heritages including but not limited to Chinese), in broader experiences with other East Asian immigrants.

(Asia is not a monolith and I’m not familiar with the immigrant cultures and experiences of people from other Asian heritages. I specify East Asian here because that is broadly what I can speak on and because Ricky is Japanese, but other Asian people please feel free to discuss your experiences as well)

And obviously, these are not monolith traits observed at all times, I’ve definitely met plenty of East Asian immigrants who did express their emotions loudly, who used their words, who were assertive about their own needs and wants (this is not the post to be getting into different generations of immigration and the culture differences between those generations). And it also depends on the context - from my own experience, in private within families, both emotions and words can get extremely loud (if you dare to risk the wrath of your elders by arguing with them!) But my point is that the habits I pointed out above are still relatively common in East Asian immigrant cultures, even if not all individuals follow them at all times.

Particularly prior to Season 2, there was a common perspective in the fandom, usually couched in “uwu, I love that Zac is playing a hot dummy!!” that would go along the lines of “Ricky doesn’t have a character arc, he doesn’t get into conflicts with other people, he doesn’t say anything and is just happy to be there, he’s a shallow character who’s just a himbo.” All of which I’d dispute, (*insert post here about Ricky as a character reclaiming Asian masculinity*), but I want to focus on how the main traits -refraining from overt emotions, remaining reserved in speech, not bringing up his own needs and wants- that were brought up and used to simplify and dismiss Ricky’s character were traits which are commonly found in East Asian immigrant communities. The whole “remaining reserved/trying to avoid conflict” is something a lot of East Asian-American kids pick up at home because what you say or don’t say isn’t as important as what you do or don’t do.

And I mean, so much of Ricky is about doing things for people, showing his feelings through his actions, not his words. Just because he wasn’t getting into PC conflict in Season 1, or expressing his emotions in the same ways as other PCs, doesn’t mean he was just a silent, cheerful himbo. Which there’s nothing wrong with being a himbo, and it can be particularly empowering in Ricky’s case as an Asian man (see above linked post about Asian masculinity), but that’s not all there is to Ricky’s character! And don’t get me wrong, I personally love that part of his ongoing character arc in Season 2 is speaking up about his feelings and expressing to other people what he wants (because there’s the “American” part of the Asian-American experience that’s not just about having Asian heritage but is also about negotiating that relationship in a place with different norms and customs). But it doesn’t negate the “Asian” part of “Asian-American” either, which does impact and shape the way Ricky interacts with people and the world.

In hindsight, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that interest and meta in Ricky skyrocketed once he did start being more vocal and assertive in Season 2, which are common traits in many Western cultures. And it’s not the only reason that there’s a deeper interest in Ricky now (shout out to all the Asian fans and allies who’ve been really diving into Ricky’s character this season!) and I choose to believe in good faith that it isn’t intentional or malicious (audiences do tend to gravitate more towards tangible moments of conversation and conflict rather than background acting). But I think we as fans need to start questioning why as a whole, we really didn’t start giving deeper thought to Ricky until he began displaying more typically Western traits, because I think it’s emblematic of how, very subtly and unconsciously, we are used to privileging white “American” behaviour and ignoring or glossing over Asian (immigrant) traits.

In many ways, Ricky prior to Season 2 (and very arguably up until the museum fight), has been perceived in the general fandom as a sort of post-racial American-melting-pot character. Fans don’t wholly ignore that he’s Japanese-American, you can’t really do that when his family name is “Matsui” and when the Season 1 finale showed that his interactions with the American Dream pretty strongly involved his parents’ immigrant experience. But knowing intellectually that Ricky is Asian doesn’t always translate to actually perceiving him as an Asian person with all the implications and racial dynamics that entails.

An example of how this manifests: Ricky and Esther become a canon couple. Numerous posts begin to appear (and periodically still do) that express opinions along the lines of Ricky/Esther being the only tolerable “het” couple. Ignoring the fact that we don’t know Esther’s sexuality and we only have an offhand Ztream comment for Ricky, Ricky/Esther is a canonical interracial relationship between two non-white people, a Japanese man and a black woman. Interracial relationships are already extremely poorly represented in media, to say nothing of interracial relationships between non-white people. Yet we overlook the racial dynamics and only focus on the perceived queerness (or not) of the ship.

Or, for another example, taking the discussion on cultural appropriation and making it all about Cody’s flaws and character development, rather than considering how it affects Ricky as a Japanese man to see a white man disrespecting a part of his cultural heritage.

Anyways, I really urge D20 fans, especially if you’re not Asian, to start questioning and challenging how you really perceive characters, what kind of characteristics you tend to privilege and be drawn to and why, and what kind of fandom environment you shape in your interactions with the show and with other fans. This is not to say that Ricky should be everyone’s favourite character or that you can’t dislike him, but it is important to think about why we have the preferences that we do. I especially urge you to remember that Ricky Matsui is a Japanese-American character, that this was a deliberate choice which has been repeatedly brought up by Zac (who is a Japanese-American actor), and that you cannot and should not ignore Ricky’s heritage when you think and talk about him.

(And if you think Ricky is being an “asshole” to Cody just for being, frankly, mildly perturbed in his direction because Cody spent most of the season so far being very offensive to Ricky’s cultural heritage, I really encourage you to think critically about your opinions and why you hold them. And if, after thinking critically, you still don’t see why they’re wrong, please don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Your conscious racism is not something that is welcome in this fandom, and Asian fans are not here to teach you better)

((White and non-Asian people can and should reblog this, but don’t clown around. Productive, respectful discussion is welcome. Asian fans are more than welcome to add their perspectives/agree/disagree, especially people with Japanese heritage))

#dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20 spoilers #tuc ii spoilers #ricky matsui #diversity in fan spaces #asian rep #white people can and should reblog this but don't clown around #non-asian people can and should reblog this but also don't clown around #productive discussion is absolutely welcome but please be respectful #asian fans are more than welcome to add their perspectives/agree/disagree; especially fans with japanese heritage #i really love tuc but being an asian fan in the fandom is just like *avoids twitter* *avoids discord* *curated list of blogs to follow*

374 notes · View notes

baya-ni · 3 years

Text

The Queer Appeal of Sk8

Recently @mulberrymelancholy reblogged a post of mine with a truly galaxy brain take about how Sk8 “is a show made for queer fans” and generally how sports anime often depicts love and relationships in a way that’s more accessible and relatable to ace/arospec people than other mainstream media does.

Just, *chef’s kiss* fucking brilliant. I urge you to read their post here (note I’m referring to the reblog not the actual post).

And basically, it got me thinking about this concept of Sk8 as a Queer Show, and the kinds of stories and dynamics that tend to attract queer audiences in droves, regardless of whether its queerness is made explicit or hell, whether that queerness was intended.

And that’s what I’ve been pondering: What are the cues, markers, or coding, in Sk8 that set off the community’s collective gaydar?

I obviously can’t speak for the community. So here’s what aspects of the show intrigued me and what, for me, marks Sk8 as a Queer Show beyond the subtextual queer romances: a punk/alternative aesthetic, Found Family, Shadow as a drag persona, and The Hands.

1.) The Punk Aesthetic

All three of the above screenshots are taken from Ep 1, and every single one of them depicts background characters. They’re nameless and ultimately unimportant characters, yet each of them designed so distinctly and so unique from one another, one could mistake each of them for the main character(s) of another story.

Of what little I know about Punk subculture, I do know this: that the ethos of Punk is heavily built around a celebration of individuality and non-conformity. Sk8 seems to have incorporated this ethos into the very fabric its worldbuilding, and the aesthetics and culture upon which it takes inspiration appeals specifically to a queer audience.

I don’t really need to explain why Punk has such deep ties with the queer community. For decades, queer people have found community and acceptance within punk spaces, and punk ideology is something that I think is just ingrained in the queer consciousness as both lived experience and a survival tactic.

Therefore, a show that adopts punk aesthetics is, by association, already paying homage to Queer culture, intentional or not.

Queer fans notice this- like recognizes like.

2.) Found Family

This also needs little explanation.

Too often, queer individuals cannot rely on their “born into” families for support and acceptance. Too often, we are abused, neglected, and abandoned by those who we were taught would “always be there for us.”

And so, a universal experience for queer people has been redefining the meaning of Family, having to build our families from scratch, finding brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers in people with whom we have no blood relation, and forming communities tied together by shared lived experience rather than shared genetics.

And this idea of Found Family is also built into Sk8′s narrative.

Like, for example, the way that Reki promises MIYA that he and Langa will “never disappear from [his] sight,” filling the void that MIYA felt after his friends abandoned him.

And in the way that JOE becomes a paternal figure for Reki, teaching him ways to improve in skateboarding, and ensuring that Reki doesn’t self isolate when he’s feeling insecure.

And in the whole Ep 6 business with Hiromi acting as babysitter to the Gang.

Hell, even ADAM (derogatory) is associated with this trope. Abused as a child, he finds solace in an underground skateboarding community and culture he helped create- his own found family (or some powertrippy version of it anyway).

Again, queer fans see themselves depicted in the show, but this time in the way that the show gives importance to Found Family relationships between its characters.

3.) Shadow and Drag

This is one that’s more of an association that I personally made. But I was intrigued by the way that Hiromi adopts his SHADOW persona. He wears SHADOW like a mask, and adopts a personality seemingly so opposite to his day-to-day behavior.

Further, the theatricality and general “gender fuckery” of his SHADOW persona, to me, just seemed so similar to a the characteristics of a drag persona (I don’t know a whole lot about drag but enough that I’m drawing superficial similarities).

There’s also this aspect of a “double life” that he, and actually all the other adult characters of the show, have to adopt, which is a way of living that I’m sure a lot of queer viewers see themselves reflected in.

4.) The Hands

Ohhhh the Hands.

One of the things I noticed very early on is the way the show constantly draws our attention to Reki’s hands, which I thought was a little strange for an anime about skating. After all, skating doesn’t really involve the hands, or at least the show doesn’t really draw attention to hands within the context of skating.

I count 3 times so far between Eps 1-9 in which hands are the focus of the frame.

First, when Reki teaches Langa how to fist pump after Langa lands his first ollie, second, when Reki and Langa make their Promise, and finally, when Langa saves Reki from falling off his board.

And you know what they say, twice is a coincidence but thrice is a motif (no one else actually says this I think I’m the only one who says this lol).

I’m not really certain why hands seem to be such a shared fixation among queer people (at least among those I interact with). All I know is that gay people are just fucking obsessed with them.

I have a Theory as to why, and at this point I’d love for other people to chime in and “compare notes” if you will, but I think it basically has to do with repression. And in the same way that queer people have had to redefine the meaning of family, we’ve also had to redefine intimacy.

Being overtly physically affectionate with someone of the same sex, even if they’re your significant other, or often specifically BECAUSE they’re your significant other, can still be dangerous, even now despite the “progression” of society. Queer people know this, this vigilant surveillance of our environment and ourselves, always asking ourselves, “Am I safe enough to be myself?”

Already, Western culture is pretty touch-averse. That is, it’s considered taboo to touch someone unless they’re a family member or a romantic partner. And to touch a person of the same sex in any way that could be misconstrued as romantic (which is most things tbh) is a big no no.

There’s just A Lot to unpack there.

But basically I think that queer people, by necessity, have had to learn to romanticize mundane or unconventional ways of being physically intimate so that we can continue to be romantic with one another without “being caught” so to speak.

Kissing and hugging is too obvious. But a handshake that lingers for just a second too long is much more likely to go unnoticed, braiding someone’s hair can easily be explained away as just lending a helping hand, touching palms to “compare hand sizes” is just good fun.

But for queer people, these brief and seemingly insignificant touches hold greater meaning, because it’s all we are allowed, and all we allow ourselves, to exchange with others.

God, I’ve gone off and rambled again. What’s my point? Basically that the way the show draws attention to Reki’s hands, and specifically how they’re so often framed with Langa’s hands, is one of the major reasons why I clocked Sk8 as a Queer. It’s just something that resonated with me and my own experience of queerness, and I know that I’m not the only one who noticed either.

So in conclusion, uhhhh yeah Sk8 the Infinity is just a super gay show, and it’s not even because of the homo-romantic subtext (that at this point is really just Text).

Because what’s important to understand is that Queerness isn’t just about same-sex romance.

Queer Love isn’t just shared between wives/girlfriends, husbands/boyfriends, and all their in-betweens. Queer Love can be two best friends who come out together, queer siblings who rely and support one another, a gay teacher who helps guide one of their questioning students, a queer community pitching in to help a struggling member.

And that all ties with another important thing to consider, that what we refer to as the “queer experience” or “queer culture” isn’t universal. In fact, it wrongly lumps together the unique experiences and struggles of queer BIPOC all under one umbrella that’s primary White and middle class.

So I think what drives a lot of my frustration about labeling a show like Sk8 as Queerbait is this very issue of considering queerness and queer representation within such narrow standards, and mandating that a show must pass a certain threshold of explicit queerness to be considered good representation.

I get that someone might only feel represented by an indisputable canonization of a same-sex couple. That’s fine. But labeling Sk8 as Queerbait for that reason alone ignores the vast array of other queer experiences.

The aspects of Sk8 that resonate most deeply with my own experiences of queerness is in the way that Reki and Langa share intimacy through skating (intricate rituals heyo). For me, them officially getting together ultimately doesn’t matter- I’ll consider Sk8 a Queer show regardless.

Similarly, @mulberrymelancholy finds ace/arospec representation in that very absence of an on-screen kiss. A bisexual man might find representation in Reki, not because he enters a canon relationship, but in the depiction of Reki’s coming of age, growing up and navigating adolescent relationships. A non-binary person might feel represented through CHERRY’s androgyny.

That’s the thing, I don’t know how this show will resonate with other members of the queer community, and it’d be wrong to make a judgement on Sk8′s queer representation based on my experiences alone.

That being said, Straight people definitely don’t get to judge Sk8 as Queerbait. Y’all can watch and enjoy the show, we WANT you to enjoy these kinds of shows, and we want you to share these shows and contribute to the normalization and celebration of these kinds of narratives.

But understand that you don’t have a right to tell us whether or not Sk8 has good or bad queer representation.

And even members of the queer community are on thin ice. Your experience of queerness is not universal. Listen to the other members of your community, and respect that what you might find lacking in this show may be the exact representation that someone else needs.

#and scene #i was up till 4am writing this instead of doing my hw #bc i hav Opinions dammit #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #sk8 meta #sk8 theory #queerbait

286 notes · View notes

nightswithkookmin · 3 years

Note

Goldy,

Kind of off topic, but a little on topic. Have you seen the band Maneskin from Italy? They won 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. Beautiful, beautiful people.

I have no idea of their sexual orientation or preferences, but they wear a lot of makeup on and off stage , and smooch on each other a lot on stage. Nobody bats an eye. They are a Metal band and they dress accordingly. I wish that everyone around the world was as accepting as all their fans are. They are super androgynous as well and they are SEXY as hell

Their charm and sexuality is so fluid and just so natural. They are who they are and they are beautiful and fun to watch. Their comfort with each other is how I wish ALL of us would be

Rock bands rock period

I wonder what they look like in brand ads. I wonder if they are given or are required to have a much tamer look with little to no rings and funky clothing or hoop earrings you can barely see.

Where are the dangly chrome earrings?! WHERE ARE THEY?!🤺

I like my BTS the way they are. It's what I bought in. I want to see men in corsets, waist snatched, dark eyeliners selling alcohol to men. Is that too much to ask?! Is it?!😒

This is what happens when they treat queerness as aesthetics and have no qualms drawing on- if not appropriate- gay culture and lifestyle. Y'all just ditch it for your hyper heteromasculinity whenever y'all want😒

Their ability to divorce themselves completly from certain looks at certain times is what gives me whiplash. When that happens, it creates the impression queerness is just a look, gender fluidity is not real and establishes traditional definitions of masculinity as the norm. You do not have to 'look like a man' to sell alcohol 🤺

I was literally waiting for this Kloud, Klout beer ad to drop ever since Winter Package at the end of last year because we all know what most people think about Alcohol and men. I was curious to how how BTS would market to men as compared to women and teens. I feel there is so much room for them to break norms and set new trends in the advertising world. I'm disappointed so far.

For contrast, look at how they look selling a nonachoholic beverage as compared to how they look selling alcohol. Can I weep? Can I?! See how they look like they just stepped off a set for a music video? They look like themselves. Their everyday selves but you look on your left and it's like huh??????

And in case the message and intent is not clear, here is a photo of different models modeling for the same brand.

Their girls look like "girls" and their boys look like "boys." I'd say BTS in those ads look much more similar to the male model here in terms of looks- that clear cut box labeled men- which to me is a problem.

I'm sorry but this is just lazy advertisement. Nothing at all ground breaking. The models look great. Taehyung looks tasty, heteromasculine and perfect.

I feel used to male oriented brands breaking boundaries and participating in the gender discourse in recent times I think my expectations for BTS on this topic in advertisement was this high.

If heteromasculinity is all y'all can tap into to sell a can of drink I'm sorry but that's misogynistic and sexist and homophobic.

If Jimin or any of these boys come out a few years down the lane in another documentary to say these kinds of shit affected them in any way I AM STARTING WORLD WAR III.

I'm tired of seeing Jimin and other Asian men be emasculated and treated as if they aren't men enough just because they look to them 'feminine.' You don't have to fix their masculinity or tweak it to suit your idea and ideals of masculinity. There's no one way of being man.

Don't get me started on the desexualization of Asian men and it's subsequent effects on Asian men. You hear Asian men are not sexy, they do not sell the fantasy, they are not this, they are not that blah blah blah and yet we sit here and wonder why someone like JK, who had probably internalized that shit, would say he wants to be seen as sexy too and perform sexy choreos and shit.

And no, it's not an American Asian problem, it's a global Asian problem. BTS are on the world's stage being socialized by the global community and they do face almost every microaggression prevalent within the regional communities. It's the American's take on them, Canada, UK, Africa, Asia, Europe, all of them. Everyone is projecting on to them their ideals and understanding of gender and who they should be. Did we not see BTS BIOT trending from the Philippines lately? Gay because WHY???? They wear make up and earrings and love androgynous?

Naa, I'm actually getting gassed the more I think about it🤺🤺🤺🤺🤺🤺🤺🤺🤺🤺

The notion that Asians aren't sexy sits on the opposite end of 'Asians are too soft and good looking they are not masculine' all on the something is inherently wrong with Asian men spectrum.

I keep saying Jikook are the two members who've faced and have perhaps had to defend their masculinities the most- from BTS themselves effeminating JK and always bringing his masculinity to question- you know they once said JK is the most feminine within the group? I think so too but that's besides the point chilee.

Then for Jimin, he's always been either over feminized or defeminized, masculated and treated as if his femininity is wrong and invalid. Didn't a certain Karmy call him a fake woman or something like that? It's almost the same microaggressions transfems and gay men steroetyped as bottoms recieve on a dialy basis in this shit hole we call planet. It's all so ghetto.

Ass holes like to masculate and invalidate fems and masculine femininity, it's appalling. And people like to gaslight and pretend these microaggressions cannot have Freudian effects on these people- he is too strong to be bullied, oh he worked so hard on himself he can't crack so easily, oh it's nothing they're just being sensitive, it was joke, they're reading too much into it, and my personal favorite- y'all are over analyzing when you point it out😌

Some people are legit serial gaslighters, they will gaslight you before you can say the Jay in Jesus.

As a black woman growing up in a community that view black women as strong and incapable of being mentally attacked and traumatized by certain experiences- black people don't get depression or mental health issues because they are black and they are strong- being masculated and defeminized on a dialy basis, I tell you- shit is torture.

All of this, and we sit here and wonder why Jimin wants to go to the gym and build muscles and blend in with the boys etc. Could be nothing, could be a response to the over feminization of Jimin, the emasculation or it could be he is internalizing some things. We will never know.

Personally, I feel JM is on the precipice of something and may be its something, may be its nothing but imma put my foot on these companies' neck and keep it there 🤓

Because it's not just about Jimin. It's about all the people who look up to him. All the people he has influence over. For every queer child who sees themselves in him and these men.

Any who. I think I've said everything I want to say on this topic. The weight on my chest is lifted. Asian men are sexy, their masculinity is VALID. Queer masculinity is valid too and they need to be inclusive of it. If you don't wanna include it leave BTS as they are. We get the representation as they are. Don't tweak them in y'all's brand campaigns. Don't fix Jimin's Jawline and make it more chiseled. HE IS PERFECT THE WAY HE IS.

Now please, let's talk about BigHit and the recent shipping agendas.😐

Signed,

GOLDY

81 notes · View notes

superborb · 2 years

Text

TTFeb: Productive conversations about cultural misconceptions

dragongirlg prompted: Potentially harmful cultural misconceptions or erasure in cnovel fandom and how to have productive conversations about them

All I can present is my perspective and approach, which others may disagree with with completely valid justifications. I don't even think I'm trying to persuade anyone that my approach is correct, because this is such a difficult topic where my opinions have really developed over time and I anticipate that process will continue? I think in general, when you have a difficult conversation with someone, the key is trying to understand each other's core beliefs and values. That process of understanding in my experience leads to better communication because either you find the actual underlying difference that can be discussed or a misunderstanding of some kind that can be clarified. I don't think that is too controversial and if people want to have a conversation that usually is how it goes, but here's where it breaks down: this process requires considerable good faith. Of course that naturally happens when you are already friends, but what if you're just acquaintances or have never interacted? It relies on feeling like you're in the same community, feeling like the other person has buy-in to really listen. So obviously it runs into issues with totally disperse fandoms where it feels like every small group has their own norms and trust is generally low. And people are inclined to mistrust a conclusion that other people arrive at if they don't immediately vibe with it, in part because there's a firehose of people to interact with-- why bother putting the effort in? (I've sometimes thought that people are trying to form small in-groups as a response to that feeling that the larger fandom umbrella is too big and all-encompassing, so by reinforcing particular views/norms they get to be in their little cozy group.) I don't know how we can nurture a culture of community other than by being open-minded and walking the walk of incorporating different viewpoints and getting to know people who have different opinions. (It seems to me that there might be a platform shaping role in creating that culture, or I'd say walking the walk is the only way.) But all of that introspection is beside the point when confronted with: someone has said something that is a cultural misunderstanding and may be harmful. (For the sake of this discussion, let us posit that they are definitely incorrect.) What do you do? Obviously there is no right answer, and as I said above, I can only present the considerations I would take into account. The most important among those is how widespread the misconception is and if it actually perpetuates harm (e.g. through stereotypes or dogwhistles). Then I consider what my goal is: who would hear my thoughts on this, would it serve as a valuable resource or reminder? Also, how could it be framed to not be accusatory or provoke defensiveness. Note that I'm not playing respectability politics or tone policing people who wouldn't take the last consideration into account: if I have the energy and time to write a response, it is important to me to give that message the biggest chance it has to be heard by people who disagree with me; this is a personal choice. I always aim to be precise about what is wrong. Specificities, not generalities. This reduces the chance of getting unintentionally linked to an interpersonal issue or discourse. Pick the exact fight you mean to pick and nothing beyond that. In general, I think it's rarely worth the effort to call people out in fandom, partially because it requires extremely high levels of baseline trust for someone to hear a call-out and have their innate response be to listen and care, but mostly because it nearly always leads to harassment instead of meaningful communication. I also think the misuse of call-outs for the purpose of personal attacks within fandom has caused the trivialization of serious issues, so it's become associated with interpersonal problems instead of people trying to discuss a serious problem. This is why my first thought is how widespread something is: I try to only call out misconceptions that are not attached in the fandom conscious to a specific person. Now, that kind of leads to a contradiction with the first part of this post, right? Where I think the most important way to have a productive conversation is implied to be a one-on-one conversation. I don't really know how to resolve that! I think the expectation of most people in fandom is not to have these kinds of conversations beneath an unrelated tweet and thus derail the conversation. It's a bit like ambushing them I guess? So my compromise is to create spaces where that is the topic and conversations are explicitly welcome. In the end, someone is only going to read and think about something if they already care or are open to caring. I believe that the best way to get people to care is to model the behaviors that lead to caring: building the infrastructure of resources, engaging in discussion when you disagree, being careful of nuance. Back to masterlist

#ttfeb

8 notes · View notes