#to my current understanding he loves everything deeply and without discrimination | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

greed-the-dorkalicious · 5 years

Text

Actually, you know what? I’m gonna come right out and say it. The FMA fandom is blatantly arophobic, and I’m tired of it. No, maybe it’s not as bad as some other fandoms (particularly the one that starts with a V and ends in Oltron), but enough to piss me off. Let me explain why.

The FMA fandom is deeply entrenched in shipping as being the default. It’s generally assumed that if you’re not into pairing A, you must be into pairing B, and vice versa. I’ve even seen posts along the lines of “Why would anyone be into FMA if not for (insert pairing here)?”, which, while generally innocent jokes not meant to be taken 100% seriously, are still hurtful to aros (particularly those of us who are romance repulsed).

Of the 14,332 FMA fics on AO3 as of writing this post, 4,813 of them are tagged as gen. If you filter out fics that are also tagged with M/F, M/M, F/F, multi, or other, that number drops to 3685. This means that of all the FMA fics currently on AO3, only about 25% are accessible to people not interested in romance- And that’s not even accounting for improperly tagged fics, or filtering out crossovers for those who aren’t interested in those either.

I pretty much never see aro headcanons (or any sort of aspec headcanon, for that matter) from anyone other than me, or other aros. When I talk about my aro headcanons, while they’re not always outright rejected, they’re not particularly enthusiastically welcomed either. Usually, the only followers of mine who reblog such posts are people who are already in some way aspec themselves, or have been at some point questioning aspec. My alloromantic, allosexual followers don’t like to acknowledge my identity.

Al, the only main character to not have a love interest from early on in FMA history (May didn’t start showing interest in Al until about halfway through the series, and most major pairings have been around since the 03 days) is often overlooked. Despite being a protagonist and the initial driving force of the plot, he’s rarely the center of fandom discussion or content. When he does appear, he’s often pushed into the role of wingman for other characters, or the focus is on his relationship with May- Despite the fact that in canon, he’s at best been shown to sort of ignore her romantic advances, and at worst been pretty uncomfortable with them. I am sincerely not trying to hate on May here, nor people who ship her with Al. I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to ship them, and I do think May is a genuinely really cool and badass character aside from her relationship with Al. But am I really the only one made uncomfortable by how much people ship them, given the way she treats him in canon? She’s very pushy, often refers to him as “her” Alphonse, and has even gone so far as to get angry at him for “cheating” on her just by hanging out with a close friend who’s also a girl. I am not trying to demonize May, I really do like her, but... I mean, imagine if Al were a girl and May were a boy. Would this be remotely acceptable? No. By the way, there are currently 4261 fics on AO3 tagged with Alphonse Elric. This means that less than 30% of all FMA fics on AO3 feature Al, THE GODDAMN DEUTERAGONIST OF THE SERIES. If you only include gen fics, that number drops to 1,817, or a mere 12% of all FMA fics on AO3. That’s right, only about 12% of FMA fics on AO3 feature Al, one of the series protagonists, without including a romantic pairing. Sure, maybe people just don’t like Al- But I definitely find it suspicious that the main character who isn’t involved in a popular pairing is the one to get this treatment.

Many of my FMA mutuals (and I’m not going to name any specific names, because I’m not trying to single out any individual and I do genuinely love all my FMA mutuals and I believe they don’t mean any harm, and also because there’s just too many to list at this point) continue to reblog or even produce aphobic dogwhistles, such as posts that include lots of different LGBTQ+ identities but specifically and deliberately do not include aros and aces (or worse, posts that only talk about L, G, B, T specifically), posts that use aspec identities or issues as a punchline, or posts made by aphobic bloggers. A lot of FMA fans also seem to identify as “neutral on the discourse”, which... While I can see why they might think that’s the best way to avoid hurting anyone, it’s really not. Saying that you’re “neutral on the discourse” does not signify to aspecs that you mean us no harm. In fact, it usually makes us distrust you. Exclusionists have done a huge amount of harm to aspecs; They deliberately try to erase us, harass us, belittle us, and for those of us who do have some other LGBTQ+ identity (such as me, a bisexual aro), they make us feel extremely unwelcome in our own community and like we’re not LGBTQ+ “enough”. Saying that you’re “neutral” on the discourse is saying that you do not feel a need to condemn such behavior, or to extend a welcoming hand to your aspec siblings. In the wise words of They Might Be Giants, can’t shake the devil’s hand and say you’re only kidding. While I understand that many of you may be afraid of receiving hate for supporting aspecs... I mean, come on. Those of us who are aspec cannot choose to be “neutral” on our own existence- We have to either repress our own identities, or deal with the consequences. If an allo gets anon hate for supporting aspecs, they’re still not attacking you directly. If aspecs get anon hate, they’re saying they want us, specifically, gone. Are you really so afraid to take one or two hits that you’re willing to sit by and let us get mistreated?

Oh also, this is just talking about the FMA bloggers I’ve seen who are not blatantly aphobic. God only knows how many people I’ve blocked for outright posting shit about how much they hate aspecs, or trying to tell me that the discrimination, erasure, alienation, dehumanization, and harassment I face aren’t real. I’m only addressing the parts of the fandom at this point that try to pretend they’re not aphobic/arophobic. There are plenty of FMA fans who are very clearly, deliberately, and outwardly aphobic.

I realize this post may piss people off. It may make me sound whiny, or accusatory. But you know what? FMA means more to me than any other story. FMA is what got me through everything when I was a young teen struggling with feeling inhuman and alone for being aromantic (though I didn’t have a word for it at the time- I simply thought I was broken). I’ve poured my heart and soul into FMA-Facts since 2015, and been involved in the fandom since 2009. Isn’t it time I start getting something in return?

Why should I continue to lie down and let other members of a community that’s supposed to be my safe space just walk all over me? Why should I have to sit down and shut up and bite my tongue rather than be so demanding as to ask for basic respect? I’m tired of being treated like this. I’m tired of seeing my community get treated like this. I’m tired of remembering the misery I went through as a young aro in the FMA fandom who didn’t have a support system, and knowing that little has changed since then, and knowing that there are likely still aros in the FMA fandom going through what I did.

Stop silencing me. Stop perpetuating this shit. Start treating aros like human beings who are worth celebrating.

76 notes · View notes

the-queer-look · 5 years

Text

The bonds that tie

No one is ever late to finding out their sexuality. No one is ever late with coming out. Everything takes time, and for some people that takes longer than others. Cultural and social circumstances can have a huge effect on how and when we begin to understand and accept ourselves, and in some parts of the world, that can have a deeply negative impact on our sense of self worth. Nevertheless, being true to ones self leads to deeper, more positive connections with those around you.

- K

Name: Jacob

age: 32

occupation: Refugee Assistance

Location: Liverpool

Gender: Male

sexuality: Gay

My name is Jacob, Im 32 years old, Australian, from an Iraqi background, with Assyrian nationality, and I am a gay man. I like to think of myself as a very easy going guy, although a lot of people seem to misunderstand my personality and think of me as a snob, or make a point of saying how I am very quite. I think that is because I am generally a shy person, largely because of being self conscious about my accent, I’m worried about saying something wrong, or not speaking fast enough. I always need to translate what I want to say into english in my head before actually saying it. I’ve always had a love of helping people, which is why I work for a government program designed to assist refugees secure housing and establish their first initial accomodation in Australia, which I’ve been working in for the past five years. My initial degree was in IT, which I gained back in Iraq, but once I finished my degree I realised that I wasnt very passionate about coding and working with computers, I just did the degree to satisfy my parents, so I worked with a newspaper and became a journalist until I left Iraq in 2010. I lived in Istanbul for a couple of years before moving to Australia as a part of my journey as an asylum seeker. I’ve been in Australia for about 6 years.

Upon moving to Australia it was very challenging to find work as a journalist, with English being my fifth language, and the competition for journalism jobs in Australia being so high, so I began assisting people who’d gone through my own journey, first as an interpreter, and then moving into community services and case management, and I’ve now done a diploma in social housing as well, and currently completing studies in social work with the University of Western Sydney, hopefully next year.

I think I realised that I was attracted to men when I was about 14 or 15 years of age, but because back then in Iraq there wasnt any access to the internet, nor anyone that you could really come out to and talk with about it, I felt extremely abnormal. I thought that it was just me, and that I was different to everyone else, it was at a time when all of my peers had girlfriends, and thinking about getting married and stuff. I met my first girlfriend when I was 17, and fell in love for the first time when I was 21 back in ui with one of my classmates, but of course that didnt last. I always felt like I was going down the wrong path, because even though I was dating women like I “should”, I still felt attracted to guys. Eventually I got the chance to speak to people through the internet, and found out what being gay was, and realised that I wasn’t an aberration. It gave me the tools to discover who I truly am. I dated my first guy when I was 24, which was when I was able to accept it, and I’ve identified as gay since then.

I did feel very strongly that I didnt belong in the society over there, with LGBTQIA+ people not being talked about at all, and such a religious culture which openly hated gay people… Growing up in a muslim society was very challenging, as the only Catholic guy in primary and middle school, with a western name as well, it didnt make it any easier to come to terms with my sexual orientation. I was bullied quite a lot for the way I dressed and acted, for not having a girlfriend etc. And that challenge moved to my home, the struggle about how to let my family accept me, the isolation that you feel as you build up to coming out to your family… Being gay, and the youngest in the family, in a very religious, Catholic family was not the easiest.

Eventually, even after moving out with friends after graduation, I was still very close with my family and dreaded the idea of coming out to them, and the possible disconnect from those family ties. Because I couldnt think of anything worse than not being able to see my nephews and nieces, of spending time with my parents. But eventually I had to be selfish for once, and I came out to them in August 2018. It was really hard for them in the beginning, they were really shocked, but we had a serious chat a few days later. I just realised, they always knew but they kind of denied within themselves, because of them… I looked different to any other gay guy that they knew of… I didnt fit those stereotypes that they thought of. I just did my best to educate them and make them believe it. At the beginning they were saying “You’re only saying that because you dont want to get married” and all this kind of stuff. I had to give them examples of people that I’d introduced them to and tell them that they were actually past boyfriends for them to accept the fact that I’m actually a gay guy.

They were expecting, even though we live in Australia now, that coming out to everyone would get me fired, or beaten up at work. They had no idea about the anti-discrimination laws in Australia, they even asked me about whether there was any sort of gay community in Sydney. Obviously it was a bit much for them, they offered me church conversion therapies, they offered me medications, they asked me to go on a blind date with a girl that might change my mind, but obviously none of those were options. I’ve asked them to accept who I am, and if not then they can continue their lives without me in it. But it didnt actually take any longer than two weeks before they started inviting me to family gatherings again, and our relationship now is even closer than what it was before. I’m so much more comfortable being myself around them, I dont feel like I have to hide myself, and pretend to be straight anymore that I used to do before. My whole family is so much closer now and I’m very grateful.

For my fmily I’ve always been the rebel. I was the first to move out of home, even though I’m the youngest. All of my brothers were getting engaged and married and still living with my parents. I moved out when I finished my studies, and everyone was against it. There’s this stigma in middle eastern culture that a young man should not move out of his family home before he gets married, because that will ruin his reputation and morals, and will have temptation to do bad things. There’ve always been comments about the way I dress, because my fashion choices were not very accepted, I followed the western singers on TV and stuff. And when I had my first piercing, an eyebrow piercing when I was 24, my family didnt talk to me for about two weeks because they thought it was too gay… surprise! It got even worse when I got my first tattoo, my friends would say to me “you look like a homeless person” “you look like you have no morals” etc, etc. When I got my ears pierced, they started saying that “you look like a faggot” which was really harsh. But I’ve always wanted to do what represents me, not to follow a group f people or act like someone else. I want to present myself in a way that represents myself, and I have always felt free to change my looks or the way I dress.

Things have definitely changed about the way I dress and act since I came out. I feel like I’m out of my shell, especially at work, I no longer feel the need to try to blend in anymore. Luckily the diversity at my work is very broad, so looking different isn’t a big deal. So far out of nearly 50 staff, I’m the only that is openly gay, which means of course I was picked by the inclusion co-ordinator to become the LGBTQIA+ champion fo the office, so staff could approach me to ask for resources and assistance when they have clients in the LGBTQIA+ community. And now I have the pride flag on my desk and people get shocked when they see it, and I can almost see the question marks appearing over their head as they stand there. But yes, I am definitely more comfortable being myself at work, that comfort in being who I am has helped my relationship with my managers because it’s like being a bird, and you finally learn how to fly, that’s how it feels for me to be out.

please contact us if you would like to be involved!

30 notes · View notes

idontrememberthetitans · 5 years

Text

The Best Films of 2018

Top 10 Films of the Year:

1. ROMA (Netflix)

If I harbored any doubt that Alfonso Cuarón was among the greatest filmmakers/storytellers of this (or last) century, it was forever dispelled with Roma. Cuarón’s hyper-naturalistic memoir reveals the thorny relationships between employers, caregivers, and those who receive care. It possesses a kind of clarity, maturity, and tenderness that only comes with distance and time. As it communicates the innumerable intersections of and parallels between ethnicity, class, and gender, it neither rushes nor exaggerates and romanticize, which is quite commendable considering just how visually rapturous Cuarón’s execution is. Moreover, he does so without pontificating or criticizing. Some of the film’s detractors claim it’s an elitist exaltation of domestic workers; I find that assertion unfair, for it would require a larger conversation about who is able to represent whom. I believe Cuarón respectfully illuminates and savors the mundane for therein lies the clandestine miracles of life. It’s clear he has so much love for the ghosts of long ago. Roma is a paean celebrating and lamenting all the pains and pleasures that usher us through any given year. (Watch the trailer.)

2. COLD WAR (Amazon Studios)

Sexy, sad, and everything in between, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War chronicles a nearly two decade-long love affair between Wiktor - an accomplished music director - and Zula - a rising singer - in a world in threat of extinction. The film examines the violation of cultural identity and the mechanism of war which thwart any attempt to preserve authenticity. Epic and tactfully sparse in equal amounts, the film is comprised of unbearably terse episodes peppered over fifteen years. Thus, we are only privy to fragments of the characters’ tumultuous timeline together. Within the interlude – between each passionate episodes - Pawlikowski brilliantly employs subtext and chilly atmospheric tension to sustains the pair’s longings – and subsequently preserves our infatuation with them. Cold War is a rich love story swathed in bitterness. By the end, we can’t help but envy, pity, and mourn each part of Wiktor and Zula’s hot-blooded romance. (Watch the trailer.)

3. THE TALE (HBO Films)

The Tale is a work in progress. I say this without insult but unrestrained admiration. Documentarian Jennifer Fox’s devastating filmic memoir about childhood sexual assault is personal exercise in understanding deeply entrenched trauma. Much of the film’s approbation notes its nuanced handling of difficult thematic material and Dern’s towering yet understated performance, but Fox’s haunting lyricism – the way she manifests a cinematic conversation between her present self and her younger self from dispersed memories – makes this film a formal and aesthetic triumph just as much as a cultural watershed.

Initially, I questioned how “accurate” the film’s conclusion was. Did the events unfold with the same amount of understated poetic justice? Did Fox have the opportunity for confrontation and vindication as depicted? I realize that asking for explication undercuts the power of Fox’s investigation and exemplary subjectivity. The film itself is an act of introspective healing. As harrowing as The Tale is, it is essential viewing. (Watch the trailer.)

4. THE FAVOURITE (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

I’m still quite ambivalent towards the film’s nauseating photography, but make no mistake; The Favourite is the best writing and acting you’ll witness this year. While Lanthimos other films (Dogtooth, The Lobster, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer) are the superlative statements on the auteur’s résumé – perhaps in part because he also penned them – his dark, stomach-churning talents certainly lend themselves well to this gleefully filthy farce. The deliciously dicey sexual politics between the characters provides a scathing critique of class, decorum, regal period pieces, and the current political climate on a grand scale. The trio’s absurd antics keep the film alive with color and candor, but film’s lasting impact comes with the glimmers of profound sadness laced within Olivia Colman’s performance as the sovereign. Colman, one of the finest living actors, carefully vacillates between her character’s illogical command and her surprising frailty. The Favourite typifies the best kind of satire: deliciously catty as it plays out with a melancholic sting in its aftermath. (Watch the trailer.)

5. HEREDITARY (A24)

Balance is key in life – and because we’ve relished the delectable delights of Mary Poppins Returns and Paddington 2, a hearty dose of uncompromising nihilism is also imperative. Hereditary more than excels in that role. It is a grotesque descent into unimaginable horror led by Toni Collette in a game-changing performance. Following films like Antichrist (2009), Babadook (2014), The VVitch (2015) and this year’s equally terrific and terrifying The Haunting of Hill House series, Hereditary marks an apex in the horror subgenre exploring the connection between loss and dread. It’s aware of the genre’s robust history. Consequently much of its success lies in its perceptive ability to draw from other classics like Rosemary’s Baby, Don’t Look Now, and The Exorcist while continuing to probe the complexities of grief and unconscious shame. (Watch the trailer.)

6. YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (Amazon Studios)

Had the titles not already been taken, You Were Never Really Here could have easily be called “Making a Murderer,” “Gone Girl,” or “Vengeance Is Mine.” Lynne Ramsay’s follow-up to We Need to Talk About Kevin follows a damaged antihero hired to rescue trafficked girls. Her The story’s presentation is so lean and alienating that it’s difficult to ever form a comprehensive understanding of merciless world the characters inhabit. The violence is graphic, however Ramsey rarely shows the actual acts as they are committed. Instead, she takes us through static terrains in the wake of horrific brutality. Her juxtaposition of overwhelming ambient noises creates a particularly affecting cacophony. Surreal, distressing, yet oddly tender and uplifting, You Were Never Really Here confirms once again that Ramsay is an artist of the highest order. (Watch the trailer.)

7. EIGHTH GRADE (A24)

Bo Burham’s Eighth Grade a wonder to behold – that is, if you can endure an utterly distressing experience to endure. Eighth Grade’s young heroine, Kayla, navigates the frightening contours of adolescence. During my initial viewing of Eighth Grade, it felt like a slideshow of memories from the most repellent stages of childhood. I only allowed myself to recognize it all at a distance – perhaps a self-induced safety mechanism – as if all of it existed in a half-remembered past. Revisiting the film months later, it felt startlingly indicative of not only my eighth grade year but every year of life. If we cut through the handful of distinct aches of puberty, I’m really not so different now than I was at age thirteen – though Kayla is perhaps a bit less polished. What’s more, Kayla’s anxieties, comforts, and hopes function the same way mine do now. Burham’s film brims with compassion, so it’s easy to see - and feel - that eighth grade wasn’t that long ago. (Watch the trailer.)

8. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (Annapurna Pictures)

Fear begets fear... until it eats the soul. Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel is a exquisite study of how fear - internalized and externalized - leads to systematic racism and discrimination. As Baldwin and Jenkins reveal, the only remedy to combat this fear is love – and there’s so much of it in and around Beale Street. (Perhaps Donnie Darko’s Jim Cunningham and his simplistic binary theory were actually prophetic?) It’s difficult to examine Jenkins’ expertise without acknowledging his stylistic and thematic influences – specifically Wong Kar-wai and his intoxicating visual romanticism and Douglas Sirk and his flair for weepy melodrama. Yet even as glimmers of other great works shine through Beale Street, Jenkins contributes his own unique voice to the pantheon of Cinema. Using Baldwin’s poignant prose as a template, he blends the conventions of great American stage plays with docudrama tenets to craft a vast universe of feeling. Furthermore, If Beale Street Could Talk is evidence that Moonlight certainly wasn’t a fluke. (Watch the trailer.)

9. MARY POPPINS RETURNS (Disney)

It feels inappropriate to include such an imperfect movie among intimidating achievements like Roma and Cold War. Even with all its excessive schmaltz, saccharine sentiment and scenery-chewing cameos, Mary Poppins Returns represents a kind of homage I feared was entirely lost. Not so; I learned nothing’s gone forever, only out of place. Sure, the film’s nostalgic structure (or lack thereof), design, quips and songs are all aggressive imitations of a perfect cinematic and cultural touchstone, but the whole ordeal is just so beautifully flattering it’s impossible not to melt in its warmth. It reverently and earnestly reminds us just how lucky we are to have a classic like Mary Poppins to return to. It sends up and throws back to the pinnacle of the expansive (and now unforgivably carnivorous) Disney kingdom. As demonstrated here, indulging nostalgia from time to time can be quite healthy. Unlike most current family movies that pander to the lowest common denominator, Mary Poppins Returns transcends cynicism, pop iconography, and humor ingrained in the present moment. Although much of the film’s success is due to the collaboration of a surplus of talent, the film belongs to Emily Blunt. She, in fact, IS practically perfect as she evades mimicry and adds nuanced wit and benevolence. (Watch the trailer.)

10. MADELINE’S MADELINE (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Madeline’s Madeline, an experimental coming-of-age thriller, is a film for those who care deeply about grueling and convoluted “artistic process.” It deftly walks a tight rope between satire and an earnest exploration of psychosis and performance – not unlike Bergman’s Persona or Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. Co-Writer/Director Josephine Decker fashions a platform for the fascinating newcomer Helena Howard; she reveals a rare kind of brashness and vulnerability in the title role. Alongside Howard, Molly Parker and the ever-brilliant Miranda July put their trust in Josephine Decker’s peculiar process. As such, they elevate and legitimize Madeline’s nightmare. There is palpable malice woven through the confounding narrative, though it is impossible to discern its primary source. Thematically, the film picks up the baton where Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York left it, but Decker uses a film language loaded with obtuse codes and metaphors. Aesthetically, the film is something else entirely – more dangerous and anomalous than we’re comfortable seeing. And for that reason, it’s quite difficult to shake. (Watch the trailer.)

Another Praiseworthy 10 (in alphabetical order):

BEN IS BACK

BLACK PANTHER

BLACKkKLANSMAN

BURNING

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

THE DEATH OF STALIN

LEAVE NO TRACE

SHOPLIFTERS

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

A STAR IS BORN

Best Direction:

1. Alfonso Cuarón for ROMA

2. Paweł Pawlikowski for COLD WAR

3. Lynne Ramsay for YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

4. Barry Jenkins for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

5. Yorgos Lanthimos for THE FAVOURITE

Best Adapted Screenplays:

1. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

2. BLACKkKLANSMAN

3. BURNING

4. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

5. BLACK PANTHER

Best Original Screenplays:

1. THE FAVOURITE

2. SHOPLIFTERS

3. EIGHTH GRADE

4. THE DEATH OF STALIN

5. EIGHTH GRADE

Best Leading Actors:

1. Bradley Cooper in A STAR IS BORN

2. Ethan Hawke in FIRST REFORMED

3. Joaquin Phoenix in YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

4. John David Washington in BLACKkKLANSMAN

5. Lucas Hedges in BEN IS BACK

Best Leading Actresses:

1. Toni Collette in HEREDITARY

2. Olivia Coleman in THE FAVOURITE

3. Emily Blunt in MARY POPPINS RETURNS

4. Laura Dern in THE TALE

5. Yalitza Aparicio in ROMA

Best Supporting Actors:

1. Timothee Chalamet in BEAUTIFUL BOY

2. Steven Yeun in BURNING

3. Richard E. Grant in CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

4. Adam Driver in BLACKkKLANSMAN

5. Josh Hamilton in EIGHTH GRADE

Best Supporting Actresses:

1. Natalie Portman in VOX LUX

2. Emma Stone & Rachel Weisz in THE FAVOURITE

3. Regina King in IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

4. Amy Adams in VICE

5. Emily Blunt in A QUIET PLACE

Best Cinematography:

1. ROMA

2. COLD WAR

3. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

4. AT ETERNITY’S GATE

5. SUSPIRIA

Best Film Editing:

1. SUSPIRIA

2. BLACK PANTHER

3. FIRST MAN

4. ASSASSINATION NATION

5. WIDOWS

Best Sound Design:

1. YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

2. FIRST MAN

3. A QUIET PLACE

4. ROMA

5. SUSPIRIA

Best Production Design:

1. SUSPIRIA

2. MARY POPPINS RETURNS

3. THE FAVOURITE

4. BLACK PANTHER

5. READY PLAYER ONE

Best Costume Design:

1. MARY POPPINS RETURNS

2. SUSPIRIA

3. THE FAVOURITE

4. BLACK PANTHER

5. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Original Scores:

1. Marc Shaiman for MARY POPPINS RETURNS

2. Ludwig Göransson for BLACK PANTHER

3. Alexander Desplat for ISLE OF DOGS

4. Justin Hurwitz for FIRST MAN

5. Nicholas Britell for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Original Songs:

1. “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from MARY POPPINS RETURNS

2. “Shallow” from A STAR IS BORN

3. “Suspirium” from SUSPIRIA

4. “All the Stars” from BLACK PANTHER

5. “Treasure” from BEAUTIFUL BOY

Best Animated Features:

1. SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

2. ISLE OF DOGS

3. THE INCREDIBLES 2

4. MIRAI

5. RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Best Acting Ensembles:

1. MARY POPPINS RETURNS

2. SHOPLIFTERS

3. BALCKkKLANSMAN

4. THE DEATH OF STALIN

5. A STAR IS BORN

2018′s Most Important Films:

1. THE TALE

2. SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

3. BLACK PANTHER

4. INSTANT FAMILY

5. CRAZY RICH ASIANS

To commemorate Ingmar Bergman’s 100th Birthday (and a sold-out Criterion Collection boxset of 39 of his films), let’s recall his greatest works:

1. PERSONA

2. THE SEVENTH SEAL

3. CRIES & WHISPERS

4. WILD STRAWBERRIES

5. SHAME

6. FANNY & ALEXANDER

7. AUTUMN SONATA

8. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY | WINTER LIGHT | THE SILENCE

9. SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

10. THE VIRGIN SPRING

3 notes · View notes

learningrendezvous · 3 years

Text

Family Relations

CONFUCIAN DREAM

Director: Mijie Li

Filmmaker Mijie Li's first feature (she co-produced Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert's American Factory), Confucian Dream is an observational documentary about a Chinese woman's embrace of the ancient philosophy of Confucianism and how it affects her family.

Chaoyan, a young wife and mother, believes the ancient teachings of Confucianism will restore balance, respect and morality to her home. She involves her four-year-old son in the rigorous routine of chanting daily mantras. Little Chen may not yet understand the recitations' meanings, but mom is confident she's planting a seed for the future.

Chaoyan's husband finds the daily practice excessive, and indeed many Chinese people today criticize it as feudalistic, conservative, and counter-revolutionary. While Confucianism's primary purpose is to instill peace and harmony, the opposite occurs between Chaoyan and her husband as their beliefs clash and their arguments escalate, bringing forth a gripping portrait of marital and parental crisis.

DVD (Mandarin with English Subtitles) / 2019 / 82 minutes

FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO

Director: Daniel Karslake

FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO, a new documentary that explores the intersection of religion, sexual orientation and gender identity in current-day America.

The arrival of marriage equality was seen by many as the pinnacle achievement of the march toward full equality for LGBTQ people. But for many on the Right, it was the last straw, and their public backlash has been swift, severe and successful. In collaboration with religious conservatives, politicians are invoking both the Bible and the U.S. Constitution in their campaigns for the 'religious freedom' to legally discriminate. By telling the stories of four families struggling with these issues, the film offers healing and understanding to those caught in the crosshairs of scripture, sexuality, and identity.

DVD / 2019 / 91 minutes

SEAT 20D

Director: Jill Campbell

Suse Lowenstein lost her son Alex in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. In an effort to come to terms with her grief, Suse turned to her art. She began to sculpt herself naked, frozen in the position she fell into upon hearing the news of her son's death. Creating the sculpture brought her solace, and when Suse posted about her project in the Pan Am Victims' Family Newsletter, inviting others to participate, 75 women responded.

Suse spent fifteen years completing the monumental sculpture she titled "Dark Elegy," a memorial to the victims of the brutal attack that altered American history. In her new documentary Seat 20D, director Jill Campbell explores how art cradled a mother's soul and touches all who view it.

DVD / 2019 / 70 minutes

WHO'S NEXT?

Directed by Nancy Cooperstein Charney

Examines the effects of hate speech and bigotry on the lives of Muslim-Americans.

WHO'S NEXT? examines how the lives of Muslim-Americans have been affected in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. It focuses on six Muslim familiesâ€”citizens and long-time legal residentsâ€”from diverse countries and widely different circumstances. In one way or another all of them have been targeted by federal agencies, hate groups, and even former friends solely on the basis of their religious beliefs.

Family separations, threats of deportation, repeated airport detentions, unexplained travel restrictions, have become part of the daily lives of thousands of Muslims who are innocent of any crimes or even suspicious behavior. If one group can be singled out because of their religious beliefs then who's next?

The film encourages us all to choose knowledge over ignorance, take action to prevent hate speech, and to welcome strangers into our lives so that the challenges of marginalized communities can be effectively addressed.

DVD / 2019 / (Grades 5 -12, College, Adult) / 88 minutes

BACK TO THE FATHERLAND

Directors: Kat Rohrer, Gil Levanon

Back to the Fatherland is the story of young people leaving their home country to try their luck somewhere else... a universal tale in today's globalized world. The difference in this story is that these young people are moving from Israel to Germany and Austria - countries where their families were persecuted and killed less than a century ago.

This deeply human and revealing film explores the challenges and opportunities for reconciliation and understanding between the Third Generation on both sides of the Shoah.

DVD / 2018 / 77 minutes

COLOSSUS

Director: Jonathan Schienberg

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" - from The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus

Told through the eyes of 15-year-old Jamil Sunsin, Colossus is a modern-day immigrant tale of one family's desperate struggle after deportation leads to family separation, and the elusive search for the American dream.

Jamil is the only person in his family born in the U.S. His parents and sister came from Honduras and lived in America for a decade before Jamil's father was arrested for being undocumented. The entire family was forced to return to Honduras, a country wracked with violence. After a knife attack traumatizes Jamil, his family makes an excruciating choice to send him back to the U.S. alone.

Now 15, Jamil tries to survive without his family and fights against a broken immigration system. Back in Honduras, his sister Mirka, who would've been eligible for DACA had she remained in the U.S., hopes to someday reunite with Jamil. This intimate portrait is a rare look into the aftermath of deportation and family separation, amidst the current backlash against America's immigrants.

DVD (English, Spanish, With English Subtitles) / 2018 / 84 minutes

FARMSTEADERS

Directed by Shaena Mallett

Follows Nick and Celeste Nolan and their young family on a journey to resurrect Nick's grandfather's dairy farm as agriculture moves toward large-scale farming.

FARMSTEADERS is a love story, a farm story, and a story of contemporary rural America. Nick Nolan, his wife Celeste, and their young family are on a journey to resurrect his grandfather's dairy farm - fighting to keep this homeland from "drying up and blowing away," something that has happened to about 4.7 million farms in the U.S. as the pressures of corporate-driven food have left deep scars in the region.

Director Shaena Mallet points an honest and tender lens at the beauty and hardship of everyday life on a family farm, as the Nolans work to balance their fears and hopes with so much at stake.

Nick and Celeste's meditations on life, legacy, and resistance bring complexity and depth to the national conversation and characterization of the rural white American. For the Nolans, only three things remain certain: family is everything, nothing ever stays the same, and the land holds it all together.

DVD / 2018 / (Grades 7-12, College Adults) / 52 minutes

GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY

By Yang Mingming

Rising Chinese director Yang Mingming both directs and stars in GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY - a mother-daughter story that goes for the jugular.

Wu (Yang Mingming) and her mother (Nai An) live in a Beijing hutong - an old community of cramped alleyways where everyone knows your business and houses are so close together you can smell when neighbors start using a new cooking oil.

It's not just the neighborhood that's claustrophobic. At the heart of GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY is the relationship between Wu, an aspiring screenwriter in her 20s, and her bitter, superstitious mother, who has recently turned to writing as well. The tension between the pair is raw, honest, mean, and sometimes funny - with no blow too low and no memory too painful to poke at. But their relationship has its moments of intimacy and tenderness too, especially over meals in their leaky, jam-packed home.

As Wu and her mother bicker, they also worry about money and carry on their own misadventures in love. Wu dates and then dumps an older film professor (Zhang Xianmin, playing himself), while her mother cynically cares for Wu's grandfather, hoping the women will be written into his will.

GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY is a more conventional narrative film than Yang Mingming's earlier work. But it is no less remarkable - marked by the keen eye for visual detail, and unique sense of humor and irony she previously showed in her genre-bending film FEMALE DIRECTORS. Particularly striking are the shots of Wu on her scooter - bright, carefully composed sequences that follow her through the alleyways of the hutong and the broad boulevards of Beijing.

Emotionally intense and sometimes jarring, GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY is a film about fraught relationships, life in contemporary Beijing, and the challenge of finding your way forward while tied down by the past.

DVD (Mandarin With English Subtitles, Color) / 2018 / 116 minutes

JADDOLAND

By Nadia Shihab

Jaddoland explores the meaning of home and the search for belonging across generations.

When the filmmaker returns to her hometown in the Texas panhandle to visit her mother, an artist from Iraq, she turns her lens on her mother's increasingly isolated life, as well as the beauty and solace that emerge through her creative process. Soon, the filmmaker's charismatic grandfather arrives, still longing for the homeland he recently left.

While the shadow of geopolitical and historical forces looms on the periphery, the filmmaker searches for unexpected moments of meaning in the everyday, subtly weaving threads between past and present, her mother's work and her own. In doing so, she draws an artful and deeply intimate portrait of one family reimagining its relationships to the places they call home.

DVD / 2018 / 90 minutes

THIS IS HOME: A REFUGEE STORY

Directed by Alexandra Shiva

Sundance award-winner puts a human face on the global refugee crisis by providing an intimate portrait of four Syrian refugees arriving in the US and struggling to find their footing.

THIS IS HOME is an intimate portrait of four Syrian refugee families arriving in America and struggling to find their footing. With only eight months of help from the International Rescue Committee to become self-sufficient, they must forge ahead to rebuild their lives in a new home: Baltimore, Maryland. They attend cultural orientation classes and job training sessions where they must "learn America" -- everything from how to take public transportation to negotiating new gender roles.

When the newly imposed travel ban adds further questions and complications, their strength and resilience are put to the test. Through humor and heartbreak, this universal story illuminates what it's like to start over, no matter the obstacles. THIS IS HOME goes beyond the statistics, headlines, and political rhetoric to tell deeply personal stories, putting a human face on the global refugee crisis.

DVD / 2018 / (Grades 10-12, College, Adults) / 91 minutes

LIFE AND NOTHING MORE

By Antonio Mendez Esparza

In his remarkable second feature - Spanish-born filmmaker Antonio Mendez Esparza follows-up his debut drama with another sensitive portrait of a struggling family. Stressed by her job in a diner, single mother Regina (Regina Williams) is raising her two children in northern Florida. When her 14-year-old son Andrew (Andrew Bleechington) has another brush with the law, she worries he'll wind up in prison like his father. Mendez Esparza employs documentary-style realism in this snapshot of race, class and the bonds of family in contemporary America.

DVD / 2017 / 114 minutes

OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING, THE

By Mila Turajlic

A locked door inside a Belgrade home has kept one family separated from their past for generations. An intimate conversation between the director and her mother, the dynamic activist and scholar Srbijanka Turajlic, reveals a house and a country haunted by history. What begins as the chronicle of a childhood home grows into an elegant portrait of a charismatic and brilliant woman in times of great political turmoil.

DVD (Serbian Wiht English Subtitles, Color) / 2017 / 104 minutes

BEEKEEPER AND HIS SON, THE

By Diedie Wang

The widening gap between generations in China today is at the heart of this deeply resonant documentary about a son, recently returned from the city, trying to modernize his aging father's beekeeping business.

After drifting aimlessly as a migrant worker, Maofu returns to his family bee farm in rural Northern China. Still in his early twenties and eager to provide support for his parents, Maofu brings with him big ideas for the family business; new thoughts on marketing and branding to increase honey sales.

His father, Lao Yu, however, maintains a deep commitment to the traditions of beekeeping which he's practiced for more than five decades. Now in his declining years, Lao Yu also sees first-hand how environmental pollution is depleting his bee colonies. He's struggling with his own self-worth, as well as mixed emotions of whether his son should even stay in this traditional line of work.

As father and son try to collaborate, their vastly different approaches, both to business and to life, run headlong into one other. It's a clash between tradition and modernization; one that is playing out in millions of families across the country.

DVD / 2016 / 85 minutes

INSIDE THESE WALLS

By Juliet Lammers And Lorraine Price

What happens when a loved one is imprisoned overseas?

In 2002, Wang Bingzhang, founder of the Overseas Chinese Democracy Movement, was in Vietnam meeting with other activists when he was kidnapped, beaten, blindfolded and brought into China where he was imprisoned. He has spent the last fourteen years in solitary confinement.

Although he was mostly absent as a husband and father before his imprisonment, his family feels a deep sense of duty and responsibility towards him. The family fights tirelessly for his release by speaking on his behalf, staging protests, and keeping his story relevant in Western media.

From prison, Dr. Wang sends monthly letters to his family, often over fifty pages long with intricate illustrations. These letters range in tone from fiercely accusatory to humble and remorseful. His son reflects that his father has probably spoken more words to him through these letters than he has in person. And his ex-wife observes, "In a weird way, he's more of a father now than he ever was."

The story of a political dissident and a family struggling to secure his freedom, Inside These Walls weaves a complex tale of political intrigue, familial responsibility and personal sacrifice.

DVD / 2016 / 44 minutes

ONLY ME GENERATION - AN INTROSPECTIVE LOOK INTO CHINA'S ONE-CHILD POLICY

The one-child policy, a part of China's family planning policy, was a population planning policy of installed by the Chinese government. It was introduced in 1979 and began to be formally phased out in 2015.

"Only Me Generation" is a documentary that explores the effects of the China's "One Child Policy" from the perspective of the policy's first generation point of view.

Almost 30 years ago, the Chinese government first introduced the "one child policy" to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems. Three decades later, they are now looking at a relaxation of the policy. The result is that the babies born under the current policy are a unique population set with issues and challenges that are different from those of other Chinese generations; most notably that they grew up as "only children".

This film provides a unique look into a unprecedented government policy that changed the rules of a society, impacted far more than a generation, and can now be studied on a variety of fronts. The film raises numerous questions and serves as a wonderful launching point for discussion and debate.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of "only children" in a generation of only "only children"?

What are the pressures that these children, the results of the policy, have lived under?

How have parental expectations changes due to family limits on the number of children permitted?

What are their social experiences now that these Only Me Generation children are now adults?

What are the ramifications, if any, of relaxing the policy now after so many years?

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 58 minutes

SIBERIAN LOVE

By Olga Delane

In rural Siberia, romantic expectations are traditional and practical. The man is the head of the household. The woman takes care of the housekeeping and the children. But filmmaker Olga Delane doesn't agree. While she was born in this small Siberian village, as a teenager she migrated to Berlin with her family, and 20 years of living in Germany has changed her expectations. SIBERIAN LOVE follows Delane home to her community of birth, where she interviews family and neighbors about their lives and relationships. Amusing and moving, this elegant film paints a picture of a world completely outside of technology, a hard-farming community where life is hard and marriage is sometimes unhappy - but where there are also unexpected paths to joy and family togetherness. Through clashing ideals of modern and traditional womanhood, SIBERIAN LOVE is a fascinating study of a country little known in the US and of a rural community that raises questions about domesticity, gender expectations, domestic abuse, childcare, and romance. Excellent for anthropology, women's studies, sociology, Russian and Eastern European Studies.

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 82 minutes

AUTISM: A FAMILY'S JOURNEY

By Michael Terrill

How would you feel if your two-year-old child was diagnosed as autistic and mentally retarded? That he would go into his room and never come out, and would be institutionalized by age 17?

This was the grim life sentence handed down to Lori and Jim Cairns regarding their son, JR. The diagnosis was made in 1996-when little was known about autism, governments offered few helpful resources, and hope for recovery was disregarded as a myth, and urban legend.

Today many people still dismiss hope of recovery from autism. And yet it can happen. JR is living proof.

Now, for the first time ever, the Cairns family and JR's therapists unite to celebrate his recovery and share their story of hope.

DVD / 2015 / 52 minutes

DAUGHTERS OF ANATOLIA

By Hale Sofia Schatz

A stunningly beautiful and captivating documentary, Daughters of Anatolia follows a family of nomadic goat herders as they and their animals travel an ancient seasonal migration route - a centuries-old tradition and form of livelihood that is coming under increasing pressure from the outside world.

For a thousand years, the Gok family have been following the same migration route, from the temperate winters along the Mediterranean Sea to the cool summers in the Taurus Mountains, and back again. It is a route their ancestors pursued in order to provide forage for the animals through the year, and it is still of vital importance.

The family relies entirely on their 350 goats for their sustenance and livelihood: They make, eat and sell cheese and yogurt from the milk. They shear, spin, weave, and sell goat wool. They butcher the animals for their own meat consumption. In recent years, these traditional nomadic routes have been impacted by land and water use restrictions that increasingly have made it difficult for them to follow their way of life.

Since 2011, Producer/Director Hale Sofia Schatz has lived and traveled with this family. Her images, capturing both the hardships of such a life as well as the intimate moments universal to any family unit, are breathtaking. Schatz has taken a portrait of a single family and expanded it, offering a window not only on their world, but ours as well, both in the midst of upheaval.

DVD / 2015 / 56 minutes

GRIEF OF OTHERS, THE

By Patrick Wang

Based on Leah Hager Cohen's critically acclaimed novel.

The Ryries have suffered a loss: the death of a baby just fifty-seven hours after his birth. Without words to express their grief, the parents, John and Ricky, try to return to their previous lives. The couple's children, ten-year-old Biscuit and thirteen-year-old Paul, responding to the unnamed tensions around them, begin to act out in exquisitely idiosyncratic ways.

But as the family members scatter into private, isolating grief, an unexpected visitor arrives, and they find themselves growing more alert to the hurt, humor, warmth, and burdens of othersâ€”to the grief that is part of every human life but that also carries within it the power to draw us together.

DVD / 2015 / 103 minutes

SAVING UNCLE JACOB

Director: Sivan Shtivi

Sivan, the film director, sets out to quit smoking together with his Uncle Jacob, a heavy smoker whose life is in danger. The initial plan involves recruiting the entire addicted family, but rapidly twists and turns as it becomes a more complex and eventful story. Sivan, who is about to become a father, must inevitably confront the painful memories of his father's suicide, while Jacob's health continues to deteriorate.

This dark-humored, smoke-filled film shares the story of a tight, loving, self-destructive family, as they reach out to smokers everywhere - active or passive.

DVD (Hebrew, With English Subtitles) / 2015 / 70 minutes

MOSUO SISTERS, THE

By Marlo Poras

A tale of two sisters living in the shadow of two Chinas, this documentary by award-winning filmmaker Marlo Poras (Mai's America; Run Grany Run) follows Juma and Latso, young women from one of the world's last remaining matriarchal societies. Thrust into the worldwide economic downturn after losing jobs in Beijing and left with few options, they return to their remote Himalayan village. But growing exposure to modernity has irreparably altered traditions of the Mosuo, their tiny ethnic miniority, and home is not the same. Determined to keep their family out of poverty, one sister sacrifices her educational dreams and stays home to farm, while the other leaves, trying her luck in the city. The changes test them in unexpected ways. This visually stunning film highlights today's realities of women's lives and China's vast cultural and economic divides while offering rare views of a surviving matriarchy.

DVD (Mandarin/Mosuo/Tibetan, Color) / 2013 / 80 minutes

IN THE FAMILY

By Patrick Wang

The Independent Spirit Award-nominated directorial debut of acclaimed filmmaker Patrick Wang (The Grief of Others, A Bread Factory). In the town of Martin, Tennessee, Chip Hines, a precocious six year old, has only known life with his two dads, Cody and Joey. And a good life it is. When Cody dies suddenly in a car accident, Joey and Chip struggle to find their footing again. Just as they begin to, Cody's will reveals that he named his sister as Chip's guardian. The years of Joey's acceptance into the family unravel as Chip is taken away from him. In his now solitary home life, Joey searches for a solution. The law is not on his side, but friends are. Armed with their comfort and inspired by memories of Cody, Joey finds a path to peace with the family and closer to his son.

In a heartfelt story woven around child custody, two-Dad families, loss, interracial relations, the American South, and the human side of the law, the nature of what it means to be in a family is explored with ambitious and rewarding nuance.

DVD / 2011 / 169 minutes

NOT FAR FROM THE TREE

Directors: Alon Alsheich & Eran Yehezkel

''Not Far from the Tree'' is a funny and moving story about the creation of a family-owned winery and about the unavoidable father-son conflict.

Avi Kahanov, has spent his entire life working in the vineyards left to him by his father. This labor of love produced over the past few years the boutique winery Kahanov. Eran is the natural heir, good natured and kind, but he does not work in the family business created by his grandfather. He has chosen his own path and works as an educator of troubled youth. Avi would like to have his son working with him but any attempt ends in a shouting match.

DVD (Hebrew, Arabic, With English Subtitles) / 2011 / 50 minutes

SKYDANCER

By Katja Esson

Renowned for their balance and skill, six generations of Mohawk men have been leaving their families behind on the reservation to travel to New York City, to work on some of the biggest construction jobs in the world. Jerry and his colleague Sky shuttle between the hard drinking Brooklyn lodging houses they call home during the week and their rural reservation, a gruelling drive six hours north, where a family weekend awaits. Their wives are only too familiar with the sacrifices that their jobs have upon family life. While the men are away working, the women often struggle to keep their children away from the illegal temptations of this economically deprived area. Through rich archive and interviews, Academy Award-nominated director Katja Esson explores the colourful and at times tragic history of the Mohawk skywalkers, bringing us a nuanced portrait of modern Native American life and a visually stunning story of double lives.

DVD (Color) / 2011 / 74 minutes

HULA AND NATAN

Director: Robby Elmaliah

The tragicomic story of two brothers who survive by working as mechanics in a small garage in Sderot. Under the hail of missiles from Gaza, they comment the harsh reality of life in southern Israel during brotherly arguments oozing with black humour. The film is juxtaposing their disheveled lives with the drama of conflict intensifying around them. As much a funny and moving family story as a devastating commentary on the absurdity of war.

DVD (Hebrew, Arabic, With English, French Subtitles) / 2010 / 54 minutes

LEAST OF THESE, THE (FAMILY DETENTION IN AMERICA)

By Jesse Lyda and Clark Lyda

THE LEAST OF THESE takes a penetrating look at the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, a former medium-security prison that re-opened in 2006 as a prototype family detention center.

The facility houses immigrant children and their parents from all over the world who are awaiting asylum hearings or deportation proceedings. As information about troubling conditions at the facility began to leak out, activist attorneys sought to investigate and address the issues. In telling the story of their quest, the film explores the role (and limits) of community and legal activism in bringing about change. The film leads viewers to consider how core American rights and values-protection of children, presumption of innocence, upholding the family structure as the basic unit of civil society, and America as a refuge of last resort-should apply to immigrants, particularly children.

DVD (English and Spanish with English Subtitles) / 2009 / 82 minutes

QADIR - AN AFGHAN ULYSSES

Director: Anneta Papathanassiou

The journey of Qadir, an Afghan refugee, who came to Greece after the Taliban's invasion. He returns home 9 years later, searching for his family, and his emotions are mixed. The country is destroyed. Qadir is torn between two worlds, the East and the West.

DVD (Dari, Greek, With English, French Subtitles) / 2008 / 55 minutes

http://www.learningemall.com/News/Family_202012.html

1 note · View note

cookinguptales · 6 years

Text

SO. Some thoughts on the shorts presentations.

(Note: I only go to the live-action and animated ones; the documentary shorts are harder to see in my city and frankly, they’re often too intense for my current mental health.)

I went to see the shorts yesterday and like I said earlier, I thought the live-action shorts were generally very good and the animated shorts were generally a waste of time and In A Heartbeat was fucking robbed. The live-action shorts were mostly based on true stories, oddly enough, but they were still beautiful.

(This is two years of underwhelming animated nominees and I’m like ughhhh bc some years everything is amazing but recently I’ve not been agreeing with their picks at all.)

I’m about to discuss like 13 shorts, so it’s all under a cut.

Live-Action Shorts

DeKalb Elementary

I have to be honest with you, considering our current political climate, I started crying from the moment this short started until it ended. Like I saw the title come up on the screen and I was like OH NO. The short is based on the real-life school shooting at Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy, and I teared up just typing that sentence. However, this school had one of the few “happy” endings of a shooting; a receptionist at the school started talking to the shooter and calmed him down until he could admit that he really needed medical help and didn’t want to hurt anyone. She probably saved a lot of lives, and this dramatic interpretation of her 911 call is really deeply touching. The acting was really incredible, and the connection between the two of them was palpable without lessening the terrifying suspense of the moment. A really beautiful and deeply affecting short.

(Though, all that said, I wonder at the decision to create a mostly apolitical short about school shootings in today’s climate…)

(cw: guns, threatened violence, mental health issues)

A Silent Child

Surprise, I cried through this one, too! A Silent Child is a short about a young deaf girl in the UK whose parents refuse to learn sign language or teach it to her. This is a depressingly common experience in real life, and watching this girl’s nanny teach this girl sign language and seeing her really come alive now that she could truly communicate, neither the mother’s jealousy and self-consciousness nor her eventual decision to fire the nanny and forbid her child from ever using sign language again surprised me.

To keep a somewhat objective approach, I do think the end of the short was a bit maudlin; it seemed kind of odd that the girl, in that situation, would choose to sign “I love you” — this seemed more heartstring-yanking than something that felt realistic. That said, the rest of the short was really heartbreakingly realistic. It’s a personal subject for me; deafness runs in my family and my little sister is profoundly deaf. My parents started learning sign language the day she was born and made sure I did, too. I grew up in a truly bilingual household and didn’t understand until I was much older that many hearing parents don’t do this for their children. At first I was sitting in the theater like “well, my parents knew it might be a possibility; they were prepared before she was born” but then it is revealed that the mother in this short knew of a family history as well; her utter self-involvement and ego become more and more clear throughout the course of the story.

The short presents a very complicated familial relationship that felt very foreign and very familiar to me at the same time, and I’ll admit I cried a lot. Despite some shortcomings in the character writing, it really is a very important topic to talk about. I think I would have preferred that the emphasis be a little less on the nanny’s feelings and a little more on the girl, but it was overall a very good short — and notable for using an actual deaf actress and real BSL.

(cw: Ableism, child abuse)

My Nephew Emmett

This is a dramatic retelling of the experiences of Mose Wright as he tried to save his 14-year-old nephew, Emmett Till. If that name is familiar to you (and if it’s not, google this important case — but guard yourself for some deeply upsetting events and imagery) then you can probably figure out about how this short went. The story is a familiar, if horrifying one, but this film is interesting in that it doesn’t show much of the part we’re all familiar with. There isn’t that much graphic violence (IIRC, punching a boy in the stomach, manhandling him, and threatening folks with guns is the extent of it), and the very famous pictures of Emmett Till post-attack are not shown. (Though they are evoked in animation during the credits.)

Instead, this film really focuses on the emotional build-up of the event, and very palpably expresses the horrors and tensions of living during this time period in this place while black. There is some absolutely gorgeous imagery in this short, and some of the images of Mose sitting up all night with a gun, waiting for his nephew to come home, will stay with me forever. The acting and cinematography are top-notch, and there is a sort of dignity to these people that is not always afforded in shorts that can easily become misery porn for fascinated gawkers. Really just beautifully, meaningfully done. Media based on true stories like this can sometimes be wooden or insensitive. This was neither. A familiar story, but a breathtaking short.

(Cw: extreme racism, including racial slurs, violence, child death)

The 11 o’clock

In a year full of strong contenders, this Australian short was a glaring weak point. It’s a film about a psychiatrist who gets a patient who believes he’s a psychiatrist, and the rest of the fairly predictable short is pretty much just who’s on first shenanigans that get annoying very quickly. Also, after the powerful DeKalb Elementary, it felt uncomfortable poking fun at people with mental illness and using personal delusions for comedy.

But hey, at least it was short.

Watu Wote (All of Us)

Though it was a great year, this was probably my favorite of the shorts. As the film introduced itself as being about racial tensions between Christians and Muslims in Kenya, I was kind of bracing myself for some of the frankly racist/xenophobic content I’ve seen in some past years. However, this short was actually about an event in 2015 during which the militant group Al-Shabaab stopped a bus with an eye towards killing the Christians onboard, but were thwarted by the Muslim passengers who protected their Christian co-riders with, quite literally, their lives.

The short follows a Christian woman who is traveling home to visit with her sick mother, and the trip clearly terrifies her. It is later revealed that her husband and child had been killed by anti-Christian radicals years before and she still views Muslims with a large amount of wary mistrust. She clashes with other passengers on the bus, but she is shocked when the bus is pulled over and the Muslim passengers immediately move to protect and hide her. There are some truly tense scenes during which she is hiding from the militants and Muslim passengers are arguing with them about how un-Muslim their actions truly are. The short is not without bloodshed.

The short could have veered into being preachy at any time, but was instead a very raw depiction of these religious and ethnic tensions in this part of the world. While you could not fault the protagonist for being wary after her experiences, a lot of catharsis is felt when she realizes that there is a large difference between the men who killed her family and the terrified yet heroic passengers on her bus. It’s a true story and one respectfully told. I’d heard about the event when it happened, but didn’t know all the details; it was nice to have these heroes (particularly the fallen ones) commemorated in a moving short like this. The acting and directing was incredible, and again, I cried. A lot. I cried through basically this entire shorts presentation with a short break during the psychiatrist one, during which I ???ed a lot.

In a time where there is so much anti-Muslim sentiment in the world, I think this film made a very powerful statement, and I was glad to see it. I cannot believe this was a student film.

(Cw: ethnic/religious discrimination, blood, violence, death, child endangerment, mentions of dead children)

Honestly, this was a very strong year for the live-action shorts, and I would happy if any of the non-Australian shorts won.

Who I think will win: My Nephew Emmett or Watu Wote

Who should win: Very, very narrowly, Watu Wote

Animated Shorts

Negative Space

This is a French stop-motion film, and probably my favorite of the animated shorts this year — not that that’s saying much. It was kind of slight, frankly speaking, but the animation was really inventive and it was a joy to watch, at least, even if it was mostly just a guy relating a brief anecdote about his deceased father. Besides praising the really visually interesting animation, I’ll admit there’s not much to say about this one.

(Cw: death, you see an open-coffin funeral)

Garden Party

Beautiful animation, for the most part, but like. The entire plot is that a bunch of frogs take over this rich guy’s house after he’s murdered, which is…again, not that much of a plot. I guess the main point of it was “nature doesn’t care about riches or human life” and “corpses are funny”, which I’d tend to agree with and disagree with, respectively. While I appreciated the rising tension as you notice all the creepy details of this broken-into house in the background of cute frogs cavorting, the “punchline” of this short, which was a detailed close-up of the prior resident’s mutilated, bloated corpse that’d been sitting in the pool is just like. Pointlessly disgusting, and after watching a short about Emmett Till, it felt almost unconscionably callous. Honestly I was like. Mildly interested for most of it, and completely repelled by the end. People talk about this short’s “dark sense of humor” and I’m mostly just reminded of all those edgy assholes I met in college and was happy to never meet again.

(Cw: violence, very, very grotesquely graphic depictions of a corpse)

Lou

This one is Pixar’s inevitable nomination, and it’s very… Pixar. Idk, this one was kind of fun to watch, had a typical slightly-maudlin moment of sentimentality at the end, but it really wasn’t Pixar’s finest. It’s a pretty slight film about a bully befriending a sentient lost and found and learning to Be A Good Dude along with some stuff about the cycle of bullying that was dealt with too briefly to really be hard-hitting. What was odd to me while watching it is that I found myself thinking “wow, this animation does not seem up to Pixar’s usual standard”, which really surprised me. Like, it’s by no means bad! It just reminds me of the work that Pixar was doing several years ago, y’know? All in all, kind of cute but ultimately forgettable.

Revolting Rhymes, Part 1

(Longer review because this one was a half hour long as opposed to the rest, which were all 5-7 minutes.)

Ugh, okay. So the Academy, in their infinite wisdom, keeps nominating children’s specials for this award. They’re typically long-winded, rhyming adaptations of children’s picture books with subpar animation, and while Revolting Rhymes was better than The Gruffalo or Room on the Broom, I still felt my eyes glazing over. Plus, frankly, I take issue with this “short” even being eligible. It’s not a short. Shorts (in the Oscars) are 40 minutes or less. Revolting Rhymes is a two-episode miniseries that makes up one hour-long children’s program. In other words, if you see this at the short’s presentation, you will only see the first half of the story. (I googled the second half when I got home so I could properly review it.) They just split it into two; that doesn’t make it two discrete shorts. But I digress.

So this is your typical fairy tale retelling, and while I liked some aspects of it, others were trite and overdone. It was fun seeing Red Riding Hood go full vigilante, I suppose. It was actually frustrating as hell, especially because of In A Heartbeat’s snub; Revolting Rhymes really seemed like it was about to go to the f/f place with Red and Snow White. I was starting to get interested. These women were fighting for each other, giving each other flowers, embracing, leaning against each other, they eventually move in together… Like it was pretty fucking gay. AND THEN THEY NO HOMO’D IT AT THE END. I even looked up the second half to be completely sure. So that was really going to turn me against this film anyway because there’s nothing more tiring of getting one of those “in the future, they are gal pals and Red grew up and had kids!!” epilogues, especially when an actual queer love story was utterly ignored in favor of subpar shorts.

That aside, though, it’s just overly long, predictable, and kind of dull after a while. Frankly speaking, it’s for children and it doesn’t really have great crossover appeal for adults.

(Cw: pretty intense non-graphic violence, some sexist overtones, no homo-ing)

Dear Basketball

This short is just incomprehensible to me. It’s a short poem by Kobe Bryant that’s animated by the legendary Glen Keane with music by John Williams. Which should tell you how bewilderingly weird this whole scenario is. The whole time I was like “Is this a vanity project? How did he get such talent to sign on for such a self-indulgent little film? Did he just start throwing money around? Are both of these men closet Kobe fans?” Like I really don’t understand what even happened for this film to get made. It was inexplicable.

I guess it’s exactly what you’d expect. Kobe Bryant has written a saccharine poem about how much he has always loved basketball, and how he is now sad he has to give it up. It’s beautifully animated with a sweeping score. I am deeply confused, and cannot understand why this was even nominated in the wake of the #MeToo movement, considering the allegations against Bryant.

*shrugs???*

(And the highly commended shorts. IN A HEARTBEAT DIDN’T EVEN FUCKING MAKE HIGHLY COMMENDED, FUCK THE OSCARS COMMITTEE TBH.)

Lost Property Office

Another short about a lost and found…? I mean, okay, why the fuck not, this year is clearly a debacle anyway. This one was basically about a guy who works for the MTA lost and found, and he’s being let go because no one ever claims anything. The film, to be fair, does have a really interesting visual aesthetic… But the direction it goes in, again, is just kind of like. Okay. Not exactly emotionally gripping.

(Cw: no one actually commits suicide in this, but the short very clearly utilizes imagery that conjures up suicide)

Achoo

Trite little film about a dragon I’m supposed to think is cute but I really thought was kind of gross and annoying. It’s this thing about how this annoying dragon wants to make a fireworks display better than the mean bully dragons and he sneezes goop everywhere and uses chemicals (which feels like cheating..?) and accidentally invents fireworks. It’s always, uh, awkward when there’s a piece of animation that does some cutesy depiction of another culture’s faux “mythology”, and this one really didn’t particularly do it well.

Weeds

Short about a dandelion (I guess? They didn’t really look like dandelions, but oh well.) trying to move from a dead yard to the yard next door full of sprinklers. It dies before it makes it and its seeds float over to the lawn. Then you get some inspirational quote about NEVER GIVING UP and I’m like okay but it died???? It didn’t make it????? Is this some really depressing point about the struggles of immigrant parents or something or did you actually think this was inspirational?

Forgettable.

Who I think will win: Negative Space or Revolting Rhymes Who I think should win: In A Heartbeat

IN A HEARTBEAT WAS ROBBED NEVER FORGIVE NEVER FORGET.

#oscar nominated shorts #long post

6 notes · View notes

toraonice · 7 years

Note

I don't think you're homophobic, a bad person, or any of that and am sorry you're getting outright hate BUT I think you're missing a lot of the point. I am not going to presume that you aren't LGBT, but I am unsure if you understand how LGBT people are irritated at how het pairings as "overt" as v*****ri are typically accepted as they are (/cont)

(cont) yet so many gay pairings portrayed in the same vein are “ambiguous” or argue that it isn’t canon. The “they’re DEEPER than romantic love” is also hurtful as people aren’t discriminated against for friendships and erases what makes them so special to LGBT fans.

(cont 3/3) Essentially, I think although you have good intentions in trying to be objective, with what I said in mind when you add separate commentary such as pointing out that soulmates can be platonic or the late night drama thing it does deeply hurt people, because it sounds like you’re trying to downplay them—intentionally or otherwise

Hello! First of all, thank you for making a concrete example and articulating your point logically!

I’m taking this occasion to write a long reply that encompasses my view of Victor and Yuuri’s relationship also with regard to heterocentricity. It’s long, but hopefully it’s exhaustive…

I think some people may be a bit wary about this topic and interpret my words in a negative way. For example, by saying that their bond is “deeper than romantic love” I am not trying to say that romantic love is a bad thing or that they cannot be or become lovers. I actually see it as something positive, not negative. There are people who know each other, start dating, have a passionate love story and then break up within a year. I believe that, since the bond between Victor and Yuuri is not limited to romantic love (which can be included) but also includes respect, friendship and other feelings, this makes their relationship deeper than two people only bound by romantic feelings.

Also, when I said that soulmates can be platonic and that the Japanese Monday dramas are not necessarily centered on love stories, I was trying to be fair to all interpretations. I don’t mean “so this proves that Victor and Yuuri cannot be in a romantic relationship”; it just isn’t something that proves either theory.

Regarding Japanese dramas.. Not sure how many people are familiar with it, but in the 2nd Tiger & Bunny movie there is a scene with the 2 protagonists on the roof of a building that is commonly referred to by fans as “gekku” (the same kind of drama as the scene of Victor and Yuuri at the airport). Usually this kind of scenes, in the TV dramas, feature a man and a woman, but when “gekku” is used to describe something unrelated to dramas, like scenes from an anime, it often includes a slightly humorous nuance, very similar to when two people are fighting and someone tells them “you look like a married couple”. (The scene itself is usually serious and when fans use “gekku” they don’t mean to make fun of it, but at the same time they don’t seriously mean to imply that the characters are romantically involved)

I agree on the fact that if Victor and Yuuri had been a man and a woman everyone and their dog would think that they’re in love with each other, while part of the reason some people are skeptical about it is that they are both men. I myself don’t really it like when, especially in series where the sexuality of characters is not clear, two characters of opposite sexes are seen as more likely to fall in love with each other than characters of the same sex. This happens because some people think that unless a character is declared as homosexual they must be heterosexual because “that is the standard” (these people in many cases are not even trying to be homophobic, they just do not realize that what they are implying is heterocentric). I don’t think that there is a standard, and of course there are many more possibilities than just “heterosexual” and “homosexual”, therefore if a character’s sexuality is unconfirmed I am usually open to any possibility.

I will stray a little from YOI. I was an enthusiastic X-Files fan at the time the series was still airing and the protagonists weren’t officially lovers yet (yeah it’s a long time ago but I might not be as old as this makes you think lol). I was also a member of the official forum and identified myself as “intellishipper”, fans who shipped the protagonists but didn’t necessarily want them to become romantically involved in the series unless it was relevant to the story (normal “shippers” just wanted them to get together). This is because I liked X-Files for what it was — a sci-fi thriller drama — and I didn’t want it to suddenly become a love story or focus too much on the romantic relationship of the characters. In fact, to this day I still don’t really like how their romantic relationship was handled in the series… (even though I’m a shipper!) X-Files taught me that sometimes, even if the characters you ship officially get together, depending on how it’s portrayed it might be disappointing, and in that case maybe it’s better that everything is left vague and that you keep on fantasizing on your own… (Sorry if someone disagrees about the protagonists’ relationship in X-Files, this is just my opinion)

The reason of this digression is to explain that the way I view Victor and Yuuri’s relationship and its portrayal within the series is very similar to my experience with X-Files. I personally like them together, but since the series is fundamentally a sport anime about figure skating, to me it’s fine if they don’t confirm whether they are romantically involved or not, because either way there are enough hints to be perfectly able to perceive them as in love with each other even if it’s not stated out loud. At the same time, I respect people who want them to officially get together and people who prefer to see their relationship as platonic too, because in the end everything is open to interpretations and therefore I don’t think it’s correct to force one interpretation on others.

I understand that people who see this anime as important for the LGBT+ community would prefer that they are confirmed as lovers because we would have a “regular” (non-BL) anime featuring an official homosexual couple with a strong, healthy relationship, which would be a step forward in the portrayal of LGBT characters in Japanese anime too. However, exactly because it’s a Japanese anime, as I tried to explain in a previous post a few months ago, the local cultural background is an obstacle to that, therefore I wouldn’t be surprised if even in future works they never confirm anything. Also, what Yamamoto said about “relationships without a name” too makes me think that maybe she doesn’t find it important to give a name to their relationship but she just wants to portray a very strong bond between two characters which viewers can interpret how they prefer. Kubo too made a few tweets last August that suggest how one of the reasons they didn’t use a man and a woman is that they did not want people to automatically interpret their relationship as romantic “just because they’re a man and a woman”. If you read that negatively you might think “does she mean that if they are both guys they cannot be seen as romantically involved?”. I don’t know what she meant in detail of course, because I’m not inside her mind, but I also think it can be interpreted in a positive way: if the characters are a man and a woman people will see them as automatically in love only because of their genders, regardless of the deepness of their relationship; however, if they are guys the average viewer cannot apply their heterocentric point of view to them and they will only see them as in love because their relationship really suggests that.

By the way, I still think that YOI, even without confirming anything, is an important step forward for the portrayal of LGBT+ characters in Japanese anime because it shows two male characters having an intimate relationship (however you want to interpret it) without their surroundings going “eww gross” or making jokes about them. In the series, no one says anything or questions Yuuri’s sexuality when he decides to interpret the role of a woman in his early version of Eros, no one ever makes fun of Yuuri and Victor’s relationship, no one looks grossed out when they see them with wedding rings (Phichit even congratulates them for their “wedding”). As Kubo said, within the world of YOI no one is discriminated for what (or who) they like. Everything is just portrayed as normal. In a way, the fact that any possibility is viewed as normal might also be the reason why they don’t feel the need to declare anyone’s sexuality or whether they are romantically involved or not, also because in the end whether Yuuri and Victor are engaged or not, or are having sex or not, is not really relevant to their performance as figure skaters. The aspects of their relationship that are relevant to the story are what has already been shown to us.

To sum it up… I understand the various points of views, including the fact that a part of the fans would prefer to see Victor and Yuuri in a confirmed romantic relationship (be it because of their personal liking or because they would like more outspoken LGBT+ representation), but as long as the creators don’t confirm anything I will stay open to any possibility. I’m sorry if some of the things I said were taken the wrong way and I hope that what I wrote above was enough to explain that they weren’t meant as something offensive or negative but were just my attempt to be unbiased toward any possible interpretation. I myself am generally annoyed by the heterocentric view of the world (which in Japan is oh so popular..) and to me whether a pairing is het or homo makes no difference, therefore in my mind Victor and Yuuri in their current stage are very much like Mulder and Scully when their romantic relationship wasn’t confirmed in the series: no matter how you look at them they must be in love with each other, but it’s not confirmed, therefore fans who think their relationship is platonic have the right to think so (in the X-Files fandom too there were fans who didn’t ship them or were indifferent, but this didn’t stop the creators from making them a couple later on).

As a translator, I’m striving to be unbiased toward any interpretation and therefore to translate official material so that the original meaning/nuance is preserved and in English it doesn’t end up sounding more/less suggestive than it was in Japanese. Since they are very different languages, sometimes it’s hard to keep the exact same nuances as the original text, and of course if you ask 10 people to translate a line they will translate it in 10 different ways, but I’m trying to be careful especially with parts that might be easily misread (I mean, it’s useless that I translate something as sounding shippy when the original doesn’t… If the original does, of course I would keep that nuance).

In any case, if anyone ever thinks that one of my translations doesn’t sound right or that something I said sounds homophobic or hurtful, please let me know and I will explain more in detail what I meant. I always try to write my opinion without being offensive to anyone, but sometimes it’s impossible to write something so that all the people who read it will interpret it the exact same way, especially when talking about topics where readers have contrastive views. I respect all opinions (people who like Victuuri, people who dislike Victuuri, people who are indifferent, etc) and I just wish for everyone to live in peace without attacking each other.

Final notes:

1) Sorry for mentioning series unrelated to YOI, but since X-Files contains a het pairing I thought it would make a good comparison to show that my view of YOI isn’t influenced by the fact that Victor and Yuuri are both guys.

2) I was trying to be very neutral when I wrote my short review of the original drama at the YOI event, but to be honest some parts sounded just like a BL drama and it would take a genius to manage to “no homo” all of that… Of course the scriptwriter made it so that if you want to see their relationship as platonic you can still justify everything with “they were drunk”, but yeah…

3) Adding sources: 1) “What Yamamoto said” comes from the May Febri interview which I’m currently translating; 2) Kubo’s tweets from last August are something that wasn’t explicitly related to YOI but were definitely referring to YOI; 3) What Kubo said about no one being discriminated in YOI’s world is also a tweet from the end of last year, I made a post about it too.

#victor nikiforov #yuuri katsuki #essay #long post is long #my opinion

62 notes · View notes

femmesfollesnebraska · 7 years

Text

Deborah Turnbull, writer

Deborah Turnbull shares with LFF about how she came to be a writer, her latest book, Trial by Scar, collaborations and more...

Where are you from? How did you get into creative work and what is your impetus for creating?

I'm from Brighton, UK. It's not my town of birth but it is my home of seventeen years. When I was a kid, as soon as I could read independently, I devoured every book I could get my hands on. By the time I was seven I had read every book in the school and they had to order books in especially for me. I already knew I wanted to be a writer but I assumed I would write novels. I had a wonderful english teacher for four years in secondary school, who I'm grateful to still be in touch with, and his enthusiasm for literature kept mine stoked. I started writing poems at this time and was taken by its unique power to arrest in so few words. Being of a loquacious nature, this is liberating in a way I can't explain.

When I was a practising Buddhist we were encouraged to use the practice to turn 'poison into medicine', so in my case difficult life experiences can be transfigured into something that is hopefully a force for connection — I do it for myself, and I hope that it acknowledges something in the reader, and maybe we both have a moment of reprieve and shared understanding. I have to write; my mental health is sometimes fragile, but the process of writing puts me into a state that feels deeply nourishing and sustaining.

Tell me about your current project and why it’s important to you. What do you hope people get out of your work?

I have written a short collection of poems called Trial by Scar, which is written from the transitional point in an experience where we can use the inevitable tough stuff of life, our wounds and scars, to move on. Again, it's the 'poison to medicine' line to walk. I'm hoping I have built into the work a reflection of hopefulness, without resolving everything too easily as in life. I hope it will be both confronting and nurturing. I am a big believer in the idea of leaning into discomfort, looking it full in the face and 'having it all out'. To me, that is the most sensual, frank and satisfying way to live and create.

Having been inspired by the open conversations going on in Death Cafes internationally, I have recently started writing poems about death and grief. Trial by Scar is like this work's opener. Death is the ultimate subject, to my mind. I find comfort in going directly to what I believe is the source of all fear. If you can face turn and face death, you can face anything, and I want to bring that to any readers I might entice with my insistent morbid curiosity.

Deborah Turnbull’s poetry in letterpress print

Does collaboration play a role in your work—whether with your community, artists or others? How so and how does this impact your work?

In the last year I have collaborated for the first time, with Brighton's art duo The Fortune Cats. I have contributed poetry and script ideas to different projects. They are deliberate antagonists and subverters of the social and political status quo, and it utterly delights me to meet with them regularly after writing alone in bed for years. Not much pleases me more than cackling about ideas that Theresa May et al would loathe. Seeing a huge gold fortune cat in the archways of Somerset House, as an avatar for capitalism, beckoning people from across the River Thames to spout some of my script as doctrine was a high point.

It's a healthy challenge to pool ideas, compromise or advocate for an idea, and then let things go. It's built a greater sense of objectivity into my work overall, to have their creative sensibilities and concerns as alternative guides for my own voice.

I have started discussing ideas with a musician who has an incredible voice, to meld spoken word and music that run with the theme of death. We like the idea of being a little theatrical with it. I want to bring it to a wider audience than those few that attend poetry events, and I feel the need for a more physical, performative experience.

Considering the political climate, how do you think the temperature is for the arts right now, what/how do you hope it may change or make a difference?

If art reflects the culture it's made in and fights back, this will be a time which produces raw, unbridled, courageous art. Art, so long as it's accessible, can bring us out of alienation, give us a medium through which to find an authentic voice and make our own ground to stand on. It is real power of coming into our own, as opposed to the endless seeking outside of oneself, hoarding as much as possible, which calls itself power but is vacuous and desperate. Art develops our internal worlds. I hope this political era will make artists of everyone who have till now been quiet, and those that need to siphon off their anger instead of muttering under their breath or lashing out. We can't know what art can do for us until we get amongst it, and we can't know to what extent we are unified until we view it.

Deborah Turnbull’s poetry in letterpress print

Artist Wanda Ewing, who curated and titled the original LFF exhibit, examined the perspective of femininity and race in her work, and spoke positively of feminism, saying “yes, it is still relevant” to have exhibits and forums for women in art; does feminism play a role in your work?

Many of my poems vouch from a feminine perspective. 'Foundling' for instance, which was recently chosen for the Eyewear Best New British and Irish Poets anthology, is about a young woman who is commodified by the music industry. It turns her youthfulness into an object for sale, ripe for fantasy projection. I was happy it was selected, as it affirmed the subject's relevance. Feminism is ever-relevant but I think it is important to attend to what it means as a subject. I see lazy and fearful dismissal of feminism as 'man-hating', and that's a shame as people can be put off from the outset. The feminism that I represent in my work is of the wave that is loving and inclusive of men, and acknowledges how patriarchy hurts both men and women.

Ewing’s advice to aspiring artists was “you’ve got to develop the skill of when to listen and when not to;” and “Leave. Gain perspective.” What is your favorite advice you have received or given?

I was given the advice to not dwell in either sentimentality or sensationalism when writing. Both tones take the reader along for a firework display but the content and meaning are obfuscated, and I feel cheated out of reality. Better to match the tone with accuracy, meet the meaning where it's at. Technical language, when researching for a poem, is poetry in itself. Etymology discloses how much is embodied within the confines of just one word, the history, culture and concerns of an occupation. I'm immediately cast into its world and can get a true sense of it. I think that we form this idea that poetry must sweep us into a romantic reverie, but give me that one word that depicts the object exactly and I've got accuracy. The reader can better find me there I think. It's like giving an address rather than a hand gesture to the middle distance and saying "somewhere over there". Also, to not be afraid to edit with a cool, discriminating eye. Done well it makes the work more potent, not less.

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Deskins. LFF Books is a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014), The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015), BARED: contemporary art and writing on bras and breasts (2017, edited by Laura Madeline Wiseman) and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017). Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. See the latest call for work on the Submissions page!

#deborah turnbull #contemporary poetry #women writers

2 notes · View notes

astralyogablog · 5 years

Text

INTRO ASTRAL YOGA

Soy Juliana, y al escribir esta introducción, me cuestione como quería describirme a mi misma, que quería decir primero para enmarcar quien trato de ser como humano… Tal vez, mi nacionalidad primero, mi genero, mi edad… Decidí que el status con el que mas honestamente me identifico ahora, es mi vocación soy Astrologa (interpreto la ley hermética de que como es arriba en el cosmos es abajo en nuestro planeta), en mi país, la carrera que escogí, aun no existe, (aprendí mi saber con un tutor privado al que respeto profundamente) como profesión es poco común, poco conocida, por eso he trabajado como terapeuta alternativa e independiente desde hace 5 años, mi conocimiento combina el lenguaje de un astrónomo, la metodología de un psicólogo y con este nuevo proyecto quiero agregar la milenaria practica del yoga como herramienta para fusionar todo, pues creo fielmente que nuestro cuerpo físico es el principal móvil para experimentar nuestra vida, y moldear la visión que tenemos de nosotros, de los otros.

Este proyecto es el resultado de un proceso personal, de transformación y cambio que he emprendido, para que me entiendas mejor, voy a contarte. Soy Colombiana, tengo 24 años nací en Bogotá la capital y muy recientemente me mude a Medellín una ciudad relativamente cercana. En mi trabajo como terapeuta durante los últimos años, he tenido el obsequio y oportunidad de aprender de muchas historias de vida, personajes muy variados de diferentes edades, nacionalidades, géneros, credos y profesiones se han interesado en mi asesoría, y me brindaron la oportunidad de conocerme a mi misma, a través de ellos. Yo crecí explorando mi cuerpo como un medio mágico de relación con lo que me rodeaba, con la naturaleza, animales y las otras personas, sin discriminaciones, y con el yoga, la danza, la música y el arte como alimentos tan básicos como la comida… Mi mama es psicopedagoga experta en expresión corporal, y bailarina de profesión y vocación una artista romántica, que se enamoro de ser madre, fui muy afortunada por tener en mi historia una madre que tuviera el conocimiento, talento y educación para enseñarme a expresar lo que me hacia diferente y sentirme, especial por ello… Sin embargo al crecer comprendí que esa historia no es muy común, en especial me atrevo a decir, en mi continente, menos en mi país. De allí, mi crianza y mi experiencia profesional surge mi deseo de ofrecer un servicio que combine, una herramienta de conciencia la Astrología que en resumen y desde mi perspectiva profesional; Estudia la energía cósmica y sus posibles patrones de manifestación, nos ayuda a ver el macro en lo micro, analiza como esta energía puede influenciarnos a nivel personal y colectivo, para que entendamos que la vida no es lineal, estamos conectados como parte de un todo y así como en la naturaleza, lo que nos ocurre, forma parte de un proceso vital similar a la metamorfosis o incluso a la fotosíntesis, todo es cíclico y si logramos comprenderlo, esta herramienta de auto – análisis, más allá de ser una varita mágica o una bola de cristal, que nos de la solución a todos nuestros problemas, puede hacernos comprender mejor quienes somos, que queremos y como aprovechar lo que tenemos disponible (interna y externamente) para construirlo.

Y el yoga que en mis palabras y comprensión como practicante desde que tengo 4 años, es este conocimiento milenario, que nace en la india Yoga en sanscrito significa Unión y uno de los libros mas antiguos del mundo el Rig Veda (libro protagonista de la cultura Ayuverda,) registra la existencia y practica de esta filosofía hace 10.000 años, el Yoga clásico tiene una antigüedad de 5.000 años por su parte. En la actualidad existen 28 tipos diferentes de Yoga, combinando métodos antiguos y nuevos pero con el mismo propósito subyacente… Ayudarnos aprender como conectar, armonizar lo tangible e intangible en nosotros y lo que nos rodea.

Inspirada en lo anterior y como espectadora del caótico momento histórico que vivimos como humanidad, deseo invitarte a descubrir una manera de conectar con tu salvajismo interior, sensibilizarte a la conexión innata que tenemos con la naturaleza (astros, ecosistemas ,elementos y chakras). Mi mayor deseo es que descubras que puedes convertirte en tu propio guía terapéutico, maestro y oráculo, pues creo firmemente que todo cambio en nuestra vida para manifestarse debe empezar desde nuestro interior

Aprende a ejercitar tu cuerpo astral y físico a través del Yoga y la Astrología.

INTRO ASTRAL YOGA

I am Juliana, and when writing this introduction, I wondered how I wanted to describe myself, what I wanted to say first to frame who tried to be as a human ... Maybe, my nationality first, my gender, my age ... I decided that the status with the that more honestly I identify myself now, it is my vocation I am an Astrologist (I interpret the hermetic law that since it is above in the cosmos is below on our planet), in my country, the career that I chose, does not yet exist, (I learned my knowledge with a private tutor whom I deeply respect) as a profession is rare, little known, so I have worked as an alternative and independent therapist for 5 years, my knowledge combines the language of an astronomer, the methodology of a psychologist and with this new project I want to add the ancient practice of yoga as a tool to merge everything, because I faithfully believe that our physical body is the main motive to experience our life, and shape the vision that We have from us, from the others.

This project is the result of a personal process of transformation and change that I have undertaken, so that you understand me better, I will tell you. I am Colombian, I am 24 years old I was born in Bogotá the capital and very recently I moved to Medellin a relatively close city. In my work as a therapist during the last years, I have had the gift and opportunity to learn from many life stories, very varied characters of different ages, nationalities, genders, creeds and professions have been interested in my advice, and they gave me the opportunity of knowing myself, through them. I grew up exploring my body as a magical means of relationship with my surroundings, with nature, animals and other people, without discrimination, and with yoga, dance, music and art as basic foods such as food ... My mother is an expert psychologist in body expression, and a dancer by profession and vocation a romantic artist, who fell in love with being a mother, I was very fortunate to have in my story a mother who had the knowledge, talent and education to teach me to express what that made me different and felt, especially for that ... However, when I grew up I understood that this story is not very common, especially I dare to say, in my continent, less in my country. From there, my upbringing and my professional experience arises my desire to offer a service that combines, an astrology awareness tool that in summary and from my professional perspective; Study the cosmic energy and its possible patterns of manifestation, it helps us to see the macro in the micro, analyze how this energy can influence us on a personal and collective level, so that we understand that life is not linear, we are connected as part of a whole and as in nature, what happens to us, is part of a vital process similar to metamorphosis or even photosynthesis, everything is cyclic and if we can understand it, this self-analysis tool, beyond being a magic wand or a crystal ball, which gives us the solution to all our problems, can make us better understand who we are, what we want and how to take advantage of what we have available (internally and externally) to build it. And yoga that in my words and understanding as a practitioner since I was 4 years old, is this ancient knowledge, born in India Yoga in Sanskrit means Union and one of the oldest books in the world, Rig Veda (book protagonist of culture Ayuverda,) records the existence and practice of this philosophy 10,000 years ago, classical Yoga is 5,000 years old. There are currently 28 different types of Yoga, combining old and new methods but with the same underlying purpose ... Help us learn how to connect, harmonize the tangible and intangible in us and what surrounds us.

Inspired by the above and as a spectator of the chaotic historical moment that we live as humanity, I wish to invite you to discover a way to connect with your inner savagery, sensitize you to the innate connection we have with nature (stars, ecosystems, elements and chakras). My greatest wish is that you discover that you can become your own therapeutic guide, teacher and oracle, because I firmly believe that every change in our life to manifest must begin from within. Learn to exercise your astral and physical body through Yoga and Astrology.

#astrologa #astrologia #terapiaalternativa #yoga #hathayoga #chakras #signos zodiacales #astrologyst #astrology #alternative therapies #signs zodiac

0 notes

emilysarsam · 6 years

Text

Women on the London Jazz Scene: Inspiring a generation of female jazz musicians

In this paper I will be discussing gender dynamics in the context of the current London Jazz Scene. This scene offers an interesting field to explore the powerful roles that women, such as Yazz Ahmed, Emma Jean-Thackray, Alya Al-Sultani, Nubya Garcia to name a few, are playing in inspiring a new generation of, especially female, jazz musicians. The idea to write this essay was inspired by my participation in the symposium “Making the changes: A powerful symposium for women in jazz”, which Issie Barrett organised in December 2017 at the Southbank Center and assembled over 70 people to speak about the current status of women in jazz. I feel it’s important to question the difficulties women and girls face when deciding to pursue a career in jazz, considering the art form’s historical importance in functioning as the voice of the oppressed, communicating the discriminatory practices of everyday life, and improvisation behaving as the ultimate symbol of freedom. One of my interviewees, Al-Sultani, believes that some actors in the jazz scene feel threatened by proactive and outspoken women. In order to prevent female jazz artists from becoming empowered by the sector, these actors have tailored the scene to function as a hostile environment. This reality clashes completely with Alya's interpretation of jazz as “politics of freedom”. To better understand this dichotomy, I will be drawing on the writings of scholars such as Ingrid Monson and especially Sherrie Tucker, who’s book “Big Ears: Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies” offered a valuable reference while exploring historical gendering in jazz and its influence on shaping the entire culture around it. In order to gain first-hand insight to current debates on gender in the London jazz scene I conducted interviews with Lizy Exell (English jazz drummer, member of the collective Nérija) from Jazz Herstory, a new web platform set up in July 2017 which seeks to address gender equality in Jazz, and Alya Al-Sultani, a vocalist and artist who released “Collective X”, a project which explores race, identity, and the black and minority ethnic experience through music. A lot of my opinions and views can be traced back to participatory observation during lectures, concerts and informal discussions with jazz musicians and enthusiasts alike.

The risks of gender-blindness and essentialism in jazz

I find myself rather ambivalent about writing this essay. As much as I feel it’s necessary to deconstruct issues concerning gender in jazz, I’m aware of the problems which this discourse can cause by pigeonholing women in the “gender” debate. I deeply honor and respect the artistry and talent of all of the women discussed throughout this paper and was drawn to them primarily through their music. This paper strives to present them as artists before anything else, while baring in mind the fine nuances of gender in this discussion and making assumptions as inclusive as possible, hoping to mirror their voices and opinions as genuinely as possible. A quote comes to mind by Norma Carson, one of the trumpet players from the all-girl band, “International Sweethearts of Rhythm”, who in Linda Dahl’s book, “Stormy Weather” said, "I've never found it an advantage to be a girl, if a trumpet player is wanted for a job and somebody suggests me, they'll say 'what, a chick?' and put me down without even hearing me. I don't want to be a girl musician. I just want to be a musician.” Lizy Exell tells me that she’s experienced the same thing and despite being disturbed by it has developed a resilience to not take this issue personally but rather regard it as a flaw of our times and society. She recalls going to jam sessions as a teenager in Dorking and being the only female in the room but never considering this to be an issue, she was too immersed in the music. She strongly believes that if you’re really passionate about something, you will pursue it regardless of the barriers which you’re confronted with. While she’s been strong enough to cope with the pressure women are subjected to as artists and performers, she’s aware that not everyone is able to do so. It’s only through this realisation that she’s opened her mind to reflect on the gender discourse and founded Jazz Herstory, which is a web platform through which she can educate herself and share knowledge and information about women in jazz. Similarly Alya, as a female jazz artist and woman of color, tells me that she’s been forced to create her own niche within the industry. Under no circumstance is she willing to adhere to the expectations which society have of women and artists. She doesn’t believe that people are likely to change any time soon, so she’s been forced to make her own change. Everything she does, is motivated by a deep passion and love for art, justice, and feminism, and it is thanks to her genuine drive that she excels in her field.

How can such pleads for gender-blindness in jazz be treated? What if we were to rephrase Ron Radano’s assumption of the problematic nature of labelling jazz as “black music”. He claims that the label evokes exotic and essentialist notions of blackness, but to ignore it would downplay the historical and current role that African-Americans play in shaping jazz in the face of power imbalances (Radano 1994, p.18). If we assume that the concept of gender, like race, is a social construct which was shaped by generations of imbalanced power dynamics as a tool of disenfranchisement, then how might Radano’s perspective apply to “female music”. Does this label immediately sexualise and romanticise music or is it a necessary term to balance gender representation? Wouldn’t a description like “female saxophonist” as opposed to simply “saxophonist”, rather perpetuate the reception of female jazz instrumentalists as peculiar or out of the ordinary? The discourse around the “colorblindness” of jazz, argues that artistic merit is to be valued, regardless of the artists’ race, ethnicity, gender, religion etc. Could this blindness however be understood as an ignorance imposed by white supremacy (Panish 1997, p.8) that has reached a certain status of dogma within jazz discourses, making it even harder for women and people of color to speak up about the prejudice, discrimination and hardship which they face? (Cole 2010)

Focus: the London jazz scene

The symposium, “Making the changes: A powerful symposium for women in jazz”, brought people together from various fields to discuss and identify barriers which women face in the jazz industry and to create a network of actors in the field. Most shocking were the statistics revealing the gender imbalance reaching throughout the entire jazz industry. According to statistics assembled by Issie Barratt in 2016, only 8 of 200 jazz instrumental professorial seats were held by women at 6 of the 7 conservatoires in the UK and less than 6% of jazz instrumentalists studying at the conservatoires were women. Only 5% of professional jazz instrumentalists identified as women. The figures of female journalists contributing to media outlets like “Jazz thing” or “Jazzwise”, as well as the disproportionate coverage about women in these journals, are equally unsettling, with women on average making it on to a mere 1-2 covers out of 10 yearly issues. The same situation goes for the United States, where only two female jazz instrumentalists have won the Thelonious Monk Competition since its initiation 30 years ago, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra only ever accepted their first female member in 2017, the same year they adopted the policy of blind auditions (Berliner 2017). As one can imagine, these numbers raised more questions than answers. How could the statistics be so low? How do the numbers of successful female jazz actors correlate to the number of “aspiring candidates” (Stephenson, 2017)? To what extent is the value of women instrumentalists’ artistry judged on the base of merit rather than sexism and misogyny within the system? If the number of aspiring female jazz instrumentalists is in fact so low, then can this be traced back to a lack of female role models? Or is this rather a result of women’s limited representation on the jazz market, be it in the media or at jazz festivals? Are female instrumentalists simply not interesting enough to break through in the mainstream jazz market, which is shaped by the male gaze and more interested in “seeing” than “hearing” women perform jazz (unless they are vocalists)? How can gender parity be assessed as long as there is a lack of female jazz journalists and promoters covering female jazz instrumentalists?

The group concluded that tackling these issues would require grass-roots approaches, beginning with education initiatives targeting toddlers. Creating and providing safe spaces where boys and girls alike could practice and “get things wrong”, would be necessary for them to “get good”. What they needed was a bully-free zone to experiment through trial and error. Improvising in music is risk-taking, often putting musicians in a vulnerable place. Wether they’re improvising or not, women are in any case subject to vulnerability as they are constantly expected to prove their skill. Errors during performances or rehearsals might be excused with an, “it’s because she’s a girl”, hence perpetuating the stereotype that “women can’t play jazz”. This is an environment which makes learning impossible as the subconscious lowering of potential discourages young women to make mistakes and learn from them (Berliner 2017). These are necessary measures to combat male structural privilege that has been taken for granted in society and continues to determine how women’s playing is judged and rated and actively disadvantage young women in jazz. Furthermore, we discussed the roles of bullying in educational institutions as well as on the jazz scene, and its impact on artists’ mental health. The feeling of being an outsider as the only women in the band or at a jam, in a classroom or on a board of professors is an issue which can significantly influence the self-esteem and confidence of individuals. Initiatives like Music Minds Matter by Help Musicians UK were already in place, offering support and help to anyone in the music industry who claims to be affected by bullying or depression. The debate about the lack of media presence and promotion sparked the idea of creating an online network which represented active female jazz instrumentalists. While some bookers or bandleaders were keen on booking women, they claimed that they struggled to find the exact profile that they were looking for, due to the lack of their exposure. The issue of modesty or insecurity might also discourage people, who might be active on the jazz scene but require promotion, from considering themselves “professional jazz instrumentalists/vocalists”. Online networks as such could give an overview of the available talent without forcing artists to leave their comfort zone and put themselves in to the spot light.

Predatory music environments

Speaking about safe places is important, regarding the rough nature of touring and nightclubs. Women who work in bands led by men, claim that they face traumatising experiences while being on tour. Issues range from the exposure to sexist and misogynistic behavior, to the consumption of pornography on tourbusses to the sexual exploitation of their female band members and other women they encounter while they’re on tour (Pellegrinelli 2017). It’s undeniable that these are uncomfortable situations which people might find hard to speak about openly, especially when their careers are at stake. Sasha Berliner, a jazz vibraphonist currently based in New York City, has used her blog to openly speak about the sexual harassment which she faces through her male mentors. She explains that these situations create dangerous dilemmas, for if she was to turn away a male musician who is interested in her sexually and is a popular figure on the jazz scene, then he’s likely to sabotage her reputation and claim that he doesn't like her playing out of anger for her unwillingness to cooperate. This type of sexual manipulation can have serious consequences on the careers and education of aspiring female artists (Berliner 2017).

Lizy is under the impression that some men lack the ability to appreciate listening to women and rather take pleasure in seeing them play jazz. She finds confirmation of this idea when observing the type of vocabulary which is chosen by some men to comment on and compliment women. Some of this social vocabulary perpetuates the normality of complimenting women by merely commenting on their looks. It’s equally important to note the important role which audiences play in creating an either predatory or encouraging atmosphere in jazz clubs. It goes to show that the typical audience in London’s more established jazz venues, which also happen to be late night venues, dark and very expensive, is predominantly white, male and over fifty. These types of venues filter out a large number of potential listeners who would otherwise be able to enjoy jazz concerts if they were held in more inclusive locations, hence regulating the exposure of jazz to a privileged elite (Ahmed 2017).

The scene’s not big enough for both of us!

Numerous participants of the symposium shared their experiences about not being invited to play at festivals or not being able to qualify for certain competitions and grants because, “another female artist had already been chosen”. For any more than a couple of very talented women to become successful was regarded as a threat to male structural privilege within jazz organisations and institutions. What this naturally does, is create a competitiveness between female artists fighting for recognition, hence hindering them to create an encouraging community through which they can lift each other up. On this note, Alya shares an interesting example illustrating reverse sexism and hidden racism. The Manchester Jazz festival had invited her to play with her project Collective X but told her that she needed to book more women in her group. Except for Alya, all other member of Collective X are male and people of color. She immediately withdrew from the festival, understanding the absurdity that women, due to current trends, were being given chances in jazz, at the expense of people of color.

Shifting gender - shifting parameters?

Shifting our perspective towards those who identify as non-binary or transgender, how are they affected by these conditions that tend to be dominating the jazz industry? During the symposium various experiences of gendered privilege and hierarchies within the jazz scene were discusses. A jazz instrumentalist who had undergone a sex transition explained that while they were perceived as male, it was taken for granted that they were a talented pianist. After transitioning however, they suddenly became a “gifted and extraordinary” female musician. People on several occasions would tell them “you play like a man” and regard this a compliment. This example proves that the visual has a bigger sensory impact on audiences “listening” to jazz, allowing their critical parameters to adapt to the gender of the performer. This leads to the conclusion that men are assumed to have a biological predisposition of being good at playing jazz, hence male jazz artists are regarded as natural while female artists are considered unnatural. According to these parameters, a woman’s talent in jazz musicianship can only be valued once it reaches a “golden” status of masculinity. Alya, who is both a classical and jazz vocalist, tells me that when she sings, she feels that she becomes an instrument of the music’s feminine force and power. I find this argument very interesting, considering the gendering of instruments and especially the stereotyping of the female voice as the only acceptable female medium to prevail in jazz. By owning her body and viewing it as an instrument, Alya empowers herself instead of letting stereotypes determine how she feels as a female vocalist.

These issues raised the topic of “blind auditions” and sparked discussions about their role in combatting gendered prejudice. Opinions were polarised, with some arguing in favor of them claiming they disabled a “male gaze” and encouraged more women or insecure people to audition in the first place, allowing equal chances to all. Those who argued against “blind auditions” worry that they simply perpetuate the stigma that women and men can not be judged by merit only and while they might encourage women to audition more, they do little to change the harsh realities that they face once they pass round one.

Women on the London jazz scene

The first time I saw Nubya Garcia live was back in October 2017 at a pub called “The Royal Albert” in Newcross, which hosts free concerts every Sunday evening. Together with her group, Moses Boyd on drums, Joe Armon-Jones on keys and Daniel Casimir on double-bass, they played tracks off her debut album, “Nubya’s 5ive”. Despite growing up in a household of musicians and being dragged to gigs throughout my childhood, I can count on one hand the amount of times that I’ve seen jazz performances being lead by female instrumentalists. Although I loved the music, I felt that every time I entered a jazz club, I was entering male territory, especially in my hometown Vienna, where the jazz scene is significantly smaller and more conservative. The environment in these venues barely let me feel comfortable enough to watch and clap but the thought of performing in front of such an audience was disconcerting to say the least. The notion of inclusivity and accessibility at the Royal Albert stood in stark contrast to the elitist jazz scene that I was accustomed to back home. It proves to show that the current generation of jazz artists in London is making a conscious effort to work on the scene’s reputation as an open community. Cassie Kinoshi, the alto saxophonist for the all-female jazz collective “Nérija” and leader of the 10 piece band SEED Ensemble, says it’s her goal to “make sure that people can view jazz as an accessible, down to earth music that is meant to be relatable” (Holder 2017).

Nubya isn't the only inspiring female instrumentalist jazz band leader on the scene at the moment. Artists like Yazz Ahmed, Emma Jean-Thackray, Alya Al-Sultani and Cassie Kinoshi are just a few of the inspiring women leading bands and ensembles in London today. Sheila Maurice-Grey, who is the trumpeter of Nérija and bandleader of KOKOROKO, an afrobeat band, speaks of the hard work and commitment that comes with being a female jazz bandleader or artist, her tasks ranging from booking, organising, performing, to composing. What lays behind the success of many young artists today, especially of women and people of color, is an incredible work ethic driven by factors such as structural gender and racial inequalities. (Holder 2017)

What strikes me most about the scene is its strong sense of community. Some of the musicians which I mentioned above have known each other for years, having been part of music education programs such as “Tomorrows Warriors”, and continue to contribute to and support each other’s projects. These young artists are doing the groundbreaking of guiding a generation of equalitarian musicians who are willing to collaborate rather than compete.

Sexualised stereotypes: “The Saga of Musical Clitoris”

I feel that, in the context of this paper, it is essential to discuss, if only briefly, Ethan Iverson’s interview with Robert Glasper for his blog, DO THE M@TH. Published in March 2017, the interview stimulated a fiery debate about feminism in jazz. Much of jazz’s gender debate has been deemed “compensatory”, as it has tended to focus on the achievements and lost stories of women had been marginalised and merely mentioned on the sidenote of jazz history. While this compensatory work is needed to advance towards equal representation, the interview reveals that the issue of women in jazz goes as deep as the gendered construction of the music itself (Mercer 2017).

RG: I’ve had people tell me about your music. Like women you would think never listen to jazz: Young, fine, Euro chicks ask me, “I heard this band, the Bad Plus, do you know them?”

EI: I guess that’s one of the reasons to play, really.

RG: Yeah, it’s awesome, something is there in your music that gives them entrance to jazz, otherwise they’d never cross paths with it. Now, I love playing a groove […] and I’ve seen what that does to the audience, playing that groove. I love making the audience feel that way. Getting back to women: women love that. They don’t love a whole lot of soloing. When you hit that one groove and stay there, it’s like musical clitoris. You’re there, you stay on that groove, and the women’s eyes close and they start to sway, going into a trance. (Iverson, 2017)

There is so much wrong with these few statements, beginning from Robert Glasper’s conviction that it is through his and Evan’s mastery of groove that women get “in to” jazz in the first place. These comments imply that they regard themselves as potent jazz musicians, claiming to know exactly how to stimulate a women through groove. Solos on the other hand, wouldn’t really do the trick, as women are not intellectually on par with men and therefore fail to enjoy the musical complexities of soloing. This assumption further perpetuates the notion that women don’t get jazz by “essentialising them as creatures of pure instinct”. (Mercer 2017)

Conclusion: the future’s bright

In an interview, Esperanza Spalding recalls overhearing a comment made by McCoy Tyner when asked about his opinion of women in jazz after playing with her. His answer, “oh, you know, she’s good, but I've never seen women that stick with it,” immediately mirrors disbelief of the long-term success of female instrumentalists in jazz, basically implying that we should enjoy her talent while it lasts. Does this stem from a deeply embedded patriarchal notion of conservatism which traditionally determined the woman’s role as a housewife who could be held responsible for little more than the household and taking care of children? Subtle comments like these prove to show that until today, jazz’s patriarchal roots run deep, inhibiting individuals to advance in their careers and passions and reach more “mature areas of their artistry” (Cole 2010).

Some would argue that, in recent times, there’s been a lot of attention paid to and coverage of female jazz artists, however “wider recognition for exceptional talents does not indicate a progressive shift in jazz culture as a whole” (Pellegrinelli 2017). I don’t mean to say an increase in media coverage is not helping in equalizing the status of men and women in jazz, on the contrary, I believe that this plays an important role in “normalising” reporting on women. It is only when the label “female artist” becomes redundant, that focus will shift to an investigative nature of a person's art. The stories of female instrumentalists have long been overshadowed by the hero status of great male jazz musicians in mainstream jazz narratives. The exceptional women who did manage to make it into the history books are mostly presented through their involvement with their male counterparts, like in the case of Alice Coltrane, who before being her own person, was John Coltrane’s wife and who’s biography is told through a listing of her male collaborators.

Now is the time to increasingly discuss and implement sustainable measures which encourage positive attitudes towards women in jazz. Many organisations, collectives and labels are working hard to battle these outdated prejudices and promote female composers and performers such as “Tomorrow’s Warriors”, the artist-led organisation “Blow The Fuse”, the artist development scheme “Serious” and its jazz initiative “Take Five”, PRSF Women Make Music, a fund to support female artists and Issie Barratt’s National Youth Jazz Collective (Ahmed 2017). These initiatives are crucial driving forces which are necessary to, not only include the gender perspective in the jazz narrative, but also change the narrative itself which has thus far been heavily embedded in sexism, merely perpetuating the desire for familiar jazz portrayals (Tucker 2001, p. 8). This paper is a homage to the role-models and people who are reshaping jazz and helping it become an accessible and inclusive art form open to all who share a passion for the music.

References

Ahmad, Yazz. “Yazz Ahmad on Facing down Sexism in Modern Jazz.” Accessed January 7, 2018. https://thevinylfactory.com/features/yazz-ahmed-women-in-jazz/.

Berliner, Sasha. “An Open Letter to Ethan Iverson (And The Rest of Jazz Patriarchy).” Accessed January 7, 2018. http://www.sashaberlinermusic.com/political-and-social-commentary-1/2017/9/21/an-open-letter-to-ethan-iverson-and-the-rest-of-jazz-patriarchy.

Cole, Tom. “Nine Women In The Room: A Jazz Musicians’ Roundtable.” NPR.org. Accessed January 7, 2018. https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2010/11/01/130978669/nine-women-in-the-room-a-jazz-musicians-roundtable.

Dahl, Linda. Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen. London: Quartet, 1984.

Holder, Nate. “How Women Took Over The London Jazz Scene in 2017.” A Worm In Horseradish (blog), December 29, 2017. https://aworminhorseradish.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/how-women-took-over-the-london-jazz-scene-in-2017/.

Iverson, Ethan. “Interview with Robert Glasper.” DO THE M@TH (blog), November 28, 2017. https://ethaniverson.com/glasper-interview/.

Mercer, Michelle. “Sexism From Two Leading Jazz Artists Draws Anger And Presents An Opportunity.” NPR.org. Accessed January 9, 2018. https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/03/09/519482385/ sexism-from-two-leading-jazz-artists-draws-anger-and-presents-an-opportunity

Panish, Jon. The Color of Jazz: Race and Representation in Postwar American Culture. First Edition edition. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1997.

Pellegrinelli, Lara. “Women in Jazz: Blues and the Objectifying Truth: Video.” Accessed January 7, 2018.

http://jazzbluesnews.space/2017/12/31/women-in-jazz-blues-and-the-objectifying-truth.

Radano, Ronald Michael. New Musical Figurations: Anthony Braxton's Cultural Critique. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Rustin, Nichole T., and Tucker, Sherrie, eds. 2008. Big Ears : Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies. Durham: Duke University Press. Accessed January 8, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Stephenson, Emma-Grace. “What’s Going On With Women In Jazz?.” Stuff You Can’t Say With Jazz Piano (blog), March 12, 2017. https://www.emmagracestephensonmusic.com/single-post/2017/01/05/Whats-Going-on-With-Women-in-Jazz

0 notes

gossipgirl2019-blog · 6 years

Text

Cover Story: No Man's Land

New Post has been published on http://gr8gossip.xyz/cover-story-no-mans-land/

Cover Story: No Man's Land

Tess Bennett 2018-07-30

For the month of July, we secretly erased men from Which-50. Our audience numbers dropped, our social presence evaporated, and we annoyed people who for years have helped us build our brand off the back of their hard work and expertise. They did nothing wrong — we were just jerks — but that’s discrimination for you. Worst of all, as you will see at the end of the story, we still couldn’t balance the ledger — even when we stitched the men’s mouths shut.

Those men we silenced are an impressive bunch. The ones we know personally are all good people who are supporters, mentors, and allies to the women they work with. None of these men, as far as we know, ever did anything to warrant our harsh treatment of their endeavours.

But many others do, every day.

Among the voices you didn’t hear in July, and whose contributions we ignored, discounted, or — best of all — passed off as our own, you can include: the Chief Digital Officer of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the Head of Digital for Moët Hennessey in Australia, the chief of NORA, the founder of Kogan, the current and past chiefs of the Digital Transformation Agency in Australia, as well as the former digital chief of the ACT, Oracle’s Senior Vice President of Customer Experience (14 hours on a plane just to be ignored, and he’s a client — eek!), the CEO of Domain, the new Managing Director of SAP (One of our top five clients — eek!!), the APAC VP for Strategic Solutions at Sizmek, the boss of Catch, the Australian boss of Amazon, the President of the ACS, the CEOs of Nine, Fairfax and News, the Chief Digital Officer of QBE, the Chief of Sales of Nine, the Head of Digital Transformation at software house Adobe (another of our biggest clients — eek!!!), the founder of Red Piranha, a Gartner Fellow, the Group Managing Director of Networks at Telstra and more than 50 others.

They did nothing wrong — that is important to understand in the context of this story. They worked hard, they put themselves out there every day, they helped us when they didn’t have to, even at their own inconvenience. And still, we discriminated against them — because it served our interests at the time to do so.

This is not a story about women. This is a story about men, and why we chose to bring a bazooka to the diversity knife fight. The current approaches simply don’t move the needle fast enough.

Barely a month goes by without one of the major business titles, industry conferences, or business networks running features or panels on Women in IT, or Women in Business, or Women in Media. Often these are managed and run by people who care deeply about the issue, and who have committed years to the cause — and their efforts should be applauded and encouraged. Just not today.

As much as the next person, we love a fancy lunch with tasteful floral centrepieces and a menu which always features salmon and white wine (please keep the invitations coming). Yet it’s hard to escape the nagging doubt that something is missing.

Women — and especially young women — need role models, opportunities to network, and the support of their peers. But the thing that will really help them — and will truly move us towards a world where everyone benefits from throwing the largest available pool of talent at any given problem — is for men to change their behaviour.

However, as John Birmingham’s bro-tacular deep dive into the world of workplace misogyny — “Men, Sucking” — amply demonstrates, cluelessness remains all too common, as does the most appalling behaviour.

Stop pretending that bad is good

Here we are in 2018 and only 11 of 200 CEOs on the ASX 200 are women. The percentage of female board members at those companies has stalled at 25 per cent. Some people boast that it’s one of the best diversity results in the world, but the truth is that 25 per cent is a terrible number for which there is no justification.

Sadly, executive recruiters tell us that it’s actually easier to get women onto boards than into the C-suite. That’s why, at an operational level, the number of female CEOs, CFOs, CIOs and CMOs and other C-suite roles has not radically shifted from where it was a decade ago.

Because women aren’t the problem. Men are the problem.

So is Which-50

It turns out we are as bad as everyone else, as the stats around our stories reveal. In June 2018, Which-50’s editorial coverage mentioned 111 men and 24 women (and seven of those women appeared in a single story).

And unless you stop and take stock of figures like these it’s too easy to just to keep calling the same people and amplifying the same voices. (For the record, Which-50 has six full-time staff in its Sydney office, five of whom are men. Diversity much?)

It’s been a long month.

Apart from the bit about excluding half the population from our stories, we very deliberately changed nothing else about our coverage. We decided from the start that we would write the same kinds of stories we would always write. We interviewed women and men, but we just ignored the men. Or rather, we discounted their contributions — either by removing them completely from the story or more commonly by simply referring to them as “spokespeople”.

Men also disappeared from the images we used to illustrate our stories.

In practical terms, that meant the CEOs of Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart and Facebook — and the US President — were all relegated on the basis of their gender. They probably didn’t notice. (Well, maybe Priscilla Chan’s husband did — we are pretty sure he monitors everything.)

Closer to home, Australian male executives and visiting male VIPs we interviewed also got the silent treatment. And, while it took them some time, eventually they started to notice.

Hypocrisy

We were not entirely pure of heart. About five to ten per cent of the content on Which-50 comes from our Digital Intelligence Unit — the digital agency whose work with clients funds our journalism (our brand and our relationship with readers fuels their sales — it’s kinda symbiotic, like rats and the plague). We didn’t ask our clients to change their marketing content to reflect our new rules, nor even tell them what we were doing.

Why not? Honestly, we didn’t think this through properly, and we like money.

So a lucky few men skated through — ironically, perhaps, because of money. And yeah, it was hypocritical of us to profit from discrimination, but it’s not like discrimination was ever anything but hypocritical so we were in good company.

However, if male executives from those same client companies crossed our path as part of our regular news reporting during July, then yeah, they got erased.

It’s also worth noting that we didn’t touch the wider issue of diversity. This experiment was solely conducted on the basis of gender, without taking into account race, sexuality, disability or socio-economic background.

What did we do?

Individual approaches to this task varied across our editorial team, and my colleagues (who we can’t name because they are blokes and those are the rules) certainly rose to the challenge.

There were immediate concerns about the effect the initiative could have on the quality of editorial coverage. And with good cause. An email from one of the Which-50 journalists noted, “Removing an individual from an article presents several practical challenges. For example, an article about the former head of the Australian government’s Digital Transformation Agency slamming a major government initiative carries less weight if you cannot name the former DTA CEO (there are four to pick from already)”. Gee, it turns out that when the discrimination grenade goes off, there is collateral damage. Who’da thunk it?

It’s also harder to blatantly discriminate against people than you might imagine — at least if you have anything even remotely resembling a moral core. We all experienced a level of discomfort during the month, although some of Which-50’s editorial staff enjoyed the drama of it all more than others.

Another colleague also took to their gender baiting with a little too much relish on occasion. In his words: “Some of us also took some of the smarter ideas from the men we interviewed and passed them off as our own … because that happens all the time …. All. The. Time. Plus it appealed to my sense of humour. However another journalist point blank refused to do this, and fair enough (but he’s a wuss, just saying)”.

With two days left in the program, we’ve doubled the number of women mentioned on Which-50 month-over-month, but that still doesn’t come close to the 111 men we wrote about in June.

What happened next?

When men rang up to query why they had suddenly gone missing from the story (or, more commonly, when their female PR managers or agents rang on their behalf to ask) we simply responded by asking “How does it feel to have your contribution discounted on the basis of your gender?”

Sadly, no-one took us up on the offer to describe their reaction — but the offer still stands, fellas.

We kept the program secret. That secrecy extended to all of our own staff who were not directly involved in editorial. They are only learning of the initiative this morning. We knew if the experiment leaked, it would fail. It’s not that we don’t trust our salespeople, but they’re all men and you know how men love to gossip.

This month would have been easier on us if we had co-opted the industry’s help and lined up 20 female executives to interview ahead of time. In the end, we rejected that approach because the worst kinds of discrimination happen in the dark, not in the light — although a surprising amount occurs in plain sight.

And we didn’t apologise to anyone because that never happens either — although we did tell one of our contributors who was caught up in the program simply because it made sense to do so at the time.

What did we learn?

Throughout the month we kept a record of the things we learned, how it made our jobs harder, or how it hurt the mission of the masthead:

The most common reaction of the men who discovered what we did to them was confusion. You could almost hear their inner dialogue, “What just happened?” In truth, we would have to run the experiment for a year and repeatedly exclude them to replicate the daily experiences of their female peers. Oh, and pay them 15.3 per cent less for doing the same job they do today;

Lots of discrimination happens in plain sight, in open-plan offices or in team meetings, or on stage at conferences, and everyone sees it happen. Yet, nothing changes;

We learned that women are less likely than men to share stories about themselves and, as a result, our traffic — especially for our cover stories — tanked;

Indeed, we suffered a double-digit decline in traffic in July, our first reversal for seven months;

We spent a lot more time chasing women for interviews and a lot longer in iStock searching through canned pictures of women in professional settings;

We annoyed people who for years have given us their time and insights, often at their own expense;

We discovered successful female executives in leadership roles all over the country in different roles and different companies who we had never spoken to before. We never called them in the past because the men we called in leadership roles were always happy to call us back. (Please keep returning our calls guys!);

Our jobs got harder immediately. Try writing an appointment story about a male CEO without mentioning him;

And our readers suffered from a diminished product. They didn’t get the full context of the remarks or any chance to reference the experience and expertise of the men we interviewed. But guess what — that happens all the time when women’s voices are silenced.

While what we’ve done for the past month was overt and confected discrimination — conducted joyously with malice aforethought — subtle discrimination is everywhere. Often we will receive a press release quoting men and women and the men always seem to get prime billing. We visited the investor relations page of every ASX 200 company in the country, and we found that the female directors were more likely to be listed last or at least towards the end of the list.

Here’s the bottom line: everybody lost

In two days’ time, the experiment ends and men are back. Forty-five women told us their stories, but that was still too small a portion compared to the 70 faceless, nameless men who dominated the pages and the agenda of Which-50.com in July, despite our best efforts to exclude them.

Deliberately and actively discriminating against an entire gender is hard work and gets harder the longer it goes on. Seriously, it would be so much easier to treat everyone the same.

Four Strategies for Creating a Best-of-Breed IoT Enterprise Infrastructure

CommBank and logistics giants complete blockchain trade from regional Victoria to Germany

The Author

Tess Bennett

Tess Bennett is the editor of Which-50 and is responsible for leading the publication’s daily coverage of Australia’s digital businesses for C-Suite executives, strategists, founders and directors. As the former editor of Internet Retailing Australia and journalist for Inside Retail, Tess has five years experience covering retail and ecommerce. At Which-50 Tess reports on a broad range of topics including technology, the industrial internet, analytics and digital marketing.

0 notes

rsetton · 6 years

Text

Sexing the Cherry, Jeanette Winterson

“The Hopi, an Indian tribe, have a language as sophisticated as ours, but no tenses for past, present and future. The division does not exist. What does this say about time?

Matter, that thing the most solid and the well-know, which you are holding in your hands and which makes up your body, is now known to be mostly empty space. Empty space and points of light. What does this say about the reality of the world?”

“Every journey conceals another journey within its lines: the path not take and the forgotten angle. These are the journeys I wish to record. Not the ones I made, but the ones I might have made or perhaps did make in some other place or time.”

“For the Greeks, the hidden life demanded invisible ink. They wrote an ordinary letter and in between the lines set out another letter, written in milk. The document looked innocent enough until one who knew better sprinkled coal-dust over it. What the letter had been no longer mattered; what mattered was the life flaring up undetected...”

“I was giving myself the slip and walking through this world like a shadow. The longer I eluded myself the more obsessed I became with the thought of discovery. Occasionally, in company, someone would snap their fingers in front of my face and ask, ‘Where are you?’ For a long time I had no idea, but gradually I began to find evidence of the other life and gradually it appeared before me.”

“So I sing inside the mountain of my flesh, and my voice is as slender as a reed and my voice has no lard in it. When I sing the dogs sit quiet and people who pass in the night stop their jabbering and discontent and think of other times, when they were happy. And I sing of other ties, when I was happy, though I know that these are figments of my mind and nowhere I have ever been. But does it matter if the place cannot be mapped as long as I can still describe it?”

“To escape from the weight of the world, I leave my body where it is, in conversation or at dinner, and walk through a series of winding streets to a house standing back from the road.

The streets are badly lit and the distance from one side to the other no more than the span of my arms. The stone crumbles, the cobbles are uneven. The people who throng the streets shout at each other, their voices rising from the mass of heads and floating upwards towards the church spires and the great copper bells that clang the end of the day. Their words, rising up, form a thick cloud over the city, which every so often must be thoroughly cleansed of too much language. Men and women in balloons fly up from the main square and, armed with mops and scrubbing brushes, do battle with the canopy of words trapped under the sun.

The words resist erasure. The oldest and most stubborn form a thick crust of chattering rage. Cleaners have been bitten by words still quarreling, and in one famous lawsuit a woman whose mop had been eaten and whose hand was badly mauled by a vicious row sought to bring the original antagonists to court. The men responsible made their defense on the grounds that the words no longer belonged to them. Years had passed. Was it their fault if the city had failed to deal with its overheads? The judge ruled against the plaintiff but ordered the city to buy her a new mop. She was not satisfied, and was later found lining the chimneys of her accused with vitriol.”

“When Jordan was a boy he made paper boats and floated them on the river. From this he learned how the wind affects a sail, but he never learned how love affects the heart. His patience was exceeded only by his hope. He spent days and nights with his bits of wood salvaged from chicken crates, and any piece of paper he could steal became a sail. I used to watch him standing in the mud or lying face down, his nose almost in the current, his hands steadying the boat and then letting it go straight into the wind. Letting go hours of himself. When the time came he did the same with his heart. He didn’t believe in shipwreck.”

“The house is empty now, but it was there, dangling over dinner, illuminated by conversation and rich in the juices of a wild duck, that I noticed a woman whose face was a sea voyage I had not the courage to attempt.”

“...every mapped-out journey contains another journey hidden in its lines...”

“It is a true saying, that what you fear you find.”

“I noticed that women have a private language. A language not dependent on the constructions of men but structured by signs and expressions, and that uses ordinary words as code-words meaning something other.

In my petticoats I was a traveller in a foreign country. I did not speak the language. I was regarded with suspicion.

I watched women flirting with men, pleasing men, doing business with men, and then I watched them collapsing into laughter, sharing the joke, while the mean, all unknowing, felt themselves master of the situation and went off to brag in barrooms and to preach from pulpits the folly of the weaker sex.

This conspiracy of women shocked me. I like women; I am shy of them but regard them highly. I never guessed how much they hate us or how deeply they pity us. They think we are children with too much pocket money.”

“7. Men are never never to be trusted with what is closest to your heart, and if it is they who are closest to your heart, do not tell them.”

“10. Your greatest strength is that every man believes he knows the sum and possibility of every woman.”

“I am too huge for love. No one, male or female, has ever dared to approach me. They are afraid to scale mountains.”

“I fell in love once, if love be that cruelty which takes us straight to the gates of Paradise only to remind us they are close forever.”

“Was I searching for a dancer whose name I did not know or was I searching for the dancing part of myself?”

“In the dark and in the water I weigh nothing at all. I have no vanity but I would enjoy the consolation of a lover’s face. After my only excursion into love I resolved never to make a fool of myself again.”

“Why could he not turn his life towards me, as trees though troubled by the wind yet continue in the path of the sun?”

“He admitted he was in love with her, but he said he loved me.

Translated, that means I want everything. Translated, that means, I don’t want to hurt you yet. Translated, that means, I don’t know what to do, give me time.

Why, why should I give you time? What time are you giving me? I am in a cell waiting to be called for execution.

I loved him and I was in love with him. I didn’t use language to make a war-zone of my heart.”

‘You’re so simple and good,’ he said, brushing the hair from my face.

He meant, Your emotions are not complex like mine. My dilemma is poetic.”

“In the world there is a horror of plagues. Of mysterious diseases that wipe out towns and cities, leaving empty churches and bedclothes that must be burned. Holy water and crosses and mountain air and the protection of saints and a diet of watercress are all thought to save us as a species from rotting. But what can save us as a species from love? A man sold me a necklace made of chicken bones; he said these chickens were the direct descendants of the chickens who had scratted round the crib at Bethlehem. The bones would save me from pain of every kind and lead me piously to Heaven. He was wearing some himself.

‘And love?’ I said. ‘And love?’

He shook his head and assured me that nothing was proof against love. Not even the slightest amourette could be forestalled by an amulet. Bringint it on, though, was another matter- did I want a bag of spices mixed by Don Juan himself?

‘But surely if it can be encouraged it can also be prevented?’

‘Not at all,’ said the man, ‘for everyone is inclined to love. It is easy to bring on, impossible to end until it ends itself.’

‘And yet some people never love. My mother is one such.’

He said, ‘They have a secret somewhere. Usually.’

I thought of the great lovers, men and women who had made it their profession, who had tirelessly leapt from one passion to another, sometimes running two, three or four at once like a stunt charioteer. What were they looking for?

My own passions had nothing to recommend them. Not only was I chasing a dancer who, on the evidence of her sisters, was too old to move, I had in the past entangled myself in numerous affairs with women who would not, could not or did not love me. And did I love them? I thought so at the time, though now I have come to doubt it, seeing only that I loved myself through them.

On more than one occasion I have been ready to abandon my whole life for love. To alter everything that makes sense to me and to move into a different world where the only known will be the beloved. Such a sacrifice must be the result of love... or is it that the life itself was already worn out? I had finished with that life, perhaps, and could not admit it, being stubborn or afraid, or perhaps did not know it, habit being a great binder.

I think it is often so that those most in need of change choose to fall in love and then throw up their hands and blame it all on fate. But it is not fate, at least, not if fate is something outside of us; it is a choice made in secret after nights of longing.

When I have shaken off my passion, somewhat as a dog shakes off an unexpected plunge into the canal, I find myself without any understanding of what it was that ravaged me. The beloved is shallow, witless, heartless, mercenary, calculating, silly. Naturally these thoughts protect me, but they also render me entirely gullible or without discrimination.

And so I will explain it as follows.

A man or woman sunk in dreams that cannot be spoken, about a life they do not possess, comes suddenly to a door in the wall. They open it. Beyond the door is that life and a man or a woman to whom it is already natural. It may not be possessions they want, it may very well be the lack of them, but the secret life is suddenly revealed. This is their true home and this is their beloved.

I may be cynical when I say that very rarely is the beloved more than a shaping spirit for the lover’s dreams. And perhaps such a thing is enough. To be a muse may be enough. The pain is when the dreams change, as they do, as they must. Suddenly the enchanted city fades and you are left alone again in the windy desert. As for your beloved, she didn’t understand you. The truth is, you never understood yourself.”

“In an effort to find out I am searching for a dancer who may or may not exist, though I was never conscious of beginning this journey. Only in the course of it have I realized its true aim. When I left England I thought I was running away. Running away from uncertainty and confusion but most of all running away from myself. I though I might become someone else in time, grafted on to something better and stronger. And then I saw that the running away was a running towards. An effort to catch up with my fleet-footed self, living another life in a different way.

I gave chase in a ship, but others make the journey without moving at all. Whenever someone’s eyes glaze over, you have lost them. They are as far from you as if their body were carried at the speed of light beyond the compass of the world.

Time has no meaning, space and place have no meaning, on this journey. All times can be inhabited, all places visited. In a single day the mind can make a millpond of the oceans. Some people who have never crossed the land they were born on have travelled all over the world. The journey is not linear, it is always back and forth, denying the calendar, the wrinkles and lines of the body. The self is not contained in any moment or any place, but it is only in the intersection of moment and place that the self might, for a moment, be seen vanishing through a door, which disappears at once.”

“The earth is round and flat at the same time. This is obvious. That it is round appears indisputable; that it is flat is our common experience, also indisputable. The globe does not supersede the map; the map does not distort the globe.

Maps are magic. in the bottom corner are whales; at the top, cormorants carrying pop-eyed fish. In between is a subjective account of the lie of the land. Rough shapes of countries that may or may not exist, broken red lines marking paths that are at best hazardous, at worst already gone. Maps are constantly being re-made as knowledge appears to increase. But is knowledge increasing or is detail accumulating?

A map can tell me how to find a place I have not seen but have often imagined. When I get there, following the map faithfully, the place is not the place of my imagination. Maps, growing ever more real, are much less true.

And now, swarming over the earth with our tiny insect bodies and putting up flags and building houses, it seems that all the journeys are done.

Not so. Fold up the maps and put away the globe. If someone else had charted it, let them. Start another drawing with whales at the bottom and cormorants at the top, and in between identify, if you can, the places you have not found yet on those other maps, the connections obvious only to you. Round and flat, only a very little has been discovered.”

“In time all of the people started to adjust to their new rolling circumstances and it was discovered that the best way to overcome the problem was to balance above it.”

“Perhaps I’m missing the point--perhaps whilst looking for someone else you might come across yourself unexpectedly, in a garden somewhere or on a mountain watching the rain.”

“What do I want?

When I’m dreaming I want a home and a lover and some children, but it won’t work. Who’d want to live with a monster? I may not look like a monster any more but I couldn’t hide it for long. I’d break out, splitting my dress, throwing the dishes at the milkman if he leered at me and said, ‘Hello, darling.’ The truth is I’ve lost patience with this hypocritical stinking world. I can’t take it any more. I can’t flatter, lie, cajole or even smile very much. What is there to smile about?

‘You don’t try,’ my mother said. ‘It’s not so bad.’

It is so bad.

‘You’re pretty,’ said my father, ‘any man would want to marry you.’

Not if he pulled back my eyelids, not if he peeped into my ears, not if he looked down my throat with a torch, not if he listened to my heartbeat with a stethoscope. He’d run out of the room holding his head. He’d see her, the other one, lurking inside. She fits, even though she’s so big.”

“What would it matter if she crossed the world and hunted down every living creature so long as her separate selves eluded her? In the end when no one was left she would have to confront herself.”

“No safety without risk, and what you risk reveals what you value.”

0 notes

amusingmillennial · 6 years

Text

The Collective Conscious

Disclaimer: I’m going to ask a lot of questions in the following paragraphs. These questions are rhetorical. They are a call-out to every comment section, coffee shop, police station, and living room couch where seemingly meaningless banter has perpetuated one of the oldest and most destructive narratives surrounding violence against women. If you find yourself feeling personally attacked by my critique of certain behaviors and attitudes, odds are you’ve contributed to that narrative.

Part I: The Collective Commentary

Think about the last time you read about a high-profile sexual harassment or assault case. Ponder the public commentary that followed. What were your initial thoughts? What did your colleagues, friends and family have to say? Keep those conversations in mind moving forward.

A few weeks ago, actress Amber Tamblyn came forward with her experience being propositioned at the ripe age of 16 by a much-older James Woods. When she told him her age, his response was, “Even better” (… Ew.). If you’ve managed to avoid this particular conversation, it started when fellow actor Armie Hammer called out Woods’ hypocrisy after he insulted the premise of Hammer’s new movie, which focuses on a love story between a 17-year-old and a 24-year-old. This is relevant considering Woods has openly dated multiple women that are 40+ years younger than him. Tamblyn drew upon her own experience with Woods to reiterate that he has not only dated women below the legal drinking age while he was in his 60’s but he has knowingly attempted to start some sort of sexual relationship with at least one 16-year-old, leaving him with no leg to stand on in this particular argument.

Considering the spectrum of scandal we read about on a regular basis, this would seem pretty innocuous (albeit creepy and potentially illegal). Tamblyn spoke briefly about her own experience in a 140-character tweet. Pretty black and white, right? Wrong. Keep in mind; this isn’t even a case of sexual assault. It was a short conversation that happened 20 years ago and they never spoke again. However, the mere implications of a woman speaking up about the predatory behavior exhibited by a successful man are enough to put the public on the defensive. Cue the onslaught of insults and doubts hurled at Tamblyn by complete strangers. At first, I dismissed this as more of the same old “but… but… she has no proof! How do we know she’s not lying?” bullshit but I couldn’t bring myself to. That bullshit is more than just bullshit. It’s a symptom of a much larger problem.

For argument’s sake, let’s pretend the approach exhibited above is a rational way to react to a sexual assault allegation. If we’re going to abide by the “she might be making it up so we won’t decide on his guilt or innocence just yet” trope, let’s take a look at the numbers. Statistically, the probability of someone filing a false report of sexual assault is minimal. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, only 2-10% of reports are false. This means that for every sexual assault reported, there’s a 90-98% chance the accuser is telling the truth. Knowing that, are you still willing to call upon the very slim chance that she’s not telling the truth as justification for your hesitance? Mere validation of her experience requires the absolute bare minimum that could be asked of you. Yet you’re hesitant to even do that.

Why are we so weary to believe a woman who comes forward with claims of sexual assault or harassment? Why is it so much easier for us to believe that women are overly-emotional henchmen hell-bent on wreaking havoc on their male counterparts in exchange for attention, wealth, power, or recognition? How did this perception of women as vengeful, spiteful creatures become so deeply ingrained in our collective psyche?

Why is it so much easier to believe that than it is to believe that some people are just shitty? Why can’t we accept that some men get validation from imposing their misogyny on women? How many times do we have to learn that sometimes people do awful things with no reason or explanation? How many more women do we have to cast in the shadow of doubt before we start taking them seriously?

There was a time when I bought into this same line of thinking. Even as a woman, I was constantly looking for holes in the stories of victims, trying to discredit them without justification. I judged their path of action or inaction based on what I was sure I would have done in that same situation. Looking back, it was as if I thought negating their experiences would save me the discomfort of being forced to acknowledge the reality: Anyone can be a rapist and anyone can become a victim. Depravity does not discriminate.

Acknowledging my misguided and regressive views is both nauseating and liberating. Owning up to my ignorance has freed me from the shackles of prejudice, discrimination, and cultural fallacies. The only way things will get better is if we, as a society, do the same.

Part II: Collective Questions

When it comes to sexual assault, justice is a privilege afforded to few. The very least we can do as a culture is stop treating victims like criminals. We make them prove their pain is warranted before we’ll even acknowledge it. Why do we feel entitled to validating or dismissing someone’s experiences? Why do we have to first feel “convinced” before we believe a victim?

I’ll never forget hearing these words from someone I love dearly days after my own assault: “I don’t understand why he just let you go.” He didn’t come out and say, “I don’t believe you” or “I can’t decide whether or not to believe you.” But the message was clear. He couldn’t make sense of my experience so he couldn’t come to terms with its validity. That’s the problem. Not everything makes sense. My experience doesn’t have to make sense to you in order for it to be deserving of acknowledgement and validation.

Sexual assault is a paradox wrapped in misunderstanding and drenched in stigma. Let’s tackle some of the most common arguments/questions/statements made after someone (especially a public figure) is involved in a sexual assault allegation:

1. “A rape allegation could ruin his life/career so I don’t want to jump to conclusions.”

This argument affords the rapist the same decency you’re denying the victim. There’s always a hint of “I don’t quite believe it” when this is said. You don’t want to jump to conclusions about his guilt but you’re willing to jump to conclusions about the victim’s truthfulness and possible motivations? If we’re all so worried about ruining a man’s life after being accused of sexual assault, why don’t we care even a fraction as much about ruining the lives of victims by calling their integrity into question?

Also, let’s not forget that rape allegations rarely ruin a man’s life. For crying out loud, our current president has been accused of raping a 13-year-old and sexually harassing countless women. So let’s not pretend that the public cares so much about sexual assault that they won’t look the other way if the rapist is talented enough, rich enough, charming enough, or powerful enough. Think of all the athletes, actors and business moguls who have maintained their jobs and success in spite of such things.

2. “She’s probably just after his money/power/status/etc.”

Anyone who has been through the process of filing a police report will tell you that this is just bullshit, especially if a public figure is involved. There is no amount of money, power or notoriety that will compensate for the humiliation, powerlessness, and helplessness that comes with sexual assault. This begs the question: Why is it easier to believe a woman would allege rape in pursuit of fame and money rather than the pursuit of justice and closure?

3. “She’s doing it for attention.”

This feeds into an age-old trope that is both destructive and sexist. The root of this lies in the idea that women are these fragile, emotional creatures who are just one step away from complete instability.

Not to mention, the kind of attention the public forces upon victims is most certainly not the kind anyone would want. Many victims in the public eye will experience unrelenting and unwarranted character attacks, verbal abuse, and pure vitriol. This all feeds into women’s unwillingness to report sexual assaults and only pours gasoline on the fire that is rape culture in America.

4. “What about (insert details about that one famous case of false allegations)?”

Want to know why that case in particular sticks out in your mind? Because it’s a break from the pattern. If every single sexual assault was reported on, there’d have to be a 24-hour TV channel dedicated just to that. So when you compare the number of false allegations to the truthful ones, this point becomes moot. This is nothing more than a false equivalency fallacy that attempts to take attention away from the terrible nature of sexual assault by pointing out “that one time” it didn’t really happen. It’s like treating every mugging victim like they’re lying just because you heard from your friend’s second cousin that he knows a guy who lied about being mugged once.

Part III: The Collective Changes

Where do we go from here?

1. Acknowledge this for what it is: a vicious cycle we need to break free from.

2. Start analyzing our reactions to hearing about assault or harassment. Stop listening to that voice in your head telling you to question the credibility of the victim. Remind yourself that there’s an overwhelmingly strong chance she’s telling the truth and leave it at that.

3. Stop putting the feelings and well-being of the accused above the accuser. This person has very, very likely been through something incredibly traumatic and that deserves to be acknowledged.

4. Sexual assault doesn’t belong in the Court of Public Opinion. Put the gavel down and step away from the TV. From birth, we’re involved in this narrative (often unknowingly) that sculpts our thought process surrounding sexual violence. We’re constantly lambasted with critiques of rape victims and their accusations, some subtler than others. Many of us buy into this narrative, only to be shaken awake when we (or someone we love) become a victim ourselves. This backwards belief system is so deeply engrained in our collective conscious that more than 60% of victims will never report their assaults out of fear of being on the receiving end of all the doubt, ignorance and cognitive dissonance that accompanies reporting and talking about sexual assault.

5. If you’re one of those people who feel entitled to impose their opinion on everyone via online comment sections, just don’t. Fight that urge. You don’t need to explain why her story doesn’t make sense and you certainly don’t need to call her names. You don’t need to analyze the situation as if it were your own. If you don’t understand it, that’s okay. It’s not for you to understand. Humans are flawed, messy, unpredictable creatures. That’s why crimes like rape even exist. So stop trying to make sense of the senseless. Caring about others is more important than being right or wrong.

6. If you truly feel compelled to speak about it in any sort of public forum, only do so to offer support. There’s enough harmful rhetoric floating around the public domain and you don’t need to add to it. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

7. You don’t have to believe or disbelieve every sexual assault allegation you hear or read about. Let go of that instinct and do better. If it’s a loved one, listen to them. Love them. Ask them how they’re doing. Ask them what you can do to help. If it’s a well-known public case, don’t involve yourself in destructive discussions that attempt to discredit the accuser. Again, you don’t have to believe or disbelieve. Just acknowledge it and try to learn from it.

With so many platforms for voicing our opinions, words matter now more than ever. But it’s not just the deep dark corners of the Internet that hurt us. Our children absorb every ounce of this commentary. It’s about what we say and what we mean. It’s about the words we use and the tone in which we say them. It’s breathing life into the archaic idea that we can pass judgment on people we don’t know and experiences we didn’t have. We have to do better.

#metoo #commentary #social commentary

1 note · View note

dayjapa-ish · 7 years

Text

Japanese sex education which has been recognized as taboo. Is it okay to keep going in this way?

source: Yahoo news Japan

24 May 2017 released

l wonder how you learned "sex education" at school. There might be people who say "I didn't learn at all". In the Japanese society which is somehow taboo to talk about "sex" in public, it was often pointed out as it's "lack of sex education" comparing with other countries.

In this article we want to take notice of sex education following last article(released on 23rd May) which discussed abortion issue from medical field. First of all, we introduce the case of former teacher who has experience of repeating the class in high school with an 'abortion' theme. The class which seems 'abnormal' in current Japanese society, has etched deeply in mind of graduates. (Yahoo! news editorial department of special section)

([The first volume] 180 thousand a year The scene of abortion--How we deal with "Un-wished pregnancy")

Showing the scene of abortion in the class

In this report we made 1 video. The main character is former teacher of International Christian University High School (Koganei, Tokyo), Heikichi(/Hirayoshi) Arima (68yo). In the high school class every year he chose the topic "abortion" and made his students think about "the value of life".

Mr. Arima said at the end of the video looking back the time of being teacher.

"I'd almost never thought doing the class of sex education. But I said "The sex issue is humanity theme". As a result without expecting, I might had done effective class. Even now when I met graduates they remember about the class even it was decades ago, it should have affected their acts in several scenes. Teaching a stamen and pistil doesn't make any sense."

Are you wondering how his classes were like? In the video you find comments by his students and thoughts of graduates. Take your time to watch.(The video is in the original link)

Researchers "Are they okay, students?"

We visited the researcher deploring "Japanese sex education is horrible". Mayumi Taniguchi, an associate professor of Osaka International University. She has studied the population problem, women rights and bioethics and she also shows up on TV as commentator. She said that she'd seen how poor the sex knowledges of students is over 10 years, through her lectures in University.

"How youngsters at this era study sex? The answers is adult video.

It's full of fantasy from male side. Those don't have scene of putting condom on according to my friend who's studied adult video. That's why there's children who don't know how to wear condom. I worry about them."

Taniguchi said that the place where children get sex knowledge is almost Internet, as the number of those youngsters increased there's students believing wrong information from the Internet."Few days ago one student said to me. --Even if a sperm went inside, they would die if we washed with coke after the fact.-- Then I answered that they wouldn't die definitely. 100%. And he still said "But I saw in the Internet."

Wrong sex knowledge is rampant today---. There are many experts pointing out that. Taniguchi is the one of them, she says "Isn't it the result of after we avoided proper sex education in school?" She thinks the background is the way of thinking "Don't wake up sleeping children". In other words, if we spread sex knowledge, youngsters would get crazy to have sex and might become trouble.Taniguchi objected to this idea squarely.

"It's important to wake child up in time." by Taniguchi

Some people say "Because we teach discrimination, they do discriminate." But it's not. It's important to wake children up in time. Because we say only "That district has been discriminated." without teaching them background that's why the discrimination becomes rampant. In the same way, "If we provided sex education in their early age they get crazy", that would never be true today as children are surrounded by lots of adult videos or sexual information.

Japanese enthusiastic sex education in 1990

Actually, there was a time Japanese school was enthusiastic for sex education. It's about 10 years from 1992 called "the first year of sex education". AIDS panic in 1980s triggered the idea "necessary of education for prevention of AIDS contagion" and then the points of study was revised.

Through "science" and new subject "health and physical", "sex" was started to be taught properly from elementary school.

It was said that was after 2000 when the trend got changed. The start was withdrawing disturbance of "Love & body book for adolescents", the book made for junior high students by the foundation Mother and child health association.

The book introduced how to wear condom and pills, and they got criticized as "promotion for sexual action of junior high students" in the Diet in 2002.

Eventually, the book was all withdrawn. At this time, the criticism "extreme sex education is rampant in school" or "is it okay to teach how to have sex in the class" became strong by media, the Diet and local Diet.

"Japanese sex education has stopped for 10 years"

Professor emerita Noriko Hashimoto in women nutrition university said "By sex education bashing in 2000, Japanese sex education has stopped since then".

She has studied sex education of all the countries of the world mainly Europe for 30 years. We're wondering what's the biggest difference between Japanese and European sex education for her, the pioneer of the study.

Ms Hashimoto explained "European countries are trying to teach human sex directly through 1 unit or 1 textbook. But in Japan, it's separated to the subjects of science or health and others. In the science textbook you find just only half a page or 1 page. The structure of body, the relation between opposite sex and current sex problem. Schools in Japan don't teach those together.

"For example France”. According to Hashimoto, there is a unit ‘women and men’ in the creature field of ‘science’ in high school in France. “The book says everything women and men need to learn".

The structure of body, pregnancy, and giving birth. In addition to those fundamental things they learn several methods of contraception concretely in junior high school.

Also high schools (in France) introduces latest scientific knowledge about cause of sterility and sterility treat."

In France they teach life ethics and assistant reproductive medical treatment. Moreover, they also teach several type of human existence including LGBT, human rights, sex chromosome, sex-decisive gene and so on."

Europe "teaching human totally"In the case of Finland, not science like France but they set unit "human" in the field "human biology".

The textbooks in junior high and high explained "sex and reproduction of human" physiologically. For example, the topics range from the percentage of occurrence of chromosome aberration comparing with mother's age, falling pregnancy rate, and sterility treatment etc.

In Germany there's unit "first dating" in biology textbook for the age between 13 to 16, and at the end the methods of contraception with condoms and pills are written in detail."European sex education is to provide information to children and let them debate. Including human rights they teach human totally. This is their big feature."

Meanwhile in Asian countries such as China, Korea and Taiwan they started sex education following "International sexuality education guidance" published by UNESCO in 2009. Toward the current, Hashimoto insists, "Is it alright that Japanese sex education still has stopped?"

Teachers in class room are at a loss and have been tormented

It's hard to find out which education is appropriate if we need to implement sex education in schools. In fact we heard the voice "sex education is difficult" from teachers we interviewed in "teaching seminar" which was held in Takamatsu in March.

One male teacher who's been an assistant principal talked like below."Text books(of sex education), teaching materials and so on, they(the border of how far teachers should teach) are vague different from other subjects.

Where should we stop? If we just gave children interests, it might cause some trouble. I guess there are many teachers thinking that way. "One femal teacher in junior high school confessed that "It's hard to say if it's better to teach how to use condom in the class for example." and continued "And in textbooks, those things haven't been written that far. I know we should talk about sex education deeper, but class time ends with teaching things in textbooks.

One male teacher in high school "Everyone(students) are interested in sex, although they try to put those things away because of shyness. They are thinking it's embarrassing to discuss."

How can we get rid of that shyness?

"Sex is the closest subject for us and it's the theme we have to think seriously. Also the side of us, teachers have to be serious it's meaningless to give the lessons half jokingly.

Sex and love-- "Of course we collide if we think about human"

We asked Mr. Arima, former teacher of International Christian University high school who we introduced in the video at the beginning. "Do you think the sex education in Japan is fragmentary compared to Europe?"

(Mr. Arima) "In case of Japan, teachers teach partially such as stamina and pistils in the subject of health and physical education. Getting only that part stood out.

I may be contradictory, but whether students can understand sex issue if teachers talk about sexual relationship explicitly, that's different story. Ain't they vague, sex and love? It's sensitive topic too. But eventually if we think about human the issue of sex and love come up definitely. Mr. Arima said that it's difficult to figure out when we should give the lesson or from how old.

"I wonder if it's the best way to show everything including the sexual organs with doll model and even elementary students are able to see it, like one school do. We can't sum up it equally in data, "If I had received sex education I didn't do such a thing" or "I failed because I wasn't taught sex education properly." etc.

After all, I think there are negative sides which is generated by doing sex education too deeply and by doing too lightly. Me too, it's the theme I've been thinking and no absolute solution.”

#DayJapaIssue #sex education

0 notes