Related Recs

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interesting academic writing

i studied sociology and the wonderful v interdisciplinary field of gender studies, here is a combo of my favorite papers + some of the most interesting (if not bizarre) ones. obv they are both heavy fields and i don’t remember exactly what is in each so just be warned there may be difficult topics mentioned! also i am just copy/pasting some of these from old bibliographies and syllabi lol but if you google them most have free PDFs online. i tried picking stuff related to culture but apologies if this is too long, i am a soc/gs nerd! articles: the REAL meaning and origin of the term “male gaze” (and why I get SO mad when women today misuse it instead of saying internalized misogyny): Laura Mulvey “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” 1989 Dana M Britton “The Epistemology of the Gendered Organization” 2000 Dick Hebdidge “Subculture: The Meaning of Style” 2011 (book) George Chauncey “Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940” 1994 (book not article but super iconic / important) Dean Spade “Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law” 2011 (another book, v dense) Joan Acker (def check out her other work if you like this one, I love her stuff) “From Sex Roles to Gendered Institutions” 1992 Colin Kaepernick, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (editors) ”Our History Has Always Been Contraband” 2023 (book about Black Studies comprised of essays/excerpts of theory and about history) Evan B Towle and Lynn M Morgan “Romancing the Transgender Native Rethinking the Use of the "Third Gender" Concept” 2002 WEB DuBois “The Souls of Black Folk” 1903 (more people should read this) J. E. Sumerau, Ryan T. Cragun, Lain A. B. Mathers ““I Found God in The Glory Hole”: The Moral Career of a Gay Christian” 2016 lol Patricia Hill Collins “TOWARD A NEW VISION: RACE, CLASS, AND GENDER AS CATEGORIES OF ANALYSIS AND CONNECTION” 1993 (sorry for all caps) Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman “Doing Gender” 1987 Laurel Westbrook and Kristen Schilt “Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System” 2014 (MORE PEOPLE SHOULD READ THIS! it basically offers empirical evidence / explanation of of how transphobia actually perpetuates misogyny rather than simply “protecting women” or not) Olúfemi O. Táíwò “Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics“ 2022 (book) Cathy J Cohen “Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens” 1997 Colin P Ashley “Gay Liberation: How a Once Radical Movement Got Married and Settled Down” 2015

@marxinista

Oct 15, 2024

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dating culture

i’m rlly interested in culture writing abt the current state of dating. last week i read “why don’t people date their friends anymore?” by serena smith for dazed and “death by situationship” by magdelene j taylor for her personal substack. highly recommend both! 

@stev1ekn1cks

Mar 25, 2024

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the actual “male gaze” and “compulsory heterosexuality”

not slept on because nobody’s using the terms but slept on because most people don’t know where the terms are from or their actual definition… they both are VERY GOOD pieces of writing, the terms’ actual meanings are incredibly useful to have words for, and it makes me sad seeing the terms so commonly misused that most people wouldn’t know the actual definition of either. (and ofc i‘ll note that older literature is imperfect and the work building off of these are important to read too but these pieces are specifically where the terms originate) visual pleasure and narrative cinema (1975) by laura mulvey while a lot of people misuse it as meaning internalized misogyny, male gaze originates from this piece by laura mulvey and describes the ways in which men create, cast, and consume media (mostly film but you can apply to most art) in a manner that largely objectifies and sexualizes female characters / subjects. it’s a little dense in some parts but i especially recommend this one to anyone who enjoys media critique, especially film (ahem, letterboxd users reading this, please go read this one!!!) & compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence (1980) by adrienne rich compulsory heterosexuality is a term coined by adrienne rich in 1980 and refers to how in our patriarchal society, it’s been socially constructed that all women are presumed to be straight and are thus socialized to pursue a heteronormative life (the resulting conscriptions are at the detriment of all women, regardless of sexuality + it fuels homophobia by painting queerness as unnatural). it’s contemporarily misused to to describe the heteronormative / homophobic pressure to like men that lesbians might feel. in a moment in which a loooot of young women attracted to men are entertaining the toxic “marry a rich man don’t work!” ideology, i think it’s so important that we acknowledge how the issue of heteronormative patriarchal expectations is damaging to all women when it comes to navigating / envisioning our lives! (those of you who have heard the term misused, are driven crazy by the tradwife tikok trend, or have heard about the “4b movement” in the news might find this piece particularly interesting)

@marxinista

Nov 12, 2024

Top Recs from @marxinista

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being a nerd about stuff

being traditionally cool is really quite boring and iterative, and it’s actually very cool and sexy to geek out about something you like or share bits of knowledge on a topic you’re passionate about

@marxinista

Aug 17, 2024

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not being on tiktok

i had it for a little over a year until i was like wow this is actually terrible! i genuinely think it has negatively impacted society by ruining people’s attention spans, having a horrific algorithm, and most of all by the most mind-numbing or outright harmful trends - fake words that people now use IRL (“unalive”), trad wife tiktok, shein hauls, body-focused fitness vids that encourage fatphobia and unhealthy habits, shallow political/feminist theory and queer discourse, “alpha male” podcaster tiktok, encouraging overconsumption in general, trends ruining local spots or niche things… the list goes on

@marxinista

Aug 17, 2024

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electronics in fun colors

a million times cooler than the lackluster “sleek” tech color palette used today

@marxinista

Feb 22, 2025

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