One of my favourite reads in my studies so far (I'm a soc and women's and gender studies major).
It's an interesting read: part story, part social critique, part poem, part journal entry, part really dense analytical piece. Amazing writing style too.
Stryker is basically saying why trans people have so much in common with Frankenstein's monster and how this is based actually and cis people should wonder about their monstrosity to find out we are all, in fact, so incredibly socially constructed.
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thinking about Frankenstein as a story of birth, motherhood, & loss. really makes me rethink a lot that happens in the story & what Shelley was going through at the time. here's a link to a really cool article that discusses a lot of really neat reinterpretations of the novel.
Apr 21, 2024
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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)
OlĂşfemi O. TáĂwò “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
Oct 15, 2024
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I am making a zine about the art of performing, producing and affirming our gender.
A few weeks ago I was struck by a video of a piercer talking about gender-affirming piercings that exposed my bias. I, (a nonbinary hyper-femme glittery diva, obsessed with exploring, manipulating, and playing with expression, using my face, body, and essence as a canvas), realized I assume that "gender-affirming" actions, such as getting a piercing, would only refer to trans folks. There was this unconscious part of me that still gripped to the narrative that "gender" was somehow real... that cis people did not need to perform, produce, or affirm their own identity... that gender was static. This piercer exposed a hideous blind spot. They opened with a story of little girls getting their lobes pierced. This beautiful ushering into womanhood, this ritual of adorning similar style jewels to the brave and courageous women in your life. And then mothers. When mothers get their nose pierced to reclaim their bodies, to reclaim their autonomy after literally sharing, giving, everything to bring a child into the world. We all use art express our gender. We all everyday wake up and perform gender - yes sometimes in the theatrical sense, gender is drag of course - but also in the Judith Butler sense, that with every act we create a new reality.
I don't know. The whole thing has just got me thinking. Especially with the state of the world today, authoritarianism on the rise globally, transgender history literally being deleted from government websites... a joyful celebration of gender, a leaning into the playful aspects of what gender can, of what it should be... is at least what I need.
If you, cis, trans, unsure, whatever, have a story of a gender-affirming moment in your life, please share:) And if anyone wants to be a part of this project .... eeeeee that would be sick!
Feb 19, 2025
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New follower? OOP! Does that men we're getting married?
You re-rec'd me? You want me so bad let's make out.
The baddies wanna be mutuals? What if I cum about it? Much to consider...
PI.FYI dating-app mode when???
Oct 15, 2024
My last break up left me feeling super neglected so I got together with a friend and we went to the beach together. I cooked for us and she drove. We spent the day there and it was just so nice to be under the sun and to feel the wind on my face and under my dress. I pretended to be a middle-age divorcé who leaves her family to feel young and free again by the beach, smoke, read, drink, dance, and flirt with hotties.
None of that happened ofc, we just went to the beach and ate home-made burgers, but having a friend to entertain my delusion and hang out at the beach was equally as healing. I will bever forget that day
Mar 16, 2024
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A little personal, but being non-binary, I grew up very dissociated from my body and my time, so I don’t remember a good chunk of my formative years and have retained none of my hobbies. Recently tho, I have been trying to piece myself back together, so I have been spending a lot of time on my own. Another thing about me is that I have crushes everywhere I go, so I spend a lot of time loving others. After breaking-up with an ex that made me feel very neglected qnd unappreciated, I decided that I was going to give myself as much love and attention as I give my crushes and lovers. This has changed me.
I just let myself feel my feelings and get carried away by them. I get myself little treats and flowers, I get myself little treats and gifts. I organize little fun dates/plans for myself where I engage in new hobbies. Small manageable things that don’t feel too overwhelming to learn, like decorating Altoids tins with collage or journaling. By letting myself navigate the world through my feelings, I’ve discovered what I like, dislike, and developed little rituals and habits that I can then tell other about and share.
Social media has helped me that way, surprisingly. I treat my instagram like a scrap book and use it to document my feelings with shitposts and photos; the visual story telling makes me appreciate the little things. Pinterest allows me to collect things I like and develop a taste with no effort and no consequences, and I end up with huge pin boards full of pictures and art I love and that make me feel particular things I can name and explore. This app has been good for that too.
It takes time, love, self-compassion, and trust. Trust that the love others give you is legitimate. Trust that you are liked for a genuine reason. Trust that the mundane is magical by itself, love it for that. Trust that you don’t need to be special to be worthy of love, you can just be a person and that’s really cool <3
Mar 11, 2024