Here's a quick clip from the show toddlers and tiaras
I just found it interesting how as she was also talking about issues of natural beauty and what is the proper role of a parent.
There are a few questions that came up when I watched this clip one of the major one is the idea of beauty and questions of what is natural and how it is constructed and etc.
I'm submitting this as an additional Queer this! even though I know folks will likely not have the time to comment on it. More so food for thought.
If one is to admit that rodents can have empathy and express pro-social behavior, than we have to acknowledge that rodents aren't robotic creatures that operate solely on instinct. They feel, think, communicate and have their own culture. Applying narratives that define this in terms of human perceptions of the world is misguided, but there is definitely something to be learned from this. Especially when we allow ourselves to reconsider the space we take up and how we move through the world.
This quote is brilliant and is a way in which non human animal's culture and social interactions can teach us a lot about how to be better humans. "When we act without empathy we are acting against our biological inheritance," Mason said. "If humans would listen and act on their biological inheritance more often, we'd be better off."http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2011/12/08/helping-your-fellow-rat-rodents-show-empathy-driven-behavior
For this entry, I wish to share with you a passage from Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight. In this passage, an old woman, Eskarina Smith, tells Tiffany Aching a story about the origin of the creature called "The Cunning Man."
"But for now I want you to picture a scene, more than a thousand years ago, and imagine a man, still quite young, and he is a witchfinder and a book burner and a torturer, because people older than him who are far more vile than him have told him that this is what the Great God Om wants him to be. And on this day he has found a woman who is a witch, and she is beautiful, astonishlingly beautiful, which is rather unusual among witches, at least in those days --""He falls in love with her, doesn't he?" Tiffany interrupted.
"Of course," said Miss Smith. "Boy meets girl, one of the greatest engines of narrative causality in the multiverse, or as some people might put it, 'It had to happen.' I would like to continue this discourse without interruptions, if you don't mind?"
"But he is going to have to kill her, isn't he?"
Miss Smith sighed. "Since you ask, not necessarily. He thinks that if he rescues her and they can get to the river, then they might have a chance. He is bewildered and confused. He has never had feelings like this before. For the first time in his life, he is really having to think for himself. There are horses not far away. There are a few guards, and some other prisoners, and the air is full of smoke because there is a pile of burning books, which is making people's eyes water."
Tiffany leaned forward in her seat, listening to the clues, trying to work out the ending in advance.
"There are some apprenticies he is training, and also some very senior members of the Omnian Church who have come to watch and bless the proceedings. And finally there are a number of people from the nearby village who are cheering very loudly because it is not them who are going to be killed, and generally they don't get much entertainment. In fact, it's pretty much another day at the office, except that the girl being tied to the stake by the apprentices has caught his eye and is now watching him very carefully, not saying a word, not even screaming a word, not yet."
"Does he have a sword?" asked Tiffany.
"Yes, he does. May I continue? Good. Now, he walks toward her. She is staring at him, not shouting, just watching, and he is thinking ... what is he thinking? He is thinking, 'Could I take on both of guards? Will the apprenticies obey me?' And then, as he gets nearer, he wonders if they could make it to the horses in all this smoke. And this is a moment eternally frozen in time. Huge events await his decision. One simple deed either way and history will be different, and you are thinking it depends on what he does next. But, you see, what he is thinking doesn't matter, because she knows who he is and what he has done, and the bad things that he has done and is famous for, and as he walks toward her, uncertain, she knows him for what he is, even if he wishes he wasn't, and she reaches with both hands smoothly through the wicker basket they've put around her to keep her upright, and grabs him, and hold him tight as the torch drops down onto the oily wood and the flames spring up. She never takes her eyes off him and never loosens her grip ..."
I find this story fascinating and brilliant. I love the part when Miss Smith says "And you are thinking it depends on what he does next." Because, in reality, it doesn't matter what he does next. Because she -- the witch -- has her own choice to make. I think it is an interesting point to make. In a story like this, when "boy meets girl," as it were, one would expect the man to have a change of heart, rescue the beautiful maiden, and they would run off together in the sunset. But that story precludes the possibility of the woman's agency -- it denies that she, too, has a part to play in this story.
I love this story. I think it's powerful and exciting. The man has a change of heart because he sees the woman he is about to kill is beautiful, but thinks nothing of the countless women he's killed before. The witch's act is an act of rejection/resistance -- she will not become the property of the man; she will not allow the story to go on without her say; she will not forgive an evil and despicable man his horrible past simply because he "falls in love" with her. The witch's last act is an act of defiance, and a bold and powerful one at that.
I wonder how this act can be read in the context of our studies of queer theory, and particularly in the context of resisting/rejecting, or perhaps even in the context of "failure" -- the witch fails to become the rescued damsel of the story, whose fate is decided by others (most notably men), and instead chooses an act of destruction when she attempts to burn the Cunning Man with her.
i found this video online. Its from CNN. Its called Transgender boy tries to join Girl Scouts. Its about a young child of about 7 or 8 and how she feels she's a girl but referred to as a boy because she has boy body parts.
I thought this would be a great way to have some discussion in class
Okay I realize that this has little to do with our class, but I thought you should see it any way. Let me know your thoughts!! How is race and class constructed in this story...the narrative is not new. It amazes me how obvious, negative and dangerous this is!!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This image is making the rounds among my facebook friends. I feel it really needs a queer analysis (using Johnson or Smith). What do you think?
Hay folks, a few weeks ago in class I mentioned a speech the executive director of the Trans Youth Support Network, Katie Burgess, gave at Quorum's National Coming Out Day Luncheon. In her speech, Katie spoke of the interrelatedness of oppressions and systems of violence, especially in regards to LGBTQ communities of color. Burgess called for LGBTQ organizations to hold corporate sponsors accountable for heterosexist, racist and classist policies. Focusing on a disconnect between the Human Rights Campaign's Award of 100% on their equality index to the National Coming Out Day Luncheon's largest sponsor, Cargill, and Cargill's exploitation of communities of color and the working poor in the "global south".
Following is a letter penned on behalf of the Board Director of Quorum:
To All of our Valued Luncheon Attendees:
A very anti-business speech was delivered at the National Coming Out Day
(NCOD) luncheon that attacked not only our presenting sponsor, Cargill,
but also all corporations, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and those who
work in business in general. This speech was not only completely against
the spirit of the luncheon but also against the principles of inclusion
that Quorum as an organization believes in. When we asked Katie Burgess to
speak at the NCOD luncheon this year, our intention was to increase
visibility and support for a small queer youth organization. As opposed to
bolstering support for the Trans Youth Support Network (TYSN), of which
she is the Executive Director, Ms. Burgess' speech was thoughtless,
divisive, and offensive. This is not at all what we anticipated and for
that we offer our most sincere apology. We would also like to make it
absolutely clear that the views expressed by Ms. Burgess do not, in any
way, represent the values and beliefs of Quorum.
Our corporate partners are integral to creating and maintaining diversity
in the GLBT and Allied business community. We believe that large scale
change, like that being initiated on the corporate level, has lasting
impact on the fabric of the GLBT and Allied community. The National Coming
Out Day Luncheon is supposed to be a day that celebrates this kind of
change. The luncheon that happened on Friday was an incredibly poor
representation of that and, as the host of the event, we accept full
responsibility. Going forward we will not only use a strengthened and
enhanced vetting process for all event speakers, including the requirement
of a signed contract, we will also be more thoughtful with our community
involvement. We hope that you can accept our sincerest apologies for not
appropriately and effectively representing our membership and the spirit
of NCOD. Although we did reach out to TYSN to request an apology for Ms.
Burgess' remarks, we received no response.
Thank you for your support of Twin Cities Quorum and for everything that
you do to support GLBT and Ally inclusion and empowerment in the
workplace, and in the community as a whole. We could not do the important
work that we do without your support and we look forward to moving past
this unfortunate incident and continuing the progress we have begun.
Kirk Gryder
President, Quorum Board of Directors
on behalf of Quorum Board of Directors
This article from Colorlines describes a trend of Black people moving to the American south and to the suburbs. I think this is interesting to discuss given our previous class discussions about migrations. This article brings up a lot of interesting implications of this movement for both cities and the people engaged in this movement. What I think is a really interesting element is the stratification of the Black community. The article explains:
"Inner city neighborhoods that have lost black residents also face new challenges as a result of this migration. In cities across the country, community schools have been shuttered as the number of school-aged children has dropped. Inner cities, which still have high levels of need, can expect fewer federal funds as Census results inform the distribution of money for community development, utility assistance, Head Start and senior housing."
How does this impact those communities that are left behind? What does this stratification mean for American cities in general? How do social movements need to be framed?
So I'm not even sure if we have a "Queer This!" assignment due but I'm getting angsty about coming out day so I wanted to put it into words and "queer" it, if you will. I want to queer National Coming Out Day and coming out in general. The only reason we have to "come out" is because we are presumed heterosexual/heteronormative until we say differently. Therefore, the very fact that we have to come out in another way of othering us and placing us outside of the realm of normativity. I in no way mean to trivialize people's struggle and incredible strength that it takes to come out, rather I wish we lived in a society where heteronormativity was not the standard from which we were deviating. I appreciate that the day gives us a forum for discussing queerness in society and pride but I'm concerned with the fact that we have to "come out" in general.
I would have put this as a comment on bradf072's post, but I don't think you can embed images in comments. Just saw this on facebook (via Jigna Desai, another GWSS prof here):
Ever since an outburst of police brutality, the "movement" (or whatever it may be) of "Occupy Wall Street" has gotten more and more attention. Particularly, there is the extreme mistreatment of a trans man who was at the protest.
While the abuse of any of these peaceful protests, and especially the case of this trans man, is inexcusable and tragic, I think there are still critical questions to ask about this protest.
This article calls for us to "occupy the game of colonialism." It points out that these protestors are staging their demonstration on stolen land, and that the nationalistic language of the protesters is missing a big point.
I also want to point out the series of photos called "We Are the 99 Percent. These pictures are heartbreaking, and I think they are a wonderful representation of the real damage corporations have on many people's lives. I certainly invite you to look through them. However, I went through several pages and only found one person of color. I find this troubling. People of color are probably even more disproportionately affected by the greed and corruption of corporations, and have suffered from this harm since this country began. This is clearly an issue that affects them, too. So, where are they? Where are their pictures? Where are their notes?
I am not saying that Occupy Wall Street is wrong or bad. I know a lot of people are getting excited about it, and the movement is spreading across the nation. I think it's important that people demonstrate that we are tired of the greed and corruption of corporations. However, as Judith Butler says about critique: it's not that we reject the thing being critiqued. Rather, it is to constantly leave the issue open to examination -- not to destroy it, but to make it something better. I want to ask how we can make the call to end the damaging effects of capitalism in a way that is even better than how we're doing it now.
Anyone in class watch Adventure Time on cartoon network? I started watching it last year with my kids (who are 5 and 8)and have often thought that it deserved some queer analysis. I came across an article yesterday (via twitter) that discusses a possible romance between two of the women characters: Adventure Time Gay Subtext: "Spicy" or Adorbz?
Here's the behind-the-scenes video that brings up the romance:
There are lots of ways I can imagine queering this and reflecting on the queerness that already exists. What do you think?
As we watched the Butler video today, I was particularly intrigued by our conversation of "No Pants Day", and whether or not Butler disapproves. We talked about her critique of the movement as "revolutionary", and wondered if this was a comment on the nonproductive nature of a seemingly pointless movement. I wanted to post about Minneapolis's Zombie Pub Crawl (happening this Saturday) to see if we could find a way to queer it. For me, I find the grand spectacle and emphasis on morbidity queer in itself. Though we know the participants are really in it for a night on the town, what can we glean from the costumes, the macabre? Why might our current generation be particularly interested in the supernatural (think Twilight, True Blood)? Is the ZPC, happening just off campus, queering/ disrupting a typically academic space?
The world of dating and hooking up has reached a new level. See how and why in the article iBone from October's issue of GQ magazine. Here's a quick rundown: Grindr and Blendr give you the ability to hook up in an instant (at the grocery store, your local coffee shop, or if away on business, there as well) by enabling your GPS and the simple click of a button. Grindr boasts giving the ability to find gay, bi, curious guys in your neighborhood. Blendr, the offspring of Grindr, is marketed as the Grindr for straight people. Check this out; there are so many ways to tackle this article and the apps!!!
While reading this article from The Nation, I wanted to queer the idea of slutwalks. This article brings up several interesting points and criticisms. I wanted to discuss how the idea of slutwalks excludes black female experiences and the poor attendance rate of black women. I also find the appropriation of the term interesting and wanted to discuss how using a pejorative term can be useful and limiting, similar to "queer" itself. And while slutwalks are currently a trend in sexual violence prevention, how do you keep the buzz alive? And what will its overall impacts be on the justice system?
Hay ya'll, this is the same post I just made to the announcements. After posting this I realized it would be rad for a "Queer This!" post.
The two following links are about shifts in policy by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and OutFront Minnesota. I believe the implications of these shifts are incredibly huge, though in a lot of ways still not enough.
The first one I'm posting is a major policy shift in the Federal Bureau of Prison's policies around trans folks who have been incarcerated. The language around "gender identity disorder" bothers me (actually the whole prison industrial complex bothers me), but this is still a pretty big deal as it ensures that folks who have been accessing hormones without a prescription now have access to them while incarcerated.
The second is an official statement by Outfront Minnesota standing in solidarity with CeCe McDonald. Alone this isn't enough, but it is worth noting that Minnesota's largest LG(BTQ) organization has officially taken a stance on physical and institutional violence against trans people of color. http://www.outfront.org/news?module=news&showitem=192
My favorite author in the entire world is a man named Terry Pratchett. He's a British author, and has written a lot of books (and I mean a lot. Wikipedia states that since he published his first book in 1983, he's averaged about 2 books a year) that take place in a fictional world called Discworld. While the Discworld is a flat, disc-shaped world that rests on the back of four elephants, which rest on the back of the giant space-turtle, A'Tuin, it is a world not too unlike our own. His books are in the comic fantasy genre, but contain a lot of parody and social commentary. Often, Pratchett uses Discworld as a sort of literary thought-experiment, in which events that happen in our world are played out in his fictional world. The topics he covers range from imperialism to industrialization, to the invention of the gun, to rock and roll music. He's a genius, and if you're at all interested in reading some of his books, just ask me and I'll give you suggestions!
In any case, I won't bore you with a lecture on the awesomeness of Terry Pratchett. I just needed to give background to this quote I will share with you. The following quote is from his book called Thud!. In this passage, the Commander of the City Watch, Sam Vimes, is heading to the watch house. He's been pressured by the patrician of the city to hire a vampire for the city watch. Vimes really dislikes vampires, and most people in the city are uneasy about them, probably because of the whole sucking blood thing. Outside the watch house, there are a bunch of protesters, objecting to the hiring of a vampire for the watch. Along with these protesters is a character who is, basically, a photographer for the city's newspaper. His name is Otto Chriek, and he is also a vampire. This is an exchange between Sam Vimes and Otto.
"It's strange they don't seem to mind you, Otto," he said, calming down a little.
"Vell, I'm not official," said Otto. "I do not have ze sword und ze badge. I do not threaten. I am just a vorking stiff. And, I make zem laugh."
Vimes stared at the man. He'd never thought about that before, but ... yes. Little, fussy Otto, in his red-lined black opera coat, with pockets for all his gear, his shiny black shoes, his carefully cut widow's peak, and not least his ridiculous accent, that grew thicker or thinner depending on whom he was talking to, did not look like a threat. He looked funny, a joke, a musical vampire. It had never previously occurred to Vimes that, just possibly, the joke was on other people. Make them laugh, and they're not afraid.
I thought about this when I was reading the Johnson "Quare Studies" article. In it, he mentions "quares" using performance as a survival strategy in their day-to-day lives. It also made me think of some theory I've read (I can't recall any authors or articles at this moment) that argue that the oppressed have a double-consciousness: that is, they must learn both the ways of their oppressed group as well as the ways of their oppressors, in order to move through different spaces and as a method of survival. While Otto is not queer/quare/whatever, he is part of a group that people fear/despise/discriminate against. His method of survival, it seems, is to perform an outlandish stereotype of vampires so as not to appear a threat. Yet, as Vimes notes, perhaps the joke is on other people. The oppressors don't see the performance of the oppressed, and don't see how they are being manipulated.
This has just been something on my mind for a while, so I thought I'd blog about it. I hope it's insightful and interesting, and I hope I've piqued your interest in Terry Pratchett!
Australia creates a third gender option for transgender...X marks the spot. One would still need approval from a doctor, thoughts uhhhh? Is this progress or further marking bodies. "Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the new guidelines removed discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and sexual orientation". Does it??
I have a coworker who was recently involved in the flashmob protest outside of the clinic owned by Michelle and Marcus Bachmann. I thought this would be interesting to put up, not only because it happened just a few weeks ago, but I feel that both sides have somewhat problematic perspectives on the "origins" of gayness. While the "ex-gay" movement posits non-heteronormative sexual orientation as a sickness, the protesters argue that it is essential to their (or the queer identified subjects', being represented by protesters) natures. See for yourself:
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/flash-mob-glitters-a-marcus-bachmann-and-perform-gagas-born-this-way/politics/2011/08/26/25907
This image makes me wonder, is there a certain way a gay man is supposed to be, act? For people who are unfamiliar with the idea of queer or the idea of being gay I wonder if they might have a certain view as to what a gay man looks like. How do they picture gay men? Does it involve a certain race? a certain class of people? etc. And how do people who ARE familiar with these ideas and/or lifestyles react to others who may seem ignorant in their impression?
Hey cohorts! I attempted to embed this video, but since I have no choice but to work off my iPad right now, I wasn't able to.
The video is from YouTube, and it depicts the final "test" in the game Portal in which you have to defeat the antagonist, a robotic woman named GlaDos. Although you can't see the protagonist (you play her from a first person point of view), she is also given the designation of female.
A few points to start discussion on this video:
1) In portal, you play a female human who needs to make it through a series of tests using the technology created by Aperture Science, a fictional company. As a final test, you need to defeat the super-smart computer, also given a female designation and referred to by Steam and gamers with female pronouns. Certain elements of this queer the gameplay for me. What do you think? And is it further quested by the fact that it's primarily marketed to a male demographic that must then take on a female role?
2) There's something very queer about the sexuality exuded by GlaDos in this final sequence. As the video maker points out, once the player starts to break her, her voice becomes hyper sexual. What do you make of this?
These some of the sites that we talked about in class the video is an example of RSA animate and the link is to TED's main site.
I know that this may be a little bit off tangent but I was watching videos of zizek and this particular one always makes me giggly cause he's just sooo interesting to watch :
I was linked to this video by a friend a long while back, and I found it both interesting and problematic at the same time.
I won't go on about my specific thoughts about this video, as I hope you, my classmates, will go into it yourselves in the comments. However, I will pose a couple questions that I think highlight the important points of contention in this video:
1. His "guest speaker," who did not, in fact, do any speaking whatsoever. He even admits to "stealing her notes." If this woman is a personal friend of his, why did he not allow her to actually speak in the video? What was the point of or his motivation to essentially silence this woman? Why is the issue of women and video games so often brought up, but rarely discussed by women themselves?
2. Who is to blame for the sexualization of female gamers? The man in this video places some blame on women who tie their sex appeal to their "nerdiness." Are women to blame for perpetuating the sexualization of female gamers? Is it productive to do so?
3. What about queerness? I know this is an issue that is not discussed in this video, but perhaps that is, in and of itself, rather telling. The issue of women and video games has been brought up many times, but what of queer gamers? Are there any/many queer gamers? Why/why not? How are queer people represented in video games, if at all?
JJ Halberstam presented last summer on the Thursday evening before gay pride at the University of Minnesota's Cowles Auditorium. This was a presentation on their forthcoming book (which we will be reading for this course), titled The Queer Art of Failure.
Halberstam presented photos depicting homosexuality and gender non-conformity from the early and middle 20th century. Many of the photos were dark, emphasizing shadow, ambiguity, fear, unintelligibility and failure. Halberstam praises the political potentialities of embracing the darkness, our queerness and our failure, to recreate the communities that we want to see. Communities that subvert hetero/homonormativity.
For my first Queer This! I want to juxtapose three different images where the use of shadow has been put to use in similar fashions, but for different purposes. The first is of Judith Butler lecturing, the 2nd is from Edward Scissor Hands, and the 3rd is a before and after shot depicting the use of computer editing on a mug shot of OJ Simpson. While shadowing of the first two presents the ambiguity of queerness in the positive, shadowing of the 3rd image darkens OJ Simpson's features for an altogether different purpose. There is a parallel between the epistemic gaps of JJ Halberstam's theorizations on queer failure, and the different uses of shadowing to emphasize a mysterious, yet remarkably unthreatening queerness in comparison to use of shadowing to emphasize the mysterious, threatening queerness of OJ Simpson.
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/puot0002/qd2010/Yer%20Doing%20It.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p285/gdaypeter/0C692E1DD0.jpg
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~hick0088/classes/csci_2101/ojcovers.gif
This video is a commercial for early RPGs, online communities, and online gaming. I think we can apply a queer lens to this video, especially in light of the HASTAC reading, because of its seemingly wide open terrain for digital expression and the break with material identities. This commercial also can be discussed in terms of access because at the time of this commercial, personal computers and the internet were even more exclusionary. This commercial centers around the disjuncture between material and digital, yet still also utilizes normative structures in the formation of digital identity.
This category is for posting images, news items or anything else that you feel speaks to issues related to queering theory and/or our readings and class discussion. It could also include anything that you believe especially deserves a queer analysis. Entries filed under this category should be entries that invite us to apply the queering skills we are learning to popular culture/current events or should inform us about ideas/topics/images that are important for queer theory and/or queer communities. When you are posting a comment on a "queer this" entry, you should clearly identify (in a sentence or two) what queering theories/tools/strategies you are using.
2 examples posted as entries
The only formal requirement for these posts is that you find an example (it could be an image, an article, a movie/commercial/television show, a song) that relates to our course topics and readings and that you believe deserves/demands a queer analysis. Make sure to post the image, link or embed your youtube video. Check out my how to blog tutorial for more information on how to do this.
Category: Queer This!
Note: It is possible to earn up to an additional 10 points extra credit if you submit more than 2 examples. Each extra example is worth 5 points (so you can submit an additional 2 examples: 2 @5 points each = 10 points).
3 comments
For each of your posted comments, you must provide a queer analysis of and/or commentary on another student's "queer this" post. Your comments should be substantial and go beyond a mere reaction to the example. You need to offer a well thought out response. Try to draw on our readings, discussions or other blog entries.
Note: It is possible to earn up to an additional 10 points extra credit if you submit more than 2 comments. Each extra comment is worth 5 points (so you can submit an additional 2 comment: 2 @5 points each = 10 points).
Want to see how students have used this category in the past? Check out these examples.
2 Tweets
You are required to post a tweet about each of your two queer this examples. Your tweets should include either a link to your example or a link to your queer this blog entry. Be creative in your brief discussion of the example on twitter. Remember to add the class hashtag: #quet2011.
Due Dates:
Example 1: September 16
Example 2: October 5
Comment 1: September 20
Comment 2: October 31
Comment 3: December 7
Tweet 1: September 16
Tweet 2: October 5
My favorite kind of game is the Role Playing Game (RPG). This category can cover some very different kind of games, but the type of game I'm talking about in this entry is one that usually contains about 60% combat (be it 1st or 3rd person shooter, turn-based, etc) and 40% dialogue -- that is to say that a large amount of the plot is advanced by the player character (PC -- the character that the player controls) interacting with non-player characters (NPCs -- characters run by the computer or programming of the game). I love these kinds of games because they usually have extensive background, a large world/universe in which the game takes place, complex plots, opportunities for interesting interactions with the NPCs who tag along with the PC (including opportunities for romance!), and the possibility of multiple, sometimes radically different endings based upon the choices that the PC makes in the game. In many of these RPGs, the gamer is allowed to choose the gender of his/her character, and is sometimes given the option to customize (occasionally with great detail) the appearance of his/her character. So, now that I've given you the context of the type of game I'm about to talk about (so you non-gamers can understand what I'm saying), I'll give some examples of interesting ways race, gender, and sexuality have played roles in these games.
1. Race
One of the RPGs I was playing this summer is called Dragon Age. It was one of those RPGs that allowed me to customize my character appearance. I made my character (who I named Victoria) brown-skinned, with dark hair, and brown eyes. However, Victoria's background in the plot of the game is that she was the daughter of two nobles. They were both white. I played through the opening sequence of the game, musing to myself if any of the NPCs were going to notice that Victoria is the black daughter of two white parents. Of course they didn't, but the thought amused me. My point in this story, however, is that while the player has the option to make his/her character any skin color he/she likes, the majority of the NPCs I ran into throughout the course of the game were white-skinned.
2. Gender
I have to admit that I used to play a game called World of Warcraft (WoW). It's classified as a massively-multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), but what that means is that it's an online game that a lot (and I mean literally millions of people play. It's not the same as other RPGs, since it doesn't contain the dialogue aspect that I discussed above, but that's what they call it regardless. Anyway, the point is that there is a notable phenomenon of men who play female characters in this game. It is joked that if you see female characters in the game, they are actually G.I.R.L.S. -- Guys In Real Life. Men's reasons for playing female characters vary. Some say, "If I'm going to be playing the game for hours, watching the backside of my character, I'd rather it be an attractive backside." Some prefer the character design of the females over the males. Some don't have a reason at all. Some men flat-out refuse to play male characters, while some men refuse to play female characters. There are, also, women who play male characters, but it is rather more rare. Many women say they prefer to play female characters because they find it empowering. I played both male and female characters equally, but my decision was made based on character design.
The interesting part of this all, however, is that while it was widely known that a large majority of the female characters in WoW were in reality played by men, other players still assumed female characters to be played by females. As I played both female and male characters, I noticed a significant difference in the way I was treated by other players based on whether my character was female or not. While playing a female character, other players would give me money or items for no real reason, or would be more patient in explaining aspects of the game. Sometimes (more often than I'd like to admit), I was propositioned for nude pictures (an odd thing to ask for, if you ask me, considering that chances are very high that I could actually be male). If I was playing a male character, other players were much more likely to call me a fag and yell at me if I played poorly.
My point is, that while anyone of any gender can play either male or female, and all the players know that the gender of a character did not reflect the gender of a player, female characters were treated according to patriarchal (usually of the "benign" variety) norms.
3. Sexuality
This summer I also played a series of games, Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. In this game, the player controls a character named Commander Shepard, and the setting is in the future, in space, and so therefore many NPCs are non-human. The player, again, has the choice to play a male or female character, and to very specifically design the character's appearance. I choose to play a female Shepard because I've found that RPGs are far more interesting when one plays female characters, because NPCs are programmed to react to you differently than they would to a male PC. In Mass Effect 1, a female Shepard can pursue a romantic relationship with either a human male crew member, or with a female alien crew member (well, technically, this alien species is mono-sexual, so male and female don't make sense in this context, but the point is that the character appears female-bodied, so, for all intents and purposes, is considered female). However, a male Shepard could only pursue relationships with females (human and non-human). This, unfortunately, is not uncommon in RPGs of this ilk. It is assumed, I think, that there are no gay male gamers, so there is no need to offer the opportunity of gay male relationships in the game. Lesbians, however, become objects of male desire within the game, and the opportunity to form lesbian relationships within the game is being marketed to straight male gamers, not to possible lesbian players.
Apparently, however, the creators of Mass Effect 1 received a lot of flak for including lesbians (but not really) in their game. So, in Mass Effect 2, female Shepard is confined to males, and male Shepard is confined to females. The interesting thing -- and I also think ridiculous and hilarious -- is that while Shepard is confined to romancing the opposite sex, Shepard is not confined to romancing only humans. Yes, that's right, you can sleep with lizard men, as long as they are lizard men.
Yep. That happened in my game. I banged that guy.
I think this has something to say about heteronormativity: better for your relationships to be cross-species but heterosexual, than for you to sleep with a member of your own species who is the same gender.
Mass Effect 3 is coming out soon, though, and thankfully, I've heard, both male and female Shepard can be as gay or straight or xenosexual (I made that up, but I think it's pretty good) as they want to be.
Inspired by @pinla001's post and @raja0145's comment, I thought I'd start an open thread for us on the class so far. Feel free to comment on your reactions to/questions about the syllabus, the blog, twitter or anything else.
Queer This!: Also, I just came across this short video with Judith Butler. What do you think? We will be posting/engaging with queer this! examples throughout the semester. I'll explain the assignment soon. For now you can check out my assignment description from last year's class.
First day Stuff
I'm a little excited for this school year to start so rather than just be excited I figured I should blog about it. In many of my GWSS classes the first day is always trying to figure out who I know and who I don't and trying to "feel out" the class. My imagination always gets the best of me so sitting in class I'm trying to "plan out" how the whole semester is going to go. (this plan rarely happens or is almost impossible for it to happen)
As sarah is reading through the syllabus and introducing herself(and yes I'm writing this post as she is reading the syllabus and introducing herself) there are a few things that I'm excited about:
The first cake/pastry/foodstuff I'm gonna make (i'm thinking tobacco infused cake again)
Discussion on queering pedagogy and how the youth subject or subjectivity gives a different "spin" on the act or imagining of the "queer subject"
Discussions about the accessibility of theory
I'm sure there are more that I'm missing but hopefully it would be a fun semester... :)