Friday, April 24, 2009
Julie Bindel on What Makes Men and Women!
I'm Glad I'm a Boy! I'm Glad I'm a Girl! [via As Above]
I'll be here making cheap-shots all weekend. Enjoy the tofu veal.
I'll be here making cheap-shots all weekend. Enjoy the tofu veal.
Labels: sex/gender, transgenderism
Friday, August 22, 2008
Kate Bornstein has a blog. I have yet to work out whether she also has a posse but I wouldn't be surprised.
Labels: blogs, sex/gender, transgenderism
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sworn to virginity and living as men in Albania. A fascinating article about a dying trend in Albania, if all the men who would, of course, head the family died or were killed, then any of the women who were virginal and who swore to stay that way would take on the roll of the head male of the family, going out and doing 'male' jobs to bring in the money and run the family. And, it would seem, they were treated exactly as men by the society around them.
The tradition of the sworn virgin can be traced to the Kanun of Leke Dukagjini, a code of conduct that has been passed on orally among the clans of northern Albania for more than five centuries. Under the Kanun, the role of women is severely circumscribed: Take care of children and maintain the home. While a woman's life is worth half that of a man, a virgin's value is the same - 12 oxen. The sworn virgin was born of social necessity in an agrarian region plagued by war and death. If the patriarch of the family died with no male heirs, unmarried women in the family could find themselves alone and powerless. By taking an oath of virginity, women could take on the role of men as head of the family, carry a weapon, own property and move freely. They dress like men, adopt a male swagger and spend their lives in the company of other men...
Known in her household as the "Pasha," [Pashe] Keqi says she decided to become the man of the house at age 20 when her father was murdered in a blood feud. Her remaining four brothers opposed the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania for 40 years until his death in 1985, and they were either imprisoned or killed. Becoming a man, she said, was the only way to support her mother, her four sisters-in-law and their five children.
Lording it over her large family in her modest house in Tirana, where her nieces served her brandy while she barked out orders, Keqi said living as a man had allowed her freedom denied other women. She could work construction jobs and pray at the mosque alongside other men. Even today, her nephews and nieces said, they would not dare marry without their "uncle's" permission.
"I was totally free as a man because no one knew I was a woman," Keqi said. "I could go wherever I wanted to and no one would dare swear at me because I could beat them up. I was only with men. I don't know how to do women's talk. I am never scared."
But Albania is not so insular now and, with the slow march to equality for females, women don't need to be sanctioned as men to run things any more, so when these sworn virgins die out, there will be no-one to replace them.
(More pictures at the IHT's Europe page)
The tradition of the sworn virgin can be traced to the Kanun of Leke Dukagjini, a code of conduct that has been passed on orally among the clans of northern Albania for more than five centuries. Under the Kanun, the role of women is severely circumscribed: Take care of children and maintain the home. While a woman's life is worth half that of a man, a virgin's value is the same - 12 oxen. The sworn virgin was born of social necessity in an agrarian region plagued by war and death. If the patriarch of the family died with no male heirs, unmarried women in the family could find themselves alone and powerless. By taking an oath of virginity, women could take on the role of men as head of the family, carry a weapon, own property and move freely. They dress like men, adopt a male swagger and spend their lives in the company of other men...
Known in her household as the "Pasha," [Pashe] Keqi says she decided to become the man of the house at age 20 when her father was murdered in a blood feud. Her remaining four brothers opposed the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, who ruled Albania for 40 years until his death in 1985, and they were either imprisoned or killed. Becoming a man, she said, was the only way to support her mother, her four sisters-in-law and their five children.
Lording it over her large family in her modest house in Tirana, where her nieces served her brandy while she barked out orders, Keqi said living as a man had allowed her freedom denied other women. She could work construction jobs and pray at the mosque alongside other men. Even today, her nephews and nieces said, they would not dare marry without their "uncle's" permission.
"I was totally free as a man because no one knew I was a woman," Keqi said. "I could go wherever I wanted to and no one would dare swear at me because I could beat them up. I was only with men. I don't know how to do women's talk. I am never scared."
But Albania is not so insular now and, with the slow march to equality for females, women don't need to be sanctioned as men to run things any more, so when these sworn virgins die out, there will be no-one to replace them.
(More pictures at the IHT's Europe page)
Labels: Albania, sex/gender, transgenderism, women
Hurrah! An article about Thomas Beatie that explains that transpeople's relationships to their gender, sexuality and sexual organs is, whaddayouknow, more complicated than straight peoples.
Mr. Beatie is "making visible the fact that a lot of people's experience of making these decisions isn't about getting a penis or losing a penis." For many transgender people, [Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick] said, "genital surgery is not what defines gender, and that will be news for lots and lots of Americans," who may have trouble comprehending the idea that for some, anatomy does not define woman or man.
(Not just Americans.)
"Not a lot of transmen get what's called 'bottom' or 'lower' surgery," [Judith] Halberstam explained, referring to procedures like the one Mr. Beatie had, and to yet more radical interventions like hysterectomy. "If they want a penis, they don't want a micro-penis," she said. If what they want is to be men, she added, they see no reason why that goal is compromised by keeping their ovaries.
Mr. Beatie is "making visible the fact that a lot of people's experience of making these decisions isn't about getting a penis or losing a penis." For many transgender people, [Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick] said, "genital surgery is not what defines gender, and that will be news for lots and lots of Americans," who may have trouble comprehending the idea that for some, anatomy does not define woman or man.
(Not just Americans.)
"Not a lot of transmen get what's called 'bottom' or 'lower' surgery," [Judith] Halberstam explained, referring to procedures like the one Mr. Beatie had, and to yet more radical interventions like hysterectomy. "If they want a penis, they don't want a micro-penis," she said. If what they want is to be men, she added, they see no reason why that goal is compromised by keeping their ovaries.
Labels: sex/gender, transgenderism
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Viola's Bookshelf. Viola’s Bookshelf is a project blog dedicated to publishing altered out of copyright, or creative commons licensed fiction, where the character’s genders have been reversed. The idea behind this is to help provide an understanding of gender construction in fiction and to an extent in everyday life.
Labels: fiction, sex/gender
Friday, February 15, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Ensure equity of access to NHS treatment for gender dysphoria.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to enable people whose gender identity is neither male or female to have the opportunity to assign their legal gender as 'other' or 'intersex' if they so wish.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to to investigate Scientology organisations operating in the UK to ensure the National Minimum Wage is being paid to their employees.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop the right of MP's to vote on their own pay awards. MP's pay award to be made in line with the lowest awarded to public servants.
I especially like how the name for this petition in the No. 10 database is 'leaches'.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to instruct the Foreign Secretary to urge the United Nations to include gender as an issue on which people can claim asylum due to fears of persecution.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Force Southfield School For Girls to allow us to retake our GCSE AQA Additonal Biology 2 paper, taken 15th January 2008.
After months of hard revision and rememebering (sic) complex teories (sic) on proteins, amino acids, osmosis and genetic diseases, we were presented with an irrelevant paper for our GCSE AQA Additional Biology. The questions were ridiculous, and all of our careful revision was wasted. Our school is refusing to let us resit, whereas other local school are. We feel this is unfair and that the paper we took does not genuinely reflect our knowledge of the topic.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stamp Out Anti Social Behaviour Using the Following 20 point plan:
There is a plan. It's worrying how much thought he's put into this.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to immediately acknowledge the plight of the palestinian's in Gaza and to do as much as is humanly possible to get food, clothing, medication and diesel to those who desperately need it.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Sever the links between the Church of Scientology and the Police, also to prevent further links similar to these.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to enable people whose gender identity is neither male or female to have the opportunity to assign their legal gender as 'other' or 'intersex' if they so wish.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to to investigate Scientology organisations operating in the UK to ensure the National Minimum Wage is being paid to their employees.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop the right of MP's to vote on their own pay awards. MP's pay award to be made in line with the lowest awarded to public servants.
I especially like how the name for this petition in the No. 10 database is 'leaches'.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to instruct the Foreign Secretary to urge the United Nations to include gender as an issue on which people can claim asylum due to fears of persecution.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Force Southfield School For Girls to allow us to retake our GCSE AQA Additonal Biology 2 paper, taken 15th January 2008.
After months of hard revision and rememebering (sic) complex teories (sic) on proteins, amino acids, osmosis and genetic diseases, we were presented with an irrelevant paper for our GCSE AQA Additional Biology. The questions were ridiculous, and all of our careful revision was wasted. Our school is refusing to let us resit, whereas other local school are. We feel this is unfair and that the paper we took does not genuinely reflect our knowledge of the topic.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stamp Out Anti Social Behaviour Using the Following 20 point plan:
There is a plan. It's worrying how much thought he's put into this.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to immediately acknowledge the plight of the palestinian's in Gaza and to do as much as is humanly possible to get food, clothing, medication and diesel to those who desperately need it.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Sever the links between the Church of Scientology and the Police, also to prevent further links similar to these.
Labels: anti-social behaviour, Government, Israel, Palestine, petitions, school, Scientology, sex/gender, United Kingdom
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Hyperbreasts
Are large breasts in women changing from being a biological sign of their presumed ability to suckle young to an economic sign of their wealth? Together with NSFW pictures. [via Sex and Blogs]
Labels: beauty, capitalism, sex/gender, women
Monday, December 17, 2007
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop seeking to further extend pre-charge detention.
Anyone suspected of having committed an extremely serious offence, such as murder, can be held without charge for a maximum of 4 days. Police can already detain people under anti-terrorism legislation for seven times as long (28 days). Prolonged detention without charge or trial undermines fair trial rights, including the right to be promptly informed of any charges, the right to be free from arbitrary detention and the presumption of innocence.
Everybody arrested is entitled to be charged promptly and tried within a reasonable time, in proceedings that fully comply with fair trial standards, or to be released. The UK already has by far the longest period of pre-charge detention of any Common Law country. Any further extension of pre-charge detention risks being counterproductive, damaging community relations and undermining the UK’s moral authority around the world.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Close Charring [sic] Cross Gender Indentity [sic] Clinic.
Charring [sic] Cross G.I.C. should be closed down due to it's failiure to comply to the standards as laid out by Harry Benjiman [sic]. They bring thier [sic] own personal wiews [sic] into work with them and only select those who fit thier [sic] idea of what a woman / female is and should be each person is different, no two people are the same, we should therefore not be treated as stereotypes in one catagory [sic].
(Aside: As all the petitions are supposedly personally vetted by someone before they are posted for people to vote on you'd think they'd run them through a spell-check first)
Notice the first person to sign this petition seems less interested in Miss Sommer's thrust and is just against the surgery for anyone.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Hold a referendum on ID cards and the National Identity Register.
There are any number of ID Card petitions up on the site there, yet supposedly one of the criteria for turning down a new petition is if it covers the same ground as other petitions. I got one turned down a few months back which asked Gordon Brown specifically to give up the scheme.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to to not allow the import of biofuel from countries which are destroying rain forest to grow the crops..
We need to cut down on the current forms of travel, rather than transfer to using up a different natural resource.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Hold a public referendum on Trident and the defence of our country.
Anyone suspected of having committed an extremely serious offence, such as murder, can be held without charge for a maximum of 4 days. Police can already detain people under anti-terrorism legislation for seven times as long (28 days). Prolonged detention without charge or trial undermines fair trial rights, including the right to be promptly informed of any charges, the right to be free from arbitrary detention and the presumption of innocence.
Everybody arrested is entitled to be charged promptly and tried within a reasonable time, in proceedings that fully comply with fair trial standards, or to be released. The UK already has by far the longest period of pre-charge detention of any Common Law country. Any further extension of pre-charge detention risks being counterproductive, damaging community relations and undermining the UK’s moral authority around the world.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Close Charring [sic] Cross Gender Indentity [sic] Clinic.
Charring [sic] Cross G.I.C. should be closed down due to it's failiure to comply to the standards as laid out by Harry Benjiman [sic]. They bring thier [sic] own personal wiews [sic] into work with them and only select those who fit thier [sic] idea of what a woman / female is and should be each person is different, no two people are the same, we should therefore not be treated as stereotypes in one catagory [sic].
(Aside: As all the petitions are supposedly personally vetted by someone before they are posted for people to vote on you'd think they'd run them through a spell-check first)
Notice the first person to sign this petition seems less interested in Miss Sommer's thrust and is just against the surgery for anyone.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Hold a referendum on ID cards and the National Identity Register.
There are any number of ID Card petitions up on the site there, yet supposedly one of the criteria for turning down a new petition is if it covers the same ground as other petitions. I got one turned down a few months back which asked Gordon Brown specifically to give up the scheme.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to to not allow the import of biofuel from countries which are destroying rain forest to grow the crops..
We need to cut down on the current forms of travel, rather than transfer to using up a different natural resource.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Hold a public referendum on Trident and the defence of our country.
Labels: Government, ID cards, petitions, sex/gender, The War Against Terror, transport
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Women should wear dresses because they are feminine and womanly. I hope this is intended to be some sort of satire and not an example of the level of intelligence and debate one can expect to find in an American university. Although this is perhaps preferable to allowing fascists to come and speak at your union, which is apparently what we like to do in this country.
UPDATE: Oh dear, it wasn't a joke.
UPDATE: Oh dear, it wasn't a joke.
Labels: sex/gender, stupidity, women
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Who is Breyer P-Orridge?
Why is Breyer P-Orridge?
Breaking Sex Manifesto.
[via Coilhouse]
Why is Breyer P-Orridge?
Breaking Sex Manifesto.
[via Coilhouse]
Labels: sex/gender, transgenderism
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Science Am Here!
Angry men get ahead, angry women are called incompetent and get paid less.
Inside Every Girl Mouse Brain Is a Swaggering Boy Mouse. [both via Scientific American]
At last! No more arguments with the Gaydar Sexual Orientation Detector! [via Sex and Blogs]
Inside Every Girl Mouse Brain Is a Swaggering Boy Mouse. [both via Scientific American]
At last! No more arguments with the Gaydar Sexual Orientation Detector! [via Sex and Blogs]
Labels: gay, lesbian, science, sex/gender, transgenderism
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
This makes me happy. Transgender student runs for Prom King. [via Feministing]
Labels: queer, sex/gender, transgenderism, United States
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Also in the Mail, sloppy journalism ahoy with Indian silver medalist female runner fails gender test. Yet it seems that she actually passed, as she has a gender.
Girl woken from coma by James Blunt song. Poor girl, so the brain damage is confirmed then.
Girl woken from coma by James Blunt song. Poor girl, so the brain damage is confirmed then.
Labels: Daily Mail, sex/gender
Friday, September 01, 2006
Okay, so imagine you're a transvestite and, apart from that time around fourteen years ago when they caught you wearing some of the stuff from the back of your mother's wardrobe, you've never really talked to your parents about it. Not in a 'elephant in the corner of the room' kind of way, it's been touched upon but it's never been a real part of your relationship with them. Then they buy you this from your Amazon wishlist for your birthday. What would you think they're doing?
Labels: books, sex/gender, transgenderism, transvestites
