tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65386920131005294432009-10-30T17:10:38.907-04:00A blog for the discussion of the issues of masculine-identified folk, regardless of their gender or sex. An explicitly feminist, anti-oppression, sex positive space that aims to be a safe space for all people who are oppressed by the dominant isms of the day.Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-34390358360426583642008-09-09T12:18:00.002-04:002008-09-09T15:54:55.731-04:00

We really need to stop using the term ally. This applies to all of us in anti-oppression work, whether in the work in question we are part of the oppressed or oppressor class*. This is not about people who self-identify as allies and don't work on their privilege and refuse to listen to members of the oppressed group, but to all people who might self-identify as an ally to an oppressed group.

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-27121532678042530842008-09-05T16:10:00.002-04:002008-09-05T16:51:58.854-04:00

Considering that Camp Trans was in early August, this post is really late. Anyway, this past Camp was my third. Camp was really stressful for me this year, because I was pretty involved in getting things to happen, both before and during Camp. But it was still an amazing, wonderful, intense, and healing space for me.A lot was accomplished at Camp this year. Walking the line of Festies, the vast

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-91390884939313751232008-09-05T09:43:00.004-04:002008-09-05T09:59:55.840-04:00

Round up of links from my personal blog on media on what's going on at the RNC, reposted here because a) this is super important and b)it touches on every issue we discuss here, with some commentary from me:First, read this post from brownfemipower on why police brutality matters. (Lisa at Questioning Transphobia has also linked to this)***Reposted from a friend:Dear ___________,We are sending

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-84162972478580319542008-08-31T07:46:00.003-04:002008-08-31T07:59:36.076-04:00

Via Feministing, a call for support from INCITE (click through the link to get to their website and donate online):August 30, 2008Dear INCITE! friends and supporters,On the eve of the 3 year anniversary of the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and subsequent government criminal negligence and assaults on the low income people of color on the Gulf Coast, our sisters from INCITE!

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-40708537168523236622008-07-06T12:17:00.004-04:002008-07-06T12:29:10.910-04:00

Yours truly has been working on some other projects lately, but I have been thinking a lot about healthy models of masculinity. I talk a lot here about unhealthy patterns of masculinity, particularly in queer spaces, and I would like to turn that conversation around to healthy patterns of masculinity. I like to think my masculinity is in a mostly healthy place, though it certainly took me a while

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-61752775110944400382008-06-24T22:51:00.003-04:002008-06-24T22:54:49.163-04:00

Convictions overturned for 2 of the Newark 4 - story at AngryBrownButchAs Jack notes, this is some excellent news, and will hopefully be followed by good news for Patreese Johnson and Venice Brown, whose appeals are still pending.

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-88343349923096185582008-06-23T19:36:00.006-04:002008-06-24T10:36:57.956-04:00

I've been a little slow reporting on this, but New England Trans Pride was back on June 7th. I spent the day working at the memorial and peer counseling table. People primarily needed me as someone to listen to their experiences, and I was very grateful to be able to do that for them.The day went off incredibly well, despite the heat wave, and all the speakers and performers were excellent.

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-40504131999708371122008-06-04T20:11:00.004-04:002008-06-04T21:08:59.184-04:00

I found this article on teaching a college class about construction of masculinity a little underwhelming. Now, I think a lot of this may be due to being a complete gender theory geek, but, it seems like Robert Jensen misses what should be completely obvious to someone who's led the exercise he describes a few times (and thus, presumably, has done both reading and thinking on this stuff).I think

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-10376981085712291882008-05-14T17:49:00.005-04:002008-05-26T17:40:38.582-04:00

In S. Bear Bergman's wonderful book, Butch Is A Noun, there is a piece entitled The Honorable Butch Office of Moving, which is a story about when Bear was a young butch, and was asked by an older femme ze had just met to help her move. Ze tells the story of that day, how it was only hir and an older butch moving the bulky, heavy things (not because the femmes couldn't, but they didn't), and how

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-29741327891040347442008-04-02T18:33:00.004-04:002008-04-02T19:18:20.063-04:00

This is a bit more personal and less theory-heavy than I usually post, the latter because I still myself haven't come across good theory, or come up with it myself, to really adequately get to all the myriad ways patriarchy oppresses, restricts, and constructs people.Some of this is inspired by a post here, at "Les said, the better". And yes, as noted there, everyone gets the messages about boys

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-57674642857687954182008-03-25T05:49:00.001-04:002008-03-25T05:52:58.687-04:00

...with yours truly!A brief interview with me, mainly on alternative masculinities in pop culture is at Visibility Alert.

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-71499938135114217702008-01-22T19:36:00.000-05:002008-01-22T20:08:46.656-05:00

Today is the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, and is also NARAL's Blog for Choice Day.There are already quite a few excellent posts out there: Bush v. Choice is short, powerful, and to the point; A Gender Queer View has an excellent post from a genderqueer trans woman's perspective, pointing out that the anti-choice movement is about power and control; Jill at Feministe gives ten

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-67702504102520394092008-01-21T03:45:00.000-05:002008-01-21T03:54:15.689-05:00

This article at Colorlines, about the experience of Black trans men and other trans people of color, is a really great example of how race and gender are intricately intertwined in our society. The article has been linked to all over at this point, but I strongly urge everyone who hasn't already to read it.

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-44107924357760375992008-01-11T02:37:00.001-05:002008-01-11T05:01:45.880-05:00

Lately, the question has occurred to me whether genderqueer and trans genders (not transgender people, but genders that people who identify with them classify as trans; some trans* people identify their gender as man or woman, obviously) are defined by being culturally unintelligible or culturally prohibited.And I think the answer is a qualified "yes" to both.Some of these thoughts stem from the

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-47096538142819666832007-12-08T00:54:00.001-05:002007-12-08T01:02:22.525-05:00

I hadn't seen the sketch referenced here at Questioning Transphobia, which provides a really blatant example of how transphobia, misogyny, and racism intersect in the queer community, when I initially posted on The Big Gay Sketch Show. I really wish I could say I was more surprised, though.

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-15500115425574271752007-12-06T15:38:00.000-05:002007-12-06T15:52:51.771-05:00

I've been enjoying the recent visibility of non-traditionally masculine people on TV lately - especially as other than the butt of jokes. We have Dani, the boi-ishly cute firefighter on A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila on MTV (which is exactly the sort of silly show that can suck this blogger in with a friend and a bottle of wine), who has made it to the last two contestants, and thus is

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-30615350169177131052007-11-24T19:22:00.001-05:002007-11-25T13:07:39.958-05:00

The idea of "Butch Flight" never really leaves the consciousness of lesbian and butch/femme communities, but it seems to be bubbling back up to the front of community consciousness with the recent panel on "The Gendercator" in San Francisco, which Mattilda Bernstein talks about here and here. And I think Catherine Crouch's film, while, from all the descriptions I've heard (I have not seen it, so

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-55621059339535546642007-11-20T18:19:00.000-05:002007-11-20T19:09:11.132-05:00

Here, at Questioning Transphobia, Lisa has an excellent collection of links for the Day of Remembrance.Every year, I just feel so much anger and sadness..and so helpless. I would just hope that everyone goes through, reads all the links, and realizes just how real transphobia is - and how it alone KILLS, and how many more it KILLS when it intersects with misogyny, racism, and classism. And I

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-51381977165760461802007-11-18T18:25:00.000-05:002007-11-18T20:43:08.825-05:00

I pretty frequently end up picking up and reading the regional LGBT papers and news magazines. There are several, as we tend to get ones that focus not only on New England, but also the NYC metro area. And I'm pretty sure at this point, as they only serve to make me feel alienated from the LGBT community, that I read them to get pissed off and frustrated.Generally, that's just because they're

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-65225152640261862642007-11-06T02:54:00.000-05:002007-11-06T03:38:32.365-05:00

Lately, I have been thinking about how masculine privilege exists in and impacts the lives of people who do not identify as male and/or do not pass as society's expectation of men. As defined previously, masculine privilege would be separate from male privilege, and would be the privilege accessed by people simply due to the fact that they are behaving and presenting in a masculine manner,

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-67278979553331123052007-10-25T04:02:00.000-04:002007-10-25T05:56:01.235-04:00

Being stone is something that is variously romanticised, looked down on, viewed as the way to be the most butch, and viewed as a failing in those butches who are some way stone. It's pretty clear that being stone means a different thing for every person that has been stone; for some it is an emotional and physical shutdown in response to hurt, in some it is a way to maintain their boundaries, and

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-553681868984153442007-10-04T20:08:00.000-04:002007-10-04T20:43:00.341-04:00

Recently, a lot of criticism of masculine identities in dyke and trans communities has focused on the idea of masculine folk being engaged in an eternal boyhood. Of course, a lot of this is also from people who have traditionally attacked masculine-identified folk. The criticism is no longer aimed at them being "male-identified" instead of "women-identified" (in the lesbian separatist sense of

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-73719861436600924652007-09-28T03:55:00.000-04:002007-09-28T05:19:56.464-04:00

I recently read Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity by David D. Gilmore. He's an anthropologist, so, obviously the book suffers from some of the central problems of anthropology - such as ethnocentrism, though he does at least pay attention to it at times - and the othering of POC cultures, though he is not as bad as other anthropologists by also making observations about

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6538692013100529443.post-38296130744393242892007-09-26T18:52:00.000-04:002007-09-26T19:04:30.342-04:00

This blog arose out of many things, but primarily what it meant to be a masculine-identified person (in my case, a butch) and also a feminist in a patriarchal society, and how the masculine privilege I gained in queer spaces affected how I am viewed and how I viewed myself, in contrast with the fact that I do not gain male privilege. Another primary place this blog arose from was from

Gaugehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05625861174068168348noreply@blogger.com2