The traditional term for homosexuality in China is “the passion of the cut sleeve boys” (断袖之癖), so named from the story of Emperor Ai of Han (27 BCE - 1 BCE) and Dong Xian (23 BCE - 1 BCE). As the story goes, Emperor Ai fell in love with a minor official named Dong Xian. Dong Xian quickly gained the Emperor’s favor. One afternoon as they slept in bed, Emperor Ai woke up. Rather than wake his lover, he cut the sleeves of his robe to let his lover sleep longer. Homosexuality was regarded as a normal affair up until the late Qing dynasty when the government attempted to westernize the country.
Gay history!
gondoleia’s tags are on point: #we actually have a very long and very richly documented lgbt+ history #granted most of it is with cis men (or most likely — we didn’t have gendered pronouns until the europeans and so most of the pre-qing literature is ambiguous to gender so it could basically be read any way you like #but yeah then the nationalists and the late qing government tried to modernise #and sent scientists and journalists overseas in europe #and picked up on their ass-backwards ideas about homosexuality and brought it back to china #where it’d never been taboo before #(ha apparently the jesuits were shocked at the open nature of homosexuality in china) #yeah and then homosexuality got put onto a list of psychological illnesses and didn’t get taken off until recently #so thanks for that
ah this is the sweetest story oh gosh (white people why do we have to fuck everything up)
Also wanted to add that many of Gondoleia’s points applies to gender variance too. Like there are many, many stories of people (both dmab and dfab from what we can tell) fluidly moving between genders and occupying different roles. And at the same time that the dsm was brought in a homosexuality became an illness, so did trans/gender variant stuff.
there are more than two genders
there are more than two sexes
some people have no gender
all genders are valid
all sexes are valid
having no gender is valid
static gender is valid
dynamic / fluid gender is valid
absent gender is valid
binary sexes and genders are valid
nonbinary genders and sexes are valid
sex and gender are important to some people
sex and gender are unimportant to some people
invalidating another person’s gender or sex is fucking rude and if you do it you are an asshole
(Source: swamphorcydes, via bad-dominicana)
sadlittlekingofasadlittlehill:
Please stop writing treatises on why gender is irrelevant to the modern world without even bothering to consult a trans* person’s perspective. In fact… please just stop writing treatises on gender at all.
Looks like only less than 1% of the world’s population can say anything about gender. Nice.
So basically any “cis” people that spent years in college doing gender studies or whatever subject this would be under wasted their time because their opinion doesnt matter
Are you fucking kidding me. Holy shit, did you even read this that’s not what it said.
It said to stop writing about gender without taking trans people and other gender nonconforming people into consideraton. Like when cis people, instead of trying to understand trans people, go ‘oh i just think gender shouldn’t exist.’ Trans people experience gender issues directly more than cis people do so if you do not include them, your theory is incomplete.
I just realized that it said stop writing treatises on gender at all. I don’t agree with that, I think if you’re cis you can but not if you do not take trans people seriously and actually take them into consideration.
Just something I’ve noticed…
It seems like cis people on tumblr often interpret the writing of trans* individuals in the stupidest way possible. Sometimes they do it intentionally, but sometimes it’s due to a lack of ability to empathize well with what trans people deal with.
This is an example of how it can happen… a cisgender critic will select either (a) a poorly worded sentiment from the trans* person’s original post or a (b) figurative sentence from the post and then interpret such things in an overly simplistic manner or maybe an overly literalistic fashion, plus they will act shocked. Suddenly a bunch of other cis people will jump on the band wagon. Some of the cis people will be much more openly cissexist and sort of savor the chance to laugh in the face of the trans* person for daring to challenge the centrality of the cisgender experience.
I don’t really buy it as innocent criticism. Ultimately, it seems more and more like a derailment tact. At best, cissexist people do it because they can’t be bothered to empathize with trans* people.
Honestly, is it really that difficult to take a few extra seconds to reflect on the potential motivations behind the OP’s statement? Think about the 1st part of the OP’s statement and then consider the 2nd part and then ponder for a moment the sense of futility that it probably springs from. Afterwards, ponder why you felt obliged to respond with a derailment tact.
tl;dr If the OP made any mistake, it was that they made the (inevitable) derailment by a variety of cis people too bloody easy. When “potential allies” cannot resist the urge to derail posts, I think they’re not “potential allies” really. Instead, they’re mostly just cissexist douchebags following a few trans*-themed blogs in the hopes of spotting nice openings for derailment. Maybe it’s done unconsciously or maybe they’re very intentionally sniping at posts. I guess I don’t really give two shits which it is (because either way it’s oppressive). So yeah, FYI: Whenever the centrality of the cisgender experience gets challenged, bigoted cis people tend to become (a) uncomfortable and then (b) derailment-prone. And their faux bewilderment is ultimately a load of bullshit a lot of the time. It’s like the bewilderment of someone who could empathize, who could put themselves in the other’s shoes as it were, but ultimately doesn’t care to.
(via witchsistah)
FUCK YEAH SAILOR MOON
fuckkkk yeah
(Source: adventuresofcomicbookgirl, via blackamazon)
on “attention whores”
I don’t see what’s so freaking wrong with them.
Some girls dress up and/or get fierce because they want to. Some do it because they like attention. And I don’t see why either of those things is so fucking bad.
Because when boys seek out attention? They’re the lovable class clowns, the comedians in the gang, the bosses, the badasses. And when a girl acts up, she’s an attention whore, needy, and has no self-respect. Wanting to be the center of attention isn’t a gendered thing - it’s a goddamn personality trait.
So you can take your shitty double standards and shove ‘em.
had a conversation with my friend about this yesterday.
(via karnythia)
[tw: cissexism, gender binarism + policing] this is how “gender is all/only performance” is harmful.
when you question how I can be both femme and agender, or tell me that being assigned female at birth and femme just means that I’m a woman, what you’re really saying is that there is a specific way one must perform a non-binary gender identity.
and this has little to do with how the individual feels and relates to their gender, and everything to do with how they are perceived.
THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO BE AGENDER.
if a cis man who is read as male were to wear lipstick, you’d say he was being subversive. he’s going against expectations. he’s “breaking out” of his gender role. but when a trans man is femme, you think that’s different (especially, especially if he isn’t perceived to be male). because your ideas about gender are narrowly defined. cis people are allowed (to an extent) to play with gender and express themselves, while binary trans people are expected to conform to rigid conceptions of male or female. and non-binary people don’t even factor into this equation.
so when you first start to learn about non-binary people, you may think a non-binary gender must fall in between “male” and “female” on some sort of scale. and that if a person is non-binary but perceived to be female, they need to butch it up; while if they are perceived as male, they need to be more effeminate. the overall goal of a non-binary person being: to fall in the middle. you think that’s what it feels like to be non-binary; to be in between. (hint: gender isn’t a scale)
you think because I identify as not having a gender, that somehow I must present in a way that will result in me not being gendered (impossible). you think that my goal should be to confuse people who will try to gender me based on my appearance, by not conforming to expectations for women since I was assigned to be one and am continually assigned female every day.
my femme identity means often meeting others’ expectations of how I will look and act, because I am perceived to be a woman. to you, this means I’m not authentically non-binary. but to me, the way that I present myself is the way that I feel comfortable. it is unrelated to what others expect of me. only when I started to let go of where I fit into the binary gender system did I start to make sense of myself; I don’t fit into it. but in a cissexist culture, the gender I am assigned every day is defined by how I exist in relation to that system. in other words: what looks “androgynous” is defined by the binary gender system.
my goal when I get dressed every day as an agender person is not to avoid being gendered when I am out in the world. the validity of my gender identity does not rest upon the ability of others to correctly assign my gender. my gender expression does not determine my gender identity.
there is more than one way to challenge the oppressive gender dichotomy. if the way I describe my gender confuses you, then how can you tell me i’m not subverting anything?
why is gender significant?
because it can be a way of describing & expressing who we are to ourselves and other people
the binary, coercively assigning people at birth, and oppressive gender roles
can kindly go awaybadly need to be challenged/critiqued/subverted/smashed for all the hurt they cause, and some people do not have a gender and/or do fine without using it for thatbut to others it’s a fantastic personal tool when used the way they want and/or is part of who they are so as well as the language of gender being challenged so too should ‘radical’ dictats that people ‘should’ give gender up completely and uncritically
(Source: pensandpaper, via torayot)
![genderbitch:
dearestandqueerest:
fuckyeahlezbians:
support :)
this should just be public knowledge by now.
[A black and white column picture. The black side has white text and white pictures, the white side has black text and black pictures. Black side: “Gender is…” A transgender symbol, the merging of the venus and mars symbol into one ring with a merged mars arrow and venus cross on the third point on the upper left. Under it “A Spectrum”. The drama masks are the next symbol. “a range of expression”. The next picture is a person looking into a mirror wearing a hat. “how you relate to yourself”. The next picture is a Hello My Name Is Tag with the label “Me!” below it the final words “a personal identity.” On the white site the words “Gender is not…” underneath it the venus and mars symbol separate, below that the words “just male and female”. Below that is the dress stick figure and no dress stick figure bathroom signs, below it the words “defined by body parts”. Below that are the sexual orientation symbols (with the gender symbol symbol mixed in by accident it appears), the linked rings of two of each either mars symbol or venus symbol in various combos. Below that the words, “sexual orientation.” And finally, a picture of a molecular model of DNA, with the words below it “determined by chromosomes”]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhi4g6Eab11qfq7gxo1_500.jpg)
support :)
this should just be public knowledge by now.
[A black and white column picture. The black side has white text and white pictures, the white side has black text and black pictures. Black side: “Gender is…” A transgender symbol, the merging of the venus and mars symbol into one ring with a merged mars arrow and venus cross on the third point on the upper left. Under it “A Spectrum”. The drama masks are the next symbol. “a range of expression”. The next picture is a person looking into a mirror wearing a hat. “how you relate to yourself”. The next picture is a Hello My Name Is Tag with the label “Me!” below it the final words “a personal identity.” On the white site the words “Gender is not…” underneath it the venus and mars symbol separate, below that the words “just male and female”. Below that is the dress stick figure and no dress stick figure bathroom signs, below it the words “defined by body parts”. Below that are the sexual orientation symbols (with the gender symbol symbol mixed in by accident it appears), the linked rings of two of each either mars symbol or venus symbol in various combos. Below that the words, “sexual orientation.” And finally, a picture of a molecular model of DNA, with the words below it “determined by chromosomes”]
You can’t raise a little boy like he’s a girl,” I say. “He’ll grow up all confused. You have to instill in him right from birth that boys and girls are inherently different. If you don’t teach him that, he may never figure it out, and then what would happen?”
“Madness! Utter madness!” Michelle says. “It would be chaos! Boys and girls would have similar life goals! They’d treat each other as individuals instead of as potential mates or acquisitions! Could you imagine?”
“How would they know what to wear to prom?” Gilyan says. “How would they know who to fall in love with? They might be guided by their interests instead of societal norms!”
lockpick pornography - joey comeau
though there are nonbinaries, too.
What If Gender GTFO’d?
I get this question a lot since I tend to roll with a gender rebel and abolitionist crowd. Usually asked pretty innocently enough, I don’t roll with people trying to play “gotcha” about me being trans, generally they ask because they wanna find a way they can help me and others hurt less in the long run.
There’s some trans people out there for whom most of the pain arises from simply not being accepted as who they are. Those folks would probably have an easier time in a society without gender terms, expectations or bodily associations.
But there’s a huge portion who are in pain (like myself) less because of society and more because our bodies just inexplicably feel wrong. Now, no doubt, people like me (for whom the identity came after the dissonance) are not intensely common either. In most cases it’s dual whammy of identity and bodily dissonance. A lot of people ask if, the bodily dissonance is coming from the identity not being accepted, then wouldn’t abolishing gender help? Probably in some cases. But not in all.
Cuz not everyone operates that way.
I stand as evidence that there are trans folk with bodily dissonance related to sexual characteristics that does not arise from social elements or even identity (which can arise from all sorts of stuff, not just social things). I would still change my body even in a genderless world. It would take a ton of pressure off me, remove a ton of reminders and simplify my life. But it wouldn’t help the bodily dissonance.
So folks gotta remember that. Reducing the effects of social gender is good but there will still be trans people who hurt. Don’t lump us.
(via justinequeer)
Just what i was looking for.
(via whimwam)
This is ahead of its time. I’m afraid that that day will not come in the near future, for reasons stated in the middle of the strip.
But the process will be acclerated when human beings start to widen their perspective. A catalyst for that would be something very shocking, such as our first encounter with sentient extraterrestrials.
Hopefully it doesn’t take an alien to teach us to treat human beings with respect.
