I don't care about gay marriage. Not really. I am terrified that my girlfriend of nearly 12 years will wanna make me get married and I don't really like commitment. Seriously though, it's not something that ever really set off any political rage switch in me. When I was growing up so few of my friends had married parents, perhaps subconsciously I didn't think that "marriage" was a civil right worth fighting over.

As the campaigns for/against Prop 8 in California raged on last year, I still found it hard to give a shit and the only thing that really bothered me about the outcome was the speed with which black people were blamed for its passing. Recent rulings riled, but did not get to me; after all, just allowing gay marriage isn't gonna stop many people from remaining second class citizens.

All-in-all, I figured that the gay marriage debate could never leave me feeling like I had to douse myself with kerosene and set myself on fire. Well, fuck me if I didn't come across something that has highlighted to me just how important this fight is.

Read this: http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/533narty.asp?pg=2

It's supposedly a critique of gay marriage that isn't bigoted or biblical in origin. It's actually an insidious, homophobic bag o'shite masquerading as high brow intellectualism. This article is so disgusting and patronising in it's denigration of  gay people. Quite simply, it argues that we are not part of a kinship system and no rules or traditions that bind heterosexual marriage apply to gay marriage.

An example:
It is repellent and viciously homophobic and so much worse than some fuckhead fanatic screaming about homosexuality being an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. This person actually believes they have reasoned out a rational, sociologically based argument against gay marriage. In actuality it is just right wing, heterosexist, crap. Take this bit:


What? Really? REALLY? No evidence to support a single statement in the whole article. None. On the contrary there is vast amounts of evidence to dispute virtually everything in it, most especially the sexist and false idea that marriage is there to protect the sexuality of women (fucker has never heard of rape WITHIN marriage).

Gay marriage is different from straight marriage in that one involves gay people and the other involves straight people. That's fucking it. Beyond that of unassisted reproduction (something that is rapidly becoming unavailable to many heterosexual couples as infertility rates rise) any additional argument about the difference between gay and straight marriage is socially constructed BULLSHIT.

So I came across this site via Twitter: http://www.queersunited.blogspot.com/

I have been following their Twitter account for a while and was thinking about dumping them because their take on things is so US focused that I find their tweets a) boring and b) really fucking irritating. The other day their twitter feed picked up their "Word of the Gay" (another thing that has been trying my patience) as "Ginger beer". They had poorly defined this as being insulting when it's just cockney rhyming slang for "queer" and as such to be seen as empowering and reclaimed if one wishes. So, I go off to their site to post a pissy correction and I notice their site slugline:

Queers United: The activist blog Uniting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexual, Asexual community & Allies in the fight for equality.

I mean, come the fuck on. Where exactly is the "Intersexual community"? Or the "Asexual community"? What legislation or media endorsed, society wide discrimination exists for the "asexual community"?  What exactly does being "asexual" mean anyway? Supposedly this image below helps you identify whether you are "asexual" or not.

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You know, just because people mistake me for a man, doesn't mean I ought to be one. I am just me.

As the constant debate about gender and sexuality within LGBT circles rages on, where people discuss "gender fluidity", more and more butch lesbians transition and more women refer to themselves as "boi", some of us find ourselves under pressure to redefine themselves.

There was a time when women like me - who some might call "butch dykes", others might refer to as "boyish" - found it acceptable to refer to themselves as women. That we did not wear the traditional uniform of women (skirts, dresses, blouses and bras) and did not carry ourselves with the traditional (Hollywoord informed) feminine demeanour was not an issue. We were still women, albeit women that did not conform to the stereotypical gender roles assigned to us.

I grew up in the 80s and came out in the 90s and by the time I was at university gender ambiguity was very much the height of fashion. Various fashion designers and models exploited this look - taking it out of the clubs and into the mainstream and I was very happy to be young and keen in a world where androgyny was accepted. When I went out on a Friday night with my mates few outside the LGBT world would be able to discern who among us was male and who was female.

And while our ostentatious gender identities may have been blurred to those looking in, most of us were quite sure that a man who wears high heels and make up is still a man and a woman puts on a shirt and tie is still a woman. Sure there were times I found myself being checked out by gay guys but that didn't make me think I should become one or that I was secretly male. Neither did it make me think that I should start wearing make up and skirts so gay men wouldn't hit on me or straight women wouldn't try throwing me out of the ladies toilets.

Somewhere along the line things changed and A LOT of women who were like me started transitioning and/or calling themselves something else. They went from being butch lesbians, seemingly proud of identifying as women, (albeit women who don't fit into mainstream gender stereotypes), to identifying as men. Their femininity could no longer be expressed in the way it had been previously, it had to be redefined as masculinity. While I was quite happy for that to go on - people can do what they want, right? - I find that the more women there are that do this, the less legitimacy I seem to have in saying "I'm a woman, just not your type of woman".

I am not a boy, boi, guy or man. I am a woman and I am very proud and happy about that. I enjoy being a woman. I like having breasts and occasionally I even enjoy having a fucking period. I like the fact that I can get pregnant and give birth, I like that I was once a girl. I like that I have a vagina and not a penis. I like that one day I'll go through the menopause. I even like that now that I am in my 30s I seem to have fucking acne again. I may not accept my place in society as a woman, but I do like how it has shaped my life. I am woman.

But I also like wearing the clothes I do and I feel comfortable in who I am, even if that means that occasionally people mistake me for being a man. I am not going to start redefining myself as "gender queer" or start transitioning so I fit in with other people's definitions of what is male and female. I wouldn't dress differently so I can accommodate the thoughts and feelings as mainstream society, so why start calling myself something new? Just as I refused to accept being ushered out of the ladies toilets because I don't fit mainstream definitions of femininity, I refuse to accept being labelled "gender queer" by those who think I look like a man.

It seems to me that many of those who are embracing these trans roles and definitions, particularly lesbians, do so thinking that they are challenging and redefining traditional gender stereotypes. I would argue that the opposite is true - rather than redefining gender stereotypes they are perpetuating them. Rather than building on the work of all those feminists and lesbians of the 60s, 70s and 80s they are dismantling all their progress. Not only do they return us to the binary that they themselves are trying to escape, they devalue womanhood and femininity in all its forms.

Interestingly, if I find myself in the position of having to chose between defining myself as "gender queer" or "trans" or changing the way I dress and act so that I can be accepted in a more traditional female role, I would choose that latter. Perhaps that shows an inherent transphobia on my part or perhaps it illustrates just how much identifying as a woman really means to me.

I won another prize on Twitter! This time it was a signed Fraggle Rock poster!  The competition was to come up with a slogan for the Jim Henson company to celebrate Earth Day. I pondered it for a short while and having been told that The Muppets now belong to Disney and therefore anything to do with them was out, I came up with: "This is a beautiful place. Let's not frell it up". At the time I thought it was pretty weak but figured that I should really be devoting my time to something constructive, like say writing this mammoth report. Truth is, I didn't expect it to win - and it didn't. I got the runner up prize. First prize was "Thinking about going green? Just doozer it!" a very worth winner.

Anyway, time to do some flaming work. I spent this morning at a lecture giving by Patricia Hill Collins at the London Metropolitan University. I am a huge fan of hers. She's  the current president of the American Sociological Association and long time academic and critical social theorist. She wrote Black Feminist Thought and Black Sexual Politics, the latter being a fabulous read. Unfortunately, the talk was pitched at undergraduates and didn't really focus on any particular topic. After a short introduction where she implored them to "stay in school" it was very much a  Q&A. The whole thing had a very churchy feel about it, with people nodding and vocalising and all around being very participatory.  She did answer some questions put to her by myself and two of my colleagues and it was certainly nice to hear in person her theories on hyper-masculinity, hip hop and homosexuality.

Ultimately though what I really wanted was to sit down with her for 3 hours and just ask her a million questions. African American academics are fabulous.

I have grown increasingly worried about the resurgence of fascism and extreme right wing doctrine since the start of this Deprecession (It's a new, unprouncable word that means Deep recession or Depression). There is nothing like economic hardship to sharpen the minds of the right wing elite while dulling the sensibilities of the media. What I find really strange about this report of the war between fascists and anti-fascists in Russia, is the idea that Russians, Russians?, are putting up with Nazi symbolism and propaganda. Twenty odd million Soviets died in that war.

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So the following is an extract from a New York Times article someone showed me yesterday. The article presents data from a review paper in Nature Geoscience that cites Black Carbon (BC), which is produced from sources like cookstoves in developing countries:
( Low ethical standards )

I love it when irate patients come through to me on my phone extention and start screaming about missed appointments and the like.

"Hello? My name is Missus Bladeblah and on the 17th November I called you to book a transport appointment and no one answered so I left a message, but then no one called me back and then I called back and left another message and someone called me back that time but on the date of the appointment I didn't get my ride. So now I am calling to make another appointment and I have been calling continuously for the last three days and.."

"Can I stop you a moment?"

"...I want to book an appointment for the frac.."

"You have the wrong number"

"What?"

"You have dialled the wrong number. This is not the hospital"

"Oh"

"Bye"

It's very satisfying to know that I have taken the wind out of their sails and that I don't have to actually deal with their complaint. Back when I worked in a call centre, dealing with screamers was almost as bad as the mind-numbing monotony of working there the rest of the time. Being able to say "No, not my problem" and hang up is like some kinda compensation.

Dear Everyone I bet that Obama Would be the First US President to Invade an African Country,


At the time of making the bet I specifically excluded anything to to with Black Hawk Down and Operation Hope Things Go Alright, because I felt that counted as a UN operation led by the US given that so many other countries were involved. Anyway, the point is, get your money ready, because I reckon Obama is gonna invade Somalia and this time it will count because I said so.

Cheers,

Mabel.

I have his albums. They are a bit self-righteous, but he puts a new perspective on the Somali pirates. Not sure his view is not as one-sided as that of CNN, but it's nice to hear the other side.

To be honest, it's hard to tell the difference between this and the real ad.

Blair questions Papal gay policy


I read that headline on my RSS feeder several times before clicking on it thinking that PAYPAL had decided not to allow gay porn to be purchased through their system. My mind is slow.

Is the new Eminem video/song just more anti-lesbian/anti-female wank? I am sick of this cockmaster.

http://www.rapradar.com/Focus/eminem-qwe-made-youq-video.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/05/google-internet-piracy

The guy who wrote that article appears to hate Google more than I hate Apple, which is actually quite hard. His arguments are much more thought out than my (almost) irrational dislike of Macs and ipods. Having said that, I am not so sure about the tone he's taking. He makes out that Google is just another corporate giant and lists in varying detail the many evil things they do. One of the main points he's making is that Google allows people to access music, books and various copyrighted content for free. The punters get their content, Google gets their money from advertisers and the "intellectual property" owner gets screwed.

Now, in this sense the guy does have a good point - Google know nothing of creativity and originality and are just an collators of content. They don't offer a replacement for the stuff that may die out due to their indifferent pilfering and they stand on some very dodgy ground when it comes to privacy. However, I think the guy fails to acknowledge the beauty of many of their products and the neat symbiotic relationship Google has with so many third party developers.

Additionally, I have a huge issue with "creatives" whining about copyright infringement and people "stealing their stuff" (one of the reasons I secretly hate Wil Wheton is that he continually whines about people stealing his stuff). I especially dislike this whining from liberals and those on the Left - the anarchist in me does not believe in property and "intellectual property" is at the bottom of the list. I can see how it would annoy you that someone was making money off your creative endeavours while you were not (as Google does). But I don't think sitting round writing songs, writing books, playing music, making films etc should be favoured so disproportionately (that's the Marxist in me) and to some degree there is something to be said for the equality of opportunity that something like YouTube brings.

These same people that whine on about their work being devalued because it is available for free remind me of all those actors who hate reality TV. They can't stand that someone could gain fame, exposure and fortune for doing something that requires only slightly less talent than most professional actors posses. The other day I read something complaining about bloggers\columnists vs investigative journalists. Essentially the author was saying that people who comment on the news are lazy and benefit from the real work done by journalists who have to get off their arses and work a story with verifiable facts before they file copy. (Actually, I don't think I read it, I think it was on The WIre Season 5 DVD - but I digress).

And these are salient points, but I am not so sure that it is quite such a bad thing for there to be bloggers and reality TV stars and free access to books out of print but not copyright. Part of me believes that these are anti-capitalist activities and that the "creatives" whining about them are just pissed that their mystique has been shattered. Unfortunately, like other anti-capitalist activities - organic farming, sustainable living etc - this one has been co-opted by big business and sold back to the masses. Unfortunately it's another revolution that's been televised.

As capitalism eats itself and the world becomes more and more ridiculous, I am finding it harder to understand what is or isn't real. It's April Fool's Day so the Look & Leap Programme could be either a sophisticated joke or just a very, very, very sad indictment of our society. Note the price of the course.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/lookandleap.html

“Thinking about making someone redundant?”

Are you at the point in your role as a senior manager or business owner where you have to seriously consider making one of your colleagues redundant? If so, you may be experiencing a high level of personal discomfort.
Why do you feel the way you do?

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Yesterday I came across this cartoon while farting around on Twitter.




I generally don't find cartoons offensive, even when they are trying to be, but this one really pushed my buttons. I suppose what got to me about it was the inadvertent racism. I did contemplate that this might be deliberate, but having looked at the rest of the guy's cartoons I decided that no, this was indeed racist and offensive claptrap. Here's the correspondence I have had with this guy so far:

I wanted to add at the end "And you can suck my dick" but changed my mind.

Edit: It gets better. Here's his reply to that email.
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Rebecca and I are off to Amsterdam in a minute. We are going for five days adn we'll be staying with Rhon. Cheikh is coming over tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it. The train journey is about 6 hours. Expect to see pictures of trains and shit sometime in the next few days.

Have fun and catch you on the other side!

When I was sick the other week, (not last week , but the week I went to casualty), I watched lots of Farscape Season Four and got into a "Where are they now?" imdb.com surf . This led to me spending a whopping great $64 subscribing the new Farscape comic. "That's not that much" I hear you say. Well, not if I was getting perhaps 15 issues. It's actually only 4 issues. However, I was in an antibiotic haze so I actually succumbed to the money making scam they had going by purchasing the different covers associated with each issue. So I will be getting 8 comics for my $64. Only, that's a lie because I only get one copy of Issue 1 & 2 because they had sold out of the originals so I am getting reprints.

So that's 6 comics for $64. I would like to say that's the most I have ever paid for a comic, but I actually paid £9 each for the last set of Farscape comics they made in 2004/5. And I do have a Batman vs Judge Dread graphic novel which I paid an extortionate price for back in the mid 1990s, but I have blanked the price out of my mind.

Yeah, I know.

One of the things I have neglected to mention is my recent interest in Twitter. I signed up about two years ago, made two or three tweets and then promptly forgot about it. Then, the other day I saw a TED talk by Evan Williams on Twitter's unexpected uses. I tried to log on and succeeded and have been trying to work out whether it really is useful or not for the last week or so.

I have read a couple more articles about it and one of them said that the joy of Twitter is not in being followed, but actually following. After signing up to follow all the people I knew who had accounts (and Wil Wheton) I was then stumped.  The author had recommended using the Twitter search engine to find things you are interested in and then following others who share your interests. Naturally the first thing I put into the search engine was "Farscape" which led to me following HensonCompany updates.

About an hour ago they asked a competition question and I just so happened to be farting around on Twitter when they did and I replied and  won this! (It's a life sized plush of a Farscape puppet called Rygel).

I am chuffed to bits! Man, who knew Twitter could be so much fun. And last night using the Twitter search engine to follow the Arsenal vs Roma penalty shoot out  was almost as thrilling/nerve wracking as watching it for real.

Anyway, if you want to follow me I am here: http://twitter.com/ibster If you have an account I'd really like to follow you.