Have been listening to all the Empires
So at queer discussion group Saturday night I got to have a nice long rant with two other people about how uncomfortable Luna made us and how poorly it was written. It was super super satisfying. And then the Second Cup where we were meeting gave us free baked goods, which was also satisfying.
And then I came back to my mum's where I was house sitting, ordered some cheap guys clothes online from the bloody Gap, of all places, and spent the hour between six and seven AM writing out a whole long-winded explanation of my gender identity, with plans to email it to my mum when I woke up. And then I slept, woke up at three (I'm a writer; stfu; it's allowed) and decided that i was making a big deal out of nothing and my gender really isn't a thing that I ought to be making any sort of deal about. Which just means i'll send it to her when I'm next super sleep-deprived.
And then I watched Torchwood! Torchwood, you guys, I am filled with so much unreserved glee over how that ended. There really is something wrong when Torchwood has me far more excited and fascinated than Doctor Who, I must say.
I also got an email from the University in England that the creative writing courses for which I submitted portfolios are no longer being offered this term. So now I've got to put together a portfolio of poetry and one for longer fiction, and possibly something for a workshop class (I've no idea how a workshop class would differ from any other class). And I'll have to start entirely from scratch, as I lost six years of writing when my desktop died in April and all I've got on my netbook are tens of thousands of words of ridiculous bandfic and a few essays from last year. And I leave in less than two weeks, and i've still got to call my bank, order copies of my transcripts, call my home university to find out what's up with the scanner I was supposed to have like forever ago, get pocket-sized photos of myself taken for my student ID card and train pass, and likely a million other things I'm forgetting. Plus help my mum move this weekend. Christ.
If you are not getting confirmation e-mails from Oasis to complete your membership, don't hesitate to e-mail jeff at oasismag dot com. Be sure to include your username.
Recent articles
Recent journal entries
Active forum topics
- The Curse of Reparative Therapy
- First Book: 'Keeping You A Secret' By Julie Anne Peters
- A Kids Reaction To A Gay Couple
- The Importance Of Giving Feedback
- Can you envisage an any more pointless existence?
- Advice?
- Will Portman - Son of Ohio's Senator Portman: His Column on Coming Out
- Can you imagine the vitriol unleashed by Republicans…
- coming out
- Islam and Homosexuality
Comments
what's funny about Luna (and
what's funny about Luna (and to a certain extent, everything Julie Ann Peters ever writes) is that it didn't make me feel at all uncomfortable in like 7th grade. When I was a kid, I really needed those books. As I matured and learned how the world actually works, I realized how wrong her work is... but it's not really intended for 18 year olds. Does the fact that it's oversimplified mean we shouldn't recommend it to baby queers?
Well...
I still think ya'll have overcomplicated it, so perhaps you should all meet somewhere in the middle? ;-)
---
"You can judge the whole world on the sparkle that you think it lacks" - Dawes, When My Time Comes (http://youtu.be/Z0FrcTX6hWI)
Recommend with a caveat,
Recommend with a caveat, perhaps. Five years ago I would've said we've got no other choice -- over-simplified literature is better than none. But at this point I think there are books out there that do a better job of exploring queerness for young teens than Peters' work does. There're even better (in my opinion) books out there dealing with trans issues. I mean, kids will find what they find to read when first coming out especially, but I think that over-simplifications can just result in a longer struggle to get past them later. Or alternatively, if kids are using books as models for their own lives in some regards, they could be doing more damage to themselves in the long-term by internalizing some of the messages in over-simplified queer lit. I think realistic, honest portrayals of queer people are more important that making the material easily accessible by over-simplifying it. There are other ways to make your books easy for younger readers to comprehend. It just seems like a lot of pointless learning, unlearning, and relearning once the kids realize that this is not actually how the world works. Eh, that's just my opinion. :)