Well, not really. Just, second day of the Semester and I wonder if I'm going to make it.

I managed to create, without meaning to, a Sunday course schedule in which I have seminar called "Hysteria and Paranoia in the 19th century novel", followed by a course named "The Poetics of Trauma" and I finish off with "Between the Tragic and the Tragedy: A critical theory".

Totally unintentional I swear.

Hilarious, I know.

Once again, my past academic failings have come back to haunt me and I'm taking intro to Sociology and woe I am to read "The Communist Manifesto", again. And Emil Durkheim, again.
I do, however, have the same TA I had last year for Anthropology and that makes me happy as I really enjoyed his exercises.

Tomorrow should be more relaxed, still, an 8:30 class *headdesk*

I met up with roga yesterday and today and I had really fun talking to her, I may sign up for Yuletide.

Speaking of fannishness!

Two creative women on my f-list, rm who I have been reading for a while now and mithrigil who I've started reading recently, are making a musical!
And we get to help them!
You can do so by going to the Kickstarter page of Dogboy and Justine, a new musical about life, love and head injuries.

I'm super excited about this project, because I love off-beat musical theatre and I have a yen for stories of marginalised bodies and sexualities, so when you have a show about dominatrices and nueroatypical brains and minds, this gets the thumbs up.

Not to mention that it's by two women about women.

It's awesome!

rm commented and added a few details about the project, FYI:

In case your readers are curious, the show is 5W, 3M in its current configuration. All the women except one may be cast as any age/race/ethnicity/size (the other has to fit with one of the male characters a certain way). I would also be happy to cast transwomen in any of the roles, and we are also open to women living with disabilities -- although some would fit with the nature of the characters better than others and would not be a plot point.

The 3M may also be cast any any race/ethnicity/size, although age is a specific factor in the casting for at least two of them. While we don't know if it will be possible, we're open to casting neurologically atypical character with a actor living with a relevant disability.

And we have a lesbian romance b-plot!

It's a really affirming show that totally isn't about equality, but because of its setting, lets us really try to provide opportunities for actors who aren't always easy to cast in mainstream theater. The catch? We're determined to make this relatively mainstream theater, without compromise, because we believe that people want to see people like themselves on stage.

One of my favourite courses in Uni this year is Intro to Queer Theory.
It's taught by Amalia Ziv, which I've mentioned on this blog before in various contexts, mainly to fangrrl, because she's a queer academic icon [dykon].

One of the requirements of the class is to write and hand in commentary on at least three articles that we are reading throughout the Semester.
I took my time writing these commentaries, because I wasn't sure what to expect from the class and I wanted to see how I managed in the actual class discussions.
I do very well, by the way, if I may brag for just a second. I'm a participant, I always find myself saying something, or responding to something someone else has said.
Amalia knows my name and looks at me when there's a lull in a discussion.
It is quite awesome.

The article I wrote a commentary for is "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community: Buffalo, New York, 1940-1960" by Madeline Davis and Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy.

A large portion of the article is detailing the unique historiography of the pre-Gay Liberation Lesbian Community, especially the Bar Scene and the Butch-Femme dynamic within the community.
Butch-Femme relationships were the norm of that time and place and what's really great is that all the information comes straight from the women who were a part of that community - hence oral history.

What's really interesting is that the Butch-Femme dynamic (as presented in the article) is part of a working-class community. That the social norms formed the sexual practice of Butch/Femme sexuality.
I'm not sure what my own view on gender are, other than the fact that it is a socially constructed category and that there are many facets and ranges on the various gender expressions. So when I first encountered the idea of Butch/Femme, which is arguably the most known Lesbian stereotype found in various mainstream ideas about how Lesbians behave, I was sure what it was just that.
A stereotype.
The realisation that I was mistaken came long before reading this article (well, not too long, but enough time to not be completely floored by what was written in the article), that Butch and Femme identities weren't just Lesbian women who took on specific roles that replicated Straight ones - I mean, that's such a reduction of the dynamics and relationships!

I'm a bit ashamed of myself for ever thinking that sort of thing.

I think what impressed me the most is the parallel development of this specific Lesbian community in the 1940's and 1950's with mainstream culture. I mean, it's well known that during WW2 women found themselves working and supporting themselves without men. It's really not too far fetched to imagine some of them making the most of this period of time to explore other avenues of sexuality. The War is not mentioned explicitly in the article, though I think it was certainly a factor.
In the 1950's the whole Domestic Goddess ideal and being supportive for the husband. Not to mention that it was probably the most sexually repressed time since the Victorians.
While Straight society was doing their best to have sex for reproductive purposes (this of course merely the ideal of what went on - Kinsey showed things to be quite different) the Lesbian community was all about experimenting with sexuality.
The Lesbian scene was actually an arena of openness and expression.

What really impressed me in the article was the sexual mentor role that Femmes played in the 1940's and how it expanded in the 1950's to older Butches teaching younger Butches proper sexual etiquette.

I think that's something that's really missing from our current modern society.
We're expected to get into bed with a partner and "know" them by virtue of being human - "let nature take its course" - but that that's such bullshit.
I mean, sex is something we have to learn, some part are intuitive, but certainly not all.
I mean, why is intercourse still considered the be all and end all of "proper" sex still, when for half the population (women), having a piece of flesh pressing inside them isn't the highlight.

I think if the conflation between love/sex were actually culturally separated it would be easier for people to find people to teach them how to gain pleasure from their bodies and create pleasure for another.
Basically, if the perception wasn't that people are for gaining sexual gratification, but rather than it is gratifying to be sexual with other people, maybe sex in Western culture wouldn't be so fucked up.

And Lesbian sex would actually be regarded as sex and not, you know, an empty space waiting for a cock.

That ended on a rant didn't it...

Still worth thinking about.

---

Oh!
And have a...
Happy Hannukah!
Merry Yule!
And may this long Solstice Night pass quickly and may the days be lengthy.

Ahhhh-Mennnnnnnn!

( Light My Candle )

My tolerance for people has never been particularly high. I'm very picky about the people I'm willing to be friends with and I unfortunately tend to form strong opinions very quickly, so if someone said, done or have an attitude that grates me... I'm afraid it would take a hell of a lot to make me consider that someone worth any kind of positivity from me.

The one kind of attitude I can't fucking stand, really, it pisses me off beyond grating, is the "I'm so speshul" attitude.

A small disclaimer; I have my own incidences in which I'm completely narcissistic and think I'm the best thing that ever happened. This is a normal thing for people who know they're smart, I think.
But when [editorial] you are only saying something in a class discussion that isn't in aid of putting forth a standpoint, but in fact to put yourself in the spot light, you're an ass.
No, really.
You are.
I'm sorry I'm being vague, but I dislike demonizing particular people on the Internet, especially since I'm not locking this post as it's actually something worth talking about.

In a class forum, especially in a class in which sexuality and gender identity is on the table (it being a Queer Theory class), your own individual personal sexuality isn't what's being discussed.
It's one thing and a very good thing, to say out loud, that the discussion is excluding certain sexualities and identities (e.g. bisexuality and genderqueer). It's another to say that it affects you personally.
No, sorry, that's someone with an attitude problem.
And I may sound harsh, but I cannot stand it when people decide to use a class forum to show off their "spedhulness".
It's neither the time nor the place.
You want to talk about your own sexuality, there are breaks and after-class discussions. I mean, c'mon, we're a bunch of intellectual queers... this is what we do.
It rubs me the wrong way.
I (try to) participate in classes. I have things to say. I try to make them a standpoint and not a "personal opinion" or a "personal issue" mainly because, every word I say is ideological and very obviously a "personal" thing, unless I'm very specifically playing Devil's Advocate - but that's a whole different kettle of fish (where does that saying come from).

There are certain types of "speshul" people.
Not just the type described above.

There's also the type that feels the need to tell you, that because they like something in a certain way, then liking that same something in a different way is wrong.
For example, I was talking to this person about Alan Moore and how I'm really pre-supposed to hating the new "Watchmen" movie, mainly because I hate, despise Zack Snyder.
Hate. That. Director.
A lot.
Aesthetics mean a lot... but not enough to cover up the badness and complete lack of directorial abilities.
But I digress.
Any way, this person totally agrees and inside I'm all "yay, Moore fan!" and then he says "I really hated the Vendetta movie as well".
And I was like "What? How come? I mean, it was a very cute adaptation? Wachowski Sibs!"
He goes: "It completely butchered the meaning of the book, which is one of the few works that managed to show Anarchy as interesting".
(I refrain from bringing up "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin).
I say: "I enjoyed it and..." before I can finish my thought about the movie making it's own statement about freedom, government and other things like that, he interrupts and says:
"I guess I'm more of a political hard-liner than you"

What is with people?
Seriously?
Do you know me? I think not. I'll tell you something, I now know this guy a hell of a lot better now than before and I hope the hostility I transmit reaches him loud and clear.

People are people, I know.
And I can understand how misanthropy develops and becomes ones default position when it comes to interaction with others.
I really hope I retain my love for humanity for a little bit longer, despite the fact that I'm encountering these characters.

Ah, Uni.
I love Uni.

My fave course is probably, and funnily enough, the Feminism and Law course.
The lecturer is political and angry.
I love that.
She gave us a quick overview of the different kinds of feminism we'll be using in order to interpret a law and the feminist issues surrounding certain laws in Israel and what its societal affect is.
So cool!
One of the articles I'm reading at the moment, and taking a break from, is about "Honour" Killings in the Arab/Palestinian sector is Israel.
Can I just say the injustice if fucking infuriating!
Another article is about the clashes of different kinds of feminism in Israel - like the The Israel Womens Network and the anti-militarism organisations, like New Profile.
Fascinating I tell you.

The Lit. classes are getting a more interesting and they're still intros and I think they will only get interesting next year when I'm done learning what the tools are and actually use them in a way I find interesting.
So, less fascinating so far, but we'll be talking about Marxism and social atmosphere as a way to interpret a text in front of us, and not just look at the way it looks or structured "physically" - like in Formalism (bleh).
Okay, so it is a little fascinating.

Did I mention I love Uni?!

Having new friends in Uni is quite an expirience, these are new people, they've known me for only a few months with very little interaction, meeting perhaps once or twice a week, where we'd mainly continue our discussion concerning the classes we were having together.

Today was the first time they witnessed by geekness(1), because we had been discussing philosophy and pop-culture (fun!) and I mentioned the Wonder Woman Brouhaha, and to my surprise I was asked, seriously, how I, as a feminist can enjoy that kind of literature.

The whole discussion deteriorated quickly because when it comes down to it the same people who control the comic book industry are the same people who control the sex industry.
Men who want to make money, preferably money paid by young hormonally charged adolescent boys.

But that isn't the case anymore, really, there are far more of us fangrrls out there than people think (I don't know how many identify as feminist) and the majority of comic book readers I know and interact with are over 18 (though that could merely be a demographic issue concerning the swamp like nature of the overlapping sci-fi/fantasy community in Israel), so there is a far more critical aspect in my reading of comics, as well as in my discussions of comic books with the fellow fans.

To read Superman as purely the philosophically and cultural ideal man is a disservice to the character and to his creators, just as reading Wonder Woman as a pure male fantasy, catered to feed male fantasy is a disservice to her character and creator. And in any event, if that was all the "demographic" readers and buyers were looking for, there's a huge amount of free wank material available on the internet, why even bother with developing characters and intricate plot lines when you can find free porn in the style of comic books if that's your thing.

Yes, there is cheesecakery, I don't think it's the main thing in the literature, it's a style that is prevalent, but it is certainly not the whole deal. Comic books, in a twisted dramatic way, like almost every other medium, reflect reality.
To criticize comic books and merely see them as another tool of the "Patriarchal Agenda" and the objectification of women is to lose the message of what superheros represent - which is idealism.

As for the subject line - I view myself as a Radical Feminist, I don't know how much I actually live it, but my belief is that equality, of every kind, can come from the bottom, form the roots and that the system itself is flawed and must change.
I get angry when fan-people tell me that if I want "feminist comics" I should go write some myself. Or read the fringe comics that don't promote the "Patriarchial Agenda". It is especially annoying when other feminists tell me the same thing.
But why should I?
Why should I reject something in order to promote a radical agenda, when the characters I admire in this medium are in that flawed system?
Why should I remove myself this community?

Batman is cool, Catwoman is cool.
Why should I only read Fritz the Cat?

Notes:
(1) Seven books of pop-culture criticism about Buffy the Vampire Slyer, right here!

First week of Uni is over.
It was also the beginning of the Senior Lecturer's Strike, which I agree with in principle, but aaargh, it's my first week of my first year, worst timing ever... for me!

Moving on from my self-centered University Woes.

I had two classes this week, both in Gender Studies, which were fun, I have some reading to do, which is what the weekend is for obviously. So far there's not much reading seeing as there aren't actually any classes, but I'll take advantage of the huge amounts of time I have and continue to procrastinate as I do best.

Hopefully the strike won't last more than this week, though truth be told, I'm not that hopeful since the demands will most likely not be met and the government and ministry of education will, as per usual, continue to do nothing that will actually benefit this country in the long run.

Tomorrow is Friday, with a slight chance of laziness and seeing friends I hadn't seen in two weeks and perhaps cinema and coffee.
Not everything is right with the world, but at least my little micro-cosmos is doing well.

In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.

וכמו כן, צריך לעצור את רצח העם בדרפור.

Yay, Mummy's coming home tomorrow!
Just in time for her to go back to school and teach.
Poor Mummy, won't even have time to get over the Jet Lag.
But at least she'll be home and I'll be seeing her for a significant amount of time and not a few weeks at a time, since this summer have been fractured when it came to us being at home together, what with all the traveling we both did.

But tomorrow she'll be home.
Which is lovely.

morin came over today to help me stop freaking out about my University schedule, which I'm glad to say is under control.
Seeing as morin studied the Lit. half of my double major (Lit. and Gender) she helped me understand what goes where, what (in her opinion) were good courses, and I could thus figure out how to arrange the courses I want.
Monday I'm going to a course consultant who should help me with tweaking my hours.

Soon I'm going to be a student.

Wow.

It's a bit overwhelming, seeing as this is the first time I really have no idea what's going to happen next. I mean for all I know I could end up hating Lit. or Gender, or GDess forbid both.

Gah! No that is too horrible to think about, so I won't be.

But really, this is the first time where no one is handing me off to my next station in life, since after Junio High, came High School, after High School immediately came the Army and I knew that after the Army I'd be off to America (since the family and I discussed this) and I knew I'd be taking these two years off so that I could live outside a structured environment and actually do what I like.
Theses past two years were nothing like I imagined they'd be, but c'est la vie, you gotta roll with the punches and all that shit.
So now I'm going back into this frame of study, for myself, what I want, in order to get a degree.

How lovely.

In addition, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped.

וכמו כן, צריך לעצור את רצח העם בדרפור.