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InsaneJournal for arionhunter.
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| Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 |
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I'm gonna talk about Art. (Bear with me, this starts out with some obviousness.) For a long time, there was Art and then there was all that other crap. What the artists, who were often a part of and/or funded by the privileged classes, made was in the objectively unassailable category of Art. And this Art was especially unassailable by the lower, 'uneducated' classes. Thus, Art is a construction from societies which used top-down power structures to establish hierarchies which reinforce the dominance of the (most often economically) privileged over the unempowered. As such, no one cared if the unprivileged did not like, were offended by, or were hurt by Art - it's wasn't About Them. It was about the subjects who were also its target audience. This idea is generally seen as starting to change in English literature with Chaucer, who wrote about the lower classes and worked to subvert the concept of Art. By now, most people tend to think of Art as an outmoded concept. (Most importantly to fandom, the deconstruction [Whoo-whoo, here come the postmodern police!] of Art forms a large part of the foundation for establishing the legitimacy of derivative works--a legitimacy which is ultimately unnecessary but often sought after by fandom.) So, now that we kicked Art in its metaphorical privilege genitals, what is the point of creating? Does there need to be one or several *legitimatized* reasons for creating? Not really, but people keep trying to establish them anyway. Often in literature classes, students cite one of the reasons for reading/studying literature is how it exposes the reader to the Others who they might not commonly encounter in daily life. (A million existentialists twitch, as if called by a far-off dog whistle.) What these students really mean is that literature makes you less of an asshole. By being exposed to the Other, it is assumed in the students' reasoning that, following said exposure, one will better understand the Other and learn to view the world through multiple perspectives. The community standard of imposing harmony through obeying hierarchies (the standard of Art) is replaced by the community standard of promoting harmony through mutual respect. And personally, I like this reasoning. I agree with there being fewer assholes in the world. But with the warnings wank, the exact opposite is happening. Fanfiction is reestablished as Art. As Art, fanfiction doesn't need to abide by community standards. It exists in a vacuum and can be an asshole if it wants to, and it doesn't care how the Other reacts to it. Why hello, hierarchies of power, so very not glad that you decided to come and crash the party! The object lesson? Don't be an asshole. (Unless you want to, which is fine if you're, say, okay with being generally viewed as someone who is a privilege-abusing asshole.) |
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| Monday, April 20th, 2009 |
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Today the question was posed in a column: What if Sarah Palin were a lesbian? Driven by this question (and because I have an odd and twisted sense of humor), I felt it necessary, nay compelling, to consider this in song. As such, I present "If Palin Were A Lesbian," with original credit to Fiddler on the Roof. ( I'd fill my yard with moose and rainbows and cats and trucks / For the town to see and hear. ) (Also seen in the aforementioned column: Hunting moose and watching NASCAR is a lifestyle choice just like being gay!) |
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| Friday, February 13th, 2009 |
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In light of Valentine's Day, today was our monthly condom distribution day in the student union on campus. We make a point to have one before V-Day - because Hallmark Cards don't really do it for protection. There was the usual parents pointedly standing in front of our table when they were touring with their kids (because apparently reading the word condom is enough to make them do it on the union's floor), the "I don't use them" from people who should know better. However, this is the first time we've ever had high school students come up and request a picture with someone holding a condom. A picture taken with all the accompanying titters and secret terror at touching the forbidden fruit. I have yet to decide if this horrifies or amuses me more. EDIT: Oh, and other awkward thing! I'm at the table, wearing my pro-choice *and* rainbow stuff. Old High School Acquaintance Who Is a Fundie Christian walks by, stops, does a doubt take, than shouts out my (old) name. I attempt to not look mildly shocked and engage in brief conversation that ends with a possible Facebook friending. Under a name I don't go by. Awk-ward! |
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| Saturday, February 7th, 2009 |
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I have, for the past few weeks, have basically stressed myself out to hell and back in-between the lack of sleep, unhealthy mental landscape, and perpetual headaches, along with: learning that one of my minors, a language I've spent far too long trying to learn, is going to be dropped by my uni; inheriting leadership of a failed organization which the national branch would rather kill off than continue to support; and scheduling the only truly "free" time I have in the future, the only time my best friend is going to be in town, over to another org that may not last the year. I am feeling very tired and very low at the moment. All of this is to basically say that I could really use some encouragement/happy right now, and any that anyone would feel inclined to share would be appreciated. EDIT: And because this post is terminally unfunny and I hate having anything in this journal be terminally unfunny, have a link to Cheers To You!, your one chance to spend $16.95 just for the honor of confirming you really are leading an empty, meaningless life. |
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| Monday, January 26th, 2009 |
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Two things which have made my night: - I gots my holiday gift from ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} amilliondays, which included this lovely fanart of Quent from Wolf's Rain.( The one who really deserved a happy ending. ) If only the series had ended this way... - Yousuke Ito has a myspace! That this excites me as much as it does is a sign - I am way too easy. Give me shiny pictures and I'll latch onto it in a heartbeat. |
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| Friday, January 23rd, 2009 |
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So, my birthday is this Sunday. In the interest of making sure people see this post, and because I am going to be drinking most of the night, I am opening up my yearly music offer now. My playlist which does not include these OST(s) in my possession: Metropolis, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Big O, Gundam Singles, Brain Powered, Windaria, Wolf's Rain, Spirited Away, GitS S.A.C., Lensman, .hack//SIGN, Princess Mononoke, Studio Ghibli's THE BEST (mostly Ghibli movie theme songs), Arion, Galaxy Express 999, and various anime theme tracks. I strongly suggest using the Find function - it's 5275 tracks long, and some of them are duplicates. If you're looking for something specific, ask - I may have it, but it's not listed. I will host/MU .zips of requested files. |
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| Friday, January 9th, 2009 |
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So, I'm reading today's NYT (yes, I read the Times every day because I'm ex-J-school and bougie like that), when I run across an interesting review of the romcom (I don't know why, but I love that hilariously postmodern mashup) Bride Wars--a review which basically ends saying, "Dammit, I want my canonical femslash." And this gets to the heart of something that has been bothering me for awhile, since I found out it happens: people who seem to have arbitrarily declared that fanfic is not a form of critical analysis, and then may furthermore be bothered by anyone who argues differently. The whole point of fanfic is to interrogate a fictional world and make an argument about some aspect of it, most often focusing on the romantic. These arguments are supported by parts of the text which can be interpreted thought the lenses of common queer culture cues, Freudian metaphors, and archetypal depictions of queerness along with other examples cobbled from numerous different disciplines. This doesn't mean, of course, that such arguments are exactly what one would call academically rigorous, but they don't have to be. Academic rigor is not a requirement of enjoyment, though it will be if one decides to, say, publish a peer-reviewed paper on their pet pairing. But, ultimately, one only needs to mention vociferous shipping wars as evidence of the argumentative nature of fannish romantic analysis. (Gundam Wing, I'm looking at you!) Now, setting aside (LJ) fandom's focus on the romantic variation of critical analysis, let's consider some published and to-be-published works: What is the Wicked series? Fanfic. What is SMeyer doing with Midnight Sun and its inevitable sequels? Fanfic (of her own work, no less). What is Marvel vs. DC? The ultimate superhero fan's fanfic. Whenever someone engages with a text in some shape or form (unless they're using it as, say, wallpaper, which doesn't actually count), they are partaking in analysis. They are questioning something about a text, and then making an argument in support of their reading, even if it's just that adamantium can totally outlast Superman's heat vision. Of course, this doesn't mean suddenly fanfic is A Duty or An Academic Exercise Which Requires the Abuse of Emphasis Capitals. None of this changes anyone's hot pegging porn. It is still someone getting anally pentrated, with extra hotness. But fannish interpretations have always been analytical and questioning in nature, analysis which is also critical because it requires intelligent judgment and a defense if questioned; fanfic is thus the defense of said argument. And we all know, as brown_betty so well pointed out, academics have "survived years of schooling in the art of bloody battle, and have been chosen for their ability to stake out a position and defend it to the death."Clearly, fandom is just their training ground. |
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| Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 |
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2.1-Meter-Tall Pine-Cone Totoro Unveiled in Japan. If only that had been in the Rose Bowl Parade, I might have watched. |
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| Monday, January 5th, 2009 |
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 (Crappy quality due to time of day and rain.) Only in Alabama. |
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| Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 |
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So, the not-so-sekrit project is finally revealed! The parody Christmas carol "album" - "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear!" My inspiration came from being forced to endure "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" in the local Deals when the anachronistic nature of the song struck me. Hopalong boots and pistols, really? Thus, for my own amusement I did a modern update of "Beginning." This sparked an entire mini-project: rewriting/repossessing Christmas carols around various themes. Some are better than others, and one or two are fairly serious. Originally, I planned to do ten carols, but my sudden flu-like illness and delirious fever dreams had other plans. So instead I post the seven songs I did complete sans commentary. Cover:  ( Tracks ) |
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| Sunday, December 21st, 2008 |
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Yes, mother, ALL OF MY PANTS ARE MENS' PANTS. PLEASE STOP GENDER-POLICING MY PANTS. Also, I do not care that you think it would be nice if I looked more feminine. Please stop being so fucking passive-aggressive and just yell at me like you normally do. |
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| Thursday, November 27th, 2008 |
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Since there seems to have been enough interest among the people I talked to while writing the behemoth to post said paper. All internet-based citations are linked. Sadly, this has yet to see an editor. (In the interest of disclosure: I voted for Barack Obama and am not a very big fan of Superman.) Only In America: Barack Obama, Superman, and the (De)Construction of an American Myth ( The paper ) Yes, I did just do that. My geekiness, it does not know these bounds you speak of. |
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| Thursday, October 16th, 2008 |
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So, born out of discussions of invisibility and the trans blogosphere, the blog Ping Your Spaceman was created. Both Dingsi and I will be contributing, though it'll mostly be posts by me. Content will be a catchall of theory, discussion, and the ever popular, "Look who's being an ass now!" posts, with a focus on certain issues unique to either Dingsi or me. I've got a few posts in the pipeline: Why I Hate the "Why Don't You Just Move?" Meme, and a (hopefully) in-depth discussion on why subcultural behaviors become gendered. |
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| Thursday, September 11th, 2008 |
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| This here journal belongs to the Fucking Batgirl. | ||||
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| Friday, August 22nd, 2008 |
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So, my Intro to Women's Studies (which is being taken because it's a prereq for everything else in the department) class is going to, for sure, be the stereotypical class. Why? Today, a male student compared the wage gender gap to paying short people less. Short people. (and IIRC, that's also illegal!) He also used "gay" for "stupid" twice while sitting next to me, so I am going to call safe space language rules if he does it repeatedly, especially in front of the class. I believe there was some attempt made by the GTA to discuss the insanely high part of our national budget that goes to funding the military (46% of income tax), but that was drowned out by, "Of course that's worth it. You're enjoying your freedoms now, aren't you?" and comparisons to how much better we have it than Africa. Why, we have it so much better than the people we historically fucked over because we had the bigger stick and knew better because of our old white man book learnins. Shock! Man, if part of being an American is living with guilt a Catholic would choke on that I'm not drinking patriotism wine every time I pee, I'm developing constipation and moving to Canada. |
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| Saturday, August 9th, 2008 |
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Are Blue Jeans a Feminist & Lesbian Uniform? Frankly, I'd like to inform the author that it is not blue jeans, but cargo shorts with made me desperately desire a penis, thank you very much. The powers of those multi-pocketed khaki wonders are endless. “Slovenly” “Drab” Unkempt” “Slatternly” “Blowzy” –many adjectives come to mind to describe most women who wear jeans. Clearly, he hasn't been staring at pictures of Skyler Cooper for long enough. |
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Not going to c-p the post, but due to this comment thread I am thinking about a post on the fannish repossession of characters with racist/sexist/other -ist aspects and why I can't manage to do that. Thoughts? I'm interested in how other people feel, since I tend to be an uncompromising activist. |
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| Monday, June 23rd, 2008 |
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Christianity Today, Your article, The Transgender Moment, was decent. You still refused to use correct pronouns, but that's not a surprise. Then you interviewed Alan Chambers about GID, trying to paint him as someone who had "symptoms" in childhood. I think that's an insta-fail right there. You don't even need to add water. ( Thoughts on written porn. ) |
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| Thursday, June 12th, 2008 |
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Copy of a comment I left in my LJ. Saved for posterity. ( On clothing, gender, presentation, and being made to feel unsafe. ) |
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| Thursday, May 1st, 2008 |
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Lesbos islanders dispute gay name. "The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world." |
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InsaneJournal for arionhunter.
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