 mresundance |
For all intensive purposes this community is closed. There have been no new posts in ages and it's not active. I have closed off new memberships. The community will remain as an archive and people are free to watch it if they so choose.On a small edit: thank you to everyone who has contributed to this community in some small or large way. I'm sorry that I have not been the most dedicated mod, nor tried to make this community more active. Still, I think a lot of things about this community were a success on some levels and that the good far outweights the bad.Current Mood:  blah Tags: !mod post (Leave a comment) |
| mresundance |
Can We Stop Using the Term Ally?, a blog post which I found highly relevant.**( text under cutCollapse )**I wrote some of my own thoughts as a response to the OP, though, I'm still thinking the post over. I agree in large part with actually striking the term ally altogether, simply because it does re-enforce the "us" / "them" or "us" / "other" dichotomy which is part and parcel of the original oppression in many cases. The point is deconstruct the ideas and assumptions which separate the oppressed from the oppressor, even on an everyday level, and to break down the barriers and assumptions which allow people to continue to discriminate and oppress. But I am not so sure about the assumptions the OP makes about "allies". Most of the people I know, who I would consider good allies, never call themselves as such, never demand anything for the work they do, are responsible for their privilege and couldn't care less if the focus wasn't on them. Most of the experience I have of activism outside the internet is cut and dry. If people want to help, they can show up and do the work. Sure, you do get the people who are like "oh, please give me a pat on the back for being awesome!". But I've found, more often, there are people who are just happy to contribute in any way they can, even if it's just showing up as a show of support or solidarity. There's no fanfare about it.Thoughts?Current Mood:  cold (Leave a comment) |
| mresundance |
I'm all for debate, but those who devolve to making threats or personal attacks in this comm will be banned, period. No warnings. When discussions of oppressions arise, people will get angry. Those who have privilege on some level (white, male, cisgender and/or cissexual, heterosexual, able-bodied privilege) should not expect that those who feel they are oppressed should can it, basically. People who are oppressed have a right to their anger and a right to express that anger. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, as they say. If you feel uncomfortable with another member's anger, listen and contemplate perhaps why you are uncomfortable with that. That said, justifiable anger is no excuse to either make personal attacks or threats. Responsibility is kind of a big deal to the notion of being an ally: you take responsibility for your words and actions. Thus, if a person becomes so pissed off that they make threats or personal attacks, fine, but they will still be banned.Current Mood:  contemplativeCurrent Music: Jesus Christ, Brand New Tags: mod post, rules (Leave a comment) |
| mresundance |
Hi all. This is one of your mods, mresundance. I apologize again for not making more of an effort to keep this community at least somewhat active or more productive. I have not taken the imitative much, admittedly. I find myself increasingly in need of a place like this, though. Perhaps because, first, I keep seeing too many comms interested in activism and community devolve into flame-wars wherein a member is pummeled for comments which may have been typed in good faith, but also, reveal a level of ignorance. It makes me disinterested in getting into any kind of discussion for fear that someone will take a comment completely out of context and jump down my throat. And hey. I am guilty of being the one who too willingly judged and jumped down the throats of others as well. I've become more judgmental than when I started this comm, and these are things I am looking at - how and why I have become this way - and I am trying to confront and change some of that. I don't want to be that kind of person. This community space is for education and support. We are here to learn from one another, and thereby, hopefully, enable us to become stronger allies to each other. The LGBTQ community is vast and I don't expect everyone to be friends or anything. Heck no. But I think it's still possible to learn from one another and respect our various and different experiences, identities, and ways of being. This is your comm. This is your safe space to be and to listen to one another. What do you all want from this space? What would you like to see more of? I am open to suggestions - any and all - even as simple as: "OMG, add this link/comm to the profile page!"I am finishing an MA dissertation right now, so it might be a few months yet before I have much free time, but I'll do what I can!Current Mood: contemplativeCurrent Music: My Skin, Natalie Merchant Tags: mod post (8 comments | Leave a comment) |
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Aug. 28th, 2008 @ 02:57 pm |
alyssuh_can |
I'm a new queer, you could say. Last year at about this time I was introduced into a world of genderqueer individuals and I happened to be the token straight girl who knew nothing about what the difference between gay and queer was. I came into my own, though, and have become so proud of my newfound identity. Although I don't particularly enjoy explaining my identity to almost-strangers (I identify as queer, polyamorous, and female) I like that being asked questions rather than letting them make their own assumptions about me and my ways of living. That being said ... I also think it's a really important part of being an ally to educate yourself. I threw myself into a close-knit group of queer friends and every day I would go home and search online frantically trying to remember all the terms they used over the course of the hours we'd spent together. I NEEDED to learn and I wanted to so badly. I also feel, though, that unless you're in there - meaning you have LGBTQ friends to learn from - then you can't really understand the community the way you want to. There are only so many things the internet can tell you about hormone therapy, polyamory, queerness, identities outside of the binary, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say in this introduction is that I hope I can ask questions and that I can have some sort of response for other members posts. So - - - Hi everyone! I'm new. I hope I can support anyone and everyone in this community.(4 comments | Leave a comment) |
| mresundance |
This, a long rant. Basically, it is an Being an Ally 101 rant, the kind that appropiately for this comm, is not cuddly. Taken from my journal.There is one other genderqueer in my Master's program, which is a small miracle in my mind because usually I get the pleasure of not only being the token queer, but the token superqueer. We are meeting for a drink tonight to do some chatting after ze railed at me about stupid classmates who were annoying zir.It's the usual laundry list of assumptions and ignorance, the things people don't think about because they don't have to, and the idea that somehow, if you're the different/other person, you are responsible for not rocking the boat, not pissing people off or making them uneasy. No, we queer people ought to be holding people's hands and coddling them while they tell us that our own perceptions of our lives and experiences are not true, or real.**( longishCollapse )**And holy cow, we have a lot of members. *waves*I win the nonexistent mod award. If anyone has any suggestions for posts or helping things pick up a little here, I'd be glad to have them. Or, alternately, we could poke along as we always have. I don't mind things being quiet here, as long as people (random internet wanderers, what have you) feel like they are getting what they need/want out of the comm.Current Mood:  bitchy (11 comments | Leave a comment) |
| mresundance |
I've been getting off my ass and educating myself on the issues of a) Islam and b) the Middle East (history, geography, cultures, traditions, languages, etc), because I found myself woefully ignorant. Still woefully ignorant, but as a queer, I find myself wondering about queer followers of Islam and their concerns and how to address them within the larger context of the LGBTQ community.Considering the overall LGBTQ community's track record with race and class issues, yeah, I worry about how biased and Western-based ideas of Islam and Arab Muslims especially will alienate people, not to mention the damage of just plain ignorance.So far, I've found two groups created (by Muslim Queers, yay) to support the Muslim Queer community, and, to tackle issues that effect them specificially:Al-Fatiha and Queer Jihad *You can also check out this article from MSNBC.* Oh yeah. Just FYI. Jihad means "to struggle" and work for something with determination. It has little do with a concept of "holy war". People use it justify violence, but in it's true meaning, the way I understand it, it's just struggling to do good, the cause of right. Hence, Queer Jihad takes up the cause of Queer Muslims.Current Mood: determined (3 comments | Leave a comment) |
| jacob22eku |
What’s up guys? It has been awhile since I have last posted and I have come across a documentary and I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of it or seen it. I want to see it but I was hoping to get second opinion on it. Director Kate Davis calls the documentary Southern Comfort. Kate Davis' digitally shot documentary chronicles the last year in the life of Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual dying of terminal ovarian cancer in the backwoods of rural Georgia. I heard from a friend that this is a great documentary... Here is the link that I found for the documentary for anyone who is interested in reading more about it... Thanks guysJakehttp://www.blockbuster.com/catalog/DisplayMoreMovieProductDetails.action?movieID=127147&channel=Movies&subChannel=sub#Cast(2 comments | Leave a comment) |
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