i don't do bad sauce passes
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Misplaced Lens Cap
occasionally subtle
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
One Nice Bug Per Day
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
Monterey Bay Aquarium
cherry valley forever
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YOU ARE THE REASON
Jules of Nature
Peter Solarz
ellievsbear
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DEAR READER
trying on a metaphor
ojovivo
Kaledo Art
seen from United States
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seen from Colombia
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seen from India
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@transinsf
Lilith glanced at the humanoid body, wondering how humanlike it really was. 'I don't mean any offense,' she said, 'but are you male or female?' 'It's wrong to assume that I must be a sex you're familiar with,' it said.
In honor of the Shaping Change: Remembering Octavia E. Butler Through Archives, Art, and Worldmaking Conference starting today I'm sharing this quote from Octavia E. Butler's Dawn (Xenogenesis Trilogy #1).
One time I dreamed I had a son named Sheldon. I could never have any sons of my own, or daughters. But I did have Janet, and better, I had myself. I wasn't like June. I was like me. It was enough, and then some.
“Sarah’s Child” by Susan Jane Bigelow
“Sarah’s Child”
In honor of WisCon 40 finishing this week--which was an amazing experience--I’m posting a review of Susan Jane Bigelow’s short story “Sarah’s Child.”
[Black background with white text that says “Strange Horizons.” In upper-left corner of image is a purple planet with darker and lighter shades of purple swirled on its surface.]
First published on Strange Horizons in May 2014, this story made it to the honor list for the 2015 Tiptree Award. The titular Sarah is a queer trans woman who has a dream about having a biological son. While she wakes from this dream and discovers she is happily married to her wife, Janet, she also realizes that despite the vividness of her dream they don’t have a son. Sarah tries to dismiss her dream as a side-effect of hormones, but the dreams continue and become more intertwined with her life as the story goes on.
I'd had dreams about motherhood before. Pregnancy, babies, those dreams came with the hormones. Everybody had them, or said they did.
Soon Sarah begins receiving texts addressed to “June” and talking about Sheldon, the son she dreamed of having. She even begins exchanging mysterious handwritten notes with Sheldon. As the dreams and notes continue, Sarah discovers the link between her, Sheldon, and the mysterious June.
While I won’t spoil the science fiction twist of the connection between Sarah and June here, I will reveal that the story unpacks something many trans people think about, “what would my life have been like if I had been born cisgender instead of trans? Would my life have been different?”
In terms of trans content in science fiction, Bigelow’s story not only features a queer transgender woman as the protagonist, but Bigelow herself is a trans woman. Susan Jane Bigelow has published three novels and numerous short stories, including a piece in the trans literature anthology, The Collection. If you want to find out more about her writing you can check out her blog, The Extrahuman Union, or follow her on Twitter @whateversusan.
It’s always a pleasure to have the opportunity to review science fiction written by other trans folks, particularly such an amazing short story. This story has been one of my favorites this year and I found its examination of identity, longing for motherhood, and communication between spouses to be both touching and deeply poignant. I recommend people drop what they are doing and go read “Sarah’s Child.”
Bibliography:
Bigelow, Susan Jane. “Sarah’s Child.” Strange Horizons, May 19, 2014. Accessed May 31, 2016. http://www.strangehorizons.com/2014/20140519/Sheldon-f.shtml
Upcoming: Zerophilia
Apologies about the delay in posting. I started a new job and have been busy getting projects started.
The upcoming post for this week looks at 2005 film, Zerophilia. The premise of the film is that someone with zerophilia has a genetic condition where they can change their entire bodies and, presumably, on a genetic level, from one sex to another after orgasm.
The film credits begins with the following text:
Microangelo Entertainment Different by Design in association with Scrambled Eggs Productions, and despite the objections of the International Organization of Zerophiliacs...Zerophilia
LIGHTSPEED’s 2015 special issue will be Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, an all-science fiction issue entirely written, edited, and illustrated by queer creators. It is now open to submissions. We’ll be launching a Kickstarter on January 15 to help fund making the special issue a double issue.
Who are the guest editors for the special issue? Seanan McGuire is our overall guest editor and she will also be selecting and editing the original short stories (1500-7500 words); Sigrid Ellis is our flash fiction editor (<1500 words); and Steve Berman is our reprint editor.
Who can submit stories for consideration for the special issue? Anyone who identifies as queer.
How do you define queer? Gay, lesbian, bisexual, demisexual, asexual, pansexual, intersex, transgender, genderfluid, genderqueer–if you fit within the QUILTBAG, we want you. Identity is what matters for this issue. (Please note that the “A” in QUILTBAG is for “ace/on the asexual spectrum,” not “ally.” We hope allies will support this special issue, but if you are not yourself queer, please do not submit.)
I’m queer. What can I submit? Science fiction short stories, up to 7500 words. No fantasy for this special issue, though if our Kickstarter campaign goes well we might unlock Queers Destroy Fantasy! and Queers Destroy Horror! special issues as well.
How queer does my story need to be? We very much want to see diverse queer representation and queer themes, but we are focused on the identity of the authors and the quality of the story, not the “this much queer content per story” meter.
What is science fiction? At LIGHTSPEED, we think of science fiction as fiction that speculates on our world, where the basis of that speculation is science, not magic. This includes the social sciences, so dystopias are welcome, as are stories set in post-apocalyptic worlds. Steampunk is also welcome, as long as whatever is powering your cool stuff isn’t magic.
How long is the submission period? Submissions open October 31, 2014 and will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on February 15, 2015.
When can I expect a response to my submission? We will endeavor to reply as quickly as possible to submissions, but since assembling the special issue is similar to assembling an anthology, stories being seriously considered may be held until March 1, 2015 to allow our editors to consider everything before making their final decisions.
How many stories and how often may I submit? Our usual policy of allowing authors to only submit a story once every 7 days is lifted for this issue; so while you may only submit one at a time, you can send in something else as soon as we pass on the first one. You are also allowed to submit one short story (1501-7500 words) and one flash fiction (<1500 words) story at the same time.
Can I submit a rejected story to LIGHTSPEED in the future? All stories submitted to the special issue will also simultaneously be considered for regular issues of LIGHTSPEED. So if you receive a rejection for the special issue, you can consider that story having been rejected by LIGHTSPEED in general. If we end up with so many good stories we can’t fit them all in the special issue, we’ll take such “overflow” for regular issues of LIGHTSPEED.
Where do I go to submit my story? submissions.johnjosephadams.com/queers-destroy-sf/submit
Articles and OpEds about Trans Representation in sf
"Transgender Themes in Science Fiction" by Cheryl Morgan, The Bilerico Project, September 3 2008.
This article is written by Cheryl Morgan, the first openly trans person to win a Hugo Award (2004). She runs the podcast, Small Blue Planet, where she interviews sf and fantasy writers. In this article she describes a few different sf novels featuring trans characters. It is short, but provides a good starting place for readers searching for more sf with trans representation.
"The Future of Gender is the Present for Trans* Characters in SciFi Novels" by Cheryl Morgan, AutoStraddle, April 30 2013.
In this article Morgan analyzes depictions of trans identities in sf, with a particular focus on “what do the leading names in the field tell us about the future of gender?” Beyond referencing a range of sf novels in her post, Morgan also sets up an in depth critique of gender identities, what they tell us about the future, and what they provide readers.
"On Representation, Authorial Discretion, and Transgender Characters in Science Fiction" by Hannah Givens, Things Matter blog, May 20 2014.
This article is written by Hannah Givens, a history and political science student in Alabama who also writes genre fiction. In this article Givens muses about adding different identities to characters in an sf novel she is working on. It is interesting in that it shows her thought process in how to add gender and minority identities—disability, race, sexuality in particular—to her novel. It is additionally worth reading because she struggles to figure out how to depict a trans character as a cis author.
We’re you bored this holiday season? Were you just thinking to yourself “Self, I need some transgender fiction in my life. And not just erotica, but something more SciFi and futuristic. A collection of short stories about transgender peeps. And it would be awesome if the person who wrote said stories was also trans themselves.” If so, then look no further.
Other Selves: A Journey of Gender, Fiction, Discovery, and Hope is currently on sale for just .99 cents (US). This is a collection of 11 short stories. All of the stories revolve around transgender individuals, but it also has, intersex, gender variant, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming characters as well. Amber herself is trans woman, and is also one of the hosts of the Transition Transmission podcast.
But, your purchase of this won’t just help out Amber, it will also help fund future episodes of Transition Transmission as well.
So buy one, tell your friends, get it for friends and family as a gift. Help spread the word, and enjoy a good helping of transgender fiction today!
[ PS Amber personally recommends ‘Hormones’, ‘The Isle of the Future’, and ‘Pay Day’ if you’ve never read her before :) ]
If you interested in knowing more before you buy, or to get to know more of what the book is about, you can check out Amber Neko being interviewed by the Minnesota Trans Atheist Podcast about her book, Other Selves.
Happy Holidays Stay Safe, Warm, and Happy!
[OTHER SELVES on SALE for 0.99 (Regularly 4.99) at Amazon.com]
I haven't had the chance to read this collection yet, but I'm spreading the word of another collection featuring trans and intersex characters, particularly since it is written by a trans author.
For in SF, androgyny and other sexual alternatives need not be illusions to be dispelled or exceptions to be avoided but can instead represent plausible features of an extrapolated future or an alien world. SF writers are more than willing to disrupt the binary gender code with such concepts as a literal third sex, a society without sexual division, gender as a matter of individual choice, involuntary metamorphosis from one sex to another, gender as prosthesis, and all manner of unorthodox manifestations of sexual desire. Readers are asked to accept these features as literal truths about the imaginary universe of the fiction, but at the same time they are invited to map the new fictional (dis)order onto the world of experience.
Brian Attebery, Decoding Gender in Science Fiction (2002), p. 9.
[Image Description: A timeline diagram is split into two sides, which the left side in light teal and the right side light orange. The left side is titled “Standard of Care Requirements for Transgender People” and the right side is titled “Requirements for Transitioning in Samuel R. Delany’s Triton.” The diagram is designed to visually depict the length of time contrasting between the relatively long time for “Standards of Care” to the shorter time period in Triton. The left side begins with the title “Coming Out to Self,” followed by the duration of “time frame to find a doctor.” The next section is “Coming out to medical professional(s), followed by the duration “wait [time] for appointments.” Below, the diagram splits into two branches. On the left is “Psychological” and on the right is “Social.” The psychological section has “gender identity therapy” listed, followed by the duration of 6 months. The right side, “Social,” has “’Real Life’ test (FTM & MTF)” listed and a duration is not listed, but it visually shows it as lasting 1 year. Below the “Psychological” branch is a “Medical” section, which includes “Hormone Replacement Therapy (FTM & MTF),” “Surgical: Mastectomy (FTM), Chest Surgeries (FTM & MTF). The medical and surgical section has the duration of 1 year and 6 months. The final section on this portion of the chart is a further surgical section, which includes “Metodioplasty/Phalloplasty (FTM)” and “Vaginoplasty (MTF).
[Image Description Continued: The right side of the diagram visualizes the time is takes Bron to move from coming out to herself as a trans woman to completing sexual reassignment surgery. The first section is labeled “‘Comes Out’ to Self” followed by the duration of 10 minutes. The section below is labeled “‘Come Out’ to Medical Professional(s)” and the duration is again listed as 10 minutes. The chart then branches into 2 sides. The left side is labeled “Visit Doctor” and because the time frame for the visit is relatively short for all the information included, arrows gesture off to the right side to indicate all the events that occurred during the 24 hour and 20 minute duration. Under the “medical” category of these events are “discuss transition with medical professional” and “information about surgeries and treatments.” Under the “psychological” category it is listed as “N.A.” Under the “surgical” category it is labeled as “Complete SRS.” Below this portion of the chart are the last two sections labeled “Real Life Test (Opt.)” and “Gender Identity Therapy (Opt.).”]
Title: Diagram Comparing Gender Transitions in the United States with Samuel R. Delany’s Triton.
The first transgender suicide hotline in the US
For the first time, there is a hotline in the US that is staffed entirely by transgender people, to serve transgender people. Everyone in the trans community needs to be spreading this around. Lives could be saved. You can reach Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860
Sharing this for any followers it might help support. It is wonderful to see that this is both specific to the trans community and staffed entirely by transgender people.
They also have a website that you can look at for more information about their goals and even which operators are available. Additionally, you can volunteer to act as an operator for them. You can go here to donate to them.
Futurestates "Code Academy"
Futurestates is a series of short sf films answering the question, "What will our society look like 5, 25, even 50 years from today?" as framed through global realities in the present. It is currently on its fifth and final season. Unlike the other seasons, which were issued as fairly typical videos through YouTube, season 4 and 5 features interconnected stories on an interactive digital platform. Among these vignettes, advertisements, and news clips from a hypothetical future is a short video featuring a gender-nonconforming character. You can see the video featuring this character here.
It's working, right? I mean, aren't you part of the new generation of girls raised without the oppressive male influence during their formative years?
Yes, and you are the new generation of boys without the sexist prejudice of our past.
Code academy is a school that is gender-segregated in order to keep young women and men from being influenced from the history of sexism. To get around these restrictions students meet in a online space. Unlike the other female students at "Code Academy," however, Frankie Foye does not go online as hir own identity, but as the male identity ze created--Marcos. As Marcos ze lives as male, including having online sexual relationships with women, often women going to school with hir. This causes stress in real life that is starting to bleed into hir non-virtual life.
What is so special about life in the machine? What can you do in there that you can't do out here?
The one thing Frankie can do online that ze cannot do in real life is be male. Or, potentially, be lesbian, though it seems unlikely that all-female and all-male schools would shun queer identities. The distinction between queer and trans identity for Frankie is not made clear in the film. At the end of the film, Frankie and a female classmate ze dates in cyberspace, Libby Murtagh, meet up in person, outside of cyberspace.
This story is particularly poignant because it expands upon a current tendency among trans youth to explore genders different from their assigned birth sexes online and to come out first to online friends. Taking this a logical step forward through physically "embodying" identified genders echoes the current trend in trans communities perfectly.
While the ambiguity at the end of the film makes it difficult to define Frankie's gender identity and sexual orientation, the gender exploration of this film makes it worth viewing as an illustration of trans sf. For more places to explore trans and intersex identities in sf, please check this list out.
Bibliography:
Code Academy. Dir. Nisha Ganatra. By Nisha Ganatra and Reneé Liu. Perf. Alexa Penavega, Renée Felice Smith, Makenzie Vega, Carlos Penavega. FutureStates. ITVS, August 4, 2014. Web. http://youtu.be/JzSrhRfek1E.
"Code Academy," Futurestates Season 5 Episode 6
Want to read more about the trans identity depicted in this short film? Read this post to find out more.
X-Files "Gender Bender"
Security monitor records the victim entering the room with a woman at 10:13. The same monitor records a male leaving just after midnight...Male is definitely a different person--short hair and at least thirty pounds heavier.
Released in 1994 as the fourteenth episode of season one, "Gender Bender" follows Scully and Mulder as they investigate mysterious deaths of men and women who "all die in the throes of passion." Through the course of their investigation they discover a reclusive community where members change sex when they die. However, one member has gone out into the world and is having sexual intercourse with people and switching between sexes--in the process, killing hir sexual partners.
Mulder: And his face was different. Even his hair was almost feminine. Like he was going through some kind of transformation.
Scully: Changing sexes?
It is never explained whether the character gains some form of energy through sex or something else that allows the switch between sexes so the discussion around the switches is left unresolved. At the end of the episode all basic assumptions provided in the episode are undermined when the character switches quickly between female to male again without having sex. The lack of explanation around the sexual changes and the mysterious, potentially alien group, leaves the story unresolved and confusing.
It was always forbidden. But after the first time, I couldn't help myself. Touching a human man or a woman is as powerful for me as it was for you. Your world offers pleasures. Pleasures we don't know because we're different.
This episode is one of the earliest depictions of "gender switching" or even, transgender characters in science fiction television. However, it is not unusual in terms of transgender characters on television more broadly.
Despite the willingness to examine the intersections of gender identity and aliens on a television show, there are some definite problematic moments in the story. The episode is ultimately a murder-thriller episode and the murder is a gender switching character. Having a trans character be a murderer or criminal is a long and unfortunate trend in televised episodes featuring trans characters. Additionally, the episode was created in order to fulfill producer Glen Morgan's wish to have more X-Files episodes "with more of a sexy edge." This desire for increased sexiness on the show was directly linked with having characters who switch genders, making them into sexual figures more than people. Since these "Gender Bender" characters also have the ability to arouse and seduce people through physical contact, they are implied to be dangerous to humans they interact with--even to the point of murder.
For more depictions of gender fluid identities in sf, please check out this list.
Bibliography:
Barber, Larry, and Paul Barber. "Gender Bender." The X-Files. Dir. Rob Bowman. 21 Jan. 1994. Television.
leeandlow submitted to medievalpoc:
The Diversity Gap in the highest grossing science fiction and fantasy films. Sad, right? You can see the full study here.
I highly recommend reading the entire article.
from the infographic:
Among the top 100 domestic grossing films:
only 8% of films star a protagonist of color
of the 8 protagonists of color, all are men; 6 are played by Will Smith and 1 is a cartoon character (Aladdin)
0% of protagonists are women of color
0% of protagonists are LGBTQ
1% of protagonists are people with a disability
The study accompanying this infographic is an important one to read. Unfortunately, this is true of a number of published sf and fantasy texts as well. Rather than focusing on the depressing statistics, I think it is worth giving some sources to check out where sf/fantasy films and authors are increasing diversity in a variety of ways, even when they aren't among the "top 100 domestic grossing films."
Salt Fish Girl (2002): "Salt Firsh Girl is the mesmerizing tale of an ageless female character who shifts shape and form through time and place. Told in the beguiling voice of a narrator who is fish, snake, girl, and woman--all of whom must struggle against adversity for survival." Protagonists who are queer women of color. Written by a queer, Chinese Canadian author, Larissa Lai.
Sleep Dealer (2008): "Memo Cruz is a young man in near-future Mexico. When his family is victim of a misguided drone attack he finds himself with no option but to head north, towards the U.S./Mexico border. But migrant workers cannot cross this new world border--it's been sealed off. Instead, Memo ends up in a strange digital factory in Mexico where he connects his body to a robot in America." Film stars who are people of color. Protagonists who are men and women of color. Written and directed by a Latino man, Alex Rivera.
The Way of Thorn and Thunder (2011): "The story of the struggle for the green world of the Everland, home of the forest-dwelling Kyn, is an adventure tale that bends genre and gender." Protagonists who are LGBTQ and physical disabilities. Written by a Cherokee author, Daniel Heath Justice.
Sister Mine (2013): "We'd had to be cut free of our mother's womb. She'd never have been able to push the two-headed sport that was me and Abby out the usual way. Abby and I were fused, you see. Conjoined twins. Abby's head, torso, and left arm protruded from my chest. But here's the real kicker; Abby had the magic, I didn't." Protagonists who are women of color, queer, and have physical disabilities. Written by queer, Canadian Caribbean author, Nalo Hopkinson, with a "learning ABILITY not DISability."
FutureStates (2014): "Someone in the future is trying to contact you. Here on this site. Right now. You may not know who she is, or what she wants, but she's left you some clues. Read these articles, watch these videos, and stay tuned." Film stars who are people of color, protagonists who are people of color (including women of color), LGBTQ, people with physical and psychological disabilities. Often directed and written by people of color, including women of color.
To find depictions of trans and intersex people in all forms of science fiction, including television, film, short stories, and novels, check out the tumblr, Trans and Intersex sf.
"Mixed Blood" by Gwen M'Clatchey
It's not the genitals that bug me. If I go home with some woman and she's surprised to discover no cock in my pants, I can strap it on. My lack of biological cock is no impairment, believe me...Because sex is more than inserting tab A into slot B. Sex is the whole body, brain and flesh and soul, legs driving, arms holding, hips pumping, mouth speaking, soul dancing, and always, always, the drums in my blood (99-100).
"Mixed Blood" by Gwen M'Clatchey was published in the 1996 anthology, Genderflex: Sexy Stories on the Edge and In-Between, edited by Cecilia Tan. This story is questionable as a piece of sf since there are no cues about speculation to distinguish it from an everyday occurrence. However, since anthology as a whole is classified as "erotic science fiction" we can give the author the benefit of the doubt.
The story follows a character viewed by the outside world as between identities: female and male, Native (written as "red") and white. This liminal space creates a space for the unnamed character to express their sexuality and discuss their Native identity. The story moves through the character musing about their gender identity and how their Native identity impacts their everyday life and sexual interactions.
Based on the cues in the text, such as the first quote in this post, the character might be seen as falling more in the trans male or genderqueer categories, but the author also argues for the character as "berdache," an outdated term that has been replaced by "two-spirit" in Indigenous circles.
It's the skin. I'm white, they think I'm white, they tell me stupid Indian jokes, they get offended when I don't laugh...You don't know what I am: Berdache, sacred person, half man, half woman, who can pass through either world at will (100).
For more depictions of two-spirit and genderqueer identities in sf, please check out this list.
Bibliography:
M'Clatchey, Gwen. "Mixed Blood." Genderflex: Sexy Stories on the Edge and In-Between. Ed. Cecilia Tan. Cambridge, MA: Circlet, 1996. 99-105. Print.
