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Posts tagged 'trans'
Book Review: trans like me – a journey for all of us, by CN Lester
I was honoured to be asked by CN to offer a round of feedback on the manuscript for this book prior to publication (with Virago Press). I inhaled the text in a single evening, despite generally dragging my feet when reading longer pieces on my computer screen. The research was incredibly thorough, but at no point did this become dry or stuffy. This book isn't an academic text in the traditional sense, but it's certainly a very educational one – I've already cited it in my own academic writing.
Once I got my hard copy of the book, I felt it had been a long enough time since that editing process that I should really read it again before reviewing – plus, it wouldn't be fair to assess a pre-final version. Generally I struggle with re-reading books, as my attention often wanes as a result of half-remembering what I'm encountering and having to fight the urge to skim. I was surprised with trans like me, that I was touched more deeply second time around than the first. Divided into 15 chapters over 214 pages, Lester's conversational style creates an intimate and effective sense of a meaningful conversation over coffee with a friend. Before the journey has really begun, they explain how "to learn how to learn about trans people, about the ways in which what we know about gender is shifting and growing, we must first unlearn" (p. 5); their experience as a teacher comes through (which we are explicitly told about later, through their careful threading of personal anecdote through the narrative), and an attentive, skilled one at that.
Lester effectively conjures compassion in their audience through beginning by engaging with the worst exploitation of the tabloid press. Their points are consistently reasonable, relatable, and simple. There is no sense of polemic, only kindness. They give of their personal experiences and history generously, but without allowing any reader to fall into voyeurism. Lester gets us thinking about who has the power to tell stories, helping the reader to understand the incredibly invasive expectations, demands, and groping hands trans people can by explicitly targeted with. While there is a partial element of autobiography, trans like me reads as a collection of interrogative, well-evidenced essays that are absolutely committed to an empathetic and intersectional appreciation of many of the central discussions and concerns that come up when trans is on the discussion table. How race and class are profoundly relevant and necessary in any understanding of trans people is also not lost or buried.
It wasn't far into the book that I started marking 'wow moments' in my margins. Brilliant, succinct ripostes to some of the most dangerous and disingenuous (yet pervasive) myths about trans people and communities. These are not incinerated in a blaze of adjectives, but quietly and decisively collapsed. The book manages to do this in a way that is not only affirming to those already familiar with the subject matter, but accessible to those who are not. Lester's anger is something that one would hope everyone can agree with – anger about bigotry, injustice, violence, callousness, unequal rights, access, and experience. Lester hits the nail on the head by centring empathy in their education and discussion.
I mentioned that I was touched more deeply second time around. For me, this was most profound on page 35: "a question I am often asked is why, as someone who wants to subvert gender norms, i would want or need an additional gendered label. Couldn't I simply refuse all descriptors? Or, failing that, call myself a feminine man or a masculine woman?". This made me think of a line from Alan Bennett's History Boys: "The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours". Now I knew this wasn't unique to me, but I remembered being asked by an exceptionally well-informed and sensitive friend "but aren't you just a feminist man?" in relation to my own non-binary experience. The discussion that Lester unfolds in response to the rhetorical questions they use is far more helpful (and humble) than a discrete, essential 'answer'. It made me feel better equipped to have these conversations when (and it is when, not if) they come about.
There's no such thing as a perfect book. However from my perspective, any critiques feel embarrassingly trivial or unnecessary. When discussing how trans women have been portrayed in popular culture ("the victim, the freak, the joke, the threat" – p. 29) I felt a mention of Julia Serano as quite a marked absence – albeit undoubtedly many of the readers of this book wouldn't be familiar with Serano's work. Further, as an academic, while I was glad to see extensive references in the endnotes, I found the system of links listed by page a bit imprecise. These things say much more about me than about the book, and most certainly don't detract.
CN Lester is one of quite a small handful of people capable of introducing so many aspects of trans lives so well. Doing so to a heterogeneous popular audience is doubly difficult. I can only echo Shami Chakrabarti's back-cover comment that "I challenge anyone not to have both heart and mind a little more open after reading this book". This is a book for everyone, living up to the title's implication of 'a journey for all of us'. I believe this book can make its readers both wiser and kinder, and makes an incredibly important contribution as a result, that I enthusiastically recommend.
Book Review, Feminism, non-binary, Popular Culture, Transgender
CN Lester
trans like me
transfeminism
Why We Should Stand Up For Trans Rights and Recognition at the University of Toronto
My good friend and colleague S.W. Underwood and myself wrote a piece in response to Dr. Jordan Peterson's recent comments at the University of Toronto, regarding his refusal to use the pronouns individuals identify with. Please see here for the article!
http://torontoist.com/2016/10/u-of-t-trans-rights/
News, non-binary, Popular Culture, Science, Theory Literature
Slurs – What they are not
If you look it up, a common-sense definition of a slur is simply an insulting remark, that might also harm someone's reputation. This is over-simplistic, in that it doesn't consider power dynamics. Often when we talk of slurs we're talking about language used by those with power (which can mean being socially normalised, not demographically vulnerable to systemic forms of discrimination) to bash those without, in a hateful way associated with some kind of disenfranchised group. I would say minority group, though importantly women of course experience all kinds of misogynistic language despite the size of the demographic (spoiler: because patriarchy). Most people can recognise and be suitably disgusted by a wide range of slurs, particularly racial ones. There's also the conversations constantly happening within marginalised groups around the politics of reclaiming previously weaponised words as a form of empowerment – slutwalks, self-defining fags and dykes, and the now quite longstanding world of queer. But due to the (sometimes faltering, and certainly incomplete) progress that has been made through decades of social processes whereby more and more people get switched on to how language is used being something that matters, legitimate processes of challenging oppressive language have been levied as a rhetorical shield against being criticised, or even described.
I would argue there are two particular terms in relation to transgender people in particular that ignorant or prejudiced individuals like to claim are slurs or pejorative – cisgender, and TERF. Cisgender, or cis for short, comes from the latin meaning 'on this side' (whilst 'trans' means 'on the other side'). It is a value-neutral descriptor for individuals whose gender identities align with how their gender was assigned at birth. TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminism, and describes people (usually women) who profess a feminist identity but do not consider transgender women to be 'real' women.
Cisgender exists in order to de-position the words 'man' and 'woman' as always being about people who are not trans (notice how trans men and trans women are always indicated by the prefix, but most of the time cis men and cis women are 'just' men and women?). When we say man, or woman, we don't have any information about whether an individual is cis or trans, but for as long as cisness is positioned as the 'default', trans status is positioned as 'not normal', rather than minority. Transness is implicitly excluded from being 'real' men or women for as long as those words on their own don't include a universal appreciation of the possibility and reality of transness. This isn't to say that cis people can't and don't experience tensions, discrimination, or negative feelings because of enforced gender roles. But they do benefit from being viewed as real, constant, stable, and never having to convince or confess to others what their gender is, because it's taken at face value. Cis people broadly benefit from being 'the default', and from cultural practices of ascribing gender to people based on what we see, and this often being taken as 'more real' than what an individual has to say about themselves.
People who don't like these words existing often try to claim that they're slurs in order to delegitimise their usage. Because of the fact that oppressed individuals may sometimes, in understandable frustration at experiences of inequality express their anger through disparaging the oppressive groups. Compare TERF to say, racist, or homophobe. These are words that are used to describe people with a particular set of (discriminatory) beliefs, or who engage in discriminatory practices. In those cases, people called homophobes and racists tend to respond by going 'no I'm not! (I have a friend who is gay!)' – yet fascinatingly TERFs don't say that they don't think that trans women aren't women, but that… it's offensive to say they are? In more extremely hateful individuals one does see people defiantly, proudly proclaiming themselves as racist, homophobic, transphobic – because they believe it is right to be so. Those who don't believe it is right to be so but don't recognise the problems with their actions are now the bigger problem.
People can try to shut down descriptors which shake their ignorant worldviews. TERFs see themselves as 'feminists', men and women critical of 'cis' see themselves as 'just men and women' (I've never seen a trans person have a problem or make a critique of the word cisgender, which probably has a lot to do with experiences of having their genders systematically delegitimised).
It is a Machiavellian, political move to utilise narratives of oppression resistance in order to reject descriptive labels that function to make a minority less Othered (in the case of cis) or to describe a set of beliefs unambiguously, making it easier to see their failings (such as TERF). One can see it in other domains – take the descriptor of 'Blairite' – because support for the political ideology of Tony Blair has been criticised heavily, proponents try to silence their critics through tone policing and claiming those labeling them are being offensive.
The bottom line – it's important not to confuse people being pissed off with a group of people described by a word, and the word itself having a disparaging meaning.
Socialisation, Transgender
On 'Straight Acting' and Stonewall.
Yesterday, I came across an article written by Noah Michelson provocatively titled 'If You Think 'Straight Acting' Is An Acceptable Term, You're An A**hole'. I would say the article is well worth reading, as it evocatively considers some of the concerns with Roland Emmerich's new film 'Stonewall' – namely the accusations of historical inaccuracy, whitewashing, and homonormativity¹ in order to try and bring the film to a wider audience.
Michelson makes the point that:
Being "straight-acting," for a gay man at least, is directly related to how convincingly he is able to present traditionally masculine mannerisms. The term is so markedly offensive because its very existence insists that there is a particular, instantly identifiable manner of being gay (defined by effeminacy). And what's more, those qualities are seen as patently unattractive, undesirable and wildly dangerous.
He discusses his own experiences of policing his forms of self expression to articulate a more normative masculinity, in order to protect himself from queer bashing. He remarks how he regrets this, but poignantly asks whether he'd even be here to regret it if he hadn't – emphasising increasingly how 'same-sex' attraction in and of itself doesn't render one a victim, but the expression of transgressive masculinities and femininities amongst women and men respectively (and those who cross over or identify as neither in particular) puts one at risk. Now, there are those queers who, in the interests of their own safety, or their own ability to socially navigate the world they're in with the least possible hassle will engaging in 'straight acting' actively. Then there are those who simply find that their default state of being is to articulate themselves in an unremarkable, normative manner. There is of course nothing wrong with that. I would however encourage those who have identified or do identify with the term 'straight acting' to ask – why do you? How is this identification situated within a larger social narrative and context which shapes who each of us are and how we feel? If you are concerned with how others perceive your masculinity in relation to your sexuality, why is that? Given that masculinity and femininity have large, complex narratives, can you see that when you say you're 'straight acting', what people take from this will never be as simple as pure, value-neutral description (whether they realise it or not)? This can be articulated by different people in different ways to serve very similar ends. A common example being dating app profiles with caveats such as 'not as camp as I look', pre-empting judgement from a gay audience which has a clear hierarchy of value.
Emmerich inserts the fictional protagonist Danny into the narrative of the film in order to "provide a very easy in" for a straight audience. One can understand the desire to want your film about an incredibly important civil rights event to reach and educate as many people as possible. There's two important problems with this however. 1 – It didn't remotely happen that way, and 2 – It throws the non-normative queers who were there doing what they did under the bus in order to pander to those potential viewers whose acceptance comes with terms and conditions of palatability. It also raises the very important question – have queer people moved so far away from the scary, dangerous activism of the past that is now spoken of reverently, these brave heroes, that we daren't tell the story how it was for fear of making less headway with creating queer acceptance than we could?
I would say that if LGBTQ support is *dependent* on whiteness, normative masculinity, middle-class status, conventionally attractive embodiment – all the checkboxes of Danny that make him the least marginalised of the marginalised – then it is worth very little. Further, it's 2015. Shows and films with casts not centred on whiteness, cisness, etc. have demonstrated their ability to be both commercially and critically successful – one needs look no further than Orange is the New Black. I believe that the film would actually have had a better impact on queer rights and empathy for oppressions faced in terms of sexuality and gender if Emmerich had dared to be more accurate, rather than worrying about the most socially conservative end of the spectrum. The comparatively slow limp of transgender rights and protections demonstrates exactly what happens when we try to gain acceptance by sweeping the more difficult queers under the rug. The irony that the charity 'Stonewall' only added trans to its remit this year is ridiculously long overdue, but not surprising due to this homonormative precedent. The very fact that Emmerich has been so heavily criticised is evidence that a mainstream audience could handle the more complex intersections of marginality the real historical figures experienced.
It's a fair question to ask what the problem with Danny's role in the narrative is. Stonewall is famous for being a turning point, the explosive tipping point for LGBT (but let's be honest, mainly G) rights. Therefore it's easy to assume that the 'mainstream gays' who are visible and in many Western contexts doing relatively okay were also there. Not so. Those men and women with same-sex attraction in the 1960s who could hide it, often did. The straight actors were only to peer out of their closets after the radical queers had fought for some space for them. Emmerich would've done well to realise this, and recognise that his film had a duty to the queers still most marginalised today who fought *because* they had no other choice. Stonewall is a story for all queers, for all people to be inspired by, but not at the expense of de-centring the real, brave people who fought.
It's very important then, to recognise the difference between what being 'straight acting' can mean in the world, and what it means when it's inserted into this film which will be taken by many people as a representation of what happened. This may explain then, why when a historian of Stonewall, the only surviving member of the Stonewall Street Youth, and other queer writers and experts were asked what they thought of the premier – the results were overwhelmingly damning. Emmerich has also said "as a director you have to put yourself in your movies, and I'm white and gay". Maybe, just maybe, this film wasn't about you, Roland. Maybe it also wasn't about potential audience members who would deem The Stonewall Riots unacceptable if they saw them led by (as Michelson says) "non-white transgender people, genderqueer individuals, drag queens, butch dykes and sissy men". Maybe that's why Miss Major Griffen-Gracy, one of the few survivors of the Riot itself, said "How dare they do this again" of the film.
Miss Major – Photograph credit to Annalese Ophelian.
It's ironic that the historian David Carter explains that whilst he liked the characterisation of Ray, in reality Raymond Castro was "a very masculine guy, a generous guy – and very conservative-looking. He wasn't effeminate – he never went in drag. He didn't prostitute himself, either". Emmerich had an opportunity to include a character who embodied a normative masculinity, whilst retaining historical accuracy – a bit of a godsend given that was important to him in this historical sea of queers that were more difficult to market. Why that wasn't done is open to speculation. But if telling the story of Stonewall was important to Emmerich, as he says it was, but positioning the trans women of colour who were absolutely central to the events (Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Riviera, Stormé DeLarverie, and the aforementioned Miss Major) as the *main* characters, the central narrative, was too difficult… then maybe he shouldn't have been the person to make this film.
1 – Whilst this term has been used in different ways in different contexts, the most common, and how I use it here, was popularised by Lisa Duggan in unpacking how heteronormativity can be assimilated into LGBT culture, practices, and identities. Heteronormativity is (often insidious or unconsciously manifested) practice that positions straightness, cisness, and normative gender and sexual roles as 'normal'. That isn't to say there is necessarily an explicit articulation of homophobia etc., but that in positioning particular qualities as normal (rather than common, or relatively frequent) one includes a moral dimension to the description – that positions particular others as 'not normal'. Heteronormativity can manifest in such simple interactions many non-straight people will have experienced – an acquaintance say, asking a guy 'do you have a girlfriend?' or a girl 'do you have a boyfriend?' – the assumption of heterosexuality. In a sense then, homonormativity is exemplified by, for example, gay white men who have a distaste for campness, drag, gender-bending, and other aspects of queer culture that are distinctly un-normative. Plus of course, it's never as simple as saying that a person *is* or *is not* hetero/homonormative – people articulate multiple and complex views, and may comfortably celebrate radical queerness in some contexts whilst wishing to distance themselves or tactically 'tone it down' in others. What this means for how queerness is considered by the wider population is an interesting point to consider.
Film, LGBT, News, Popular Culture, Sexuality, The gender binary, Transgender
heteronormativity
homonormativity
Miss Major
TV Review: Boy Meets Girl
*This review may contain plot spoilers for the first episode of Boy Meets Girl*
I just watched the first episode of the new romantic comedy show Boy Meets Girl which aired on BBC 2 on 3rd September 2015. The show had already been acclaimed for the first UK show to contain a major transgender character, played by a transgender actress (Rebecca Root).
Now whilst those who know me might suspect I would rave about anything with a positive portrayal of trans people in the media, even well intentioned shows and films can easily receive scathing criticism for their ignorance (for example, the transgender writer Julia Serano makes important points about how transgender characters have historically been portrayed as 'deceptive' or 'tragic' in the book whipping girl, even in films otherwise praised for positive portrayal such as Priscilla Queen of the Desert). Thus I am actually quite cautious of watching trans focussed media, for the fear of disappointment and having to deal with cheap, stigmatising laughs. However, the first episode of this show was, in my opinion, nigh on perfect – let me explain.
We're introduced to Leo (played by Harry Hepple) who lives with his mum, dad, and brother James, and has just lost his job. In order to get away from their mother's exasperation, James drags Leo to the pub where over the evening he meets Judy, a 'beguiling older woman' as iPlayer's summary tells. They hit it off, and arrange a date for the next day. The show manages to do something very difficult, in that it weaves a humorous but believable narrative, critically without relying on Judy's transgender status for laughs. Nor was dramatic tension created through characters being positioned as transphobic – whilst there might be space for that aspect of reality to be explored later in the series, the way the main characters were introduced was not rushed, nor were individuals set up to represent particular tropes. This is hopefully a sign that even the side characters will be fleshed out in interesting, idiosyncratic ways.
However, the difficulties that transgender people can face were not erased. There was a clear and relatable anxiety portrayed by Root as she tried to come out to Leo (which involved humour, but in a witty and clever manner. No overblown clichéd reactions). Further we also receive hints over Judy's painful past rejections from men, and see some realistic vulnerability. The show teased its audience by hinting at disappointing moments that many trans people will be all too familiar with – a date running out at the first chance after coming out, being outed to other people without consent – but curves away from these at the last minute which is both refreshing and often quite heart-warming.
That this show made the effort to cast transgender talent (and even from this single episode I believe Root to be very talented indeed) really helped to support the writing. The language used was realistic – the families we see are working class, Newcastle locals – it would be stilted if terms like 'assigned male at birth' or 'gender binary' were used, as let's be honest, a large number of people are not familiar with these terms. People still say transsexual, people still say 'she used to be a bloke', and it would also be overly simplistic to suggest that all trans people necessarily find such language offensive when that can be how gender is relatable with friends and family. Much as it has been criticised (and rightly so) in some activist circles, the 'trapped in the wrong body' trope can still have its uses for some trans people. The show does not tiptoe linguistically and thus become unrealistic, but also strikes an intelligent balance in not engaging with slurs. Again there might be space for addressing this intelligently in future episodes, but it didn't get ahead of itself.
The BBC didn't make a song and dance of advertising this show as 'the trans show'. Indeed, the point of interest is as much how romance is negotiated between a younger man and an older woman, and the stigmatised nature of this is reflected particularly in the incredulity of Leo's mother. There's also something inherently feminist about a romance narrative that challenges the 'older dominant man/younger naive woman' industry base. There were other small aspects to the production that were also positive. Standing out to me in particular was the physical affection between James and his dad, with despite being men in their 20s and 50s were cuddled on the sofa – a simple family act that is so rarely seen because of how masculinity can be constructed within the media. Nothing was made of it, but it showed on another level 'there is nothing strange about this'.
Positive trans representation is always something to be celebrated on some level. But this show goes a way further – providing visibility to trans talent aided in reassuring the audience that the script hadn't been written in a bubble, and nor was this aspect relied upon as a novelty. One can watch, enjoy, and learn from this show without any knowledge or even interest in gender, which is so great in bringing awareness to a wider audience through quality entertainment.
See here for more information about the making of Boy Meets Girl.
Transgender, TV, Women
Non-binary gender identity negotiation – My PhD explained!
I gave this talk at the 2015 ESSL (Education, Social Sciences, and Law) conference at the University of Leeds. Enjoy!
LGBT, The gender binary, Theory Literature, Transgender
On Caitlyn Jenner's Coming Out as Transgender
(Note – at the time of writing, Jenner explicitly stated in the interview that she was still using male pronouns, however this has since been updated to reflect a respect for her name and identity).
On 24th April, Caitlyn Jenner ended media speculation by giving an interview to Diane Sawyer with ABC, announcing to the world that she is a transgender woman. As of 6.00 am Saturday 25th April GMT 2015 the full interview is still elusive (in the UK), with this 15 minute poor quality excerpt the longest I could find. Some high quality, short clips are found here. However I'll be commenting on and synthesising the various reports and clips on and from the interview available so far.
We still identify as female. And that's very hard for Bruce Jenner to say. 'Cause why? I don't want to disappoint people.
There's a range of different things we can learn from this interview. The first thing is that a lot of people don't appreciate what a big deal medical transitions are for trans people – emotionally, physically, and in most of the world, financially. Jenner literally laughs off the fact that some 'sceptics' suggest that this coming out could be a bid for attention, related to her part in the reality TV series Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Are you telling me I'm going to go through a complete gender change, okay, and go through everything you need to *do* that, for the show? Sorry Diane, it ain't happening!
In addition to this, Jenner revealed she accessed hormones and facial surgery in the 1980s – being trans is not something new to Jenner herself, putting such ignorant cynicism to rest immediately. Her transition was ceased in 1990, after meeting her later wife of 23 years, Kris Kardashian. And in terms of 'why now?', she states unequivocally how she couldn't hide this any longer. Jenner also made the points that fears over hurting her children meant she lost her nerve with her first attempts with medical and social transition, and that she and Kris might've still been together (they divorced in December 2014) if she had been 'able to deal with it better'.
Which brings us to another important point that Jenner clarifies – how her sexuality has nothing to do with her gender identity. That identifying as a woman does not mean that she is attracted to men. Sawyer slowly walks through the logic of this – 'if you are assigned male… and you become female… but you like women… are you a lesbian? are you a heterosexual… who…?' Brenner cuts her off brilliantly, saying 'you're going back to the sex thing and it's apples and oranges!'.
Whilst not discussed, it raised the question – how does a person's gender identity relate to the sexuality of their partner? The answer is that it doesn't, because whilst sexuality labels are most often used to signpost who a person sleeps with, these *labels* are also about identity. For instance, not all men who have sex with men identify as gay, and this is very important to recognise, in terms of both respect, and when conducting studies on sexual health. As a further example, if a person assigned male at birth comes out to her wife as a transgender woman, this doesn't retroactively 'turn' the wife into a lesbian (assuming she was straight in the first place, and not bisexual for example…!). Also if the wife is still attracted to her transgender partner, still in love with her, that doesn't mean she's attracted to other women. It is an example of a straight-identified cisgender woman in what could be viewed as a lesbian, or same sex relationship… even if neither person, given their histories, identifies as a lesbian. But as long as one grasps the initial point that sexuality and gender identity are independent, and that labels aren't gospel and depend on the person and situation rather than being a 'neutral' expression of 'fact', the rest can be negotiated from there.
For brevity's sake, I don't want to focus on the reactions of Jenner's family, or the story of Jenner's youth and athletic successes. The negotiation of significant personal issues is never easy, and the horrific marginalisation and 'joke' status that transgender people can still be relegated to isn't up for debate. Jenner's wealth and celebrity privileges don't negate that coming out was a very brave thing to do, and she also makes it clear that she wants to do some good and help people by being open about her transition. She makes the point that her foothold in the reality television world gives her a powerful tool with which to raise awareness, even if not becoming an expert activist overnight.
The Twitter responses to the interview using the hashtag #BruceJennerABC have been overwhelmingly positive, though as S. Bear Bergman poignantly put it, "wondering who else should get 2 hrs on prime time TV?" whilst linking the list of unlawfully killed transgender people on Wikipedia, undoubtedly a list that under-represents. It was also pointed out by Kate Bornstein how the interview didn't mention non-binary identities at all. Whilst not necessarily part of Jenner's experience of gender, such a powerful opportunity for visibility and education could have benefited from greater breadth of reflection on the multi-facetedness of transgender lives. Jenner's fame, wealth, and success position her as amongst the least vulnerable of transgender people, who collectively are still in dire need of protection, representation, access to services, and understanding. Let's hope that Caitlyn Jenner inspires increased and better quality allyship.
News, Popular Culture, Socialisation, The gender binary, Transgender, Women
Kris Kardashian
The Power and Politics of Words: On 'Shem*le' and 'Tr*nny'
Disclaimer: This is a big, complex issue. This post will never be able to do full justice to the topic, especially as I wish to remain accessible (which includes not writing a 20,000 word monster essay). I don't intend to try and play an academic devil's advocate, or create an argument where there isn't one. The point of this post is NOT to ask 'are these words okay?' – large numbers of the trans community say no, and they deserve your respect. Nor is the point of this post to explain why they're not okay – you can Google that though if you need to, as it's important. Some members of the trans community reclaim the words as an act of empowerment, which I'll come back to.
I had a really unusual experience of talking to a trans woman recently. She referred to herself and all other trans women as 'shem*les', and asked about the genitals of someone I know. For anyone in the know, you'll know that when talking to trans people, both of these things are typically big red flags – offensive, insensitive behaviour. If she were cis I would have relied upon my educational privilege and assumed their ignorance, and called them out. It would've been an immediate moment of 'ignorance alert! Need to set them straight in the name of challenging problematic behaviour!'. However, her transgender status changed the dynamic of the conversation, rendering me uncomfortable in putting on a teacher hat. Given that she's trans, who am I to assume she doesn't know the oppressive history of the word? Some transgender people (and other members of minority groups) reclaim words that have historically been used as insults, in order to empower themselves and challenge oppressive violence. Possibly the most famous word this has happened with is 'queer', which whilst still possible to wield aggressively, is used by many LGBTQ people to describe themselves. There's even the academic field of Queer Theory. So because it would've been a very different (and problematic) thing for a cis(ish) guy to tell a trans woman how to use transgender-related language, instead I said 'it's interesting that you say X and Y, because I know many trans people who would have problems with this'.
It was clear from our conversation that her choice of language wasn't a political decision, and that she wasn't aware that the word is more often used to insult and oppress. Whilst many transgender people are very well read on transgender issues, as with any large and diverse group not everyone will be. It's important to recognise that being trans absolutely does make that person the authority on their own experience of being trans, and that people should listen when they have something to say about how it is to be trans. But, being trans *in and of itself*, does not make an individual an 'expert' on transgender activism, politics, or language. It just so happens that, for obvious reasons, many people who experience social oppression of one sort or another (and their intersections) are motivated to learn about how to challenge it.
It emphasises a point the wonderful Helen Belcher made in a talk I attended recently. She said (I'm paraphrasing) that 'coming out as trans could be likened to expressing an interest in GCSE maths, and then having people assume you know degree level calculus'. In being an ally to transgender people, it's important to listen. But assuming that one trans person can necessarily speak for all trans people not only isn't realistic, but puts a lot of pressure on that person. I hold to the fact that it was impolite of the trans woman I spoke to to ask about the genitals of another person, close to me, who came up in that conversation. That conviction is informed by both lived, and academic experiences working with the transgender community.
I don't want the take home message to be 'trans people can be wrong about trans things, so listening isn't all that important'. It is. The two points aren't mutually exclusive – one can recognise that trans people are inherently the authorities on transgender experiences whilst recognising no one person's points can ever represent what everyone thinks or feels. After all, plenty of LGBT people still loathe the word 'queer', and if one such person were to say 'never use that word, it is always bad', the queer people who do identify with the term (which includes me) could challenge that claim.
The slur 'tr*nny' is a very good example of vocal disagreement between different members of the trans community. For example in reference to controversies involving both slurs on RuPaul's Drag Race, Justin Vivian Bond wrote how the policing of language is 'trifling bullshit', and that there's bigger problems to worry about. 'Pro-slur' arguments have been slammed – though with caveats pertaining to linguistic reclamation.
There have been conversations about how the slurs are not RuPaul's to reclaim as a cis-male drag queen, which emphasises how the queer community has changed since the days of the Stonewall Riots – when there was arguably less factionalism (and distinctions drawn) between L, G, B, and T. That may be in part due to there being less information and understanding broadly within society, with the oppressions still being experienced across the board. Now, it's fair to say that gay and lesbian people have gained more ground with legal and social acceptance than the transgender community – and the differences between the political struggles and communities' needs are a big conversation all on its own. One might raise an eyebrow at the seeming hypocrisy seen with RuPaul's use of the above slurs, but then calling out Amanda Bynes for her use of the word 'faggot'. If fag isn't her word, tr*nny and sh*male aren't his, despite the historical connection between drag and trans communities, from a time when there weren't the words or identity categories for clear distinctions that there are now.
It's complicated, but it doesn't have to be. One can recognise that words have different meanings for different people, and use words in a way that is sensitive. I agree that only people who are oppressed by a word have the right to reclaim it, and that it's insensitivity or ignorance when others play with such words. Words have the ability to oppress and to empower. If you feel strongly about challenging oppressions, then understanding the histories and conversations had about particular words can let you see the bigger picture.
LGBT, Popular Culture, Socialisation, Transgender
trans community
transgender community
Review: Louis Theroux Documentary – Transgender Kids
The Documentary Transgender Kids is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until 30th April 2015 – which can be found here. Apologies if you are outside of the UK and this link doesn't work.
On the 5th April, Louis Theroux's latest documentary aired on BBC 2. To quote the BBC's description of the programme: "Louis travels to San Francisco where medical professionals are helping children with gender dysphoria transition from boy to girl or girl to boy". Whilst even this is an oversimplification (structuring transgender narratives as always having a binary 'end result', and also trans narratives or realities being dependent on gender dysphoric feelings, non-intuitive though this might be for some), the content of the program has been well received.
I agree with Paris Lees when she says that Louis excels at asking questions designed to aid the average viewer's train of thought in understanding the subject matter. Whilst maintaining his position as 'guy who doesn't know much but wants to learn', he also avoided tired issues of etiquette such as referring to people by the names and pronouns they identify with – as this is easily Google-able, but they moved through this in such a way so that viewers who didn't already know this kept with the program.
The start of the documentary is strategically important and intelligent. We meet the parents of the little girl Camille, who iterate that their chief concern is doing right by their child, and learning how to best ensure their welfare – a position anyone can get behind. We are also introduced to Diane Ehrensaft who for me, was a highlight of the programme in demonstrating exceptional warmth, sensitivity, and wisdom. One would hope to see Diane's approach in any professional working to support transgender and gender variant people, but which the voices of the transgender community tell us is sadly not the case.
People with little to no knowledge of transgender often ask the question 'but how do you know', and more so in the case of children. The anxiety surrounding the notion of supporting a 'mistaken' transition, of the risk of 'getting it wrong' is at the front of many people's minds. It's a big problem that many people (including medical professionals) can assume that it is 'safer' to prevent any kind of gender expression or transition that runs contrary to assignation at birth, because of potential risk. Louis raises this question (at 14.17 in, to be exact). Diane Ehrensaft is worth quoting directly in her response:
Is it a risk? Let's call it a possibility. So with that possibility then we think, the most important thing is the same exact idea – to find out who you are and make sure you get help, facilitating being that person *then*. We have one risk we know about. The risk to youth when we hold them back, and hold back those interventions – depression, anxiety, suicide attempts, even successes – and if we can facilitate a better life by offering those interventions, I weigh that against there might a possibility that they'll change later, but they will be alive to change. So that's how I weigh it on the scales.
It's also worth mentioning that whilst stopping or reversing transitions does happen, it is comparably rare. These examples shouldn't need to be 'hushed up' because of the fear that they will be used to de-legitimise transgender people's access to gender affirming services. Indeed one can see that being able to access such things and then stop can also be highly beneficial for an individual, to help work out who they are, and what they want.
The program didn't make the mistake of trying to make a fictional debate about whether kids should or shouldn't be given access – it was clearly sympathetic. I felt the show helped lead its audience to accept the importance of this point. It skillfully managed to do this without reducing the transgender voices on the program to one 'line' – there were definite differences between the children appearing on the show.
This was perhaps illustrated most clearly by Crystal/Cole, who exhibited a non-binary gender (although the show didn't name it as such), sometimes expressing herself as Crystal and sometimes as Cole. They broached the fact that for some children (and indeed, plenty of adults as well) gender expression and pronouns could depend upon environment ('he at school but she at home') or on time ('some days I'm Crystal but some days I'm Cole). There are also some conflicts within this particular narrative – Crystal's mother (at 24.56) says that:
She has said in private with her therapist that she is a girl. Almost 100%. When I've sat down and had private conversations with her and said would you ever be interested in [transitioning medically], how do *you* feel about it? And her answer is 'I can't do that mommy, I have to be a boy', and I enquire further as to why and she says 'because I'm poppy's only son, and it would destroy poppy'.
This hints heavily at a father who isn't supportive/understanding/accepting of his child's gender expression, though we also hear Crystal herself say that she doesn't prefer one name over the other, and later in the program says she wants to be male when she grows up (though for the very normative reasons of liking the thought of a wife and children, as if one must be male to have this). The show deals with this complexity well, and reflection upon Dr. Ehrensaft's words are fitting. Crystal/Cole may be a transgender woman who, as a child, is navigating her father socially. They may be a non-binary person, with male and female identities, or some further understanding of themselves may manifest over time. I felt we were invited as an audience to recognise that 'searching for truth' is not the point of engaging with transgender people, but the most important factors are respect within the moment, and facilitation of what is needed for happiness and health. Which is not as complicated as critics might make it.
The mainstream media has responded positively to the documentary, although not all the conversations to have come out of it have been positive. For example, BBC Women's Hour disappointingly attempted to create a very artificial 'for vs. against' debate'. Quite rightly, this inspired anger from transgender activist CN Lester, fed up of trans voices and narratives legitimacy being framed as a debate, as if each 'position' had equal evidence and importance.
Bottom line – this is a strong and sensitive documentary which I would recommend. Whilst obviously positioned within an American context (and the differences with the healthcare systems are important to consider), many people could learn from the compassion of some of the parents who recognise how important it is to become an advocate for their child. By challenging cisnormativity (the idea that identifying with the gender one is assigned at birth is 'normal' or 'correct'), society is slowly dragged towards being safer and easier for those under the trans umbrella.
Children, LGBT, Popular Culture, Science, Socialisation, The gender binary, Transgender, TV
Diane Ehrensaft
gender expression
the gender binary
trans man
trans woman
transgender children
Non-binary genders have Thousands of Years of Precedent
The enormous extent to which the binary gender system has been enforced – which claims everyone can only be male or female – has left many people unaware of the existence of anything (or anyone) else. A lot of this has to do with a phenomenon that sociologists understand as the 'medicalisation' of sex. Differences in gendered behaviour (whether that be a man doing 'women's things' or vice versa), sexual attraction, or clothing choice became understood as sicknesses, best left to the expertise of a doctor -when before you would've called for a priest, or even more likely, not actually been all that bothered. Anthropologists in the 19th century gave fantastical reports of 'exotic', 'alien' cultures. These social models regarding gender and sexuality were unintelligible to people bound by the western model: that you could be a man (who was attracted to women), or a woman (who was attracted to men). And that's that. Such ancient and enduring social systems which involve a third gender (or more!) and other ways for understanding sexuality that aren't readily analogous to 'gay', 'lesbian', or 'bisexual' can be found all over the world, but it isn't even these that I'm referring to in the title of this article. One doesn't need to travel far to find hugely mainstream historical precedent for the concept of a third gender. How about one of the most important and influential civilisations in the western world? Ancient Greece.
I want to talk about a particular text, written by Plato. Student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, it's fair to regard him as a founding father of philosophy. The text is a collection of speeches by different important Greek thinkers, written to reflect each man delivering his speech to the others at a drinking party. This is Plato's Symposium.
One of the speeches was given by Aristophanes, who was a comic playwright. He asks why is it that when in love, many people report feeling 'whole', as if previously incomplete? The explanation, he says, is due to how mankind used to be.
Humans were, according to Aristophanes, originally beings with two heads, four arms and legs, and two hearts, who were very powerful. Each head (and corresponding genitals) could be male or female – so there were three possible sexes! Male, where both were men, female, where both were women, and 'androgynous', where you had one male and one female. These powerful double-people decided to storm Mount Olympus, so to stop them Zeus smote them, tearing everyone in half. Each person then desperately tried to find their original pairing – which positions the male and female double-people as gay men and lesbian women, with the third gender representing what we would now label heterosexuality. This comic illustrates perfectly.
This importantly demonstrates how a two gender system hasn't always had the total monopoly one might assume it has. Whilst this doesn't say anything about the thoughts had about gender by the everyday ancient Greek, it simply shows there was recognition of a third gender through stories, and there wasn't any strangeness or moral failure or sickness associated with it. The same culture gave us Hermaphroditus, the neither-male-nor-female divine child, and root of the word hermaphrodite, often historically used to describe intersex people.
Whilst the identity labels are new (the word 'homosexual' only being created in the late 1860s for example), all evidence shows that the rich human variation of gender identity and sexuality have been around for as long as people have thought about themselves and who they are.
Fictional Literature, Intersex, LGBT, Sexuality, Socialisation, The gender binary, Transgender
androgenous
hermaphroditus


Flavorful, colorful and stuffed with the goodness of spinach.
I think your going to love this one.
Wash and quarter four servings of fingerling potatoes.
Toss with two sprigs of rosemary (remove stems, chop leaves), two tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Spread onto parchment paper on cookie sheet.
Flatten four chicken breasts individually with kitchen mallet.
Spread 2 tablespoons of cream cheese, a sprinkle of garlic powder and one cup of baby spinach onto each breast.
Spray non-stick cooking spray onto baking dish and transfer chicken.
Bake potatoes until brown and crispy.
Bake chicken to internal temp of 165 degrees.
Delicious, fresh, filling salad in five minutes.
Toast pecans on small pan over low heat, tossing often.
Place 3 cups of mixed greens in large bowl.
Seal 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of raspberry jam into a small plastic-ware container, lid, then shake vigorously.
Scrape 1 ounce of soft coat cheese over greens with fork.
Remove pecans from heat once they start to lightly brown (should begin to smell delicious at this point) and place over salad.
Add to a protein for a spring meal or alone as a filling snack.
Love it? Share your favorite salad with us on our Facebook page.
Side note: This picture includes fresh raspberries. Although delicious on their own, it didn't work in the salad for me. Save them for dessert.
The quickest of "quickies" – a recipe via pictures!
I told both my daughters: "pick out any fruit you'd like as a special treat" during a recent must-get-out-of-the-house-trip to Mariano's. What did they select? Lemons.
Initially perplexed as to how to serve these fruits, I, of course landed on… lemonade. An easy, fun, 128 calorie sweet treat with 36% of your RDA of Vitamin C. Couldn't we all use a taste of summer right now? Fun, easy, inexpensive and terribly refreshing – enjoy!
Fill pint glass with ice.
Cut one large lemon and squeeze both halves over strainer into bowl to separate seeds from juice.
Pour juice from bowl into pint glass full of ice and sugar.
Pour full pint glass into empty glass of equal size.
Repeat transfer back and forth until well mixed.
Place two tablespoons of sugar into shaker.
Cut one large lemon and squeeze over strainer over bowl to separate seeds from juice.
Pour juice from bowl into shaker full of ice and sugar.
Sometimes a delicious, healthy, home cooked meal makes all the difference. Love Soup is high in fiber, inexpensive and something you could make a month in advance or even give as a gift. How many recipes can tout that? Enjoy!
In a large kettle, brown 1 or 2 lbs of lean ground beef or meat alternative. Remove tricolor pasta from top of jar and reserve. Add the rest of the jar contents to the kettle with 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Then, simmer 45 minutes. Add tricolor pasta and simmer 15 minutes more. Serve with your favorite bread and salad. Serves six to eight. Enjoy!
If too thick, add a can of broth or water.
To help with future dinners, I actually make several at a time in resealable bags. Then, when it's time to cook, I just brown some ground round, add water, bag ingredients and simmer. Everything cooks in one pot. Dinner is ready in an hour with little actual work in the kitchen.


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Where thousands of new homes are planned across part of Nottinghamshire
The landscape is dramatically changing
A view of the entrance to Chase Farm, off Arnold Lane. (Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
Large parts of the Gedling borough have been transformed into housing - and much more development is on the way. Jamie Barlow took a look at some of the major projects which continue to take shape.
Gedling Borough Council has a housing development strategy to build a minimum of 7,250 homes in the borough by 2028 - and one of the biggest development sites in the region has transformed the old Gedling Colliery.
More than 200 houses have so far been constructed at the Chase Farm neighbourhood and talks have been held over the design of a new primary school, as the £140m scheme continues to progress.
Located off Arnold Lane, more than 1,000 homes are expect to be built - making Chase Farm one of the biggest new-build neighbourhoods in the county.
Some of the first residents to move in also provided a snapshot into what makes it a 'great place to live'.
In November, a spokeswoman for the housing developer, Keepmoat Homes, said: "To date Keepmoat completed 202 homes, including 13 affordable shared ownership and 24 affordable rented properties with our partners, Jigsaw Homes.
"The current planning status for the site provides full planning permission for the first two phases totalling 510 homes, the final phase benefits from an outline permission to allow delivery of up to 1,050 new homes.
"The continued success of Chase Farm and progress on the construction of the Gedling Access Road will see the submission of the reserved matters application for the final phase for 430 new homes submitted to Gedling Borough Council early in 2021."
The multi-million-pound Rivendell neighbourhood off the A612 Colwick Loop Road is another hugely significant project, which has been likened to a 'mini-city' by the borough council's leader John Clarke,
Located on land between Netherfield and Stoke Bardolph, near the Victoria Retail Park, eventually up to 800 homes will be ready.
A new 210-place primary school will also be built and more than 160 houses are occupied.
A view of work taking place at the Rivendell housing estate. (Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
A spokesman for Persimmon Homes Nottingham said: "We head into 2021 with eagerness as we get ready to welcome more new residents and help lay the foundation for a thriving new community."
The development has been named Rivendell, as a nod to the area's link with the Lord of the Rings.
The author of the legendary novels, JRR Tolkien, visited his aunt's farm in the Jessops Lane area of Gedling, around two miles from the site.
120 more homes nearby
Not far from Rivendell, a triangular plot of land, between Linden Grove and Burton Road, has outline planning permission for up to 120 houses.
This means the project can go-ahead in principle, ahead of a more detailed application being put forward in the future.
Property consultancy firm Fisher German has been marketing the 9.88-acre site, acting on behalf of landowners Midlands Land Portfolio Ltd, the property development arm of Severn Trent Water.
An aerial view of where 120 new homes could be built between Linden Grove and Burton Road, in Gedling.
Willow Farm site
Elsewhere, more than 100 homes could be built at the Willow Farm site in Gedling.
It was allocated for development in the borough council's local planning document and, in 2019, residents were able to view a "draft development brief", providing further details about the potential scheme.
The site lies to the south of Lambley Lane and access is expected to be from two residential streets: Grange View Road and Green's Farm Lane.
Ambitious plans for Arnold
Major regeneration plans are also in the pipeline for the Arnold area.
One of the biggest projects, again approved in principal, is for more than 140 new homes off Mansfield Road, north of Georgia Drive and west of Felton Way.
Despite concerns the estate could be used as a 'rat-run', with drivers using it to get to and from Mansfield Road, the application was passed by the borough council in 2019.
In the summer, David Fletcher, director of Langridge Homes, explained the timescales of the project had been impacted by the coronavrus pandemic.
But he said: "It is going ahead. Our normal house types range from one to five bedrooms.
"I would have thought (this development would be) anything along that spectrum."
More than 150 homes are planned on land west of Mapperley Plains. (Image: Ian Hodgkinson/Picture It)
Mapperley border
Meanwhile, in January last year 164 homes were given the green light for the Arnold and Mapperley border, for a plot west of Mapperley Plains and Catfoot Lane, next to the Brookfields Garden Centre.
Just days before a decision was made on the scheme, Roger Bexon, general manager of the nearby Mellish Rugby Club, predicted "major chaos" if construction traffic accessed the development site via Mapperley Plains, which he described as a "major arterial road".
He feared new residents walking their dogs on the rugby club's land.
Village that's becoming an 'extension of Arnold'
Calverton is another part of the borough under rapid expansion.
With a number of proposals progressing, one example is a project to build 84 homes off Flatts Lane.
Concerns were raised about traffic accessing the estate as residents said the amount of traffic along the narrow stretch was a pressing issue - and that it seemed, at times, "like a motorway".
In September, Persimmon Homes got the go-ahead to build 350 houses under a separate scheme for land north-west of Park Road.
The scale of new development in the area has prompted calls for a new supermarket - and people said they feared Calverton was losing its village feel - and that it was "becoming like an extension of Arnold".

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Specify your gun make and caliber during the checkout process in the comments.
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Cold case Scotland: Facial reconstruction of man found in woods 11 years ago released
Burns Night 2023: What is Burns Night, who was Robert Burns, where was Robert Burns born?
Scotland has over 1,500 castles that reflect the country's Clan history, and while some lie in ruins others can still be visited today.
Clans and Castles: 16 Famous Scottish Clans and where their Castles are in Scotland, exploring Scottish heritage
Scottish castles remind us of Scotland's colourful history, when these beautiful settlements were at the heart of bloody battles being fought by Scottish clans seeking to protect their land from invaders or conquer the land of others.
By Thomas Mackay
Scotland has thousands of castles and strongholds (or 'Clan seats of power') that act as striking reminders of our country's Clan history and how powerful it was in shaping the Scotland we live in even today.
Estimates show that Scotland has around 500 clans and historically they all had their own territories and castles and some like Clan Campbell, historically one of the most powerful Highland clans, had multiple settlements that can still be found today.
In appreciation of Scottish heritage and our country's dark history, here are 16 famous clans from Scotland, the castles that were historically theirs and where you can find them.
1. Clan Macleod - Dunvegan Castle
Clan Macleod is thought to have descended from a warrior called Leod who was said to be the son of Olaf the Black, the King of Mann. Clan Macleod is closely associated with the Isle of Skye and as such you can find this castle off the West Coast of Scotland.
Photo: nataliyahora via Canva Pro
2. Clan Macdonald - Castle Tioram
Castle Tioram has been dated back to the twelfth century by some and it was originally a principal stronghold of Clann Ruaidhrí and the traditional seat of 'Clan Raghnaill' which is a branch of Clan (Mac) Donald. Today it lies in ruin on a tidal island named Eilean Tioram in Loch Moidart in the Highlands.
Photo: via WikiCommons
3. Clan Keith - Dunnottar Castle
The Gaelic translation for Dunnottar is "fort on the shelving slope" and this is why the fortress has played such a prominent role in Scottish history back in the 18th century with the Jacobite rising because it was a defensive and strategic location. Described as a "ruined medieval fortress" today you can still explore it at the north-eastern coast of Scotland, 2 miles away from Stonehaven.
Photo: tane-mahuta via Canva Pro
4. Clan Mackenzie - Eilean Donan
This castle is considered one of the most beautiful Scottish settlements of its kind and it has even inspired sets in Disney movies. It sits at the meeting point between three great lochs and it is surrounded by forests and mountains, located by the village of Dornie that is on the route to the Isle of Skye.
Photo: Juergen Schonnop via Canva Pro
ScotlandCLANHighland
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For Ford's "golden noses" that means a strict routine. Testers undergo a tough selection process, proving themselves on blind smell tests before being chosen.
NANJING, China: While Western drivers like the 'new car' smell fresh off the production line, Chinese would rather their cars didn't smell of anything - a cultural divide that's testing car makers seeking an edge to revive sales in the world's biggest auto market.
At Ford Motor Co, for example, 18 smell assessors - dubbed "golden noses" - at its research plant outside the eastern city of Nanjing test the smell of each material that goes inside a Ford car to be sold in China and around Asia.
The China smell test isn't unique, but illustrates the lengths automakers go to to attract buyers in markets where consumer attitudes vary widely.
"In North America, people want a new car smell and will even buy a 'new car' spray to make older cars feel new and fresh. In China it's the opposite," says Andy Pan, supervisor for material engineering at the Ford facility, which employs around 2,300 people.
The smell of a new car in China can have an outsized effect. A J.D. Power report last year showed that unpleasant car smells were the top concern for Chinese drivers, ahead of engine issues, road noise or fuel consumption.
The smell assessors at Ford, whose China sales are down 7 percent this year, carry out 300 tests a year, a third more than their counterparts in Europe. They rate the odour of all materials used in a car from "not perceptible" to "extremely disturbing".
Pungent materials - from carpets to seat covers and steering wheels - are noted as smelling of anything from "burnt tire" and "bad meat" to "moth balls" or "dirty socks". Some are sent back to the supplier.
Seats for Ford cars in China are stored in perforated cloth bags to keep them ventilated before being installed, as opposed to plastic wrapping in the U.S. market where consumers are less concerned about chemical smells.
"The smell inside the car can often be pretty pungent," said Tom Lin, a 24-year-old high-school teacher in Zhejiang province, who bought a local Roewe brand car last October. He said there was still a bit of an odour six months later.
"With the next car I buy, I'm going to take more care to check out any odd smells," he said.
To be sure, smell is just one factor for automakers to get right in China, where picky buyers are always looking for fresh car models and Beijing is making a big drive towards new energy vehicles.
In a slower market - consultancy IHS forecasts vehicle sales will slip slightly this year - firms are looking for an extra edge to appeal to consumers, beyond price discounts, says IHS analyst James Chao.
Local rivals Geely Automobile and BYD Co Ltd tout their in-car air filters to protect drivers from China's harmful air pollution, and BMW says it is adding larger touch screens and tweaking colours to appeal to Chinese buyers.
Smell is key though, reflecting a wider concern in China about chemicals and pollution.
"When I lived in the United States I might look at the suspension or the engine," said Don Yu, China general manager at CGT, which makes materials to cover car seats and dashboards for General Motors, Volkswagen and Ford.
"In China, though, people open the car and sit inside, if the smell isn't good enough they think it will jeopardize their health."
"We have to have very healthy habits; we can't smoke, we can't drink," says one of the team, 33-year-old Amy Han, adding she avoids spicy food and doesn't wear nail polish, strong perfume or even a leather jacket to keep her smell sense sharp.


The big screens of the phones allow you to read books in them, but this is not recommended, as it can affect the view because they are not specialized in that function. For that are the eReaders that they are prepared for this specific use. One of the most popular is the Amazon, which the company just updated with the model Kindle 2019, which incorporates a 6-inch screen, backlit to read in the dark, 4GB of storage and a battery that can last up to four weeks. If you already have clear your new acquisition, you will need to take it protected. Below, we show the best sleeves for Kindle, 2019.
As always, the cover Amazon is one of the best that you can buy for your new Kindle. Opens like a book, but has his own style with a front cover made of soft fabric, inner lining made of microfiber and a durable back cover of plastic that protects the device. It is perfectly closed with some small magnets, and a system sleep/wake puts your Kindle to sleep while it is closed, and wakes you up when it is open, helping to save battery power. It is thin and lightweight, which you will need for long marathons of reading. Unfortunately, it is not a case cover with stand to support the type of origami, and is rather expensive, but it is a sheath excellent, and facilitates the portability and grip of the device.
However, it is not necessary to pay the price of Amazon to have a excellent sheath folding. This model of Fintie is a great alternative if you want to spend a little less. Has a PU synthetic leather on the front cover instead of fabric, but you will also find a soft inner lining of microfiber and a durable plastic case protective with reinforced corners in the rear. It also has a system of sleep/wake to help save battery power and, despite the protection, remains thin and light. Best of all is that they are sold in various colors and designs for eye-catching, such as one with a tree and another with the galaxy, in addition to rose gold. You can even buy the black version for only $11 dollars, more affordable, and unobtrusive to others.
If you like to use your ebook reader with hands free while you're eating, prepare something in the kitchen or at any other time, you need a holster that will facilitate this reading. This of Timovo allows you to place the Kindle in a vertical at different inclinations, which makes it easy reading while your hands are occupied. It is made of PU leather, which is durable and easy to keep clean. When not in use, the Kindle is fully protected, keeping it safe, and with the system activation/deactivation means that saves battery life when the device is not in use. If you don't like the black version of the image above, you can pay a little more for the models with designs of flower, almond, tree of fate or starry night.
Although I still can't find a great variety of covers for the Kindle 2019, there are a few more options stylish as this leather PU Ayotu, which is similar to the other options on this list, covered with PU leather and an inner lining of microfiber that prevents scratches, a system sleep/wake and magnetic lid. But the real attraction here is the range of color options, which includes the design of a library of image and other great that you will not find in other covers. Best of all is that there is no difference in price between the different options.
If you like the feel of holding the Kindle without the cover, but still want to protect it while you put it in your bag or backpack, consider purchasing a protective bag. This Moko is made of a fabric that is soft to keep the device in its interior. The flap of fabric that is sealed with velcro, which keeps it safe, and there is even a second pocket for your cell phone. Although it is not tailor-made for your Kindle, 2019, will keep you protected while you're away from home, while adding a touch of style.


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Advertising Regulation
Media & IP
'Gambling can damage your health' warnings?
Written Osborne Clarke	on 28 Feb 2007
With new gambling ad rules due to come into force in September 2007, the Gambling Commission is consulting on ad 'health warnings,' 'Licensed by the Gambling Commission' captions and other issues.
Topic: Betting and gaming
Who: Gambling Commission
Where: UK
What happened:
Yet another consultation has opened on the long-awaited new rules governing gambling in the UK, due to come into force in September 2007. With Manchester having recently won the battle of the super-casino, the excitement is building with time rapidly counting down to "G-day".
Readers with long memories may recall that the new rules on what will and won't be permitted in gambling advertising under the new regime will be primarily enforced by the ASA, and that CAP/BCAP have already run a joint consultation on their proposed new advertising rules which closed back in September 2006.
At the time CAP/BCAP considered whether or not the new rules should require gambling advertising to carry educational messages or warnings, but concluded that the weight of evidence could not justify such a requirement.
However the regulator in overall charge of gambling policy, the Gambling Commission, has decided to look at this question again and to run a further consultation on whether requiring messages in advertising would be useful in carrying out its statutory duty of "protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling".
What measures are they considering?
The Gambling Commission are considering including three types of messages:-
warning messages, setting out the potentially negative consequences of excessive gambling;
educational messages, aiming to inform the public how gambling can be enjoyed in a socially responsible way; and
signposting, providing details of available help (such as a GamCare helpline telephone number)
Examples of messages under consideration include "Know your limit and play within it", "Please play responsibly" and "Bet with you head, but not above it".
Separately the regulator is considering whether to require gambling operators to display their licensed status in advertising. This is of specific interest to remote gambling advertisements, where the operator could be required to display a "licensed in Gibraltar" type notice in all of their advertising.
As we reported last month (http://www.marketinglaw.co.uk/open.asp?A=1515) this consultation is also looking at the separate issue of gambling brands appearing on replica sports kit.
Why this matters:
To date the CAP/BCAP codes have not required messages of any type to be included in any advertising. When messages are required, it is because other regulators (e.g. the Financial Services Authority) require them, or because a voluntary agreement has been reached (e.g. The Portman Group's drinkaware.co.uk messaging). However it is clear that the powers-that-be regard gambling advertising as a particularly special case, and there is a clear risk that obligatory warnings may be required at some point in the future.
There is also an interesting sub-plot to this issue, since the Gambling Commission appears to be cutting across the authority of CAP/BCAP (to whom it originally subcontracted responsibility for the regulation of gambling advertising). Ominously for CAP/BCAP, the consultation paper notes that although CAP/BCAP are responsible for setting the rules for gambling advertising, the Secretary of State retains backstop statutory powers to impose additional regulations on both broadcast and non-broadcast advertising.
Responses to the consultation should be sent by Tuesday 6 March 2007.
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How Beneficial is Duloxetine as an Anti-Depressant?
Duloxetine can be referred to as an anti-depressant. This medication helps people who suffer from major depressive disorder. This drug falls under the category of medications known as Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor or as SNRI. It is also used in other neurological and psychiatric conditions. Generalized anxiety disorder as well as pain in peripheral neuropathy is also treated with this medication. It is also effective in treating depression and anxiety in adults and adolescents. This potential medication will successfully alter any imbalance in the brain's neurotransmitters. It will act by changing some pathways of the neuro-chemicals that actually regulate the mood. Our mood majorly affects our emotions as well as behavior. So buy duloxetine anxiety and depression medication as this psychoactive medication will help in treating depression and anxiety disorders that are diagnosed clinically.
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This medication has no narcotic or sedating effect. But try not to use it for a long period until and unless prescribed by your doctor. This is because duloxetine can be habit forming. You should quit usage of generic duloxetine medication used to treat depression slowly with your doctor's assistance. Never increase or decrease the dosage and frequency of duloxetine on your own. Always allow your body to take some time, while ending or may be shifting this treatment. Introducing and getting out of any treatment involves a gradual process. You can only come out of duloxetine dependency, if you have any because of long-term treatment by slowly cutting off and reducing the dosage of the medication over some weeks. Addiction will cause Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms that will create adverse health impact. Get in touch with your doctor regarding this situation and follow his professional suggestion well.
This entry was posted in Anti Depression and tagged duloxetine anxiety and depression medication on April 5, 2019 by admin.


text:
Aleutština (aleut. Unangam Tunuu) je jazyk patřící do eskymácko-aleutské jazykové rodiny. Celkem má asi 490 mluvčích, 300 ve Spojených státech a 190 v Ruské federaci.

Nářečí
Hlavními nářečními skupinami jsou východní aleutština, atkanština a attuanština. Na všech nářečích je zřetelný lexikální vliv ruštiny.

Východní aleutština
Do východní aleutštiny patří nářečí z Unalasky, Belkofskské zátoky, ostrova Akutan, Pribilovových ostrovů, Kašegy a Nikolski. Nářečí z Pribilovových ostrovů má v současné době větší počet mluvčích než jakýkoliv jiný dialekt aleutštiny.

Atkanština
Atkanská nářečí zahrnují dialekty z Atky a také z Beringova ostrova v důsledku toho, že na začátku 19. století byla část Aleutů z Atky převezena Rusy na pustý Beringův ostrov.

Attuánština
Attuánské nářečí je dnes již vymřelé. Byl na něm zřejmý vliv obou dalších dialektů, atkanštiny i východní aleutštiny.

Mednovská aleutština
Pouze část attuánského nářečí se zachovala díky tomu, že několik Aleutských rodin z ostrova Attu bylo na začátku 19. století Rusy převezeno na ostrov Mednyj kde smíšením ruštiny a právě attuánského nářečí vznikla mednovská aleutština (rusky: Алеутско-медновский язык). Tou v roce 2004 hovořilo pouze 5 lidí z Beringova ostrova, kam byli na konci 60. let 20. století převezení zbývající Aleuté z ostrova Mednyj kteří hovořili mednovskou aleutštinou. 7. března 2021 je mrtvý jazyk.

Abeceda
Aleutská abeceda má 5 samohlásek a 21 souhlásek:

Příklady

Číslovky

Vzorový text

Odkazy

Reference

Externí odkazy
 University of Alaska Fairbanks, Aleut Collections List
 Aleutština)

Eskymácko-aleutské jazyky
Aleutská kultura
Domorodé jazyky USA
Jazyky Ruska
Ohrožené jazyky

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
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text:
Award-winning Short Fiction: Raja Alem's 'The Boa'
Raja Alem's "The Boa," translated by Rana Ghuloom, was on the inaugural ArabLit Story Prize shortlist in 2018 and appeared in the first-ever issue of ArabLit Quarterly.
The Boa
By Raja Alem
Translated by Rana Ghuloom
Everyone knows me as Fatima the Meccan. But the truth—which I have hidden so well throughout my eleven years of existence—is that I wasn't born in Mecca, but rather in the year 500 Hijra, or 1106 in the Christian calendar, in Wadi Acci near Granada. Anyone who has delved into history and dates would recognize that this matches the birth date of Abu Bakr Mohamad ibn Abdul Malek ibn Mohamad ibn Mohamad ibn Tufayl al-Qaisi, known for short as Ibn Tufayl.
Our identical birthdays are not coincidental, since we—he and I—are soul-twins, born from one isthmus. I was always with him when he treated the sick, and when he worked as a hajib, or minister, in Granada. He eventually birthed me through his mother the gazelle, when we embodied the character of Hayy ibn Yaqdhan. He called me "The Vapor" through which the living are roused to life, and after whose departure the body becomes cold, no better than the stick we use to fend off beasts. With my experiences and my aptitude for the natural sciences, and having arrived at the Oneness of the necessary being, I aided Ibn Tufayl until he was taken into the Almohad court, where he became a favored doctor of the Almohad caliph Abu Ya'qub Yusuf al-Mansur (1163 – 1184 A.D.).
When Ibn Tufayl died in 1185, I took him with me, and my soul wandered without any guidance. I then found myself drifting towards those routes that tended east, towards Mecca. When I entered Mecca, a woman was giving birth in a divan in Souk al-Saghir, the marketplace that leads to the courtyards of the Grand Mosque. The midwife and the aunts of the newborn girl were sitting on a copper basin. Under the basin were veils of mucus, and under the veils was the archangel Azrael whispering, incomprehensibly, into the newborn girl's ears: She should have been born male.
I moved towards the basin, where I adorned myself in the mucus veils, sucked on Azrael's finger and gained strength from the heavy women seated on my chest. As the women lifted and lowered the basin, nine times they did that, I joined them by crying. I spat out all the womb's waters that were stagnant within my chest, and then waited for their despair. They proceeded to wrap me into some cloth, leaving me to the breast of the crying woman who was to take care of me. Between the tears and milk, I dwelled in Souk al-Saghir under the minarets of the Grand Mosque, until I began training my body to walk, and they came to know me as Fatima.
When you ask me about the course of my past life, I tell you quite honestly that I moved between living beings and symbols, and avoided materializing into fixed forms. This was because I am certain that "confining, by means of form, a matter that should not be formed is dangerous". Living with Ibn Tufayl, I nurtured whatever arose within his innermost depths: his every inner state, every contemplation, every abstract musing. I became the character of his novel, Hayy Ibn Yaqdhan. I let him birth me from some fermented clay found within the belly of a forgotten island, until I became some warm clay mixed with cold, some moist clay with dry. It was a balanced and equal intermixing of forces. In the center arose a stickiness and an extremely small bubble, full of a tender airy matter of a perfect balance. My eternal breath flowing from God, the exalted and sublime, clotted within it. The totality of forces yielded to me. They prostrated themselves and were subjected to my divine perfection. When the clay was processed and its limbs were fully formed, the veils tore off of me in what resembled childbirth. Being a newborn whose source of nourishment had ceased and whose hunger had become unbearable, I pleaded for deliverance, and a gazelle who had lost her fawn heeded my call. She reared me until I had ascended rung by rung the ladders of Hayy Ibn Yaqdhan's body. The death of my gazelle mother led me into a state of reflection and I began seeking knowledge of the world of matter encompassing me. I eventually arrived at the fundamental truth that no being is distinct from the essence of the necessary being. I merged with the luminous celestial bodies, with a brightness that was untainted by any trace of distress or filth. I whirled around my own and the center of the island, until I left no distinctions between selves. I reduced my relation to all tangible things to the extent that even those closest to Ibn Tufayl were unable to see me anymore. I persisted in my intimate investigation until I discovered what no eye has seen and what no human heart has conceived. I witnessed concealed things and recovered secrets that encompassed the universe. Secrets that moved within the depths of existence and moved everything in it. I acquired the ability to move into and travel through different time periods and bodies. I then passed these singular truths to my inseparable companion: The stars have our breaths. His body is the axis. Whatever variations of connected universes he holds are his own, most far-away limbs…
And now that I have moved into the body of the Meccan Fatima, I could relax into these various knowledges of mine. I was absorbed by the sweetness of childhood until I reached my eleventh cycle of forgetting, according to the Meccans' calculations of age.
My problems in the Meccan society began when our neighbor Aisha al-Subkiya suddenly went into labor. She was the same neighbor who had recently been widowed, during her seventh month of pregnancy.
Before her labor on that night, the moon had descended so low that it filled the water basin in the courtyard facing our house's divan. Until that night, I had managed to fully hide my ancient connections to Andalusia and to Ibn Tufayl and I was successfully recovering from my forgetfulness. I used to sleep on a bench in our enclosed balcony, and my mother would bolster me with a red cushion so that I wouldn't fall off the bench and break my neck. How many of my stories did that cushion know! It was a red damask cushion that was more than any other like that same eavesdropper from the days of the Arab caliphate. It was as though it had materialized right out of my dreams. But let's return to my sleep that night. During those dreams, I went back to Cordoba and to the Almohad Court. There were specters that received me, and reenacting their past roles, they would clear a space for me between channels of water and narcissus. By those channels, Andalusian moons would ripen, people of need would sing and plant their poems, feasts were set out for those near and far, and we (the stories and me and my soul-twin) would preside over them, first with the Caliph Abi Ya'qub and later with his successor, his son Abi Yusuf.
As the slave-girls' muwashahat poems trickle onto the chests of the men in the divan and climb up their blossoming beards, Abi Yusuf is busy welcoming a Berber delegation filled with wild eyes like lakes of gold pouring over the walls engraved with Quranic ayahs. I was captivated by the extraordinary rawness of the muwashahat, when suddenly… the scream of a terrestrial woman… tears the slave-girls' throats… and scatters the Berber… the cry gurgles, thickens, closes off my windpipe… Suffocating, I abruptly floated out of the dream without even having the time to strip off my Andalusian guise. I quickly realized that it was our neighbor, Aisha al-Subkiyah, screaming.
I left my sleep to find the pair known as my mother and father in distress, stumbling towards the door of our house. Together we descended our high stone stairs, went through the wood-latticed vestibule carved with leaves, through the copper-latched door, through the narrow alleyway, to our neighbor's door. She was collapsed on the floor under her door, with torrential screams spiraling around her, pushing us away. The orbs of her brassiere, embroidered with starry buttons, were pulling tightly against her nipples, while the stripes on her pants' waistband circled her pelvis. Each silk stripe was followed by a cotton stripe. The crown of her belly had slipped free and was glistening with a captivating impudence. The fringes of her pants were an octopus dying in a nocturnal fluid, emitting dizzying smells. I got closer in spite of my mother's attempts to push me away. I found around me my gazelle mother and the other forest animals whom I had once cut open as I looked for the stirring fire that once gave them life. Given my long-lasting relation to animate life during the time of Hayy Ibn Yaqdhan, I knew exactly what was happening inside the belly of Aisha. Her womb had ripped, spitting its waters out, while the fetus was shriveling into a desert inside her. Aisha's passageways were narrowed by her bones of ebony, which formed a throne on her pelvis. The fetus had no hope of passing through.
As I examined her, my mother and father kept shoving me away, and then the earth shook and tore from under our feet with the arrival of the midwife and the other loud and distressed neighbors. The midwife announced that the mother had suffocated along with her child-seed, and so they left her laid out in the divan that was usually used to receive men and which was the closest to the road. The funeral procession would be the fastest from here; it would slip right into the alley and to the graveyard. The people gathered recoiled, mourning her as her own yells solidified into a net that surrounded her and paralyzed her, leaving her unable to cry for help or even breathe.
I couldn't join their mourning. How could I, with all my skill in the science of anatomy, be capable of cleaving her seed away! When Aisha began turning green, and the whirling height of Azrael was wrapping the divan's cushions around her, I grabbed a sterilized knife, slashed open her stomach and… before my thrust could touch the furrowed lining of the womb, a net of wails came down on me… wails threaded with convulsions. Their net caught me. And they tied me down.
Then, moons, solar cycles and the years they made up passed with me locked up in a room they call the makhlawaan. It was a dwarfed emptiness stuck like a parasite to the women's guest room, which was yet another emptiness, long like a mummified snake. I was concealed because I had, as they put it, gone mad. The jinn woman of the child-bed lady had possessed me and had not left me since. Even my form altered between the female and the male in their eyes.
I certainly didn't attend Aisha al-Subkiyah's funeral, even though the troops carrying rice with chickpeas were threading through the alleys. A plate of rice with chickpeas and one with tahini were slipped to me from an opening in the makhlawaan's door. I was no longer capable of being nourished through their human mediations. I had become saliva mixed with the Subkiyah's waters, and after this moment I was never hungry again.
I was then neglected by everyone around me, including those known as my mother and father. I was forgotten in that makhlawaan.
Until I was certain that everyone who had known me was dead or forgotten. The expansion of the Meccan Grand Mosque had swallowed Souk al-Saghir, so I wandered amongst Mecca's rainbow-pigeons. We used to spend the prayer time cooing on top of the Kaaba's rainwater spout which faced the Stone of Ismail, may peace be upon him. Under the spout, all supplication is accepted, as from there a pathway leads up to the seventh heaven. I abandoned my human existence and my physical form that was distant from the Superior Self. With my grey flock I took on the shape of centuries of prayers, so that when a certain tranquility overtook our coos, we folded into the curves between the Quranic verses and their extensions and dispersed among them. As soon as Mecca's night descended, the verses became embodied in us, and transported us to their concealed garden around the edges of that hidden pathway.
Raja Alem was born in Mecca and now lives in Paris. Her works include ten novels, two plays, biography, short stories, essays, literary journalism, writing for children and collaborations with artists and photographers. She often appears on the international cultural and literary scene, especially to discuss and give workshops on spirituality, children's creativity, and links between east and west. She has received many awards in the Arab world and in Europe, including one from UNESCO for creative achievement in 2005, and another from the Lebanese Literary Club in Paris in 2008. Her novel The Dove's Necklace was co-winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, and was translated by Adam Talib and Katherine Halls, and her latest novel, Sarab, was just published in Leri Price's translation.
Rana Ghuloom, from Bahrain, has recently graduated with an M.A. in Comparative Literature from the Pennsylvania State University. She has worked as a freelance translator interested in the intersections of Sufi poetics and gender issues in contemporary Arab/ic literature.
Also listen to the story:
In: Fiction, From ArabLit Quarterly
Tagged: ArabLit Quarterly, Raja Alem, Rana Ghuloom
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The Burlington Education Foundation funded the artist residency with Bren Bataclan. Bren spent the day at BHS talking to all students, giving an art workshop to a smaller group, exhibiting his artwork in the Cambridge Street Gallery and giving away three paintings by hiding them around the school and in the community.
The students enjoyed the talk, learning about his art and motivation and spreading smiles.
I asked some of my students what they learned and how Bren's fits into our school wide theme: The Power of One.
Seeing him speak made me realize something: maybe the American Dream isn't entirely dead. Bren was an immigrant who experienced some racism growing up, and yet, he is still successful and is contributing something good to society.
Bren's art is motivated by something purely simple: making people happy. He leaves his art for others to find in an attempt to spread positivity and joy.
Special thanks to the Burlington Conservation Commission for hosting an photo and art show that features Burlington Artists and the beautiful subject of Burlington Nature.
The show will be at Grand View Farm on Tuesday, November 6, 2018 from 6-9pm.