So... about this Google+ gizmo...

I created a Google+ community today for Queering the Closet. I'm still not sure why, as I already have Google+ a fan page.

When I first found out that Google was now allowing the creation of community pages on Google+, I wasn't sure what to think. However, I was invited to a community page for M/M romance literature and thought I might start one that had a more general purpose. That is rather than just those interested in m/m romance, how about a community to talk about LGBTQ media in general?

We'll see where things go from here. I wonder if this will be another social media thing to manage or if it might actually go someplace.

Silver Demon: Speaking for the Voiceless

In The Republic, Plato takes pains to express his contempt of most art. Plato's view of art of course was shaped by his conception of his beloved Forms. For those who do not know, Plato conceived of the forms as a metaphysically "real" world that everything in our world is based upon. A chair is only a chair, according to Plato, because within the realm of the Platonic Forms, the true form/idea of a chair exists.

Everything that is a copy of something else is inferior to the original (Plato claims) therefore, our world is inferior to the world of the forms. By default then art, which attempts to "copy" things in our world, is therefore a copy of a copy, and therefore further degraded from the Platonic Forms.

One hates to think what might happen to Plato, if he were still alive today, of the apocalyptic rage he might experience when he saw Hollywoods' fetish for sequels, remakes, adaptations, as well as the remakes of sequels of previous adaptations which then go on to have novelizations and video games based upon them.

In any case, this brings me to what I want to talk about: Speaking on behalf of those who have been marginalized.

In the process, of writing my LGBTQ Superhero novel Silver Demon, it did not feel right to me to not honor real life LGBTQ heros, as well as using the opportunity to highlight both bits of LGBTQ history and LGBTQ individuals that have either been overlooked or forgotten.

To that end, I created secondary characters based upon real life LGBTQ individuals. This is in addition to naming individuals after LGBTQ historical figures, even when It was only afterwards that I started wondering, was what I'm doing really all that ethical? After all, I am taking individuals, some of whom were quite controversial in their time, and putting words in their mouths that they themselves might not have agreed with. I have of course made every attempt to stay true to the essence of what the established record says about these individuals, but error on my part is always a real possibility.

In the same vein, I have felt a certain responsibility to raise awareness of issues facing the queer community, such as the high rate of homelessness among LGBTQ youth. I also felt it important that I not just include white, able bodied, cis-male character, in addition to characters of various religious and cultural backgrounds.

However, I personally am cis, male, able bodied, white, raised christian (specifically Methodist), identify as agnostic, currently part of Oneonta's Unitarian Universalist Society. I have also never personally experienced what it is like to be homeless. By creating characters who are not part of my tribe or within my own experience, am I, to a degree, committing a form of cultural imperialism? I do not know what it is like to live in our society as a person of color. I am not blind or deaf, nor am I required to rely on a wheelchair for basic mobility. I am not a member of either Islam or Buddhism. Is it therefore possible then for me to somehow appear not only to be speaking for other groups (which I'm not trying to do) but because I have included such characters, end up misrepresenting the experiences of these groups?

There is a phenomenon in many narratives, in which a member of a non-oppressed group (typically a white, cis, straight man) manages to save a member or members of an oppressed group. Examples of this are abundant, Dances with Wolves, Dances With Wolves in Space... er Avatar.

While I think Hollywood (or whoever is telling a particular story) does this for very specific reasons - they get to have a character (the white, cis, straight man) who appeals to the widest audience possible - while still getting to address the Important Issues of the Day. However, these narratives has the unfortunate effect of making the minorities in question look weak and unable to solve their problems. This problem is the one issue that I think I was fortunately able to avoid easily enough in my own work.

However, there are even thornier issues yet. When I was doing research, I discovered the stories of brothels that were maintained by the NAZI's in concentration camps such as Buchenwald, which is where a significant part of where the back-story in Silver Demon is set. This also happens to be the one topic I feel would be the easiest for me to get wrong. I do not wish to exploit a tragedy or human suffering but if I ignore the issue altogether in the story, would I be contributing to the oppressive silence surrounding rape and sexual assault?

I don't think there are any easy answers to these questions. Anything I create can only be considered a copy of something of our real, non-Platonic Form world. Therefore, I can only ask, am I creating something inferior and exploitative or enlightened and informative? And then work towards the latter and while trying to avoid the former.

Silver Demon: The No Handed Bandit

This is the latest post regarding my LGBTQ superhero novel, Silver Demon, where I talk about stuff that either inspired me or interesting tidbits that I have come across while doing research.

In any case, during the course of the novel, one of the characters ends up losing both of their hands. While doing research on what that would be like, I came across the youtube videos of the the No Handed Bandit and they were interesting enough that I thought I might share them.

User Page for the No Handed Bandit

The No-Handed Bandit shows how he puts his arms on:

Silver Demon: Riddle Me This.

So, in any case, I've been working on a novel for, well, some time now. The title that I have (for right now) is Silver Demon and I would classify it as falling within the queer superhero genre.

Now, while doing research for Silver Demon, I happen to keep coming across little tidbits and things that I want to either share publicly or comment on, but up until now, have not bothered to do so. Which is why I'm making this post.

There is a scene in the story where one of the characters ends up being tested and has to answer several riddles in order to proceed. Naturally, I did some research to look for inspiration for riddles to use in this scene.

One riddle that I kept coming across goes as follows:
A man and his son are out driving when they are in a terrible car accident and both the father* and son are horribly injured. Both end up being rushed to different hospitals. When the Doctor at the E.R. sees the son, she turns and says, "I cannot treat this son, he is my son."
*Some versions have the father being killed instead of injured.

Naturally the answer that is always given is that the Doctor in question happens to the patients' mom. Ha, ha, didn't think of that you sexist misogynistic pigs!

The thing is, generally speaking, that riddles are supposed to have "tricks" to them. That is, the answers are not supposed to be obvious, otherwise they would not be riddles. The trick to this riddle is that people (apparently) do not generally consider the possibility that women can be doctors.

That issue aside however, there are a couple of points I want to raise about this riddle. We know the current gender of one parent. We know nothing about the gender of the other parent. This of course leaves open several possibilities. The son is being raised by a gay couple and therefore has two fathers or the doctor is transgender, intersex, or gender queer, or more generally falls outside the gender binary.

In any case. the point remains the same, the riddle is set up so as to mock sexism but merely ends up also reinforcing heternormativity.

A better joke in the same vein - for which the punchline is now ruined (sorry!) - is as follows:

There is a terrible car accident in which it is obvious that one of the occupants is badly injured. A man and a woman rush up to the car and arrive almost at the same time. The man roughly shoves the woman aside, saying, "Excuse me lady, I know first aid."

The woman steps back for a few moments, then walks up to the man and says to him, "when you get to the part about calling a doctor, I'm right here."

Gore Vidal, Rape Apologist.

For those who were unaware, Gore Vidal, American author, and stringent anti-imperialist passed away this week.

I will admit to having been a little upset about the news when I first heard it. Vidal after all was an extremely quotable writer. I found the following quote from him to be particularly incisive:

At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.

However, that quote took on a decidedly ironic overtone, when I came across the following statement that Vidal had made in an interview with The Atlantic (published in 2009) in response to the question the interviewer had asked regarding Roman Polanski raping a 13 year year old girl:

I really don’t give a fuck. Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she’s been taken advantage of?

Honestly, I am not sure where to begin on this one. The facts of what Mr. Polanski had done were well established at the time of this interview.

First off, the individual in question was 13 years old at the time of the incident. A little young to be engaging in sex work, one might think.

Second, I must have forgotten to read the memo that says that sex workers give up their right to refuse consent when they are working.

Third, the thirteen year old victim was drugged by Polanski before he raped her. The victim was with Polanski, as Polanski had promised her mother that she (the victim) would be photographed for an edition of Vogue. Which is another memo I must have lost, the one that argues that getting photographed for a non-pornographic magazine is the equivalent of engaging in sex work.

What makes Vidal's defending Polanski so reprehensible is that Vidal makes it very clear that this comment was not simply off the cuff, he genuinely believes in what is saying.

As the interview in question proceeds, Vidal goes on to claim that Polanski's persecution was motivated by antisemitism and had nothing to do with, you know, Polanski raping a 13 year old.

I am reminded here, of when I doing research on Harry Hay and finding out that he had, at one point defended NAMBLA (North Atlantic Man Boy Love Association) an organization that essentially promotes pedophilia. And while doing research for this article I found out that Allen Ginsberg had also defended the organization.

It seems as if you can't knock too hard on the door of anybody's closet, without knocking out a skeleton or two. There is a line between defending sexual activity between consenting adults and defending sexual activity with those too young to give consent. Too bad there are pro-queer activists who were unable to make that distinction.

I am also reminded here of the response to the Sandusky scandal at Penn State and the revelation that many members of the Penn State elite -- such as Joe Paterno -- had covered up for Sandusky. Consider also, the cover ups that occurred within the Catholic Church over numerous incidents of sexual assault by priests against children.

Coming back to Vidal, it is worth noting that he was not the only celebrity who had defended Polanski. Over a hundred of Hollywood's elite signed a petition to demand the release of Polanski following his arrest in Switzerland while he was traveling to a film festiveal.

It seems that as a species, few of us are immune to the desire to stick our head in the sand and ignore any problem that is shoved in front of our faces. But a problem cannot be solved through ignorance, nor by blaming the victims.

While Gore Vidal may have been a talented and progressive author (he did after all write one of the first major pro-queer novels in the United States) I cannot defend, his slut-shaming, rape defending, comment. Nor do I think it should be dismissed. By claiming that a 13 year old, who had been drugged and raped by a man in his 40's, was a "hooker" who had simply felt she had been taken advantage of, Gore Vidal committed a sin too ugly for description.

Blog update: I'm Back!

Well, okay, it's not like I ever went away exactly. But I got a new laptop after the old one pretty much died.

The thing is, typing on an iPad (even with a Bluetooth connected keyboard) is not the same thing as being able to write on an actual laptop. The differences are so extreme that one might as well compare writing cuniform on clay tablets to putting pen to paper.

So at this point, I should be able to return to writing full length, properly formated reviews. Once I get the image files imported over and everything, this should be only be a matter of time.


The one drawback is that it will probably be several days before I stop swiping my fingers up and down the screen, while screaming "WHY WON'T THE DAMN THING SCROLL!". I already spent several moments, where I kept taping on an enter icon while starting up the laptop, before I realized why that would not exactly work.

Off Topic: On iPads and the lack of posts...

Okay, first, allow me to offer up that little standard uh apology for not having posted a lot recently. Although, I'm not sure I understand the point precisely of apologizing for having a life beyond this virtual internet thingie but if every other blogger out there does it in similar circumstances...

In any case, I've been busy with another project, a story to be precise that I've been working on. Maybe I'll even get it published someday.

The other problem is that my laptop has slowly bitten the dust and is now closer to paperweight than electronic. It's only a matter of time before the Smithsonian starts making inqueries.

I can write more or less on my iPad, especially since my Dad got me a nice little keyboard that connects wirelessly,f for me for Christmas and while it's not like writing on a regular keyboard it is nicer than using the screen keypad. However, the format I use for the reviews is virtually impossible to replicate on an iPad. Well, it's possible, it's just really difficult and time consuming. Given my current funding situation, it will be awhile before I can afford a new regular laptop.

Speaking of the iPad, I thought I would offer up my thoughts on the device. There are two things I want to say. One is that Apple has truely created a truely amazing piece of hardware. They then went on to set up this amazing piece of hardware with some seriously flawed software. As someone who uses flash and java apps a lot, the lack of support for flash and java apps is rather disappointing. Particularly as someone who plays Runescape. So what if those things use up a lot of battery life and are ineffecient? I like having access to all the internet has to offer and if I want to use a program that shortens the battery life, shouldn't I at least have that option?

That's just the beginning of the software issues I have. The other is the way that there is no independent way to store files outside of apps, which makes emailing/uploading photos online... frustrating. As in trying to do so will usually end with the phrase: *AURGH* *HULK* *SMASH*. I bet the high price tag is the main reason more iPads don't usually end up in a million bits at the end of the day. It's weird to go from being able to effortless perform a variety of tasks that would seem nearly impossible for a single device to pull off to wanting to smash it for being inable to do something that seems utterly straightforward.

Suffice to say, I dislike having to shell out a few bucks each for apps that allow one to upload to services like Facebook or Instagram.

In the grand scheme of things, I should note that it's nice to be able to take one small porable device with me me to the gym, use it to watch music videos while I workout, take photos to document graffiti on the streets outside, type up a few paragraphs for the story I mentioned I was working on while I eat lunch, then later go to a meeting and show those photos to others.

Just good luck for anyone who might want to also use Java, Flash, or show those photos to anyone on Facebook on the free.