Jen & sAn

Heute geht’s mal nicht um mich —- sondern um Jen und ihre Bachelorarbeit. Da gab es so einige Höhen, Tiefen und Fallstricke im Prozess der Entstehung dieser Arbeit. Die ich live miterleben durfte …. und der Höhepunkt dieses Prozesses scheint nun mit der (zwangsweisen und doch euphorischen) Veröffentlichung ihrer Bachelorarbeit:  Die (Ohn-)Macht der Übersetzung. Post-koloniales Bewusstsein in der Übersetzungsarbeit. hier auf meinem Blog erreicht zu sein scheint.

Dazu im folgenden ein kleines einführendes Interview mit Jen, um euch den Kontext dieses Beitrags etwas näher zu bringen. Los geht’s:

Wer bist du?
Mein Name ist Jen.  — Ich lebe, lerne und liebe in Berlin und befinde mich in einer dieser identitären (Dauer-)Krisen, die du, sAn, als die typische 23-Jährigen-Krise bezeichnest. Ich nenne sie lieber ‘Leben’. Krise ist dann doch der falsche Begriff, denn es geht, glaub ich, vielen Menschen immer wieder so, die sich ver-rücken und verunsichern lassen können und wollen.
Ich habe in den letzten Jahren vor allem in Berlin eine Menge gelernt, was über meinen privilegierten Blick auf Welt als weißes¹ bürgerliches (Groß-)Stadtkind aus Köln hinausgeht. Mittlerweile bin ich 23 Jahre alt und habe andere Ideen zu gesellschaftlichen Transformationen, als meine links-intellektuell-künstlerisch-feministischen Eltern (ohne meine Anerkennung für deren Kämpfe und Errungenschaften zu verleugnen, ohne die ich nicht da wäre, wo ich nun sein kann).
Der Versuch, mit mir und Gesellschaft nicht nur kritisch, sondern produktiv umzugehen gelingt mir manchmal mehr oder weniger. Ich bringe mich an verschiedenen Stellen aktiv ein und bemerke dabei immer wieder die Eingeschränktheit meines privilegierten Horizontes und die vielen „Hausaufgaben“ (ein Bild von Grada Kilomba), die ich noch zu tun habe.

Worum geht’s dir in deiner Arbeit?
Der Text, also meine Bachelorarbeit, ist ein solcher Versuch des produktiven Umgangs. Es geht um Übersetzungen von post-kolonialen Realitäten und Texten in den deutschen Kontext. Als weiße Lernende schaue ich mir die weißen symbolischen und literarischen Übersetzungen ins weiß-dominierte Deutschland an. Dabei beziehe ich mich vor allem auf Schwarze¹ Wissensarchive und Wissensarchive of Color¹ und versuche deren Erkenntnisse auf deutschsprachige Übersetzungen anzuwenden. Inwieweit mir das gelungen ist, was für Leerstellen und Verstecke in meiner Arbeit bestehen, erarbeite ich weiter. Die Arbeit ist und bleibt (m)ein Anfang.

Warum schreibst du zu Übersetzung?
Auf diese Frage gehe ich in der Einleitung ausführlicher ein, dennoch hier in Kurzform:
Basierend auf meinem Interesse an der Bedeutung von Sprache und Sprachen habe ich schon länger die Idee Übersetzerin zu werden. (Ich war sogar mal in Köln dafür eingeschrieben und bin jetzt über den Berliner ‘Umweg’ sehr froh.) Der Plural meint hier nicht nur verschiedene Sprachen wie Deutsch, Indonesisch oder Englisch, sondern auch die unterschiedliche Verwendung von Sprache und die Möglichkeiten sprachlicher und damit gesellschaftlicher Transformation.
Beim Lesen von Übersetzungen post-kolonialer und feministischer Texte und dann erstmals praktisch beim eigenen Übersetzen eines Textes von Karen Barad ² habe ich gemerkt, wie wesentlich (macht-)politisches Bewusstsein, die Auseinandersetzung mit (Sprech-)Positionen und die Bedeutung spezifischer Wissensarchive für die Übersetzungsarbeit sind.
In der Beschäftigung mit post-kolonialer Theorie und meiner weißen Position im rassistischen System hat sich mir folglich die Frage gestellt, was Übersetzen als politische Handlung in, für und gegen bestehende Machtverhältnisse bedeutet. Hinzu kommt die Kritik an der gern genutzten Metapher der Regionalwissenschaften als kulturelle/symbolische Übersetzung und die darin eingeschriebene Neutralität von dominanten Positionen und Universalität von deren machtvollen Perspektiven.
Erst nach Abschluss der Arbeit bin ich auf folgendes Zitat von Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak gestoßen, das mich in meinem Interesse an übersetzerischer Arbeit konfrontiert hat:

„Einer der Wege, die Begrenzungen der eigenen Identität zu umgehen während man erklärende Prosa produziert, ist, am Eigentum von jemand anders zu arbeiten, weil man mit einer Sprache arbeitet, die vielen anderen gehört. Dies ist letztendlich eine der Verführungen der Übersetzung. Es ist eine einfache Nachahmung der Verantwortung gegenüber der Spur des Anderen im Selbst.“ ³

In welchem Kontext hast du geschrieben?
Der Text ist als Abschlussarbeit meines Bachelor-Studiums am Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften der HU Berlin entstanden.
Zum Glück hatte ich mich für das Beifach Gender Studies entschieden, es hat mir geholfen kritischer auf die Welt, mich selbst und mein Studium zu schauen. Wobei das zwar ein Startpunkt, aber nicht der entscheidende Faktor für eine Auseinandersetzung mit Rassismuskritik und Post-Kolonialismus war.
Im Semester des Schreibens (SoSe 2009) besuchte ich Dr. Kilombas Seminar zu post-kolonialer Theorie und Frantz Fanons Werk „Black Skin, White Masks“ (tolle Neuübersetzung ins Englische durch Richard Philcox, 2008). Das Seminar hat mich – ebenso wie Grada Kilomba selbst – im Schreiben der Arbeit motiviert und unterstützt.

An dieser Stelle möchte ich mich nochmal bei meiner Betreuerin Dr. Grada Kilomba und meinen Freund_innen Janina, Asoka, dir – sAn, und allen weiteren Begleiter_innen bedanken. Ohne euch würde es mich, wie ich jetzt grade bin, und diese Arbeit nicht geben.

Wie siehst du deine Abschlussarbeit im Rückblick, sie ist nun fast ein halbes Jahr alt?
Es hat sich einiges getan in mir. Ich bin nicht zufrieden mit dem Text und habe ihn auch nicht publizieren wollen. Ganz grundlegende Dinge fehlen, wie Begriffsklärungen zu vielfach theoretisch diskutierten Konzepten (zB Macht, Gewalt), anderen habe ich zu viel Raum gegeben, weil sie zu dem Zeitpunkt für mich – aber eben vielleicht nicht für die Arbeit – besonders wichtig waren.
Der Text ist aber bisher nicht überarbeitet. Wenn ihr also Kritik habt, Fehler entdeckt, Unklarheiten seht, bitte kommuniziert das an mich zurück.

Warum publizierst du sie dann hier?
Weil ich unter akademischem Druck stehe. Nicht dem Druck publizieren zu müssen, um in dieser wahnsinnig hierarchischen universitären Struktur zu bestehen – vor dieser Ausbeutungs-problematik stehen viel zu viele – , sondern weil ich befürchte, dass der Text eventuell anderweitig genutzt wird und ich danach ohne meine Zustimmung mich selbst zitieren muss, wenn ich in Zukunft daran weiterarbeite – was ich vorhabe. Also veröffentliche ich hier, damit ich selbst weiter an diesem Projekt arbeiten und den bestehenden Text frei nutzen kann.
Diese Problematik spielt sich ähnlich öfters im universitären Rahmen ab, der spezifische Kontext ist jedoch besonders machtpolitisch aufgeladen. Es geht um weiße Dominanz in der akademischen Beschäftigung mit post-kolonialer Theorie und Kritischem Weißsein (Lehre, Publikationen, Reputation), die sich Schwarzes Wissen und Wissen of Color aneignet, auf dem sie ihre Wissensproduktion ja überhaupt aufbaut und davon maßgeblich profitiert. Ich empfinde das als ganz zentralen Punkt der Selbstreflektion und Aufmerksamkeit, wenn ich als Weiße mich in diesem Feld (besonders in diesem, in anderen gilt das selbstverständlich auch) bewege.

Warum hast du dich gerade für eine CC-Lizenz entschieden?
In der angedeuteten Situation musste es schnell und unkompliziert gehen. Freund_innen, die sich schon länger auch im digitalen Kontext mit Zugang zu Wissen befassen, haben mich dann auf diese Lizensform aufmerksam gemacht. CreativeCommons.org ermöglicht es, wirklich flott und einfach, ohne Verlage und ohne kommerziellen Druck, Wissen und andere Inhalte zu publizieren. Und das finde ich politisch einen guten Weg: (möglichst) frei zugängliches Wissen als ein Beitrag zu einer hierarchieärmeren Welt.
So wird das Konzept zumindest in mir bekannten Kontexten des web2.0 verwendet und ausgelegt. Die Lizenz, die ich für die Arbeit nutze, beinhaltet imgrunde jene Nutzungsbedingungen, die idealerweise im wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten angewendet werden: die Namensnennung der Urheber_in, das Verbot der Nutzung zu kommerziellen Zwecken und die Weitergabe/Weiternutzung unter denselben Bedingungen.
So bleiben die Inhalte öffentlich zugänglich und können zurückverfolgt, nicht angeeignet und/oder verkauft werden. Inwieweit das bei meiner kleinen BA-Arbeit wirklich nötig ist, ist eine andere Frage, aber ich mag das Prinzip und möchte nicht, dass die Arbeit kommerziell genutzt wird. Die Rückverfolgung an diese Stelle bedingt auch, dass Leser_innen den Kontext des Textes anschauen können, was mir besonders wichtig ist, da sie ja nur ein Anfang ist und ich weiter daran arbeiten will.

Ein Anfang von was?
Na, wie gesagt, die Arbeit war (m)ein Einstieg in kritische Auseinandersetzungen mit Machtverhältnissen – Rassismus, Sexismus und Heteronormativität in der Übersetzungsarbeit.  ‘Einstieg’ heißt, dass ich damit grade erst angefangen habe und sicher ganz viel noch nicht sehen kann. Bestimmte Probleme werden sicher auch erst in der praktischen Umsetzung präsent.
Ich versuche in meinem weiteren Studium der Gender Studies und dann hoffentlich irgendwann auch als Übersetzerin weiter mit den (macht-)politischen Bedeutungen von Textproduktionen umzugehen. Und damit hoffentlich zu einer Transformation von und durch Übersetzungsarbeit beitragen.

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Fußnoten
1 Die Bezeichnungen Schwarz, of Color, weiß oder andere Benennungen sozialer Ungleichheitskategorien bezeichnen keine essentialistischen Attribute oder Gruppen, sondern sozial hergestellte Gewordenheiten. Mehr dazu in Eggers/Piesche/Kilomba/Arndt: Mythen, Masken und Subjekte. Kritische Weißseinsforschung in Deutschland (2005) oder in meiner Bachelorarbeit, S.7.

2 Barad, Karen (1996): Meeting the universe halfway, Realism and social constructivism without contradiction. In: Lynn Hankinson Nelson & Jack Nelson (eds). Feminism, Science and the Philosophy of Science. Dordrecht, Boston, London, S.161-194.

3 Gayatri Ch. Spivak (1992): “The Politics of Translation”. In: Barrett, Michèle/Phillips, Anne (Hg.), Destabilizing Theory. Contemporary Feminist Debates. Stanford. S.177–200. S. 177. Zitiert in: Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Encarnación (2006): Positionalität übersetzen. Über postkoloniale Verschränkungen und transversales Verstehen. Übersetzung ins Deutsche von Hito Steyerl.

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Download: Jennifer Sophia Theodor: Die (Ohn-)Macht der Übersetzung. Post-koloniales Bewusstsein in der Übersetzungsarbeit. Berlin, 2009.

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ps: liebe lola, auch nochmal einen herzlichen dank an dich für die schnelle und kompetente beratung zu rechts- & lizenzfragen meiner ba-arbeit!!!

Wow. It’s warming up and I have discovered a pair of shorts I have yet to wear. Like many other items of clothing I own they are just a little too snug round the waist.

(Sighing wistfully) If I only had a waist.

Another exciting thing is that today’s photo is one of my favourites so far.

Not only does it prove for once and all that I have absolutely no arse, the picture also suggests I may be an amputee.

So without further ado here I am…

One leg + no arse = hot patootie

Top: Dragstar vest

Bottom: My bottom (if that’s what you’d call it) is encased in never-before-worn on YoD Think Mink denim shorts

Accessory: Denim sparkly bucket hat offering no protection when I am at the beach later on

Słubice, 26. – 29. listopada 2009

Akademicki Kongres Feministyczny

Z wielką przyjemnością zawiadamiamy o pierwszym takim kongresie ogólnopolskim!

Przedstawione zostaną wykłady, będą oczywiście dyskusje, a także odbędzie się projekcja filmu Podziemne państwo kobiet.

Nie będzie również pominięta kwestia parytetów: prof. Magdalena Środa, Priorytet parytet.

Przewidziane są m.in. następujące cykle:

Przestrzenie Feminizmów, Przestrzenie Gender Studies

Gender studies w Polsce i na świecie

Gender Studies na akademii. Dydaktyka – Metodyka

Gender Studies – Programy Studiów

Perspektywa genderowa w badaniach nad kulturą jidysz

oraz inne

Program Akademickiego Kongresu Feministycznego znajdziecie na stronie Pracowni Krytyki Feministycznej:
[ kliknij ]

Busy busy. I’ve been up and to the beach for  a swim, for a cafe breakfast, walked the dog, washed the dog AND car and done a load of washing all before midday.

All of that activity is procrastination.

There’s something I have been avoiding, something heinous and time consuming, revolting AND tedious.

What is this task so vile I haven’t spoken about it or mentioned it previously on the YoD blog?

Marking.

Oh well. The one redeeming feature of marking is that I can comfortably wear a denim short while I mark, unlike assessment. Pant pant… Cos it’s steamy again.

Woops. Unmarked marking discovered on studio floor

Top: Mum’s black denim vest, quite dykey in this combo

Bottom: TopGirl dyed blue denim shorts. Aaahhhh shorts

Accessory: Denim Birkies, nice ‘n sweaty

Real Panic At The Disco: 13-Year-Old Sexually Assaulted At A School Dance.

A 13 year old girl at a school dance at a boarding school in the UK was sexually assaulted by two fifteen year old boys while other students watched.  Now the school is in “lock down” while the administrators try to sort out who was involved and the parents are not pressing charges. 

The article above asks whether readers think the parents should be pressing charges.  A lot of comments give a resounding “YES!”  However, I don’t think it’s that simple.  This article doesn’t give enough information to be able to answer that question with simple yes or no. 

How does the girl feel about it?  She was already publicly assaulted.  A trial may mean she is publicly assaulted again and again, having to relive the events.  Not only that, but there will be attacks on her character.  (Don’t even get me started on the very “wrong-ness” of that!)

People tend to believe that sexual assault and rape should be swiftly punished with severe consequences for the offender.  I fully agree.  Unfortunately, that is not the way it works.  Instead, the victim/survivor is the one who is punished again and again.  She is the one put on trial.  She ends up having to defend herself and her actions and her attire.  And, it is all just plain wrong. 

I can understand parents not wanting to put their child through that.  Let’s try to consider the situation fully before crucifying them as bad parents, shall we?

I bet you didn’t know that I’m a lady.

Granted I have hairy legs, and as my niece pointed out to me, short hair (in her eyes that makes me a boy). My general demeanour, heightened fashion sensibility, a sparing use of make-up and an incredible range of ladylike accessories all scream She’s a LADYYY!!!!!

And my denim do today just confirms the lady prognosis because I’m dressed in …

See me…

From the top of my head to the tips of my toes I'm a lady

Top: VG jeans press stud shirt

Bottom: Recently donated denim ‘n lace skirt courtesy of Pipes, it’s French! Brand called Sinequanone

Accessory 1: Chanel loaner handbag. See I really AM a lady

Accessory 2: Gifted denim sandals, spotted and half purchased by DaHo

Thanks for all the donations and denim gifts. Denim really does bring out the best in people and I really AM a lady…

I’m always interested in links to this blog and how it is used in the net’s discourse on gaming. Game Meets Girl, which is a video blog featuring commentary on games from a female perspective, highlighted my post trumpeting the fact 40% of all gamers are women or girls. Take a look at the video here.

Feminist epistemology is an outgrowth of both feminist theorizing about gender and traditional epistemological concerns. Feminist epistemology is a loosely organized approach to epistemology, rather than a particular school or theory. Its diversity mirrors the diversity of epistemology generally, as well as the diversity of theoretical positions that constitute the fields of gender studies, women’s studies, and feminist theory. What is common to feminist epistemologies is an emphasis on the epistemic salience of gender and the use of gender as an analytic category in discussions, criticisms, and reconstructions of epistemic practices, norms, and ideals. While feminist epistemology is not easily and simply characterized, feminist approaches to epistemology tend to share an emphasis on the ways in which knowers are particular and concrete, rather than abstract and universalizable. Feminist epistemologies take seriously the ways in which knowers are enmeshed in social relations that are generally hierarchical while also being historically and culturally specific. In addition, feminist epistemologies assume that the ways in which knowers are constituted as particular subjects are significant to epistemological problems such as warrant, evidence, justification, and theory-construction, as well as to our understanding of terms like “objectivity,” “rationality,” and “knowledge.”

(Via Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Some people have real fear about the emasculation of today’s men.  What is the fear of emasculation based on, and is it a legitimate concern?

No doubt, gender roles have beome blurred in the lives of many Americans, and women’s expectations of men have changed.  Today’s men are expected to be more considerate of their partner’s feelings and more expressive of their own feelings.  Men are feeling increased pressure to accept women as their equals, to take a larger role in raising their children, and to help out around the house.

Although Women are also moving into traditionally male roles, with full time professional job responsibilites, women don’t seem nearly as concerned that they are losing their femininity.  Why is that?  Is femininity less affected by societal change?  Is femininity less important then masculinity?  Maybe it is related to the insulting quality of calling a man feminine, while it’s much less offensive, sometimes complimentary, for a woman to be told she’s like a guy.

When it comes to people who I’ve heard expressing fear of emasculation, I’ve definately noticed some common themes.  These concerns are most often expressed by people who feel a strong need to maintain traditional gender roles, and who are uncomfortable with the idea of women in positions of power over men.  Men who express the concern of emasculation tend to be the macho type who are uncomfortable with any expression of empathy or emotion (other then anger) or don’t want to give up the “boys will be boys” excuse for their insensitivity towards women or inconsiderate sexual behavior.  These are often the same people who have the “men are pigs” (men saying that about themselves, followed by a smile or chuckle) or “all men care about is getting laid” mentality.  Granted, sometimes emasculation is used to describe a situation where a woman is disrespectful and verbally abusive towards the man she’s in a relationship with.  I agree that these situations are problematic.  But no more so then if a man treats the woman in the same manner, and therefore should be referred to as something other then emasculting.  Also few people prefer a whiney, wimpy person, who lacks self respect, whether your a man or woman, if this is what you’re refering to as the emasculation taking place.

I personally, would never be with the type of man who expected me to take a submissive role or who lacked any female-like qualities, and I have never had much of a problem finding a more evolved man who has met my standards.  I don’t doubt that there are plenty of men out there who feel a need to maintain traditional gender roles, but they wouldn’t like me any more then I would like them.  I’m a strong women and am unwilling to pretend I’m anything else.   I don’t believe that gender is as limiting or defining as some people make it out to be.  Most people naturally have some mixture of both feminine and masculine traits and that’s more desirable then either extreme.

If your the traditional type, find someone who is a good match for you, don’t complain about the people who aren’t.  Stop trying to dictate how others live their personal lives. I understand it’s no longer as simple as assuming all members of the same sex have the same desires and qualities, and some people will have to get used to having women in positions of power, but deal with it, it’s fortunately, not going to change.  Look at the bright side, men and women more than ever, can be who they really are, whether or not that falls neatly within traditional gender stereotypes.

“Invisibility” and “Silence” are the hallmark of  fascist societies. A national stereotype is built and than implemented through ideological and coercive apparatuses  of the state. Gender is an important battle ground in these “nation-building” projects. A section of Pakistan’s founding fathers was already obsessed with “Super-man”, it was recycled as “Merd-e-Momin” of Iqbal during times of General Zia-ul-Haq when Pakistan and United States were creating stunned merd-e-momins to fight the infidel Russia. Destroying a staunchly modern  republic of Afghanistan, and purging all liberal-secular thought from Pakistan [where it existed as "Reds"], were only side effects of this policy. The creation of a hyper-masculine gender stereotype of “Merd” Momin” and “Mujahid” as being the stranded criteria for being a “Pakistani” was the main ideological catastrophe of his time. It was a time of systematic gendericide which was done with approval of “liberal” western democracies like UK and USA who supported Zia-ul-Haq and his ruthless islamization. It was also the time of one of the most glorious Leftist-feminist resistance against Imperialism and Islamic fascism. Feminist-leftist poets like Fehmida Riaz and Kishwer Naheed were put on trial for high treason and had to escape from the country. The feminist discourse took a sharp radical turn but its impact of general Pakistani society cant be felt even today because of the state’s selective gender policies. With these policies , women, transgendered , homosexuals and even str8 men who didnt subscribe to “Tripple M” formula, the Merd, Mujahid and Momin slowly became invisible from society. What does it mean to be “different” in terms of gender and sexuality in Islamic Republic of Pakistan is very important to understand.  These people have a very vibrant but invisible existence in Pakistan. They are all around us, but we dont see. Invisibility has given them security to live a life otherwise impossible in the Islamic Republic, to make websites and to throw parties . The cost is to become a non-being, to wear a giant cloak of invisibility of dont-ask-dont-tell. The result on society as a whole is disastrous, its becoming more monolithic than ever. Recent Supreme Court’s decisions has declared transgendered people “disabled”. The silence and invisibility paved the roads to Auschwitz. Those who were gassed were not only Jews and commies but also gays and “disabled”

Shaheryar Ali

Nuwas Manto gives a touching personal account on what it means to be gay in a deeply religious and conservative country like Pakistan, where homosexuality is considered a sin and male effeminacy scoffed upon.The article was published in The Pink Pages , India’s fist Gay magazine. Mr Manto hails from Lahore, the self designated cultural hub of  Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He is a young student who defines himself as a “secular-humanist” and he blogs at A Pakistani-Humanist Blog.

Being Gay in Pakistan

Nuwas Manto

In Pakistan the word ‘gay’ is synonymous with the word ‘eunuch’. It doesn’t really matter whether you have a penis or not. One of my friends quite sincerely, in order to identify my sexual orientation, asked me if I get erected and if I ejaculate. Upon receiving a positive response he thereby concluded there is no way that I can be gay. Of course, it doesn’t matter if one gets erected while watching gay porn or straight porn. That has nothing to do with his sexuality. Poor Kinsey. Such an easy and traditional method to identify sexuality and he spent years on research!

But this unscientific approach towards human sexuality is not limited only to my friend, but to a majority of Pakistanis, who view Islam and homosexuality as being mutually incompatible. It’s none of their business what the heck science has to say when it comes to diversity in sexual orientation. What matters is the word of Allah, the Supreme Being. I am not trying to be anti-religion, but anti-Irrationalism. Twenty years ago, it was a rare sight to see a woman driving on the roads of Lahore. Today it’s impossible not to see one, or else you are not in Pakistan. But even today if a woman gets divorced, or worse, if she demands a divorce she is considered to be a shame, in the former case, or a slut, in the latter. According to a family friend of mine, those women who can’t be good housewives can’t be good women at all. So, I guess those men who can’t be good husbands can’t be good men too. Hey wait! World, we are out of good men in Pakistan!

But of course, men are men. You see, there is no harm if straight men penetrate into the backs of these filthy gay men. After all, they are the ones penetrating, not being penetrated into. In Pakistan there is no concept of diversity in homosexuality: ‘Top’, ‘bottom’, ‘versatile’. Every gay man is a bottom. I myself, seemed to believe this till I met some who really were not. Due to lack of knowledge concerning the field of human sexuality, there is a belief that homosexuality is based upon lust, not love. That is the information that heterosexist minds are fed upon. In my country, as I explained before, there is no difference between a eunuch (hijra) and a homosexual man (not gay woman). Therefore if you get into a fight with a gay man there is always the best way to insult him. This most astonishing word that the founders of the Urdu language ever created: Khusra! I have become used to hearing it. During school, because of my effeminacy was made fun of. My family has always been, and I guess will always go on to till I don’t change myself, tell me how I should become more manly. How I should talk, walk, speak, eat, hold the glass, and the list goes on. I am told that I can’t be open about my sexual orientation because that would bring shame to my family. After coming out and writing openly on facebook about my sexual orientation and my non-religiosity, my brother sent me a furious message from the UK telling me to better mend my ways before he kills me for defaming the name of my father .Of course many homosexuals take their own life! When your family is not supportive, when some of your friends hold on to you (but still view homosexuality as a disease they must tolerate), when many people who are in a process of becoming good friends of yours stop talking to you the very next day after you told you’re gay, there seems to be no other way out but to kill yourself.

Muslim Gay Pride,London

But then that sort of humiliation is not limited to your enemies only, but also extends to your family. Whenever there is a fight between me and my sisters, they have one word to shut me up. Yes! You guessed it right: Gay. Why am I telling you my story while my task was to inform my Indian friends about the gay subculture in Pakistan? Well, my story speaks for many. However I am still lucky. I know what gay rights are. I know what I must demand from this world. I know it’s okay to be gay, and although I am an Atheist now, I also know that it’s okay to be gay and Muslim at the same time. I have done research on Islam and homosexuality to some extent and so I believe that homosexuals can live peacefully in the Islamic world only if the interpretations of the story of Lot are done in a way that is devoid of bigotry and hatred.

But many homosexuals don’t know that. They are happy to be gay and perform namaz five times a day as long as there is no mention of homosexuality and the name of Islam together, whether in a homophobic tone, or in that of advocacy. If that happens they are torn between sexuality and religion, both of which are equally important in a man’s life. You must not be surprised when I tell you that when I talked about re-interpretation of the Quran in order to reconcile homosexuality and Islam, there is no way they can digest such an idea. How can all the Ulema be wrong? And more importantly, there seems to be such a crystal clear mention of homosexuality as a sin in the Quran. Guess what, there is no word for homosexuality in the book! The words used to describe it are anything but ‘homosexuality’. The closest that it comes to is the incident where Lot asks the people whether they would give up the woman that God had given them, for men (his guests, who were Angels in reality subsequently came to inform him of his near destruction). Now there can be various interpretations of that. But even when you ask you anti-gay or confused homosexual friends to quote where in the Quran there is a direct reference to homosexuality, and when they are unable to do so, they find it hard to absorb the information. Okay, I understand. Twenty years of radical anti-gay brainwashing isn’t going away in a day or two. But what really piques me is the fact that in order to defend their religion orientated homophobia, my people would even go on to defy scientific evidence.

But not all is bad. More and more people now believe that gays should have rights to a proper life too, although not in a large numbers. Again, as long as homosexuality and religion are not brought face to face, people won’t be ready to tolerate homosexuality. Now when homosexuality is discussed in relation to Islam, there is an obvious defensive behaviour. What is really funny is that these same people forget their Allah’s divine anti-gay verses when they are offered a blowjob! I have tested at least two guys who went to lengths to explain to me why Allah hates homosexuals. But when I offered to have sex with them , they didn’t lose a second to accept it. (Of course I didn’t have sex with them. I have some self-respect you know!)

The female homosexual scene is almost non-existent. Lesbians seem to not exist at all. Therefore they can be saved from the general wrath of society when they dress like boys and act like one. There is no concept of tomboyish girls being lesbians, although there is a strong notion that all effeminate men are gays and all gays are effeminate (something that I must admit even I used to believe at one point of time). But returning to the discussion of Pakistani gay woman, I seldom hear about a lesbian, and have never heard about an out and proud one. But my poor sisters suffer from two kinds of discrimination: based upon both gender and sexual orientation.

My Indian friends must have noted that Pakistani Gay sub-culture is not much different from that of the Indian one, nor are our fears, hopes and everyday toils. Therefore, we must erase the international borderlines with love and respect towards one another, and work towards helping our brothers and sisters live a life of bliss regardless of their nationality, sexuality, religion, or ethnicity.

The anime adaptation of No Longer Human has been an interesting experience.  Like Yumeka, I read it in college (the very same class, as a matter of fact), and like her I see quite a few changes from the original.  I suppose E Minor is right; these changes make Youzo a different character from who he is in the book, and the direction indulges in some cheap tricks to try and make the narrative more exciting.

But in spite of that, I think the anime brings out some new and interesting dimensions.  Namely, the women finally have a chance to be more than just what Youzo tells us they are.

Shizuko at the train platform.

The mogal (“modern gal”) must have been a frightening image to many men in the Taisho period.  After all, these were women who cut their hair short, wore skirts and danced to popular music, the very picture of western decadence.  By the late 1920s, the popular Meiji slogan of “good wife, wise mother” was rapidly being supplanted by a new demographic of young unmarried women with disposable incomes: the strange and mysterious shoujo.

By the time of No Longer Human (the first few years of the Showa period), society has whiplashed hard.  It’s no surprise that Youzo’s first lovers, Tsuneko and Shizuko, are preyed upon, abused and left with nothing by the time he comes along.  Women like them are no longer young, but they have jobs, wear western clothing and sleep with younger men.  Along with the unnamed bartender from the last two episodes, they read like a rogue’s gallery of what Showa society would consider shameful, un-Japanese women.

These are shoujo out of time, grown older in an environment that has become utterly hostile to them.

"She's my Saint Mary."

On the other hand, Youzo’s last lover Yoshiko is the perfect Yamato Nadeshiko: Kind, loyal, trusting and obedient to her husband, a woman who never wears anything but a proper kimono.  She is the ideal Showa woman in the flesh, which is very nearly enough to make Youzo feel like a real human being.  But it all falls apart after one moment of cruelty.  I won’t say exactly what happens to her, but Yoshiko’s fate is sudden, terrible and a very sharp message about Showa womanhood.

When she and the bartender defend Youzo in the final scene, are they mistaken?  Have they simply misjudged a sociopath?  I don’t think so; not entirely.  They are speaking as fellow non-humans.  Compared to this hyper-masculine misogynist society, which is preparing to send its soldiers to brutalize millions in a war of conquest, Youzo might actually be “like a god” after all.

To close things up and emphasize just how different the anime is from the book:  In the novel, this character is an aged woman who gives Youzo morphine for sex.  In the anime, she is Death, disfigured Oiwa, Izanami rotting in the underworld, both horrible and alluring.  She is the feminine universe that men imagine and fear.  It’s appropriate that through her, Youzo finally finds some measure of peace with himself.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is forthcoming February 2010.  For a limited time FREE Advance Reader’s Copy Available for Professors and Teachers. To request a free copy, email rhacademic@randomhouse.com  with your name, college address and department name.

**Book is being used in several classes at Sweet Briar College in Virginia in the Spring 2010 semester

In 1951, an African American woman named Henrietta Lacks, stricken with cervical cancer, became an involuntary donor of cells from her cancerous tumor, which were propagated by scientist George Otto Gey to create an immortal cell line for medical research. These cells are now known worldwide as HeLa. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, award-winning science writer Rebecca Skloot brilliantly weaves together the Lacks’s story–past and present–with the story of the birth of bioethics, the story of HeLa cells, and the dark history of experimentation on African Americans. Important, powerful, and compassionate, this is a remarkable work of science and social journalism.

“The Immoral Life of Henrietta Lacks is an ideal book for classroom discussions in bioethics, history of science, and science journalism. Author Rebecca Skloot does an exceptional job of raising critical issues that should encourage both scholars and students to reevaluate the research decision making process, the way research subjects are treated, and the balance of power in this country as determined by race, economics, and even education. An incredibly readable and smart text that should be a part of countless university discussions. — Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, and Professor of Journalism, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“A rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society’s most vulnerable people.”– Publishers Weekly, starred review  (For the complete Publishers Weekly review, go to: http://rebeccaskloot.com/?p=394)

For Publishers Weekly article and book excerpt , go to:

www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6705892.html

“Deftly weaving together history, journalism and biography, Rebecca Skloot’s sensitive account tells of the enduring, deeply personal sacrifice of this African American woman and her family…A stunning illustration of how race, gender and disease intersect to produce a unique form of social vulnerability, this is a poignant, necessary, and brilliant book.”—Alondra Nelson, associate professor of sociology, Columbia University

Science journalist and author Rebecca Skloot will be the “Lunch With an Author” session at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) conference on Saturday, March 6, 2010 and also “Author Meets the Critics” session on Saturday, March 6, 2010, 4-5:30pm.  For more details, visit the APPE website at  http://www.indiana.edu/~appe

Author website: rebeccaskloot.com/

For more information on the book or author, visit http://www.randomhouse.com/acmart

Writing our own stories in the form of autobiography is one way we can relate our experience to others, feel more secure in our own personal history (by tying it together in narrative), and document our place in history. I have a lot to say about this topic and will write more. But first, a friend at PFLAG forwarded this information to me:

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Transgender and Transsexual Autobiography

For the last 75 years, transgender and  Transsexual Autobiographies have told the stories of their authors’ lives and appealed for greater acceptance of transgender people. Autobiography remains one of the most important genres of transgender literary expression.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/autobio_transsexual.html

Kate Bornstein (b. 1948) is one of the best known transgender activists in America. Her book “Gender Outlaw” (1994), which is part autobiography, part manifesto, and part fashion guide, contributed to the political mobilization of transsexuals.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/bornstein_k.html

Roberta Close (b. 1964), a Brazilian model and entertainer, was proclaimed “The World’s Most Beautiful Model” in a 1984 tabloid headline. Her autobiography, “Much Pleasure, Roberta Close” (1998), raised eyebrows because of her claim to have been involved with many internationally famous male celebrities.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/close_r.html

Michael Dillon (1915-1962) was the first person to transition both hormonally and surgically from female to male. Dillon’s unpublished autobiography was rediscovered by English journalist Liz Hodgkinson and served as an important source for her book “Michael Née Laura” (1989) and a more recent biography by Pagan Kennedy entitled “The First Man-Made Man” (2007).
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/dillon_m_ssh.html

Lili Elbe (1886-1931) was among the world’s first post-operative male-to-female transsexuals. Her letters and diaries were compiled into “Man Into Woman” (1933), one of the first popular books to draw a distinction between homosexuality and transsexuality.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/elbe_l.html

Leslie Feinberg (b. 1949) is a pioneering transgender activist, historian, and writer. The main character of Feinberg’s novel “Stone Butch Blues” (1993) shares so many similarities with the book’s author that many consider it semi-autobiographical.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/feinberg_l.html

Christine Jorgensen (1926-1989) was the first person to undergo a a sex-change operation that was highly publicized in the United States. Her book “Christine Jorgensen: A Personal Autobiography” (1967) was adapted for a film released in 1970.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/jorgensen_c.html

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (1928-2002) was an East German preservationist and museum founder. Her autobiography, “I Am My Own Wife” (1992), tells the story of her own life as well as that of a whole generation of East German homosexuals who faced persecution first from the Nazis and then from the Communists.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/mahlsdorf_c.html
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/nazism_holocaust.html

Jan Morris (b. 1926), a prolific Anglo-Welsh journalist, historian, and travel writer, was among the first transsexuals to tell her story publicly in a memoir. She dedicated “Conundrum” (1974) “to all who are suffering still in the same solitary and unsought cause.”
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/morris_j.html

Renee Richards (b. 1934), a transsexual tennis player, successfully sued the United States Tennis Association so that she could compete in the U.S. Women’s Open. Her autobiography, “Second Serve” (1986), reveals the details of her troubled childhood as well as her adult successes in tennis and as an eye surgeon.
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/richards_r.html

______________________________

QUIZ: Transgender Autobiography

Test your knowledge of Transgender Autobiography:
http://www.glbtq.com/quiz/quiz.php/autobio_trans.html

Yesterday I had a friend stay over my house, after attending a party. During the course of the night, she said that she’s going to get a PS3, because the guys at her work said she should, because it has Blu-ray. Now, I know only one person who gets truly excited about Blu-Ray. He’s a film writer. Films are his life. He wants to see them in their amazing, crisp, hi-def goodness. So I told my friend, “I don’t think it’s worth getting it for the BR. It depends what games you want. XBox are going to do some pretty cool things in the near future, I think you should get that unless you have a solid reason to get the PS3.”

She then came back at me with, “But I was talking to the guys at work…”

I said, “Yeah, and I work and research in games, and date a programmer. I know several people who own every console known to man. How about I ask them? But we’ll get a comparison chart when we get home?” (I think we fought a little more because we were both drunk… but that was the conclusion)

She ended up deciding on the PS3 because she wants SingStar (although she wanted a “white” one, and I said that’d be the 360, but there was pink released at some point… how gross), but she told me how when she talked to the guys at her work about it (I’ll generally describe their occupation as “earth scientists”), and they had expressed some serious confusion over why she wanted a console. “But you’re a girl… Girls don’t play games! Are you serious? Like… real games?”

Sigh. Welcome to 12 years of cultural gender retardation. At least I have the, “You like to go around shooting people? That always struck me as a little homoerotic, personally,” line to throw at them, should they bring up the “girl games vs real games” divide.

Das Forschungszentrums Demografischer Wandel (FZDW) und das  Frauenforschungszentrums der hessischen Fachhochschulen (gFFZ) führen das 3. FZDW Hearing zu dem Tehma: Geschlechterverhältnisse im demografischen Wandel.

Wann:  Samstag, den 07. November 2009, 13-17 Uhr
Wo: FH-Campus Nibelungenplatz, 60318 Frankfurt am Main, Gebäude 4, Raum 111/112
Tagungsprogramm: PdF-Datei

Das Innovationsministerium in NRW hat erstmals einen Wettbewerb für Geschlechtergerechte Hochschulkonzepte ausgeschrieben und wird am 11. November 2009 den Genderpreis an 3 Hochschulen des Landes vergeben. Der Preis beinhaltet ein Geldprämie i.H.v. 100.000 EUR. Die Expert_innenjury hat sich für diese drei Hochschulen aus den folgenden Gründen entschieden:

• Universitäten Paderborn – Besonderheit des Gleichstellungskonzeptes: ganzheitlichen Ansatz von Promotionsstipendien im Bereich der Genderforschung bis hin zur Nachwuchsförderung und der Unterstützung von Doktorandinnen und Post-Doktorandinnen

• Univeristät Duisburg-Essen – Besonderheit des Gleichstellungskonzeptes: Gender Mainstreaming nimmt eine Querschnittsfunktion an der Hochschule ein und konnte interdisziplinär integriert werden

• Fachhochschule Bielefeld – Besonderheit des Gleichstellungskonzeptes: Konzeptgeschlossenheit, Förderung von Frauen in den MINT-Fächern sowie gezielte Werbung von Frauen für Professuren.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch und weiterhin erfolgreiche Gleichstellungspolitik.

(Quelle: Bildugnsklick: FH Bielefeld, Uni Paderborn und Uni Duisburg-Essen erhalten je 100.000 Euro.Innovationsminister Pinkwart zeichnet drei Hochschulen in NRW für hervorragende Gleichstellungsarbeit aus.)

Studies all over the world have shown that men and boys find that the most beautiful women of all are aged 17. This makes sense because at that age a female is fertile, healthy and has a long, healthy breeding and mothering period ahead of her.

So, here in the US, what is normal is deemed sick, evil, perverted and pedophilic.

We have been discussing this theme here for a while now, and here is yet another take on it, this time from the UK.

Suffice to say that most of the outrage over grown men looking at young women and teenage girls comes from females. The fact that this perfectly normal behavior has become pathologized in feminized America shows you what happens when you let women take over your society: catastrophe.

This disaster will continue apace until enough non-mangina males and real women (not feminists) rise up and overthrow the Female Dictatorship that we labor under, restoring a more normative unbiased rule of law in which neither the male nor the female view of sex is prejudiced or given preference.

Die Stiftung-Fraueninitiative schreibt zwei Jahresstipendien zum Thema geschlechtergerechten Ökonomie aus und möchte folgende Diskurse anregen:

° Wie wird Geschlechtergerechtigkeit in ökonomischen, auch alternativen ökonomischen Konzepten thematisiert?

° Wieso werden die Macht- und Ressourcenfragen fast nie im Kontext einer geschlechtergerechten Teilung diskutiert und gelöst? Wie lässt sich das ändern?

° Welche Möglichkeiten, welche Rahmenbedingungen braucht es, um ein kooperatives, am Gebrauch orientiertes, nicht-patriarchales und umweltschonendes Wirtschaften und %c Arbeiten zu entwickeln? Was muss sich dazu an unserer heutigen Wirtschafts- und Arbeitsweise ändern? Welch Regulierungen braucht es dazu auf den Finanzmärkten?

° Wie und was und wieviel muss wirklich produziert werden? Welche Waren und Dienste brauchen wir wirklich für ein gutes Leben auf unserm Planeten (Weiterentwicklung des Konsum- und Bedürfnisdiskurses) ?

Die ‘Stiftung Fraueninitiative’ fördert ein Jahr lang mit monatlich 1.000,- €, möglicher Beginn des Stipendiums im Frühjahr 2010.

Erforderliche Bewerbungsunterlagen: Vorstellung des gewünschten Themas, der Fragestellung, der Zielvorstellung und der zeitlichen und inhaltlichen Vorgehensweise (ca. 6-8 Seiten); tabellarischer Lebens- und Berufsverlauf, Skizzierung bisheriger feministisch-politischer Aktivitäten und der derzeitigen Arbeitssituation.

Bewerbungsschluss ist der 30.November 2009: Postfach 190308 in 50500-Köln

This website contains a list of 100 gender and sexuality studies blogs ranging from the theoretical to the politcal and more.

This website contains a list of 100 gender and sexuality studies blogs ranging from the theoretical to the politcal and more.