June

By Connor Lassey. Source:
http://bosguy.com/2012/06/01/happy-pride-2/

Just a few minutes shy of July, I wanted to make a brief summation of June and it's theme. This month has flown by while reading Nobody Passes and Making Gay History, both books have offered different perspectives on Queer discussion. First, the trajectory traced in Making Gay History, offers a view of the LGBT movement in the US from its' commencement, when many lived their lives hidden. In total it covers the 20th century. The book mainly concentrates on the gay and lesbian aspect, transgender and bisexual doesn't enter much into the framework.

My aim for this month was precisely that, present recourses through which one can better glean the Homophile movement, given that it is Pride month. The clearer one understands the diversity inherent within the world we all reside, the higher the possibility for improvement. Given the in-depth point of view in Making Gay History I highly recommend the book, the pace is quick and there is an electric quality within the pace of the story, as the narrative progresses, that truly captures and transports the reader.

With Nobody Passes I wanted to stray further from normative gender expressions. For example, the second one by Nico Dacumos "All Mixed Up With No Place To Go: Inhabiting Mixed Consciousness On The Margins", centers on gender and mixed consciousness. Forget community and niche, the narrator endeavors to reveal to the reader the blurry lines of gender, fitting in and identity. Transgender, butch, bisexual, lesbian, Chicana, immigrant, all these categorizations and more are placed under the microscope and questioned. And what about a queer, black rapper? Ralowe T. Ampu AKA G-Minus speaks of his experience within the Homohop movement, his evolution as an artist. His experiences offer a colorful view of a community that is not widely disseminated; for example, I didn't know about Homohop. This book is replete with mixed angles that challenge normative society, lifting a veil that uncovers a race, the human race, that is proliferated with diversity.

Hence, it is evident that these two books offer good material and food for thought, not only for the Queer community but also for everyone that exists in and around the LGBT collective.

Nobody Passes

I know, I know, the end of the month approaches in a few days and the Pride marches and celebrations have almost all passed. Nonetheless, meandering through my consuming weeks here is this post, just in time*.

For this insert I considered Gloria Anzaldua, an excellent Chicana feminist lesbian writer, specifically an excerpt from her Borderlands/ La Frontera, "How To Tame a Wild Tongue", which can be found by clicking on the title. Yes, it is a good and relevant work but not exactly what I was aiming for this month. In regards to Making Gay History, I am still reading along, so far the years are progressing as the interviews branch out and cover the Civil Rights movements of the 60s.

Recently, I received a book of essays I had ordered last month, Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity, curated, compiled and edited by Mattilda AKA Matt Bernstein Sycamore. I haven't yet read it in its' entirety but only a few of the essays, in total there are 27. What delightfully surprised me as I read the essays, is that the authors range from diverse backgrounds, sexes, genders and preferences, there is no clear-cut "typical" characterization within the stories. Instead, what I find in each of the authors is an account of not passing. In not passing I refer to the borderlands, beyond the established parameters, those of us that do not pass unto common grounds, the outsiders. Within this cornucopia of authors and stories I have found a few I'd like to briefly share.

First is "Friction Burn: A Nonfiction Admission" by Stacey May Fowles. The author of this piece opens with the description of the relationship with her mother, as she proceeds to reveal her unsuccessful relationships with men. A few paragraphs in, one begins to see why, how easy is it to find a complementing partner that will willingly participate in her sadomasochistic tastes? She speaks of her scars and of her difficulty in revealing herself to those around her, including her mother. She wavers on the line between sadomasochism being degrading towards her gender, and having a preference, liking SM.

I will steal this moment like I have stolen so many others, and I will turn it into a self-aggrandizzing piece on sadomasochism that will inevitably embarrass. 

The conclusion is choice, she demands her right to a choice and this right in itself negates sadomasochism being degrading to her.

I wanted a choice. I wanted to decide. I want him to beat me because I want to receive things asked for rather than to be surprised by a sudden fist. 

It's not easy to fit in and pass with these preferential demands but as many of us already know, one learns to cope, to deal and eventually one finds a niche and a comfort, wether it be small or large.

The second essay, "And Then You Cut Your Hair: Genderfucking on the Femme Side of the Spectrum" by Amy André and Sandy Chang, I found unique and revelatory. It's in interview format, a back and forth discussion on what it means to be woman, queer, cutting one's hair, blurring gender lines, the use of fashion within these contexts, the significance of being a "minority", of community and of identity. Sandy Chang is an Chinese American and Amy André a mixed-race African American Jew.

Enriching experiences sprinkle the conversation as the two divulge on the dichotomies inherent to the femme, genderqueer idiosyncrasy. There is a nascent urge for fluidity in sexuality, the denial of clear-cut parameters. As Amy states halfway through the conversation:

Gender is performance. 

The destruction of stereotypes is necessary and beneficial and that is what laces Amy and Sandy's interchange of experiences and ideas. Sandy ends:

I think we're moving toward a place where people have greater access to a range of gender expressions. [...] I would hope that there's more freedom for people to do that, without fear of judgement. That's the direction I hope we're heading in, one of more fluidity.  

I will end with these two for today, tomorrow will great the day with two or maybe even three more. I highly recommend Nobody Passes, so far it has been an unveiling treat to read.

Two Nights of Excess

Following up with last week's post on Michel Onfray, my last visit to the city of New York turned up a little small book by a french author, Alfred de Musset. A renown poet, playwright and novelist of the Romantic period, this little book I stumbled upon was his try at erotic literature, Gamiani, Or Two Nights of Excess. According to the sources I've found on the book, the character of Gamiani is modeled after George Sand, another french writer, this is also said in the introduction of the book.
I found, after reading this little 100 or so page book, that in regards to the sexual aspect, it was comprehensive, covering everything from orgies, sacrilegious or otherwise, sadomasochism, bestiality, voyeurism, etc. No major perversions are neglected in the book. Much of it reminded me of the Marquis de Sade, on referring to him I highly recommend the excellent movie, Quills. This book incorporated much of the libertine spirit with a heightened element of the extreme, all for the sake of la petite mort. What distinguished this book from other erotica is its' lack of phallocentricity. The dominant character and sex is Gamiani, a woman.

On the the novel itself, it centers around two nights, between Gamiani, the Italian seductress, Fanny, the innocent virgin, and M. Alcide, the voyeur. The three meet on a night Gamiani holds a ball, the guests leave, she has lured Fanny into her room and Alcide is watching from a hidden place. No crevice is left untouched in their encounters. These three characters indulge extensively in themselves.
A brief interlude occurs during these two nights, where, the hunger of the characters is momentarily satiated and each partake in recounting their first sexual encounters. These are the moments that struck me the most, since it is in these tales recounted that one is able to see the imbalance created by the preceptors of youth, such as family members, and culture, and the predominant stigmatization of religion in regards to sexuality. Each of the characters have suffered at the hands of these stigmas, This imbalance is revealed in extremes that hinder and warp the natural, biological elements and desires that make up a person. This consequently, brought to mind Michel Onfray and his excellent treatise, Théorie du Corps Amoureux: Pour une Érotique Solaire. Which highlights the importance of letting go of the warped views of sensual relations, hindered mostly by extreme religious notions, hatred towards oneself, as well as by idealized romantic views.
If anything else, besides being an erotic novelette, Alfred de Musset in this book reveals diverse facets of human sexuality, how it is susceptible to dangerous extremes, much along the lines with the Marquis de Sade, although Musset draws a more poetic stroke with his words.
So, in the end, I recommend this book to those looking for interesting erotica. I enjoyed it.