daydreaming in the midst of the night

Barbie (2023) + the internet

bonus:

The women in the association followed a rigid hierachy based on age and butch-femme roles. The butch women, who took on the characteristically masculine roles, were called baji (pants), and the femmes were called chima (skirts). Younger pants had to defer to the older pants as hyong, a term usually reserved for men to call older men. The membership grew steadily over the years, and it is said that at least 1200 to 1300 women would gather for events. The members took care of one another by planning funerals, celebrating birthdays, and organising other activities that are traditionally associated with the family. There were also occasional marriages, which were held at Buddhist temples or wedding halls and attended by hundreds. Some women even adopted and raised children. Even though the individual members were not willing to seek visibility in the public eye, they sought institutional visibility. The Women Taxi Drivers Association…

…the Likes) was officially launched in 1994, and a cafe/bar called Lesbos in Mapodong in Seoul opened in 1995. Both were covered by a popular news program in 1996, after which Kirikiri’s membership grew and Lesbos received more than sixty phone enquiries a day. The 1990s also saw further visibility in the media, including a 1995 made-for-television movie, called Two Women’s Love, a story about a woman who commits suicide when the woman she is in love with marries a man. In June 1997, the first public gay and lesbian rights rally took place in Chongno in Seoul.

- Ju Hui Judy Han

Bibliography

Bruining, Miok. “A few thoughts from a Korean, Adopted, Lesbian, Writer/Poet, and Social Worker.” In Lesbians of Colour: Social and Human Services. Ed. Hilda Hidalgo. New York: Harrington Park, 1995, pp. 43-60.

Eng, David L., and Alice Y. Hom. Q & A: Queer in Asian America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998.

The thing is, this is not what is happening to cishet asexual people. Because regardless, Bi and Transgender people belong to the larger LGBT community, but cishet asexuals have no claim. 

A more correct analogy would be if I did this: “I am butch a woman, so I should be considered as part of the trans community as I’ve had some unpleasant experiences where people assumed I was a man including in bathrooms.” But no, that is wrong because at the end of the day I’m still a cis woman. I know that when I start talking people are more than likely realize their mistake because my voice is still feminine. Plus, accusations of being a man cannot trigger dysphoria and/or fear for my safety like it can for my fellow trans women. Is my experience in a way similar? Sure, but it’s a butch lesbian experience, not that of a trans woman. What I am usually dealing with is the intersection of misogyny and homophobia for not dressing like a woman. My gender, ultimately, is still respected and not questioned.

Is what I go through valid and should be addressed? Sure, but it should never do so in a way that 1) pretends it’s the same thing as transmisogyny and 2) not speak over trans women whose challenges in this life are for more severe than mine for dressing butch. 

Issues around GNC cis women are important and should be talked about, but I would never do so in a way that claimed my experiences are just like that of trans people and I would never demand access to a specific community (the trans community, because we all have our own inner communities inside the LGBT one) that was not made for cis people like myself. 

And this is what asexual people are doing. They have a legitimate issue that needs addressing, but instead of doing it in their own spaces and community, they’re demanding a community and safe spaces not meant for them cater to them and at the expense of the people whom this community and safe spaces was initially built for. 

No, asexuals are not like bisexual people being told they’re basically straight or transgender women being denied access to feminist or lgbt spaces. You’re more like the men who whine and complain about feminism because they’re not allowed to cry and demand feminism should do something about that. You’re more like poor white people who think their class situation means they cannot be racist or benefit from racism. You’re the oppressor* demanding the oppressed make time and space for you because you can’t be bothered to put in the effort yourself. 

Taya Smith by Conor Cunningham / Mescondi

Feel Good (2020)

link to quiz: https://uquiz.com/9Gh6TF

10 questions in total, and you will be graded on a scale from A to F