don't be such a Kant

This article briefly mentions the study I was talking about in class. Dr. Arthur Arun had two strangers reveal intimate details about their lives and then stare into each other's eyes, and his subjects reported feeling very attracted to their partner, and two of them got married.

This is kind of a mix of queer headcanons and mini-fics. The ideas are really cute and the community is very positive and supportive and a lot of people will reblog their posts saying that they're on the verge of tears, just imagining representation of their identities in one of their favorite stories.

I know I've been quite vocal about this in class, but I just want to say that if I had been able to watch and read about, say, a bisexual Ginny in Harry Potter, then it wouldn't have taken me til high school graduation to understand that bisexuality is valid and to be okay with who I am. Queer people grow up not even understanding that we exist because of this lack of representation, much less understanding that queerness is valid and that we are worthy of love and happiness.

Sexism: Puck date rapes Quinn but Quinn is blamed for it because she was a dumb, drunk slut. (Drunk people cannot consent to sex.) She lies to Finn about who the father is and immediately decides against an abortion, but the show fails to explore the massive amounts of race and class privilege it takes to make a decision that easily. When she gives up her baby for adoption, she walks away, doesn't look back or grieve or second-guess, until suddenly she's obsessed with getting her baby back and both Quinn and the baby's adoptive mother are framed as bitchy women having a catfight. The representation of Terri's pregnancy is equally sexist, as she is presented as a crazy, manipulative, and stupid liar. Later, the Born This Way episode managed to blame the female characters for their insecurities and low self-esteem. It completely fails to identify the culprit responsible for unfair beauty standards - racism and patriarchy, which told Rachel her nose is ugly, Tina her eyes are ugly, and Quinn that she wasn't pretty until she wasn't fat. No, it's because women are just so superficial and insecure about their looks. (And on top of that, Puck tells Rachel that Jewish girls with nose jobs are "less hot," because obviously the most important thing here is what a guy finds attractive.)

Transphobia: Transphobic slurs like "tranny" and "she-male" are thrown around without question. It might seem like this is to show the reality of transphobic abuse, but all because it goes unchallenged all it does is normalize transphobia. The role of Dr. Frank'N'Furter was cut from the Rocky Horror episode, along with the word "transexual." The LGBT lyric in "Born This Way" was cut out of the performance (No matter gay, straight, or bi / Lesbian, transgendered life / I'm on the right track baby / I was born to survive). The portrayal of Unique was confusing and poorly executed and seemed to conflate a transgender woman with a guy dressed in drag. Unique is constantly misgendered and harassed and seemed like just another token minority for Ryan Murphy to exploit. And like an abled-bodied person playing Artie, having a cisgender* man play a transgender woman is beyond insulting.

Fauxgress Watch: "Born This Way"

Not gonna lie, I'm kind of excited about the Glee unit just because it gives me a valid platform to complain about how much I hate this show. I want to talk about sexism and transphobia as well, but I'm going to make a separate post later so it doesn't get too long. (Disclaimer: These are huge, complicated social issues, I stopped watching Glee somewhere in the 3rd season so I can't speak to recent episodes, and I'm not judging anyone who's a fan of this show.)

Racism: The cast seems diverse, until you realize that all of the characters of color are treated like novelties. Racist jokes and stereotypes abound, masquerading as "post-racial" humor. (Racism is over now, so we can be racist!) Mercedes is the Sassy Black Girl and the Angry Black Woman, fat, a diva, self-entitled, and lazy. There's an episode called "Asian F" where Mike gets an A- and his dad wants to drug test him. Mike and Tina have the same last name (!), very few speaking parts and solos, and their relationship is nicknamed "Asian Fusion" by the other characters. Mike was referred to as the "other Asian" for most of the first season. Santana is the fiery Latina, flirty, manipulative, and bitchy. Her only role in the first season was to sleep with (literally) every guy in the school and like the other characters of color she had few speaking and singing roles. The white characters are the ones who get to have complex storylines, and everyone else gets to be a horrifying racist stereotype.

Biphobia: Brittany is the only bisexual character on the show, and she is framed with biphobic stereotypes as extremely stupid and slutty. The gay characters make nasty biphobic remarks that go unquestioned, like when Kurt tells the suddenly bi-curious Blaine that "bisexual is a term that gay guys use when they want to hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change." (Because, you know, bisexual guys don't really exist. And Blaine is back to 100% homo by the end of the episode.) Santana's character is also very problematic, as she goes from being attracted to guys and girls to proclaiming that she is a closet lesbian, with no explanation. In season 5, Demi Lovato's character Dani and Santana chat, and Santana mentions that Brittany was bi. Dani says that the breakup was probably for the best and that Santana needs a "100% Sapphic goddess" (who says that? No one says that). They start dating, and finally Santana has a girlfriend that she doesn't "have to worry about straying for penis." (Brittany never cheated, and Santana actually broke up with her, but whatevs!)

Ableism: They cast an able-bodied actor to play Artie and gave him an episode where he dreamed about being magically healed and being able to dance. (By the way, wheelchair-bound people can actually dance.) While the other characters get to fulfill their dreams, Artie can't, and he is unable to accept his disability. The whole episode is disempowering "pity the poor sad boy in the wheelchair" patronization. The portrayal of Emma's OCD is also problematic, because it's framed as cutesy and quirky (not a real struggle with mental illness) and is used to give Will a free pass to be an abusive boyfriend. He tries to coerce her into sex and uses her disability to manipulate her, and Emma is framed as frigid and childish for not wanting to have sex with him while Will is still framed as a nice guy and a loving boyfriend. Not to mention the endless jokes about Artie being a "cripple," the digs slung at the Deaf Choir, Sugar "self-diagnosing" with Asperger's as an excuse to be impolite, and on and on it goes.

The Problem with Strong Female Characters (TM)

Sometimes what looks like female empowerment is really just sexism wearing a different disguise. If the only way women can be strong is to be masculine, then that isn't feminist strength.

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