LGBTAitp 29: the Rainbow Outreach Program

[KenderWizard]

Hello hello hello hello and welcome to the terrific twenty-ninth incarnation of the queerest, rainbow-coloured, extra-friendly corner of the Playground, the LGBTAitp thread!


This is a thread where we Playgrounders, and LGBTAitp in particular, gather to discuss, share our experiences, give general advice and support one another in such matters as arise relating to, well, the world beyond heteronormativity.

Please note that although the title of the thread names only the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Asexual communities, it is intended as an all inclusive environment.

• Everyone is welcome. Let's try to keep from seeming otherwise.
• Keep this topic free of politics and religion. (so, don't violate the board rules, plz)
• It's beyond the scope of this thread to discuss whether LGBT is "Right." (And really, most discussions probably should avoid moralizing too much anyway)
• Please refrain from posting sexually explicit content. (Keep it friendly as well as board safe )

Keep in mind that content which contain strong language may be filtered (Plus, y'know, the forum-filters), and content that violates the forum rules won't be posted at all.

Here are the links for the previous threads, where much of use or interest may be found:

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1. LGBT people in the playground
   
2. LGBT people in the playground - part II
   
3. LGBTitp - part III
   
4. LGBTitp 4: We are a family?
   
5. LGBTitp - Part Five
   
6. LGBTitp - Part Six
   
7. LGBTitp - Part Seven
   
8. LGBTitp - Part Eight
   
9. LGBTitp - Part Nine
   
10. LGBTAitp - Part Ten
    
11. LGBTAitp - Part Eleven
    
12. LGBTAitp - Part Twelve
    
13. LGBTAitp - Part Thirteen
    
14. LGBTAitp - Part Fourteen
    
15. LGBTAitp - Part Fifteen
    
16. LGBTAitp - Part Sixteen
    
17. LGBTAitp - Part Seventeen
    
18. LGBTAitp - Part Eighteen!
    
19. LGBTAitp - Part Nineteen
    
20. LGBTAitp - Part Twenty - Critical Hit!
    
21. LGBTAitp - Part Twenty-One - BLACKJACK!
    
22. LGBTAitP Part 22: The Best There Is
    
23. LGBTAitP Part 23: Et tu, ~Bianca?
    
24. LGBTAitP: Alphabet Soup-with 24 different Vitamins!
    
25. LGBTAitP part 25: Doing Away With Subtitles
    
26. LGBTAitP 26: No Time For Snappy Titles
    
27. LGBTAitP 27: Of Shoes, and Ships, and Sealing Wax
    
28. LGBTAitP #28: Come Taste the Rainbow!

And, for reference, here is the Thousand&Wordster Dictionary of Commonly Used LGBTAitp Words and Phrases

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Lagerbeta: A fine brewski to be drunk by queers and allies.
LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*
Trans*: Transsexual and Transgender
LGBTA: LGBT+Asexual/Allies
QUILTBAG:

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Q - Queer and Questioning
U - Unidentified
I - Intersex
L - Lesbian
T - Transgender, Transexual
B - Bisexual
A - Asexual
G - Gay, Genderqueer

Allies: Straight people that support equality for sexuality and gender minorities.
MtF: Male-to-Female: A woman born with male nibblies, who may or may not be seeking HRT and/or SRS. (AKA: trans woman)
FtM: Female-to-Male: A man born with female nibblies, who may or may not be seeking HRT and/or SRS. (AKA: trans man)
GQ: Genderqueer.
CS: Cis-sexual: sex and gender match (a male with male nibblies, a female with female nibblies.
TS: Transsexual: Sex and gender disparity.
HRT: Hormone replacement therapy. MtF's take more progestrogens and oestrogens and FtM's take more testosterone (I think?)
SRS: Sex Reassignment Surgery: Surgery to replace/transform a vagina into a penis, or vice versa depending on direction. Mastectomies or plastic surgery may be used on breasts.
FFS: Facial Feminization Surgery: Plastic surgery to reduce chin/nose/cheekbones. not very common.

Man: A cisman or transman. Male.
Woman: A ciswoman or transwoman. Female.
Androgyne: Gender Identity with male and female aspects.
Genderfluid: Someone who fluctuates between male and female.
Agendered: Someone who feels neither male nor female.
Third-gendered: Someone who fits in a local society's third gender, usually male performing female tasks, occasionally vice versa.
Masculine: Something generally associated with men.
Feminine: Something generally associated with women.

Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to women.
Gay: A man who is attracted to men.
Homosexual: A person who is attracted to members of their gender.
Heterosexual: A person who is attracted to members of the opposite gender.
Bisexual: A person who is attracted to two genders (usually men and women, sometimes transgender instead of one of those).
Pansexual: A person who is attracted to people regardless of gender.
Asexual: A person who does not feel any/some sexual attraction.
Demisexual: A person who is sexually attracted to someone(s) they have formed an intense emotional relationship with.
Polyamorous: A person who is interested in a relationship with more than one person.
Radosexual: A person who is only attracted to rad people.
Pomosexual: A person who avoids SO labels.

Sexual Orientation: How one identifies who they are attracted to. (SO)
Gender Identity: How one feels inside society's idea of "man, woman, or other". (GI)
Gender Expression: How one expresses their GI to society. (GE)
Significant Other(s): Person you are in a relationship with. (SO)

Edit: Took down the anon-mail, I put it in by mistake!

[Lix Lorn]

Buffy you can either take or leave as you wish.

And if you leave, I'll have your share. Buffy was an awesome show.

I find it sad that the idea of a Black Widow film being bad very very confusing, Widow is a very interesting character and I would personally love to know about the backstory and life of someone who does both espionage, secret government work, heroism and may be the only one who could learn what goes on behind SHIELD's closed doors. I am so curious! I know what everybody else on the team does and want to see that too, but Widow was my favourite Avenger! >_<

Well, the problem I'd see is that she'd just be a secret agent, so it'd be like a bourne film or something. It might be cool if the enemies were superpowered individuals... nevermind it could be awesome.

[noparlpf]

Once again, I am going to show my horrible ignorance to you lovely people, but endo?

~Matthew~

Endocrinologist. Basically, a doctor of the hormone system, person who prescribes hormone replacement and stuff like that.

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Heh, I saw that recently. I like it.
Edit: I'm going to spoiler it though because it's biggish.

[Irish Musician]

Official first Lixie pounce of the new thread :3

*looks at the Lixie with a mischevious look and POUNCES!!!*

@Frag - Oh, that makes sense, thanks!

Edit: Also, thank you nopar!

~Matthew~

[The Succubus]

Just a quick question, didn't Smee take down the anon-mail a while back due to problems?

[Worira]

Here's a thing

[KenderWizard]

Ugh, that article is awful, Kender. :/
And I really really dislike the whole "it's a joke / it's comedy / it's satire" excuse; that doesn't excuse the harmful effects it has. Especially when the joke is something that actually happens a ton to people. It's not like the whole turning women straight thing hasn't been used as an excuse for (sexual) violence towards queer women. Blandly repeating bigotry is not comedy.

Also that discussion didn't sound very pleasant. :c

Also I'm sorry about the Natalie link! I thought the article itself had a warning at the start but apparently I misremembered. :(

-----

Also intake at my endo and my bloodtests tomorrow! Slightly nervous!

Good luck!

On the link: That's okay, I am glad I read it, I was just kind of taken aback.

On satire being used as a Get Out Of Jail Free card: I completely agree, it drives me mad. Intent is important, but not the be-all-and-end-all of whether or not something is hurtful or triggering or offensive.

What I don't get is how people don't seem realise that most satire doesn't work because most satire is indistinguishable from the ridiculous opinions it's satirizing.
That and how people seem to think a cheap explanation makes anything okay. Let's give a simpler analogy for those people who apparently have no concept of empathy. Say I punch you. You say, ow, that hurt, what the hell man. I say, oops, that was only a satire of physical assault. Everything's okay now, right? Except not because somebody was still hurt, regardless of the intent.
Actually that seems like it might be an excellent lesson. I should become a masked vigilante, tracking down internet jerks and explaining that to them like that.

That ... would actually be great. I mean, I'm not usually pro punching people, but maybe we could open with just saying it.

@Black Widow I personally wouldn't watch the movie (Atleast not at first, if people promoted it enough I would. Mainly because I saw Catwomen and Elektra and my expectations for how Hollywood/Marvel could represent her is pitifully low. Not dissing Black Widow of course, she's not my favorite but I definetely enjoyed all her scenes in Avengers (Definetely more then Hawkeye, but not as much as the Captain America Fanboy Agent. Name keeps eluding me, I think it's Coleson).

Oh yeah, "Mansplaining"?

Yeah, Coulson. I suppose you're on the same wavelength as Marvel. I think it's a shame. Writing off female-led-action-movies because of failures in the past is silly and unsustainable, I think. And this is a brilliant opportunity, much less of a gamble than an unestablished character.

Mansplaining is a type of attitude where someone assumes they know better than you because of their privilege. Like in this case, Red assumes he knows better than me about superhero movies because he's a man, and men are the ones who know about nerdy stuff, and I'm just a woman. "Mansplaining" refers to men doing it towards women, but you can also have similar situations with cis people explaining trans issues to trans people, or white people explaining, say, cricket to people who aren't white, and so on.

The problem with a Black Widow movie (Note I only know her from the Avengers movie) is that she is not really a very interesting character as she is just a russian femme fatale *Yawn*. I'd much rather see them make a good superhero movie with one of the more interesting and actually super female superheros.

But I also think that the avengers would have been better if it hadn't included her and Hawkeye and instead would have given the rest of the cast more screentime instead. I would have loved to see more of the Hulk/Iron Man Bromance and to see some bits of Captain America adjusting to modern life.

That's valid. I would frigging love a Wasp movie or something. Since they're making Ant-Man though, my money's on Wasp being a secondary character to Ant-Man in the Ant-Man film that's about Ant-Man.

I WANT ONE OF THESE! No, I want LOTS, so I can stick them everywhere!

[Irish Musician]

I like your thing Worira.....here is another thing

~Matthew~

[Absol197]

Yay! KenderThread!

AND I remembered to change the link in my sig, too! It's going to be a great day .


~Phoenix~

[Mina Kobold]

Edit to add: I love you, Keveak!

Thanks.

Ugh, that article is awful, Kender. :/
And I really really dislike the whole "it's a joke / it's comedy / it's satire" excuse; that doesn't excuse the harmful effects it has. Especially when the joke is something that actually happens a ton to people. It's not like the whole turning women straight thing hasn't been used as an excuse for (sexual) violence towards queer women. Blandly repeating bigotry is not comedy.

Never made sense to me either. That something is not the real deal does not stop television from including a disclaimer about the horrific images in a film, aimed at both children and adults alike, nor does being a joke stop bullying from driving people to self-abuse or suicide. The argument relies entirely on everybody being comfortable with the same content as the speaker and willing to listen to it in public without warning. Particularly annoying is that the excuse works retroactively, requiring no burden of evidence on the joker to show that they obviously meant it as satire of someone else (like, say, making a disclaimer or in any way differing from the satired).

Hurtful things harm, even if it was an accident. Don't excuse yourself, apologise for it. If you are mature enough to be sorry about bumping into someone physically, you are mature enough to be sorry about the same thing emotionally. ^_^

Also intake at my endo and my bloodtests tomorrow! Slightly nervous!

Congratulations! Hope it goes well!

@Black Widow I personally wouldn't watch the movie (Atleast not at first, if people promoted it enough I would. Mainly because I saw Catwomen and Elektra and my expectations for how Hollywood/Marvel could represent her is pitifully low. Not dissing Black Widow of course, she's not my favorite but I definetely enjoyed all her scenes in Avengers (Definetely more then Hawkeye, but not as much as the Captain America Fanboy Agent. Name keeps eluding me, I think it's Coleson).

I personally did not like the old Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Hulk or X-men films particularly, but I tremendously enjoyed the Amazing Spiderman, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, Iron Man and the Avengers films. I understand perfectly well that you may be entirely in the right, but I just wanted to point out that some of us were pleasantly surprised by Marvel alreasdy. Perhaps they can do it again? Some day, a non-male superhero will be successful in theatre, so why not have Black Widow be the first?

Also, those films were made in cooperation with separate companies, necessitating a large amount of negotiation. Marvel is owned by Disney now, and as such is entirely in charge of their cinematic endeavours themselves now. May not ensure a good film, but I would say it seems to have a correlation so far. ^_^

Oh yeah, "Mansplaining"?

A neologism coined to describe the pattern of some men (or other privileged groups, but it was coined specifically with the gender imbalance in mind) explaining things in a patronising (also a male-specific word, is every word about communication based on gender? Is it a dictionary conspiracy? O_O) manner. Usually used when someone is trying to explain why they are justified in making statements of fact on a topic the listener knows much more about while treating them as ignorant and dismissing their opinion (e.g. a construction worker telling how to properly inject medicine).

The problem with a Black Widow movie (Note I only know her from the Avengers movie) is that she is not really a very interesting character as she is just a russian femme fatale *Yawn*. I'd much rather see them make a good superhero movie with one of the more interesting and actually super female superheros.

But I also think that the avengers would have been better if it hadn't included her and Hawkeye and instead would have given the rest of the cast more screentime instead. I would have loved to see more of the Hulk/Iron Man Bromance and to see some bits of Captain America adjusting to modern life.

Black Widow was originally a Soviet spy who switched sides a few times and ended up as one of SHIELD's top agents lately, as far as I know. Has been known to find a way to get into any place without detection and gather information in a creepily effective way. Seems a pretty fun character, but admittedly a bit bland on the surface. ^_^'

I personally would love to see a She-Hulk, Spider-woman or the Wasp film, but I think it would actually be the best to explore the characters already presented to the public first. Marvel seem to be planning to make their films fun for both fans and newcomers, so making sure everybody is caught up with everything seems a good idea.

They are making an animated film with Iron Man and Hulk teaming up, which I believe is canon, as well as continuing both Cap and Tony's own trilogies, so you can look forward to all of those things still! ^_^

And if you leave, I'll have your share. Buffy was an awesome show.


Well, the problem I'd see is that she'd just be a secret agent, so it'd be like a bourne film or something. It might be cool if the enemies were superpowered individuals... nevermind it could be awesome.

I am still on season four, but I agree. Hear that the comics are really picking up too.

A former soviet spy working for SHIELD, of course there will be superpowered foes. SHIELD is basically the USA's government's response to super-people's existence in the Marvel universe, they barely do anything but keep an eye on their affairs, from Hover-bases! ^_^

And the Marvel universe Soviet Union apparently made a gazillion projects that always create or awaken some being to go after Wolverine, Colossus or Black Widow, so we might have a zombie Lenin riding the Kraken too! :3

[noparlpf]

Here's a thing

Heh that's a wonderful thing.

That ... would actually be great. I mean, I'm not usually pro punching people, but maybe we could open with just saying it.

Yeah, actually punching those people might undermine my point by leaving them with a bad first impression of me and stuff like that. Also might hurt my hand after a while.
Maybe somebody else can post it as a response to some of these bigot-splainers because if I go near the internet outside of here I usually give up in disgust and start designing my masked vigilante costume.

Yeah, Coulson. I suppose you're on the same wavelength as Marvel. I think it's a shame. Writing off female-led-action-movies because of failures in the past is silly and unsustainable, I think. And this is a brilliant opportunity, much less of a gamble than an unestablished character.

Silly, definitely silly.
Alien is an excellent example of a female lead who wasn't just there to be sexy. Now just do something like that and don't forget what you're doing and accidentally just make the female lead into eye candy for the straight male audience.

[Lix Lorn]

Official first Lixie pounce of the new thread :3

*looks at the Lixie with a mischevious look and POUNCES!!!*

but
WHY
DXDD

Yeah, Coulson.

COULSOOOOON
You have no idea how much tumblr loves him.
no idea

I WANT ONE OF THESE! No, I want LOTS, so I can stick them everywhere!

I saved it in my 'Awesome Pics' folder.

I am still on season four, but I agree. Hear that the comics are really picking up too.

I have two comic collections sitting ehre to be read... DXD

A former soviet spy working for SHIELD, of course there will be superpowered foes. SHIELD is basically the USA's government's response to super-people's existence in the Marvel universe, they barely do anything but keep an eye on their affairs, from Hover-bases! ^_^

And the Marvel universe Soviet Union apparently made a gazillion projects that always create or awaken some being to go after Wolverine, Colossus or Black Widow, so we might have a zombie Lenin riding the Kraken too! :3

...man I hope so.

[noparlpf]

COULSOOOOON
You have no idea how much tumblr loves him.
no idea

I wouldn't be surprised if she does...

[KenderWizard]

NOOOOO! COULSOOOON! YOU WILL BE AVENGED! I WILL CALL THE AVENGERS AND YOU WILL BE AVENGED!

@Worira: I literally laughed out loud, quite loudly, at that. It is AWESOME!

All of my other points have been expanded on very competently by Keveak and Nope. Kenderhive wins again!

[Irish Musician]

NOOOOO! COULSOOOON! YOU WILL BE AVENGED! I WILL CALL THE AVENGERS AND YOU WILL BE AVENGED!

After I get off of work today I am going to go watch that movie....just so I can watch this outtake at the end. Cracked me up!!

Also, X-men First Class made me hopefully for the X-men Franchise again, having been a HUGE X-men fan, and still am somewhat, in my younger days.

~Matthew~

[noparlpf]

What the heck, I think that might be this computer's first ever blue screen and it was caused by an online video clip of the Avengers bloopers?

[Selpharia]

Well, hello there, new thread. Arfen't you looking just darling today?

Here's a thing

That's awesome

Question, If the Avengers commit an offense against someone, who do they call to get it avenged? This sounds like it might have the makings of a neat little racket.

~Laura

[PairO'Dice Lost]

And here is yet another thing, dedicated to our friendly neighborhood Phoenix.

[KenderWizard]

After I get off of work today I am going to go watch that movie....just so I can watch this outtake at the end. Cracked me up!!

Also, X-men First Class made me hopefully for the X-men Franchise again, having been a HUGE X-men fan, and still am somewhat, in my younger days.

~Matthew~

Yeah, X-Men First Class, while far from perfect, was such a ray of light after the darkness of X3 and XOW. I love this list of ways to save the X-Men franchise from itself.

Question, If the Avengers commit an offense against someone, who do they call to get it avenged? This sounds like it might have the makings of a neat little racket.

Batman? Depends on the offense, I suppose!

[Mina Kobold]

All of my other points have been expanded on very competently by Keveak and Nope. Kenderhive wins again!

Yay for the Kenderhive! ^_^

Also, X-men First Class made me hopefully for the X-men Franchise again, having been a HUGE X-men fan, and still am somewhat, in my younger days.

~Matthew~

I really need to watch X-men: First Class at some point. ^_^'

I also need to read more of the comics, what little I have read has been very fun indeed. Goofy and obviously from the seventies, but great!

Question, If the Avengers commit an offense against someone, who do they call to get it avenged? This sounds like it might have the makings of a neat little racket.

~Laura

The Great Lake Avengers, perhaps?

Honestly, as far as I can tell from Avengers' Assemble, people just kind of badmouth them in the news and protest at their door. More of a PR problem there, though.

And here is yet another thing, dedicated to our friendly neighborhood Phoenix.

I wish I could do that. u_u

Yeah, X-Men First Class, while far from perfect, was such a ray of light after the darkness of X3 and XOW. I love this list of ways to save the X-Men franchise from itself.

That is a very nice list, thank you for informing this part of the Kender-hive. ^_^

Ah, X-men: Evolution. Fun show, was my introduction to the franchise, I believe. I loved Nightcrawler and Shadowcat, they were adorable. And Rogue was so hug-able!

Batman? Depends on the offense, I suppose!

"I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman. And I can cross through interdimensional space!"? :3

I also need to rewatch that show, my geekiness is really slacking these days. D:

[noparlpf]

And here is yet another thing, dedicated to our friendly neighborhood Phoenix.

Excellent. If that were a superpower...

Yeah, X-Men First Class, while far from perfect, was such a ray of light after the darkness of X3 and XOW. I love this list of ways to save the X-Men franchise from itself.

I actually liked Origins: Wolverine, even though it's objectively pretty bad. The trilogy was really awful.

[Thajocoth]

Yeah, X-Men First Class, while far from perfect, was such a ray of light after the darkness of X3 and XOW. I love this list of ways to save the X-Men franchise from itself.

I happened to particularly like X-Men 3.

Super powers are being demonized as a disease, and they come out with a "cure". There's social pressure to take that cure, even though there's nothing wrong with being a mutant.

I have Asperger's Syndrome. With it, I have Sensory Processing Disorder (common to have with Asperger's). All my senses are stronger than the average. 10/20 vision... 35/-5 hearing... Etc... The Asperger's also makes me better at what I do. It gives me the more logical mind and greater focus needed for writing code. It's not without it's kryptonite: Often, food smells will trigger my body's natural "that's putrid" response, resulting in choking or nausea or whatever, and I require extra work to learn social things, but I've done quite well with that & have been working on increasing my body's tolerance to smells now that I know it's possible to do so.

What I have is useful & not a disease in the slightest, but bias is fairly mainstream. Things have been suggested to me to try to "cure" me before, like clay baths & the like. When Zicam was recalled for damaging people's sense of smell, and I saw the spray still on the shelf at my local Duane Reade, I stood there holding the bottle for at least 5-10 minutes considering it.

The movie resonated quite well with me for this. (And now I'm crying at work. I'm glad I can hide my face behind my monitors for a while, though I'm certain my coworker can hear my sniffling. Maybe it's a good time to take my lunch break.)

EDIT: You know, I just split off the Hannibal discussion into it's own thread in Media, and now we're once again talking about a movie series in the LGBTA thread. I find that a little funny.

[golentan]

On the "Satire as defense of a statement" thing, I think satire can be used to justify almost anything, with caveats. 1: It has to be recognizable to the majority of readers/viewers as satire, and 2: It has to be funny, or otherwise drive home the problems of the target unambiguously. The example in Kender's link failed both tests.

[KenderWizard]

That is a very nice list, thank you for informing this part of the Kender-hive. ^_^

Ah, X-men: Evolution. Fun show, was my introduction to the franchise, I believe. I loved Nightcrawler and Shadowcat, they were adorable. And Rogue was so hug-able!

Also my introduction! I really want to watch it again, I'm so curious to see if it's as funny as I remember. Especially Nightcrawler who was AMAZING!

And here is yet another thing, dedicated to our friendly neighborhood Phoenix.

Oh my word, that is so incredible and I want to be able to do that!

I happened to particularly like X-Men 3.

Super powers are being demonized as a disease, and they come out with a "cure". There's social pressure to take that cure, even though there's nothing wrong with being a mutant.

You make a lot of good points, and I feel sad that you cried at work. I hate crying at work, I hope you had a good lunchbreak and feel better! My problem with X3 was certainly not the theme, but the execution. You're totally right, it's a really interesting idea that resonates with anyone who has a part of themselves that's looked on as a defect but is an important part of their identity, especially stuff like Aspergers. My problem was not that idea, it was that the movie was sloppy and confusing and made weird decisions. I think those characters and that idea deserved a better movie to exist in, but I totally respect that you got a lot out of it, and that's fine too. We all have movies that are special to us for whatever reason, even if they're not critically acclaimed.

On the "Satire as defense of a statement" thing, I think satire can be used to justify almost anything, with caveats. 1: It has to be recognizable to the majority of readers/viewers as satire, and 2: It has to be funny, or otherwise drive home the problems of the target unambiguously. The example in Kender's link failed both tests.

Absolutely. It would be possible to satirise the imagined response of a misogynistic bigot to a list like that. That is not what happened. What happened was much more like a straight example of what that bigot might be thinking.

[Lentrax]

On the "Satire as defense of a statement" thing, I think satire can be used to justify almost anything, with caveats. 1: It has to be recognizable to the majority of readers/viewers as satire, and 2: It has to be funny, or otherwise drive home the problems of the target unambiguously. The example in Kender's link failed both tests.

I once wrote a paper on the diplomatic relationships of Star Trek. But it was camouflage for how ridiculous having to prove my writing skills are.

What do you make of that? *raises eyebrow*

[golentan]

I once wrote a paper on the diplomatic relationships of Star Trek. But it was camouflage for how ridiculous having to prove my writing skills are.

What do you make of that? *raises eyebrow*

I don't know, I haven't read that paper, funnily enough.

[turkishproverb]

Spoiler

Show

I happened to particularly like X-Men 3.

Super powers are being demonized as a disease, and they come out with a "cure". There's social pressure to take that cure, even though there's nothing wrong with being a mutant.

I have Asperger's Syndrome. With it, I have Sensory Processing Disorder (common to have with Asperger's). All my senses are stronger than the average. 10/20 vision... 35/-5 hearing... Etc... The Asperger's also makes me better at what I do. It gives me the more logical mind and greater focus needed for writing code. It's not without it's kryptonite: Often, food smells will trigger my body's natural "that's putrid" response, resulting in choking or nausea or whatever, and I require extra work to learn social things, but I've done quite well with that & have been working on increasing my body's tolerance to smells now that I know it's possible to do so.

What I have is useful & not a disease in the slightest, but bias is fairly mainstream. Things have been suggested to me to try to "cure" me before, like clay baths & the like. When Zicam was recalled for damaging people's sense of smell, and I saw the spray still on the shelf at my local Duane Reade, I stood there holding the bottle for at least 5-10 minutes considering it.

The movie resonated quite well with me for this. (And now I'm crying at work. I'm glad I can hide my face behind my monitors for a while, though I'm certain my coworker can hear my sniffling. Maybe it's a good time to take my lunch break.)

EDIT: You know, I just split off the Hannibal discussion into it's own thread in Media, and now we're once again talking about a movie series in the LGBTA thread. I find that a little funny.

....


*HUGS* I feel for you.


Now, to get to christening this thread.


*Pulls out bottle of Château-de-Picard.*

[KenderWizard]

So I just filled out a feedback form and it was weird, being about (a) my demographic (age, gender, etc), (b) board games and (c) car insurance. I thought it would be about the website that asked me to fill it in, which, as far as I can tell, is a movie reviews and news website and has nothing to do with board games or car insurance.

Anyway, it asked me the usual gender question, with three options; male, female or prefer not to answer. Then, later, it asked me this:

13. We are also interested in ensuring that we adequately represent people of all genders and sexualities. Please click on the option below that you feel best describes you.

Heterosexual (Straight)
Gay / Lesbian
Bisexual
Transgender
Undecided
Other (please specify)
Prefer not to answer

The weird thing about this question is that you can only answer one.

[noparlpf]

So I just filled out a feedback form and it was weird, being about (a) my demographic (age, gender, etc), (b) board games and (c) car insurance. I thought it would be about the website that asked me to fill it in, which, as far as I can tell, is a movie reviews and news website and has nothing to do with board games or car insurance.

Anyway, it asked me the usual gender question, with three options; male, female or prefer not to answer. Then, later, it asked me this:

The weird thing about this question is that you can only answer one.

That's pretty common for when they mess up inclusivity. At least it didn't have "Hispanic" under sexuality like one I saw.

[golentan]

That's pretty common for when they mess up inclusivity. At least it didn't have "Hispanic" under sexuality like one I saw.

Wait, what? I've certainly seen people with "hispanic" as a sexual preference, but as an orientation? That is amazing. I quite literally burst out laughing when I read this.