Hey, where the hell am I?

Hiya, my pretties. I am alive and well. I recently moved out of my old 'hood and into a better area of Vegas, so I've been busy. I'm also currently in the process of buying a new car, which is pretty time consuming. Regardless, I should start having some more room in my schedule for writing, so I'll be able to give this joint a pulse again.

Image of 'failed masculinity' helped make comedian a laughing stock of WWII era

Tonight I caught a good portion of Buck Privates on the Turner Classic Movies cable network, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. I honestly hadn't watched this comedy duo since I was a kid, and I used to enjoy them. But while watching tonight, only the nostalgia aspect of it appealed to me. The comedy, not so much.

Why? I couldn't help but feel a very real sense of sadness over how the joke was always on Costello due in no small part to his hammy portrayal of failed masculinity. He always wound up being humiliated or abused physically because of it. The message was: I don't really measure up to the average guy, and here I am selflessly entertaining you as the clown that I deservedly am because of it.

True, a lot of Abbott and Costello's comedy centered around clever verbal exchanges, but their audiences were still always reminded of Costello's ineptitude as a guy -- more specifically, his failure to embody the traditional expectation of what a guy should be. This seems particularly poignant in light of the era, when valiance seemed to be heavily valued as a masculine trait due to the war.

I realize that the point of the movies (and radio shows) that Abbott and Costello made was to make people laugh during a stressful time in history, and I could still watch routines like Who's on First? and enjoy a few chuckles. But it just makes me sad that an entire generation got such a kick out of a persona rooted so deeply in male "inadequacy."

My return to crafting prose

Last night I found myself writing literary fiction. Gasp! I was up until past 4 in the morning doing it, too, and it took me roughly two hours to produce about six paragraphs that I was happy with. Anyway, all I will say about it for now is that it's trans-themed and draws from my personal experiences.

Lately I've been finding that in certain instances, prose is a preferable way for me to express certain thoughts and emotions that probably wouldn't be communicated as effectively in essay or blog-post format. I think my recent entry, The kind of girl I am, kinda marked a turn toward this direction. I guess time will tell if it's anything more than a temporary departure. But I find that I really miss putting more emphasis on elements such as voice, imagery and dialogue. Also, I just totally love playing with language, pure and simple.

It's funny because years ago when I first became serious about writing, I was all about literary fiction. That's all I read, too. Only recently have I become interested in it again. In fact, tonight I reconnected, so to speak, with one of my longtime literary heroines, Gertrude Stein (pictured above.) I bought a book of hers titled Three Lives. And I also picked up The New Yorker's annual summer fiction issue.

Happy reading (and writing) to me.

Punk relationships retain mainstream boundaries

Interesting and perhaps surprising excerpt regarding punk relationships, via Pretty in Punk:

Sexual relationships between men and women within the subculture tend to conform to the monogamous style of mainstream heterosexual relations. Although punks may appear to be decadent and do have a propensity to wear bondage gear, many relationships replicate the standards of mainstream culture, with sadomasochistic practices being fairly uncommon. Heterosexual pairings among the punks, as among nonpunks, may lead to permanent commitments of cohabitation and marriage ... With this normative expectation of heterosexuality, retaining some traditional gender roles such as femininity and masculinity remains functional.

If anything, what I am reading in this book increasingly whets my appetite to learn about queercore.

Movin' out and feeling empowered

I am going to be moving in with a friend of mine in a few weeks here is Las Vegas, ending a years-long stretch of living on my own. One of the biggest perks of this decision is that my monthly costs are reduced by about half.

The upshot is that it makes me a helluva lot less vulnerable financially, something that is definitely appreciated -- even savored -- by us nonconforming types who are outspoken. I could feel the shackles of the bourgeois power apparatus loosening up already.

Citibank targets woman for being too hot

I'm sure most people have come across this story by now. Citibank terminated one of its employees for looking too tantalizing in her office attire, according to a lawsuit she filed against Citigroup. The kicker is that she was fired even though co-workers sported similar or more-revealing outfits without drawing reprimand, plaintiff Debrahlee Lorenzana said.

"The reality is, I’m a size 32 DD. I’m very skinny, and then I have curves. So, of course, on my body, the turtleneck is going to make it more noticeable. But I’m not showing cleavage. We wear jackets." She said a co-worker who shopped with her and bought the same styles and designer brands never got in trouble, and neither did some tellers who wore low-cut tops, snug pants and hot boots.

Apparently missing the point, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd quipped in a June 4 op-ed piece that "It’s hard to feel sorry for a woman who frets about being too beautiful." But that's bull. This is obviously not just about Lorenzana but about the censorship of women's bodies and female sexuality in general. I mean, Lorenzana's office wardrobe looks fine to me. She just happens to be a hot chick. I'm sure I could find a few hot guys at the office who look extra delectable in their custom-tailored suits.

Girls leading punk lifestyle hit dead end

So, I'm pretty well into Pretty in Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance in a Boys' Subculture, and I find myself questioning the value of the punk lifestyle as depicted by the author, Lauraine Leblanc, a years-long participant of the subculture.

She spoke with dozens of girls while writing the book, and they ranged in age from adolescents to thirtysomethings. Based on her interviews, many were introduced to punk music and the punk way of life by friends or family members. So, basically, it seemed girls' "rebellion" had much to do with happenstance as opposed to personal initiative. Also, Leblanc writes that many of the girls were drawn to punk existence because it provided a support system. But to me, it sounds more like a situation that fosters dependency.

New site name, new URL

As you can see, I've re-christened the site, and I also gave it a makeover and a custom URL: nuslant.com. I selected the name so that it's more consistent with and descriptive of what's actually published here. This never has been a personal blog, but rather a space for me to air my ideas about LGBTQ issues and sex and gender in general.

The change, unfortunately, also means that people who subscribe to my blog via RSS will have to update the feed address on their readers. The new address to subscribe is http://feeds.feedburner.com/nuslant. Be aware that there may be a few bumps through the transition.

It's a pain in the ass, I know, but it's a necessary part of the evolution of my writing space. Besides, I am never one to stick to old ways just because, well, they're the old ways. Evolution often means moving on.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. :-)

Repealing a discriminatory part of ENDA

With all this talk of the House voting in favor of repealing the infamous Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, it makes me wonder if a decade from now, Congress will be considering the repeal of the Out of Sight, Out of Mind portion of ENDA.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind is my own terminology for the anticipated language that may be added to EDNA that would allow employers to prevent transgender employees from using the restrooms that match their gender identity and presentation. This provision (or lack thereof) is euphemistically referred to as "alternate accommodations" by Capitol Hill bigots and other folks (including pro-trans lobbyists!) who are calling for the passage of this travesty of a bill.

I've come to refer to the bill as ENDA: The Nondiscrimination Bill That Would Federally Endorse Discrimination.