(no subject)

[sebastienne]

overheard in the wadham cafeteria - three men talking about security a the weekend:

"well, one guy got punched in the face.. he said it was 'cos he was gay, but i can hardly believe that, what with it being queer bop and alll..."

yes. when "queer" spaces become chances for straight people to dress up as "trannies" or "perverts" or flash as much flesh as they can to the opposite sex, they remain safe spaces, free from homophobia. i absolutely see your logic. impeccable. there is no sense in which it becomes uncomfortable to be there when other people are MOCKING YOUR LIFESTYLE (choices) under the banner of "inclusion". as a lesbian with interests in BDSM, i find myself mocked on two counts. i don't even know where to begin with the FHM readers in their female friend's mini-skirt and bra. you are NOT empowering ANYONE. Queer Bop is trans*phobic and kinkphobic, not to mention that it carries with it the suggestion that all queer people are promiscous, which is some pretty blatant homophobia, right there.

I am glad I went to Cambridge. I already thought I was as glad as it was humanly possible to be, given the brilliance of saf's ball.. but coming back to this, it turns out, it is possible to be even more glad than that.

Comments

[neoanjou.livejournal.com]

I agree - 'Queer' bop isn't about being 'queer'. Its as I once heard Rocky Horror being described 'potted perversion for the middle classes', by which I mean a chance to exhibit behavious beyond the accepted 'norm' without judgement. Thats really quite patronising isn't it?

If it were to be actually 'queer' then eveyone would go dressed up just as a normal person - because after all thats what 'queer' people are. I can understand your anger and frustration. I don't think a lot of people attending it actually think or care about 'queer' people's feelings.

[deathbyshinies.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind an ignorant and confused Antipodean asking... what is the deal with Queer Bop, anyway? I was really confused about it last year, and am sort of starting to get it now, but don't think I like it now I've got it... how did it start? Who is it supposed to be run by and for?

I'm glad you had fun in Cambridge, though!

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

originally it happened at the end of "queer week", a week of debates and events and marches and LGBTQ issues. it was the part at the end of the awareness-raising and activism. now? it's an excuse for straight boys to dress up as trannies. ahahaha. oh that's so funny. my sides are splitting.

[annabellelaw.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see the T in there but what does the Q stand for, or am I being dim and it stands for quear?

Besides - some of those straight boys may be trans themselves and looking for a safe place to be themselves.

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

when i'm using the word "trannies" here i'm assuming that the people dressing up as them are using it derogatively (sp.? it's late. i mean that they're laughing at not with). people playing with gender - well that's great, however they identify. people cross-dressing for a laugh because those trannies are so weird and funny? just no.

and i like tagging "Q" on the end because it stands for both Queer and Questioning.. taking in pretty much everyone (as long as all the pansexuals and omnisexuals and otherwise indefinables are ok with "queer".. and i wonder if in my utopia there's an A for asexual in there too..).

[ex-leighwoos982.livejournal.com]

Last time I was in Oxford I decided that Queer bop was a zone for Hyper-heterosexuality, due to women I knew sending me pictures of themselves in the shop-window-billboard-advertisement-lingerie they wore as a 'costume'. I didn't go. I made posters instead.

[sebastiality.livejournal.com]

I do agree with you and feel somewhat ashamed that I went to it.

Actually - what I heard was - the gay guy who was hit pulled a straight woman (who had a boyfriend...).

I am in the process of moving room. Come over for tea when I have finished.

xXx

[gin-gerkitten.livejournal.com]

Totally agree, dear. The last two years have been dismally heavy on men-in-dresses-with-bad-makeup, who can't do the walk in heels. Growl.
BUT - the sequinned bandwagon wins if the rugger-buggers want to jump on.

[slasheuse.livejournal.com]

Men in dresses with BEARDS. Which just squicks me beyond belief. I was in any case in a bad way and so didn't go, but one of the reasons was that there was something slightly depressing about it last year; the "something" being all the generic Oxford blondes (you know the ones I mean) in lingerie hanging off boys. Of course, they have been bisexual, so I feel bad about saying that. But. And inclusion is good. It just makes me sort of depressed and confused, you know?

BUT - the sequinned bandwagon wins if the rugger-buggers want to jump on.

The only way that sentence could be made more perfect is by tacking on "each other" (the sequinned bandwagon wins ANYWAY, what!).

[sebastienne.livejournal.com]

oh, sweetheart, i'm sorry, i didn't realise things had been bad for you. i am class/lecture/tuting all afternoon, then it's ashley's birthday this evening, but it has been simply forever since i've seen you (yes, i'm aware it would have made more sense to write this in the OU3FS post). what are you up to on friday? we could organise some kind of OU3FS afternoon tea / pub haunting?

[steerpikelet.livejournal.com]

Oh, my god. They ARE mocking us, aren't they?

[slasheuse.livejournal.com]

I share the :O, as I hadn't seen the light about this one until reading this.

What I liked about the girls at LGBsoc was that the ones who were more comfortable in dresses were in dresses, and the ones who were more comfortable in suits were in suits. And it could have been any society ball (although obviously it was BETTER HURRAH), but it wasn't, but it was actually fun and hot and stylish and empowering, you know?