(no subject)
Yeah, the book I was so eager about -- The Soul Beneath the Skin -- is starting to become tedious. The first two chapters were wonderful. They were about volunteerism and the much lower levels of violence in the gay male community than in the general public.
The third chapter, though, is basically the author's attempt to graft his own particular sexual fetishes and relationship styles on to a general gay cultural identity, as if these things were interchangeable.
I rather resent non-monogamy made to sound as if it is the proper choice for gay relationships. The author is extremely dismissive of monogamy -- along with the usual obnoxious quips that protray monogamy as somehow a neurosis that treats people as objects. He also treats S&M and public sex as somehow defaults for us. That's not my life, and shouldn't be some sort of requirement for being part of the community.
Sadly, this is the longest chapter thus far. I'm only halfway through the book, but it's turning much more into something about "skin" than "soul" -- which would be a far more radical conversation to be having. So far, there's been hardly anything about queer spirituality, which is what I was really hoping for.
On the other hand, I'm watching what may be the best anime I've seen thus far, in terms of sheer artistic brilliance. Death Note is very dark -- what you'd expect of a series about a boy who gets the power to kill anyone, anywhere in the world so long as he knows their real name and has seen their face. He decides to use that power to cleanse the world of violent crime.
It's an old story, but done very originally.
The third chapter, though, is basically the author's attempt to graft his own particular sexual fetishes and relationship styles on to a general gay cultural identity, as if these things were interchangeable.
I rather resent non-monogamy made to sound as if it is the proper choice for gay relationships. The author is extremely dismissive of monogamy -- along with the usual obnoxious quips that protray monogamy as somehow a neurosis that treats people as objects. He also treats S&M and public sex as somehow defaults for us. That's not my life, and shouldn't be some sort of requirement for being part of the community.
Sadly, this is the longest chapter thus far. I'm only halfway through the book, but it's turning much more into something about "skin" than "soul" -- which would be a far more radical conversation to be having. So far, there's been hardly anything about queer spirituality, which is what I was really hoping for.
On the other hand, I'm watching what may be the best anime I've seen thus far, in terms of sheer artistic brilliance. Death Note is very dark -- what you'd expect of a series about a boy who gets the power to kill anyone, anywhere in the world so long as he knows their real name and has seen their face. He decides to use that power to cleanse the world of violent crime.
It's an old story, but done very originally.