adventures in illegal childrearing
Okay this probably totally constitutes as spamming but I don't care because YOU GUYS HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT THIS:
Remember Boy Genius, the amazing 7th-grader from my geek empowerment club? Well, today was another meeting of the Book Club, and just, s;dkfjhsk YOU GUYS WILL NOT ~BELIEVE~ IT.
The group's task this week (quoted from my email to them) was: "Invent a female1 character and make her as detailed, interesting and believable as you can. Think of her name, profession, physical appearance, goals in life, inner conflicts, life story etc. Try to avoid the gender-specific stereotypes we talked about! (Women as exclusively dependent on men, women as nothing but romantic interests, etc.)"
1 Which means a character self-identified as a woman, not necessarily in a female body. YES WE ALREADY COVERED THE SEX/GENDER DIVIDE, HOW FUCKING AWESOME ARE WE.
Each kid introduced their characters in turn. They had some pretty great women with all sorts of awesome ambitions, like hunting down long-lost brothers, becoming internationally famous, and ruling the entire known world. (Interestingly enough, the one girl in the group actually had a pretty weak character: a puppet queen with no real ambitions or conflicts who is entirely dependent on her male manipulator. But that's for another time.)
Then it was Boy Genius's turn. As you may remember, last week I gave him a list of phrases2 to research3, so first he had to explain the phrases to the rest of the group.
2 They are: transgender, LGBT, Alfred Kinsey, glass ceiling, and the Bechdel Test.
3 Because he asked me to, of his own volition. SERIOUSLY, THIS BOY. ♥
BOY GENIUS: ...and that's who transgendered people are, basically. It all makes sense once you remember there's a difference between your sex and your gender. Also, um, Miarr?
MIARR: Yes?
BG: I kind of... I mean, you said we had to write about self-identified female characters, right? So is it okay if... I mean, can I write about a trans character? I mean, I kind of did.
MIARR: You-what?
BG: She was born in a male body, but she considers herself a woman.
MIARR: How-I mean, of course! Of course. That's wonderful, it sounds like an absolutely fascinating character.
[some time passes]
KID 1: ...Miarr? Are you okay?
MIARR: Yes! Perfectly! Why?
KID 1: You haven't stop grinning for like the last five minutes.
KID 2: Yeah, your head's about to fall off.
MIARR: (beaming from ear to ear) I have no idea what you're talking about.
SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS, THIS BOY, ~*~THIS BOY~*~
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. BECAUSE AFTER THE MEETING:
MIARR: Ack, that's the bell! Okay, scram, everyone; I'll see you next week.
BG: (hanging back) Miarr?
MIARR: Hmm?
BG: Can I have another five?
MIARR: Five what?
BG: Five more phrases! To research. Like you gave me last week?
MIARR: You want more?
BG: Yes! Let's make it a weekly thing. On the same subject, please. Gender studies.
MIARR: (grabs desk due to suddenly weak knees) I'll... send you an email with them, okay?
BG: Sure. Thank you!
MIARR: (to self) MUST NOT KIDNAP. MUST. NOT. KIDNAP.
I KEEP TELLING MYSELF THIS BUT IT'S NOT WORKING. HELP YOU GUYS. THE ADOPTION FORMS ARE ALREADY PRINTED OUT.
P.S. As an added bonus, this meeting was supposed to wrap up our subject of Women in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but the kids are so enthusiastic about it ("we have women characters who actually do stuff!" "yeah, this is like, a miracle!") that we've decided to keep going into next week's meeting as well. Now they shall actually write their female characters into stories! \o/ I AM EXCITE.
Remember Boy Genius, the amazing 7th-grader from my geek empowerment club? Well, today was another meeting of the Book Club, and just, s;dkfjhsk YOU GUYS WILL NOT ~BELIEVE~ IT.
The group's task this week (quoted from my email to them) was: "Invent a female1 character and make her as detailed, interesting and believable as you can. Think of her name, profession, physical appearance, goals in life, inner conflicts, life story etc. Try to avoid the gender-specific stereotypes we talked about! (Women as exclusively dependent on men, women as nothing but romantic interests, etc.)"
1 Which means a character self-identified as a woman, not necessarily in a female body. YES WE ALREADY COVERED THE SEX/GENDER DIVIDE, HOW FUCKING AWESOME ARE WE.
Each kid introduced their characters in turn. They had some pretty great women with all sorts of awesome ambitions, like hunting down long-lost brothers, becoming internationally famous, and ruling the entire known world. (Interestingly enough, the one girl in the group actually had a pretty weak character: a puppet queen with no real ambitions or conflicts who is entirely dependent on her male manipulator. But that's for another time.)
Then it was Boy Genius's turn. As you may remember, last week I gave him a list of phrases2 to research3, so first he had to explain the phrases to the rest of the group.
2 They are: transgender, LGBT, Alfred Kinsey, glass ceiling, and the Bechdel Test.
3 Because he asked me to, of his own volition. SERIOUSLY, THIS BOY. ♥
BOY GENIUS: ...and that's who transgendered people are, basically. It all makes sense once you remember there's a difference between your sex and your gender. Also, um, Miarr?
MIARR: Yes?
BG: I kind of... I mean, you said we had to write about self-identified female characters, right? So is it okay if... I mean, can I write about a trans character? I mean, I kind of did.
MIARR: You-what?
BG: She was born in a male body, but she considers herself a woman.
MIARR: How-I mean, of course! Of course. That's wonderful, it sounds like an absolutely fascinating character.
[some time passes]
KID 1: ...Miarr? Are you okay?
MIARR: Yes! Perfectly! Why?
KID 1: You haven't stop grinning for like the last five minutes.
KID 2: Yeah, your head's about to fall off.
MIARR: (beaming from ear to ear) I have no idea what you're talking about.
SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS, THIS BOY, ~*~THIS BOY~*~
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. BECAUSE AFTER THE MEETING:
MIARR: Ack, that's the bell! Okay, scram, everyone; I'll see you next week.
BG: (hanging back) Miarr?
MIARR: Hmm?
BG: Can I have another five?
MIARR: Five what?
BG: Five more phrases! To research. Like you gave me last week?
MIARR: You want more?
BG: Yes! Let's make it a weekly thing. On the same subject, please. Gender studies.
MIARR: (grabs desk due to suddenly weak knees) I'll... send you an email with them, okay?
BG: Sure. Thank you!
MIARR: (to self) MUST NOT KIDNAP. MUST. NOT. KIDNAP.
I KEEP TELLING MYSELF THIS BUT IT'S NOT WORKING. HELP YOU GUYS. THE ADOPTION FORMS ARE ALREADY PRINTED OUT.
P.S. As an added bonus, this meeting was supposed to wrap up our subject of Women in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but the kids are so enthusiastic about it ("we have women characters who actually do stuff!" "yeah, this is like, a miracle!") that we've decided to keep going into next week's meeting as well. Now they shall actually write their female characters into stories! \o/ I AM EXCITE.