human sexuality is so interesting. if u want to talk about it I would like to hear what u have to say but I can't think of any questions rn
So, I think a ton of people are arguing about sexuality in ways that aren't really... conducive to learning about sexuality, if that makes sense. I kind of wanted to ramble about one aspect of it so...
I don't think sexuality is 100% social or 100% biological... it's rooted in both for many people, in different levels, sure. It is in similar levels social and biological. If sexuality were purely biological, then queer people lose because we will be eradicated. I grew up in the 2000s where homophobes were obsessed with the Gay Gene, because if homosexuality were tied to a gene, that means gay babies won't be born. That means queer children won't be born, thus forcing people to biologically conform to what is deemed "right" - ie cisheterosexuality (specifically, WASP cisheterosexuality)
If sexuality were strictly social, however, you'd think that queer people would be "fixable" in a social way. If it were purely social, then, again, the queers lose because, once more, homophobes would try to eradicate us through social means. It doesn't help that for adults at least, sexuality is heavily tied to one's gender - which is why homophobes will posit that gay men and women have "failed" at their gender, it's why I felt a ton of heteronormativity around my own gender and sexuality, because my manhood is already questionable to a ton of people, and I felt like being gay would only hurt my chances of being viewed as "a normal person".
A ton of gay liberation is applicable to trans liberation - the same question is asked about transness, if it is biological or social. I have the same viewpoint on both aspects. Human sexuality (and by extent gender) is so nuanced, and if you're going to pin sexuality into a box, you will have to come to terms with the fact that that will be used against some of the most marginalized in terms of subjecting us. It isn't a matter of "if", it is a matter of "when".
Again, I have no issue talking about sexuality, making theory about it, having discourse about it. I think its valuable to be able to think critically about one's relationship with sexuality. What I have an issue with is people having this idea that sexuality can be traced or rooted, definitively, for every single person. We have seen this before with the homophobe, do you not think the homophobe would adore that theory of sexuality?
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It’s disturbing to me how often when TRAs wish to dunk on “terfs”, they go straight to the predatory lesbian stereotype. They assume that the only reason “terfs” aka lesbians have an issue with trans women is because they’re “women” we don’t want to fuck. They assume our definition of woman is “somebody I want to fuck”. They assume the reason we’re concerned with young girls transitioning is because we want to fuck them. It all comes down to “terfs are predatory lesbians”.
But then they turn around and make posts guilt tripping lesbians into supporting them!!! After ripping their mask off and showing just how lesbophobic they are, they put it back on to tell lesbians things like “once you weren’t allowed in women’s public washrooms and changing rooms, so you’re obligated to support trans women who want in”. Or “any lesbian who doesn’t support trans women is a traitor to lesbians” (two takes I have actually seen). How can you show how much you hate lesbians, only to demand our support?
And lesbians are supposed to just stay quiet about it and continue to blindly support them. On top of watching TRAs constantly resort to slapping women with the predatory lesbian label, lesbians are also watching them say “if you don’t like penis you’re transphobic”. Seeing all the receipts of trans women fantasising about raping “terfs” but clearly talking about lesbians. Watching as men call themselves lesbians and expect us to date them. And we can’t say anything about it, because we have to work extra hard to be the perfect allies or else we’ll be subject to this lesbophobia. Eventually a lot of us just give up, because we come to realise that we’ll never be able to be perfect allies because of our sexuality. So we figure we might as well stop trying and side with the women who won’t call us slurs and tell us we need to like dick.
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On your recent post on heteronormativity and your environment, thank you so much for writing it. I was very much in same environment and you helped me put some things into words. I had major life crisis when I realized I simply can't be with opposite sex and it took me years to accept what my life would be, bc both options felt bleak (forcing myself to be with men anyway was traumatizing, being what I assumed to be alone and fully socially shunned for life without friends bc I would be seen as crazy and potential homewrecker without a man, also freaky, maybe being lucky to find a woman to live together but hide my whole life and fear for safety and pretend nervously we are friends - the most lucky option, almost unreal lucky, still scary). I was so upset on why I was born that way, why. WHY. I feel a bit better now. But I wish people could imagine how scary it can be. Anyway, it is a rant.
yeah i feel u anon 🫂 it can be a scary and difficult thing to accept that you’re gay. but once you do, it can be very rewarding. i was terrified and hated it at first, but then it brought me happiness that i had never felt in my life to be myself after years of repressing & trying to change myself. don’t get me wrong, i still face homophobia & it sucks that we aren’t the “norm” so to speak & there’s many downfalls but i wouldn’t change any of it bc i cant imagine being as happy as i am now any other way yanno
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free online james baldwin stories, essays, videos, and other resources
**edit
James baldwin online archive with his articles and photo archives.
---NOVELS---
Giovanni's room"When David meets the sensual Giovanni in a bohemian bar, he is swept into a passionate love affair. But his girlfriend's return to Paris destroys everything. Unable to admit to the truth, David pretends the liaison never happened - while Giovanni's life descends into tragedy. This book introduces love's fascinating possibilities and extremities."
Go Tell It On The Mountain"(...)Baldwin's first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves."
+bonus: film adaptation on youtube. (if you’re a giancarlo esposito fan, you’ll be delighted to see him in an early preacher role)
Another Country and Going to Meet the Man Another country: "James Baldwin's masterly story of desire, hatred and violence opens with the unforgettable character of Rufus Scott, a scavenging Harlem jazz musician adrift in New York. Self-destructive, bad and brilliant, he draws us into a Bohemian underworld pulsing with heat, music and sex, where desperate and dangerous characters betray, love and test each other to the limit." Going to meet the Man: " collection of eight short stories by American writer James Baldwin. The book, dedicated "for Beauford Delaney", covers many topics related to anti-Black racism in American society, as well as African-American–Jewish relations, childhood, the creative process, criminal justice, drug addiction, family relationships, jazz, lynching, sexuality, and white supremacy."
Just Above My Head"Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to the church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that enflames his nonfiction work. Here, too, the story of gospel singer Arthur Hall and his family becomes both a journey into another country of the soul and senses--and a living contemporary history of black struggle in this land."
If Beale Street Could Talk"Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche."
also has a film adaptation by moonlight's barry jenkins
Tell Me How Long the Train's been gone At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love affairs with a white woman and a younger black man, each of whom will make irresistible claims on Leo's loyalty.
---ESSAYS---
Baldwin essay collection. Including most famously: notes of a native son, nobody knows my name, the fire next time, no name in the street, the devil finds work- baldwin on film
--DOCUMENTARIES--
Take this hammer, a tour of san Francisco.
Meeting the man
--DEBATES:--
Debate with Malcolm x, 1963 ( on integration, the nation of islam, and other topics. )
Debate with William Buckley, 1965. ( historic debate in america. )
Heavily moderated debate with Malcolm x, Charles Eric Lincoln, and Samuel Schyle 1961. (Primarily Malcolm X's debate on behalf of the nation of islam, with Baldwin giving occassional inputs.)
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apart from themes obvious in the book's descriptions, a general heads up for themes of incest and sexual assault throughout his works.
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