Miley Cyrus: Girl or Woman? Your SURVEY Results!

Miley as the Girl

Miley as the Woman

Okay, so last Friday I posted on the whole Miley Cyrus controversy (where she posed as a "woman" rather than a "girl") and it brought up so much interesting stuff about being a Teenager in our culture that I launched the first SURVEY ever here at "I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?"

A lot of you participated (thanks!) and here are the results:







Pretty neat, huh?

Oh, and check out this cool website where I made the pie charts. You can make charts for anything! (Pie for everyone! Or, for those of us silly about math, perhaps I should say... "Pi for everyone!")

Keep an eye out for future surveys at this blogsite, and in the meantime, remember you can always add YOUR take in "comments!"

Namaste,

Lee

A Strong and Sudden Thaw

By R. W. Day

A sci-fi gay romance!

In a post-apocalyptic world 100 years in the future, David is a 16 year old growing up on a farm in a small community. Everyone believes that immorality was the cause of the new ice age they're in, so when the new healer in their town, Callan, is caught with another man, it's not good.

It's even worse that David and Callan like each other - a lot.

And there's a dark conspiracy going on across the land, that threatens to destroy everything.

Did I mention there are dragons rampaging about, too?

Part coming out story, part sci-fi novel, part gay romance, "A Strong and Sudden Thaw" was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist in 2006!

Thanks to Hayden for letting me know about it, so I could share it with you!

Add your review of this book in "comments!"

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor... DRESS? Cross-Dressing in the Bible

Joseph and the wife of Potiphar, by Philipp Veit

Okay, THIS is great.

Insofar as the tale of Joseph plays any role in the religious imagination, it seems to have to do with Joseph's "coat of many colors" (Gen 37:3 KJV), and in some obscure relation to this, Joseph's troubled relationship with his brothers.

But what is this garment with which Joseph is "vested"? In the early part of the tale, it has a strangely prominent role. It is introduced as the token of the special favor with which Jacob, his father, regards Joseph, and it becomes the sign of Joseph's alleged death (37:31-33).

Before looking at the relevant texts, however, it is important to ask about the garment as such. For centuries the description of the garment was translated as the "coat of many colors." More recent scholarship has corrected this to a more accurate "long robe with sleeves." Thus the "technicolor dreamcoat" - the object of lavish description in Thomas Mann's extraordinary novelistic expansion of the story and of the Broadway play that owes something to that retelling - has disappeared in favor of a "long robe with sleeves." With that in mind, we may now indicate the texts with which we must initially concern ourselves.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him (37:3-4)

...Joseph has been sent to spy on his brothers, who are out doing the work of sons by shepherding Jacob/Israel's flocks. From some distance the brothers see Joseph coming - perhaps the robe is a giveaway - and plot to kill him. The eldest son, Reuben, however, suggests that they not shed blood.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore, and they took him and threw him into a pit. (37:23-24a)

In the absence of Reuben, the brothers decide to sell the stripped Joseph to some Midianite slave traders. But now the absence of Joseph or his body must somehow be explained:

Then they took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, "This we have found; see now whether it is your son's robe or not." he recognized it, and said, "It is my son's robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces." Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. (37:31-34)

Three times we are told that the robe is "long" and "with sleeves." The first time it signals Joseph's status as beloved of his father. The last time it signal's Joseph's death. What is this robe?

Oscar Wintermute observes that the description of the robe corresponds to the description of the garbing of the king's daughters in 2 Sam 13:18-19. As it happens, this piece of sartorial evidence is found in the story of David's son Amnon raping Tamar, David's daughter. Tamar is reported to the reader as being "beautiful," which 13:1 says is why Amnon "fell in love with her." What follows is an attempted seduction in which Tamar resists, even suggesting that Amnon apply to David for Tamar's hand. But Amnon's impatience brooks no delay, and the result is a clear case of rape. The success of the rape does not, however, endear Tamar to Amnon: "Then Amnon was seized with a very great loathing for her" (13:15) Tamar, whose virginity has been taken by force, seems willing now to remain with Amnon as "his woman," but Amnon's loathing means that she is sent away, again over her protests. As she is dragged from the scene of the rape and loathing, we are informed:

(Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves; for this is how the virgin daughters of the king were clothed in earlier times.) So his servant put her out, and bolted the door after her. But Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore the long robe that she was wearing. (13:18-19)

This is the only other reference in the Bible to the particular sort of garb that Joseph is identified as wearing. This apparently beautiful and luxurious garment that serves as a mark of distinction for the virgin daughters of the king is the same garment with which the patriarch vested his favorite son. The parallels in the garment episodes are quite striking. Both play a role in the distinguishing of the wearer; both are worn by figures to whose beauty the reader is directed, and both wearers are assaulted by their brothers. Both garments become signs of mourning and violation. These multiple resonances of the long robe with sleeves prevent us from supposing that it is simply incidental that both Joseph and Tamar are depicted as wearing the same fashion statement.

But the dress is that of daughters; it is a woman's dress, or rather a girl's dress (the virgin daughters of the king), that Joseph's father gives him to mark him as specially loved. ...

...as Joseph is poised between adolescence and adulthood, he is singled out and vested with a maiden's garment as a sign of the special affection of his father. He is, at least to this degree, transvested and thus transgendered. The remarkably lovely adolescent male is transgendered by the affection of a more powerful male.

The rage of the brothers is thus doubly motivated. Not only is the youth their father's favorite, but he is also deeply troubling for gender roles. Indeed, readers may well expect that the one to be most troubled by Joseph's place as favorite would be Reuben, the oldest. But as the story is told, Reuben is Joseph's defender. Hence, the gender trouble, rather than Jacob's favoring the younger son, may be much more to the foreground. This is emphasized by the way in which the narrative seems to lay the stress on the feminine garment as the pivot of the story. Thus, the feminine apparel bestowed upon Joseph is the sign of the older male's doting upon him. It is the immediate provocation of the brothers' hatred. And this hatred has as its first object the stripping of Joseph; the removal of the infamous girl's robe. He is laid bare, revealed as not a girl but a boy; not different but the same. Hence he is exposed to the elements, bare and alone, in the pit and without water. Finally, it is the girlish dress that is stained in blood, the blood of the goat (the blood of rape? the blood of menstruation?) and presented, without explanation, to the doting father.

WOW. Joseph's technicolor dream coat was actually a girl's dress. He was dressed as a girl!

It's also pretty interesting that throughout history, many painters depicted Joseph as almost feminine in appearance. Look at the painting above (from the 1800s), especially Joseph's face.

And when we use this queer lens to analyze Joseph's story, his refusal of the advances of Potiphar's wife later on takes on a whole new meaning. Maybe it wasn't simply Joseph's loyalty to his boss that made him reject her come-on. Maybe he just wasn't interested in her... in that way!

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dress. Now that's fascinating!

Namaste,
Lee


If you want to read more analysis of Joseph's non-traditional gender role, pick up "Jacob's Wound: Homoerotic Narrative in the Literature of Ancient Israel" by Theodore W. Jennings Jr. The above quotes are from pages 178-182.

Skip Macalaster

By J. E. Robinson

Skip's Upper Middle Class family is African American.

His elite prep school is expensive and private.

And his Junior Year is full of secrets exposed and truths uncovered about interracial relationships, the church, his best friend, and ultimately, about Skip himself.


Add your review of this book in "comments!"

Disastrous Dates & Dream Boys

By Mark Roeder

The guys from "A Better Place" continue their adventures in this volume.

Shawn wants a boyfriend, but fears his father's reaction to learning the truth about him.

Dane wants a soul mate, but what if approaching the guy he likes ends up in disaster?

And Brendan realizes he and Casper will never be at peace until Brendan confronts his father.



"Disastrous Dates & Dream Boys" is a work of passion that Mark published himself. It's the sixth book he suggests reading in his THE GAY YOUTH CHRONICLES series.

Add your review of this book in "comments!"

Can a 15 year old have SEX appeal? Miley Cyrus hits the satin sheets... and our culture's Age of Consent Issues

Okay, This (if you don't already know) is Miley Cyrus. A.K.A. Hannah Montana.

She's 15.

She's interviewed in Vanity Fair magazine, who gets the Celebrity of celebrity photographers, Annie Liebovitz, to photograph her.

She poses with no top visible. She has on red lipstick. She's partially covered by a satin sheet.

Is she a girl or is she a woman?

Disney (and many fans) scream GIRL! She should have no sex appeal. She's just a cute girl, that every girl should want to be like. She's the girl that every boy should want to (of course) platonically, date, and the girl every parent should want their child to grow up to be.

Clearly Annie Liebovitz was interested in exploring just how much of a woman is there in this teenager that has the world on a string. (There are estimates that she will be worth a billion dollars by the time she is 18 years old!)


I think it's fascinating that she first poses in a "womanly" and revealing set-up, and then reacts to her fans' supposed outrage by reverting to being "girly" and saying she's now "embarrassed" by the photos. Pure celebrity damage-control.



But the whole episode brings up a HUGE issue for our culture. We want our teens to be consumers, we sell everything to them and everyone else with SEX (have you looked at some ads lately? Abercrombie & Fitch, Guess Jeans, almost everything...), but after all that, we don't want our teens to be sexual... ever.

We see it with the blind federally mandated "abstinence-only" sex education programs. (God forbid we teach sexually active teens how to use a condom and avoid getting HIV/AIDS or pregnant!)

We see it in the different age of consents around the world for "gay" versus "straight" sexual activity.

And we see it in Miley Cyrus' doing a woman's photo shoot when everyone wants to keep her a "girl."

How come none of these adults REMEMBER being a teenager? It's precisely that awkward mix of girl/woman, of boy/man that is so confusing and so powerful. And I guess, so scary to adults that have forgotten...

So how come no one's asking Teens what they think?

Well, I am. Asking, that is.

What do YOU think? Can a 15 year old have SEX appeal? Was Miley Cyrus wrong to pose suggestively, or was she wrong to apologize?

Click Here to take the very first "I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?" Survey - It will take you less than a minute, I promise!

I'll post results Friday of next week...

Thanks for being part of this!

Namaste,
Lee

Plain Janes, The

By Cecil Castellucci (writer) and Jim Rugg (illustrator)

In this graphic novel, after teenage Jane is injured in a terrorist attack in Metro City, her parents drag her off to live in suburban Hell. That's where she teams up with three other girls named "Jane."

Together with their Gay friend James they launch "art attacks" in their conservative community to make life more interesting. Local teens love it - the adults freak out about it, and the Plain Janes need to figure out how important being authentically different and true to yourself really is...


I was fortunate enough to talk with Cecil recently about the upcoming sequel - and she shared with me that as the story progresses, the GLBTQ content jacks up, including James' roll, his being gay, and a few other Queer surprises.

Add your review of this book in "comments!"

Sappho! Lesbian Poet of Ancient Fame

I saved Sappho and her work for this, the final entry of our month-long GLBTQ Poetry party to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Sappho pictured reading, 440-430 BC

Sappho lived in the early sixth century B.C. on the island of Lesbos, where she was the leader of a group of women who gathered to compose and recite poetry. She was considered the greatest of the early Greek lyric poets.

Plato called her the "tenth muse."

She wrote about her love for other women, and her name (Sappho) and the island she lived on (Lesbos) have both become synonyms in various forms (sapphic, lesbian) with womyn who love womyn.

Only fragments of Sappho's poetry survive to this day - here are two that are amazing, translations from the Isle of Lesbos website:

I have not had one word from her

Frankly I wish I were dead
When she left, she wept

a great deal; she said to me, "This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly."

I said, "Go, and be happy
but remember (you know
well) whom you leave shackled by love

"If you forget me, think
of our gifts to Aphrodite
and all the loveliness that we shared

"all the violet tiaras,
braided rosebuds, dill and
crocus twined around your young neck

"myrrh poured on your head
and on soft mats girls with
all that they most wished for beside them

"while no voices chanted
choruses without ours,
no woodlot bloomed in spring without song..."

--Translated by Mary Barnard

Please

Come back to me, Gongyla, here tonight,
You, my rose, with your Lydian lyre.
There hovers forever around you delight:
A beauty desired.

Even your garment plunders my eyes.
I am enchanted: I who once
Complained to the Cyprus-born goddess,
Whom I now beseech

Never to let this lose me grace
But rather bring you back to me:
Amongst all mortal women the one
I most wish to see.

--Translated by Paul Roche

There's a very scholarly analysis of her poems that you can download here (scroll down, the link is at the bottom of the page) by William Harris, Professor Em. Classics, Middlebury College

And for more general info on Sappho, check out this entry on her at glbtq.com


I hope you all enjoyed this month's celebration of the Queer in Poetry! Thanks for sharing and exploring it with me.

Tomorrow we'll be back to books!

Namaste,

Lee

Quentin Crisp's World War Two Gay Experiences in London: Poetry where you don't expect it!

Sometimes poetry comes at you from unexpected places and at unexpected times. Sometimes it offends, sometimes it shocks, but even then, if it's really good - it can make you think.

Quentin Crisp

Like this summary below by Quentin Crisp, (effeminate iconoclast and author of, among other books, "The Naked Civil Servant"), of his experience of London during World War II - a perspective I've certainly never heard before.

A little background: Quentin (born 'Denis' but he explained to people that he had "dyed" his name) was told (because of his non-conforming appearance and effeminate mannerisms) that the army would never want him, so during the war he worked as an artist's life model...

[I]nto the feast of love and death that St. Adolf had set before the palates of the English - parched these long dark twenty-five years - Mr. Roosevelt began, with Olympian hands, to shower the American forces. This brand new army of (no) occupation flowed through the streets of London like cream on strawberries, like melted butter over green peas. Labelled "with love from Uncle Sam" and packaged in uniforms so tight that in them their owners could fight for nothing but their honor, these "bundles for Britain" leaned against the lamp posts of Shaftesbury Avenue or lolled on the steps of thin-lipped statues of dead English statesmen. As they sat in cafés or stood in the pubs, their bodies bulged through every straining khaki fiber toward our feverish hands. Their voices were like warm milk, their skins as flawless as expensive India rubber, and their eyes as beautiful as glass. Above all it was the liberality of their natures that was so marvellous. Never in the history of sex was so much offered to so many by so few.

Wow.

Now I admit, there are parts of this that I find really offensive (so much so that I went back and forth over whether or not to include it in this celebration of Queer Poetry), but other parts are beautiful and evocative, and I find the whole thing thought provoking - almost like a time-travel machine into a completely different wartime London than the one I've heard and learned about (and I have spent years of my life studying this dark period of history.)

I love the notion of Queer souls brought together across national boundaries, but I hope for a day when it happens because of peace...


Namaste,

Lee


I found this quote in a great overview essay on Quentin Crisp, pgs. 261-264 of "The Gay 100: A ranking of the most influential gay men and lesbians, past and present" by Paul Russell.

Oh I Love Gay Poetry! Walt Whitman's "We Two Boys Together Clinging" From Calamus

Okay, so you'll have to forgive me, but there are only three days left in our GLBTQ Poetry celebration, and I have one more poem by Walt Whitman that I just have to share:

WE TWO BOYS TOGETHER CLINGING

We two boys together clinging
One the other never leaving
Up and down the roads going, North and South excursions making,
Power enjoying, elbows stretching, fingers clutching,
Arm'd and fearless, eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning, sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming, air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the sea-beach dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,
Fulfilling our foray.

Yeah.

Check out my other posts on Walt Whitman's poetry here.

Also, check out the glbtq.com page on his life and writings here.

Namaste,

Lee


I found this poem on page 95 of "Complete Poetry and Selected Prose by Walt Whitman" edited by James E. Miller, Jr.