FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer John Allenson: Have we ever discussed writting gender past male/female binaries? The Andorians in Star Trek have four genders. Alien Nation had three. The Left Hand of Darkness has androgens. How would we write alternate genders? This is a legacy chat. Join the chat Image by chonastock
Star vs. The Forces of Evil is a Disney Channel show that first aired in January of 2015. The premise of the show is about a princess from another dimension who travels to Earth as a foreign exchange student. There, she becomes close with her host family’s son, Marco Diaz, and the two go on adventures together. Like Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time and Steven Universe, Star vs. The Forces of Evil is a kid’s show that adults can enjoy as well due to the hidden adult themes. For instance, Star vs. The Forces of Evil had a very progressive moment … Read more
A new heartwarming Halloween PSA takes a swipe at gender stereotypes surrounding children’s costumes. The video, produced by Landwirth Legacy Productions, begins with two kids, a boy and a girl, carving pumpkins with their dad: One bearing the Batman logo, the other the Wonder Woman logo. It isn’t clear who carved which, but it becomes clear that their choices are meant to match up with their costumes, brought out by the mom. The father looks nervous. “Their costumes are going to look awesome,” the mother assures him. Next, we see the kids go out trick-or-treating, but without ever seeing their … Read more
Contraceptive pills and chemicals in cleaning products that are flushed down toilets and drains are turning male fish into female fish, new research has shown. According to the study, the remnants of cleaning products, chemicals and of contraceptive pills have been giving male fish female characteristics. A new study carried out by leading fish biologist, Professor Charles Tyler from the University of Exeter, has found that one in five male river fish are being affected. The study found that some male river fish are displaying a reduced sperm quality and some males are even producing eggs. The chemicals in the contraceptive pill, … Read more
Denmark is making the internet gender-free. The organizers of Copenhagen Pride started a new initiative in response to unnecessary gender questions on online forms. Calling them not just ‘so yesterday’ but also very discriminatory, despite Denmark being very open. ‘At Copenhagen Pride we are proud to represent one of the first countries in the world to stop defining being transgender as a mental illness,’ they said. ‘But the gender struggle does not end there.’ So they set out to rid the internet of the need to tick a box confirming your gender. With Gender Free Internet we wish to give people all over the … Read more
Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: What books do you like where masculinity/femininity, etc. is portrayed as a continuum, avoiding monoliths, and acknowledging class difference that cause those who occupy those spaces to view those outsides of them as “more” or “less?” How does that affect your view of characters who aspire, covet, or fetishize those other characters who live on the other side of their continuum? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat
Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Richard Wood: Speaking of FF and other non MM varieties of LGBT sex, why are almost all shifters male? Can a male shifter be female when shifted or choose which sex to be? Or how about shifters who shift between male and female human forms? Why are all shifters shifting between human and animal forms? How many men and women would like to experience sex from both male and female perspectives? Thinking here of Heinlein’s “I will Fear No Evil”. This topic deals with gender issues, which can be a touchy topic, so I … Read more
Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Kelly Haworth: What do readers think of non-binary pronouns and are they more receptive to this in scifi works where alien cultures may be involved? (I specifically mean in terms of nonbinary folk but nonbinary aliens can play a part too). As more and more folks come out as transgender and gender fluid, the old binary pronouns “he” and “she” don’t always fit anymore. Some people prefer the genderless “they and them”. Some use “zie/hir”. There’s a great blog post about it here: https://genderneutralpronoun.wordpress.com In speculative fiction, we also sometimes need genderless pronouns, or … Read more
Today’s topic comes from QSFer Brian Cherry: How about a discussion of different gendered beings, such as Storm Constantine’s Wraeththu? it’s a good question. We’re starting to move, as a society, beyond the idea that there are only two genders, male and female. This first hit me when I was watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and I realized that Terence Stamp’s character was really neither. In recent years, we’ve started to see “third gender” passports. More and more people are identifying publicly as gender queer, eschewing being strictly identified with either of the “traditional” genders. And even Facebook, flawed … Read more
I’m trying to decide if this article should be filed under “horror” or “speculative.” We’ve all heard the adage that the same hammer that builds houses can also be used to kill. Well… this to me seems like a Science Hammer. Brain’s ‘gender’ may be quite flexible: Mechanism that plays key role in sexual differentiation of brain described During prenatal development, the brains of most animals, including humans, develop specifically male or female characteristics. In most species, some portions of male and female brains are a different size, and often have a different number of neurons and synapses. However, scientists … Read more