#nonbinary objectification

[nonbinarynow]

Living and being a gender outside of exclusive man and woman is an impossibility to binary gendered people. You always see non-binary depictions in media be overwhelmingly non human characters, when someone is non-binary they are described as unhuman. It is a matter of objectification of genders outside the binary convention as they are seen as impossible to achieve in a such a heavily binarised world.

I had a friend who, upon learning I'm non-binary, started calling me genderless or things like 'gender: eldritch being'. Which is definitely affirming for some people, but not for me! I very much have a gender and it's neutral. Not incomprehensible. Not 404. Neutral. It's very normal, actually. You can talk about my gender the way you'd talk about anyone else's, actually.

this is exorsexism.

yeah, it's one thing when people describe their own gender like that, but when someone else does it it just feels like a way to dehumanise us and framing our genders as inherently abnormal.

[shroompette]

tw: slight sexual objectification, use of tentacles, oral fixation, otherwise just major sillies <3

Methinks that Octopus!König would be the most adorable little critter ever!

Octopus!König wears his sniper hood to hide the tendrils of which each has a mind of its own, absent-mindedly curling and uncurling during long briefings or tense situations. As a child, he had a bad habit of pulling on them and pinching the tips, deliberately causing himself mild discomfort as a way of distraction from his anxiety. It did not help much.

Octopus!König, thanks to his tentacles, is able to brush his teeth and wash his face at the same time. One tendril is curled around the tooth brush's handle while a couple of others contort into spirals that travel all over his scarred skin, shortening the amount of time spent in the bathroom every morning, but only insignificantly. He also uses them to wipe sleep off of his eyes, which makes him infuriatingly cute. The first time you saw him do that unmasked, he learned what cuteness aggression is.

Despite all of his great physical and non-physical qualities, Octopus!König hasn't had many partners before you. A part of that reason is the fact that they are usually freaked out by the tentacles - not by the sight necessarily, but not everyone fancies the feeling of suction cups on their skin, especially in the morning when he's trying to initiate cuddles or something more. In fact, he used to wear his hood during casual hookups and one-night stands for this very reason, so his partners wouldn't feel uncomfortable. When you started seeing each other, it took a long time before he was brave enough to walk around unmasked and even longer before he put his tentacles on you outside of sex.

Speaking of... Octopus!König was pretty surprised that you were the one who proposed it first. Sure, other partners before you have asked for the tentacles during sex since most of them only viewed the appendages just as a kind of sex toy, often making König feel objectified. But not you, not his kleiner Fisch. You asked politely, albeit a little breathlessly, to use them on you. He gladly obliged, using years of experience to provide you with the highest amount of pleasure he could manage. After the intense love-making, he quickly began to withdraw his appendages to "put the toys back in the box". But then you grabbed one of them oh so gently, face still blissed out from your session as you nuzzled and kissed the wet surface of the tentacle. He searched for any sign of disgust or forced affection, but found none.

Since then, Octopus!König doesn't hesitate to initiate this kind of contact with you. Most of the mornings, it feels like his tendrils crawl to you before he even wakes up, suction cups gently loving on your skin during the sunrise, wrapping around your neck, arms, playing with the neckline of your sleeping attire, sliding under the fabric and lovingly cupping your chest, his lips pressing against your temple, cheek and jaw until you roll over and wrap yourself around him in soft retaliation.

Another thing you two love to do together is cooking. It's needless to say that Octopus!König is incredibly useful in the kitchen, but he's also very much of a black hole and therefore a constant danger to whatever you're trying to make. It's hard enough to keep an eye on his hands, but eight sneaky appendages?! You can't turn around without a piece of meat going missing or fruit disappearing. At one point, you decided to protect the nuts you needed for baking cookies with your own body, pouring the entire bowl down into your shirt. It did not deter him in the slightest - in fact, he was worse than a mosquito after that.

Although you never told him about your oral fixation, it was rather obvious to Octopus!König from the start of your relationship; he'd see you chew gum, tooth picks and even his fingers all the time and know that there's no way in hell you wouldn't have it. It was only a matter of time before you'd start trying to get your hands (or rather mouth) on his tendrils too. Truth be told, he was a little hesitant - after all, they're sensitive. But how could he resist your cute little puppy eyes? He watched as you gently grabbed one of the tentacles, giggling as it wiggled in your grasp, stroking your cheek. When you finally wrapped your lips around the fat tip and gently nibbled on the gummy substance like a teething puppy, he couldn't help but let out a soft moan, his sensitive appendage stiffling in your hold. And even then, he was naive enough to think this wouldn't become a daily routine - his tentacle in your mouth during movie cuddles, long car rides, even napping! Once, you caught yourself reaching for his tendril in the waiting room of a hospital during a wait for your appointment but thankfully, you caught yourself just in time to awkwardly tuck it back under his hood. It's needless to say he spent the rest of the waiting grinning like an idiot (and also a little hard).

You will NEVER catch Octopus!König off guard on deployment. Doesn't matter how awry the mission goes or if he's ambushed, this man would find a way out of a hurricane's eye and call it a walk in a morning breeze. But outside of field? He's as jumpy as a bunny. You try to not spook him much, but sometimes, you just can't help it! You weren't quite sure why he was so adamant on you being as noisy as possible while approaching him, but you decided to fuck around one afternoon and then, you indeed found out. You padded over the carpet towards him from behind and tickled his sides, expecting him to shriek or swat your hands away. You think you would have prefered any of that over what transpired. He sharply spun around and fucking inked you right in the face. You stood there speechless, eyes wide as you stare at each other. You blink and wipe some of the indigo substance off your cheek, bringing your fingers to your face to sniff it when he grabs your wrist with a shriek:

"Scheiße, don't lick it!"

"I wasn't going to!"

"Truly?"

"...I kind of want to now."

"Liebling, no!"

During the nights, you like to lie atop Octopus!Konig's chest, your cheek smushed against the warm flesh, ear pressed to his pecs as you listen to the sound of not one, but three life-driving muscles that beat steadily as you draw invisible patterns with your finger across his skin. One of his warm hands is on your lower back while the other one strokes your hair, his callouses a rough contrast to the overall softness of you, his little love.

"Do you know what I find strange?" you mumble suddenly.

He pauses his strokes.

"What, Fisch?"

"You have three hearts," you begin. "Two of them pump blood into your gills. But only one pumps blood into the rest of your body."

The corners of his mouth quirk up in a smirk, his tendrils sneaking down his neck to gently twist between your locks and tug on them lovingly.

"That's not quite accurate, Liebe."

You frown softly, feeling one of his tentacles under your chin as he makes you look up, your bottom lip jutting out in a small pout.

"What do you mean?"

He doesn't answer right away. Instead, he reaches out to cup your cheek and pull you up to press his lips against yours for a brief moment before he whispers, eyelids droopy with love:

"I have three hearts. Two of them pump blood into my gills. One pumps blood to the rest of my body. But all of them beat just for you."

masterlist

[dividedskylane]

trying to articulate how i feel about gender feels a little like trying to walk barefoot through the kitchen to get the broom when someone's just dropped a glass. so an exercise in extreme caution from which i will almost inevitably emerge bloody and in pain

[rohankishibesgirlfriend76]

You know being attractive on the internet is the worst thing ever! Too many motherfucking degenerates and bots trying to harass you and exploit you for money. As a nonbinary person it’s painful and it makes me dysphoric because being objectified by weirdos makes me feel dirty and uncomfortable and ashamed of being born with feminine bodily parts. Too many freaks who try to take advantage of me and make me feel uncomfortable and scared. It’s disgusting and disheartening. I wanna tear myself to shreds in hopes of making people less attracted to me, but somehow I feel like there’s sick fucks who would get off to the image of a femme presenting nonbinary dismembering their selves. And honestly that’s just abhorrent to even jork it to a person being ripped limb from limb like some kind of livestock in a slaughterhouse. It’s vile. And people who do get off to that should be put on a watch list and thrown in jail. Also check those motherfucker’s hard drives. There’s probably countless amounts of torture videos on their computers. And it’s disgusting how there are people who even fetishize literal torture. Absolutely sickening. It makes me want to die!

[dateamonster]

i must preface this by saying i dont necessarily think this is literally how it played out behind the scenes, but it sure is interesting that undertales main character uses they/them pronouns and then the fanbase decided that meant they were a neutral extension of the players will that anybody could project onto and therefor not Actually nonbinary, and then deltarune comes out and a big aspect is about the player exerting their will onto the main character and how much the character themself Hates that and how that ties into a larger running theme of objectification and control. almost like someones sayin something.

[this-is-exorsexism]

theres something about how in fandom it's more common & applauded to see binary trans headcanons than nonbinary. also ime it's harder to not get eyerolled at if talking about seeing my nonbinary self in a girl-presenting instead of guy-presenting character in a "i'll see her as nonbinary in a not-girl-leaning way then" way. like womanhood is so singularly sacred it's superior to my type of nonbinary. i deal with that notion enough irl as an afab nonbinary person who still gets misconstrued by most as a girl and always hears the "youre misogynistic and acting like girls cant look/be this way" argument as if genders never have overlap experiences. at most, nonbinary headcanons (and original content) i most see are for genderfluid fetishization/objectification which also reflects irl views too much.

this is exorsexism.

[enby-cuntboy]

welcome all

i'm ghost! 20 years old. this is my horny blog, dms and asks are open.

minors and ageless blogs DNI

gender stuff: i'm transmasc nonbinary. i go by any pronouns (they/he/she/it/xe/ae), but prefer for them to be used interchangably. i'm okay with gendered terms of any sort, but my preference tends to skew masculine.

attraction: i'm pansexual. i tend to stay on the t4t side of tumblr because it feels safe here, but i'm attracted to everyone. i'm aromantic, which means that i'm not interested in a relationship or anything involving romance. i just don't really feel that way about people nor do i understand it.

kinks: i'm a switch. what i'm into changes drastically based on whether i'm domming or subbing. i've noticed that there are a lot of subs on here though so i honestly end up topping most of the time on here lol. when domming, like training pets, overstim, edging, general power dynamics like that. i'm a service top so i'll likely tailor my fantasies to whoever i'm talking to so i can treat them right <33. when subbing though, i'm into more brutal things like cnc, somno, intox, gore, humiliation and objectification. i'm sometimes into breeding, monsterfucking, and piss depending on the context. i also like dehumanisation but only when directed at myself, so for this reason, i may interact but will not post/reblog misgendering/patriarchy content.

limits: scat, feet, incest, white power raceplay, actual bigotry, actual snuff/gore/rape/abuse and absolutely no suggestion that any of this is more than fantasy. i am not comfortable domming in cnc scenarios. i will not send nor post photos of myself.

decoding my tags: (subject to change)

#topposting - a scenario in which i'd like to top

#bottomposting - a scenario in which i'd like to bottom

#switchy needs - a scenario in which i would like to both give and receive

#mine - an original post authored by me

#psspsspss trans pets - a petplay scenario

#send r3pe threats - a cnc scenario

#mmph overstim - an overstimulation scenario

#never gonna not reblog about unethical experimentation - a scenario involving performing unethical experiments on a subject as a scientist or medical researcher

[x23innocencelost]

Intersexuality and Transgenderism in Beast Wars (1996-1999)

(ID in alt text)

Okay, so like a week ago I said I would make a post explaining why I think Blackarachnia and Silverbolt are both intersex and transgender, and I’m a bit late but there is that post! 

CONTENT WARNINGS: Discussion of medical intersexism, the medical and medical-sexual abuse faced by intersex and transgender people including IGM, the H slur was used as an example of offensive language to avoid. Discussion of sexual violence and objectification, especially as pertaining to transgender women. Discussion of transphobia, misogyny, and transmisogyny. Discussion of canonical suicide attempt and attempted sexual assault.

Introduction

“Intersex” this refers to people with sex characteristics outside of male/female binary sex. This could be anything from ambiguous or “non-standard” genitalia (external or internal), increased or decreased levels sex hormones compared to “standard” (it should also be said that what is considered standard is frequently what is standard for white people), more or less than 2 chromosomes; chromosomes that do not conform with presented sex, and a whole bunch of other things. What exactly qualifies someone as intersex is debated, because what exactly qualifies as falling outside of strict categories of “male” and “female” is contested. If intersex people are more commonly understood and concretely recognized to exist, this challenges the binary sexgender hierarchy, and undermining the sexgender hierarchy undermines the patriarchy.

Regardless, intersex people are not “biologically nonbinary” or “biologically transgender” or anything like that. Certainly there are transgender intersex people, and for some of these people their relationship with gender is directly tied with being intersex (and the same for some cisgender intersex people), but the intersex umbrella encompases millions of people with unique lives and perspectives and it is wrong to make sweeping statements about identity and experience like that. Furthermore saying gender identity is directly linked to sex is, as always, deeply bioessentialist and in this case intersexist.

I will not be speaking about where exactly Blackarachnia and Silverbolt fall under the intersex umbrella, both due to my own lack of knowledge and because they are bio-mechanical aliens who are a spider and a wolf & eagle, respectively. I do not think either of them have a specific real-world condition that effects humans and even if they did that is not something I am knowledgeable enough about to speak about.

Additionally, while I will be discussing and interpreting them as visibly intersex characters, it is important to remember that not every intersex person is visibly intersex, and you cannot tell if someone is intersex just by looking at them. You should not, ever, try to ‘prove’ that a real person is intersex, as that is an incredible invasion of privacy and just like… gross? 

From this point forward I will be expecting a basic familiarity with what it means to be intersex, so that means some terms and concepts might be glossed over. If there is anything that is confusing or needs clarification I will do my best to provide this, but I will not be engaging with anyone that fails to meet a bare minimum of respect for intersex people. For the record: “hermaphrodite” is a slur. Using this term or any term derived from it will result in an auto-block regardless of what you are otherwise saying.

Finally, I am myself perisex (ie, not intersex) and not in a position to speak for the intersex community or experience. While I am not the sole developer of this interpretation, this post and my words are my own and if I have inadvertently said something offensive or misinformed, please let me know so that I can take the necessary steps to fix that.

Acknowledgments

This post would not be possible without @maverickflare and @they-hermes who contributed to this reading (maverickflare also proofread), @redlanternz for being my lesbian spider pervert, and @htmlerror who helped me with the above section. Also thank you to @roguesrevenge , who didn’t do anything other than be intersex and incredibly enthusiastic :) . Love you all. @nielsthecat was also here. Also they wrote the ID for the meme, I guess.

Part 1: Blackarachnia

(ID in alt text)

We start with Blackarachnia, because she is the character that appears first and subsequently, the character that this whole read is based around.

First and most obviously, Blackarachnia’s black widow form just straight up is intersex. She has the red hourglass, bulbous body, elongated legs, and longer pedipalps without ‘boxing gloves’, which are classed as “female” sex characteristics in black widow spiders. However, she also has features that are classed as “male” sex characteristics in black widows, namely the coloration on the legs, small fangs, and small venom sacs. This makes her intersex, full stop.

However, this is just the beginning. Blackarachnia’s story is also that of an intersex woman. She is the only character in the entire show whose beastmode is chosen for her by someone else. Additionally, Tarantulas picked the black widow because he found it to be, well, attractive. There is also the way that Blackarachnia’s creation as a Predacon is discussed: as something that Tarantulas did to her. 

These are both reminiscent of intersex/infant genital mutilation (IGM), where visibly intersex infants are subject to “corrective” surgeries so that their genitalia more closely aligns with sex binarist ideas about what genitalia “should” look like. This can extend to procedures in childhood performed with the goal of making the child a more pleasing sexual partner as an adult. It should not need to be said that this is a gross human rights violation.

More than this, Blackarachnia’s status as a woman is something that is questioned, most notably by Rattrap. He says that she’s “about as female as a piston,”, and when she remarks on her own attractiveness, he derides her by saying he’s “seen better circuits than [hers] on maintenance bots”. This obviously ties into the intersex reading, as intersex women are frequently denied access to womanhood and told they are performing femininity incorrectly, but it also ties into the transgender reading, because transgender women face the same treatment. The fact that these readings bleed into one another is appropriate, of course, because Blackarachnia’s intersexuality and transgenderism are, for her, linked.

This is further exemplified by the control exerted over her life by men, particularly Tarantulas. Not only did he choose her beastmode for her, not only was he involved in making her as a Predacon, he also installed a failsafe so that removing the Predacon shell would kill her. Later on, Optimus Primal and Rhinox, not knowing this, discuss potentially removing the Predacon shell– without Blackarachnia being in the room. This is played as an innocent misunderstanding– of course Blackarachnia would be given ultimate say over removing the Predacon shell!– but it is still a gross overstep. This is also, again, reminiscent of the medical abuse faced by intersex and transgender people, who are frequently lied to and misinformed about the medical procedures being done to them, if they are told anything at all.

The above of course does not even touch on the most notable time that Tarantulas strips Blackarachnia of her autonomy– when he possesses her. Even once the true possession is ended (a situation Blackarachnia hated so much she said she would rather die than let it continue), he retains a psychic connection to her, forcing her to act in his interests and as an extension of himself, and causing her immense pain if she attempts to disobey him. This is combined with the fact that Tarantulas’s initial problem with Blackarachnia seems to be that she is an autonomous person who doesn’t want to fuck him.

This comes to a head in episode 2.04, where Blackarachnia starts up a minor flirtation with Quickstrike (albeit under false pretenses). Even this minor assertation of her own personhood infuriates Tarantulas, who is quick to remind her of their link and the fact that he has complete control over her and her life. Blackarachnia gets more and more frustrated with this state of affairs that eventually she decides that she would literally kill herself if it meant she would be free of Tarantulas. Tarantulas directly states that he does not not care if she commits suicide, and only intervenes when he realizes that her dying will also kill him, at which point he severs the psychic link. His immediate next action is to try to kill her.

Furthermore, many characters feel entitled to Blackarachnia’s body in a very particular way. Tarantulas, Quickstrike, and to a lesser extent Cheetor feel entitled to her body as a sex object, with Quickstrike additionally trying to assault her on-screen. Megatron, somewhat uniquely, feels entitled to her body as a receptacle for violence. 

Blackarachnia is treated with scorn by the Predacons because they view her as a sex object who is making herself unavailable to them. With the Maximals, Blackarachnia continues to be treated as a sex object, but one that “belongs” to Silverbolt. Cheetor, after becoming infatuated with her, occasionally defends her to the likes of Rattrap– but he has no qualms about joining in on the abuse out of earshot after a particularly direct put-down from her. She has the additional burden of being viewed as deviant for fulfilling the “wrong” role in her relationship (in this case as the sexually dominant partner).

In all cases this brings to mind the third-sexing of transgender women: women when sexually available or appealing, punching bag when not.

Furthermore, Blackarachnia always seeks to maintain her identity, not as a Predacon but as herself– Blackarachnia, the “bad girl”. This is her true objection to becoming a Maximal, the fear that she will lose herself. Even after removing the Predacon shell becomes a life-saving necessity, her description of the consequences of not doing so isn’t “I’ll die”: it’s “[I’ll] drool oil for the rest of my life”. This is a woman for whom her identity as herself is more important than her own life, as also evidenced by her reaction to Tarantulas possessing her.

Concurrent with that and through most of S3, we see Blackarachnia working on developing the materials to give herself a Transmetal 2 body upgrade. In other words, she is trying to medically transition. She is finally able to achieve this after the Predacon shell is removed. While initially fearing that removing the shell and thus becoming a Maximal would fundamentally change her in some way, after receiving the upgrade she soon declares that,  “Even when I’m good, I’m bad,” showing that she is still herself and no major change has taken place.

I think that Blackarachnia is best understood as a transgender intersex woman who was subjected to IGM to be coercively assigned as male as a child, who socially transitioned while with the Predacons but was denied the resources/ability to pursue medical transition. Once with the Maximals, she both distrusted them due to her past experiences with medical abuse and feared they would not allow her to medically transition (again due to her past experiences), leading her to pursue a risky DIY transition.

Part 2: Silverbolt

(ID in alt text)

(Note: I have chosen to refer to Transmutate with she/her pronouns because she was referred to as such in production, and I believe that referring to her as “it” is a symptom of the dehumanization and degendering of disabled people)

Silverbolt and the other Fuzors are, by the non-Fuzors, considered to be “mismatched” and “weird” (this is the language used in the show), which mirrors some of how intersex people are discussed in real life. 

Additionally, when Silverbolt is defending Transmutate to the other Maximals, he asks, “Are we Predacons now? Do we destroy whatever does not fit our definition of perfection?” The way that he is immediately able to empathize with her for having been born “weird”, “ugly”, and “imperfect” points to him feeling that they are in this way similar. His belief in the preservation of autonomy, especially for those deemed in some way other, is based on his own experience with having been denied that.

Then there is the matter of Tigerhawk. There is a long tradition in sci-fi of people with intersex features (who are sometimes, but not always, acknowledged as actually being intersex) only appearing through the merging of a man and a woman through fantastical means. Tigerhawk, while not being part of this tradition, is reminiscent of it, being formed out of the merging of Airazor and Tigatron. This is, indeed, the explanation for him being a Fuzor. He is also the character that most resembles Silverbolt. This, again, points to Silverbolt being intersex.

We also revisit the idea of reprogramming the protoforms to be Predacons as analogous to coercive sex assignment/IGM, with the addition that this time, Megatron edits Silverbolt and Quickstrike’s activation codes to the Predacon activation and tells them that they were always Predacons. This is reminiscent of the many intersex people who are subject to IGM or other “corrective” procedures who are never told what is happening, or that they are intersex. 

Silverbolt does not feel that he ‘fits’ as a Predacon, and repeatedly voices discomfort with being asked to act as a Predacon. He is beaten multiple times for failing to live up to Predacon standards, and, eventually, he defects to the Maximals. This, too, is a transition.

Whereas Blackarachnia was always aware of her being intersex and the medical abuse she was subject to, this is something that Silverbolt had to find out for himself as he got older, eventually leaving the Predacons concurrent with starting his transition journey.

Part 3: Closing Notes

Obviously some of what was discussed above can also be applied to Inferno and Quickstrike to read them as intersex as well, but unlike Blackarachnia and Silverbolt I do not think this massively impacts their characters. I am not otherwise discussing them here because they are not the scope of this essay.

The fact that Silverbolt most consistently supports Blackarachnia and her choices, and respects her position on the team before she officially becomes a Maximal, speaks deeply to the fact that he actually, well, respects her. Blackarachnia allows Silverbolt to joke about “making a Maximal” of her when no other character would be or has been allowed to speak to/about her like that, which says that she understands he is, in some way, saying something different than any other character when they call her a Maximal. To be clear, in that moment I think Silverbolt is giving her the opportunity to assert and affirm herself as the “bad girl”. 

I think that reading Blackarachnia and Silverbolt as intersex and transgender dramatically recontextualizes their relationship as two people who have undergone some of the same abuse in life and can find recognition and respect in each other because of their shared experiences. 

Thank you again to everybody that helped me with this and told me they were excited for this, and if you read this far I love you and happy Pride!

[thoughtportal]

Since the publication of John Berger’s seminal 1972 Ways of Seeing, the specter of the “male gaze” has been at the forefront of much feminist art and film criticism. “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at,” he wrote. “This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves.”

But what is a scopophilic woman (this critic included) supposed to do with that? It is one thing to resist a life of lonely objectification; it is another to see one’s own power to look as inevitably, and irrevocably, mediated by patriarchy.

Lori Jo Marso is the latest feminist film scholar to redress misconceptions of the gendered gaze — the experience of women seeing women onscreen, she contends, can be at once exhilarating, emancipatory, and constructively uncomfortable. In her new book Feminism and the Cinema of Experience, Marso prioritizes the competing emotions and ideas provoked specifically by the imagery in film rather than a set of supposedly feminist storylines or themes. “Feeling like a feminist most often doesn’t feel good,” she asserts in her introduction. “Feeling like a feminist provokes anxiety, summons deep ambivalence to norms of femininity, and triggers worry and confusion about sex, love, marriage, children, and friendship.”

Rather than champion either a valedictory “strong woman” conquering all or a wronged woman seeking vengeance, the films Marso examines and celebrates are a far cry from those so often shilled by Hollywood. In centering women and nonbinary filmmakers’ cinematography — the art of camera placement, framing, and movement — Marso makes a compelling case that “the cinematic depiction of experience and the subsequent solicitation of uncomfortable feelings in viewers … is feminist film’s most transgressive political intervention.”

Divided into four sections prefaced by Marso’s specific definitions of contested or novel terms, such as “feminist,” “ambivalence,” “stasis,” and “plasticity”, Feminism and the Cinema of Experience draws our attention to how the gaze behind the lens directs — and disrupts — conventions of looking. Coining the term “motherwork camerawork” in her first chapter to join the practice of filming with the broadly defined labor of mothering, Marso considers how nonnormative mothers “are depicted as both strange and ordinary, never sentimentalized or sanitized.” She cites the late Chantal Akerman’s canonical Jeanne Dielman, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), about a single mother who is also a sex worker, in which the camera is trained on actor Delphine Seyrig as she moves between “three airless rooms.” 

Marso argues that, as the static camera refuses closeups, focusing on the heroine from a detached remove, “Akerman brings to our attention what is invisible because it is too close to us.” As a result, the ennervation and exasperation of menial domestic tasks are thrown into vivid audiovisual relief.

Comparing Jeanne Dielman to Senegalese-French director Alice Diop’s Saint Omer(2022), about a mother on trial for killing her baby, Marso considers how the static camera with long shot duration can present a complicated Black woman as “opaque, but still legible and even sympathetic.” During long takes of the trial, some up to 20 minutes, Diop’s shots resemble photographs; framing and composition demand patience of the viewer, refusing to readily hand over the ”motives and feelings” of the woman onscreen. The likely ambivalence of the viewer, Marso claims, is of a piece with what it means to “feel like a feminist”; it isn’t easy, but it is the only way forward.

In a chapter on the genre of horror, Marso explores how a film like Julia Ducournau’s Titane(2021) — about a mechanophiliac serial killer — could qualify as feminist in the first place. “Ducournau’s images touch our bodies and trigger our emotions,” she claims. “What was hitting my eyes and ears made me cringe, look away, look back … and peek through squinted vision … my emotions veered from ecstasy to deep sorrow.” Ducournau’s lens focuses on how feminine bodies “soft and hard … surprise and fail us … are the source of pain and pleasure … leak strange fluids, grow old or ugly; exceed or break the rules of gender; and are just simply never in our control.” In relentlessly exposing the lawlessness of supposedly “natural” femininity, Ducournau’s films expose — and break through — the horrifying boundaries of gendered logic. 

Jettisoning distinctions between “highbrow” and “lowbrow” movies to honor the camera’s power to catalyze new ways of seeing, Marso extends her analysis to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023), Emerald Fennell’s A Promising Young Woman (2020), and Joey Soloway’s television series I Love Dick (2016–17). In her postscript, Marso argues that film — as well as her own book — can be a form of “feminist address,” a love letter to “cinematic mechanisms that shift the gaze [and] create a new aesthetic language” onscreen. By extension, the gaze, the very act of looking, also becomes the artof looking — on one’s own liberating terms.

Feminism and the Cinema of Experience (2025) by Lori Jo Marso is published by Duke University Press and is available online and through independent booksellers.

Eileen G’Sell July 6, 2025

[todayisdeadinside]

Another Fine Line Analysis Nobody Asked For !

Yes, yes, I know this is wildly overdone, but I'm brimming with transgenderism today so we're doing it hehe. This analysis is coming from a severely transgender terminally multigender/nonbinary point of view.

"put a price on emotion, i'm looking for something to buy"

taking this at face value it's of course about numbness and emotional detachment, wanting to simply purchase emotion at the store to display it with ease. but if i look for gender in it, i see longing to portray the 'right' emotions- the ones that society would like him for, in relation to his masculinity.

as an artist, hes seen as a product, and every part of his identity is commodified and sold as much as it can be. that includes his emotions and expression, and i feel like this is him pleading to be able to use the money his objectification has given him to buy the right emotions and right expression.

its a line of pulling away from his feminine side, wishing the profitable image that hes made a career of was enough of a product to modify and change with a simple purchase, like one might polish a statue.

"you've got my devotion, but man, i can hate you sometimes"

and then we have the opposite with her leaning into her femininity, she's devoted to her, the woman in her head (whoops that's "she") but grappling with her co-occuring resentment for her femininity. she's devoted to that side of herself, but the fear and societal pushback drives her to despise it sometimes.

the choice to say "man, i can hate you sometimes" feels poignant. at the start of the line, she's devoted, but then "man" comes in and she hates that side of herself. expectation comes in, just when she's leaning into her feminine side, the masculine expectations come creeping up on her.

"i don't want to fight you, and i don't want to sleep in the dirt"

after that opening pull-push-pull, this feels like they're resigning a little. almost flopping down on the floor and saying "i dont want to fight, but i dont want to die either." because, well, what else does "sleeping in the dirt" imply? they don't want to keep fighting this push and pull battle with their gender, but they also know if they give up that fight it could kill them.

its a battle i understand well, and one i think a lot of trans people can relate to. the fatigue that builds up from constantly fighting to be your true self, balancing when it's safer to hide it with when it's okay to show it. the resentment that can build against your true self, because of how society percieves it. that moment where you have to decide; do you keep fighting, or do you give up and let it kill you?

"we'll get the drinks in, so i'll get to thinking of her"

the decision to say "so i'll get to thinking of her" instead of "and" is very intentional. she starts drinking, her mental barriers are loosened, and suddenly shes able to let those thoughts in again about her feminine self. its almost like an intentional gateway into gender introspection- making sure she's intoxicated enough to be okay entertaining her true self.

its making me think of "i dont remember the toast, but i remember the feeling." this is that experience, in lyrical form.

"we'll be a fine line" x6

a fine line between all the things he is, all the things he wants to be, all the things he doesnt think he deserves to be. i think the fine line isnt just between male and female, but between being true to himself and appealing to his marketable profile, between fighting for his true self and pulling back to protect his own heart and sanity.

its a compromise with himself. in numerology, the number 6 relates heavily to balance and harmony. hes balancing all of these very delicate parts of himself and social expectations and what hes capable of fighting for, trying to harmonize it into this fine line that he can continue to tread, that appeases everyone.

the number 6 can also represent a bridge between worlds, and is that not exactly what harry is trying to achieve with this self-compromise? bridge the woman inside of him with the man the world sees, the things he desires with the things hes allowed.

"test of my patience, there's things that we'll never know"

this is a negotiation. acknowledging that her feminine side is testing her resolve to tread this fine line, reminding herself that theres things she'll never get to know, never get to experience. parts of womanhood she will never be allowed to discover because of her worldly limitations, her image, her own fears.

essentially shes warning herself; dont make it worse by testing my patience, accept what we can get away with and dont be greedy for more outward expression of yourself. it's not allowed, it's not an option. to tread this fine line, we have to sacrifice some things we may desperately want.

and of course because it's a verse between the choruses, it's her pushing and pulling with herself again, trying to wrangle all aspects of herself onto this extremely fine line she aims to stay on. where it's safe.

"you sunshine, you temptress. my hand's at risk, i fold"

you sunshine. the light in their life. their actual life force. you need the sun to live, them calling their gender sunshine is so powerful and so positive. followed with you temptress. you, their feminine side, who lures them into dangerous territory and off of that fine line.

my hand's at risk, i fold. when their feminine self asks for too much, goes too far into her preferred direction, they must fold. there's too much risk. just as the previous line warned, don't test my patience, accept that there's things we'll never know. risks we cant afford to take.

this is very much harry's internal fear of straying too far from that plausible-deniability gender expression they have going now, afraid of the consequences of standing too firmly on the wrong side of the gender tightrope.

"crisp trepidation, i'll try to shake this soon"

crisp trepidation is loaded. crisp is with the connotation of brisk, perhaps a bit blunt. trepidation, the fear of something about to happen. in the last line, she was tempted off of the fine line, into her feminine side too far, and she's terrified in this line of paying the price for it.

crisp almost makes me think she's talking to herself, explaining how reckless and risky whatever bit of expression she did was, crisply explaining how afraid they need to be now, to anticipate the consequence. the pushback. she gave the warning, the warning was ignored, and now she's awaiting the punishment and using it as a teaching lesson to herself to stay where it's safe. to stay a fine line.

i'll try to shake this soon... god, its so devastating. she's so afraid she's considering (even if temporarily) giving up this part of herself entirely. and i know that feeling, too. after a major drawback, it feels like more work than it's worth to tread the fine line, to try and express oneself in ways that they can. its an attempt to give up completely, a total low point in which she's willing to give herself up to make life easier.

"spreading you open, is the only way of knowing you"

this is that final resignation of his femininity, trying to convince himself that the masculine expectation to be attracted to women will be enough for him. because that's what this line gets at, to me; the fact that the only acceptable proximity to womanhood a man can experience is sexual attraction to a woman. always that barrier of not being the woman, but being with the woman.

and hes trying to convince himself that it's enough. that it'll fulfill him, when he knows deep down it wont.

"we'll be a fine line" x12

back in the chorus, she's trying to bring herself up out of the hole she dug. doubling the repetition from 6 to 12, taking twice as long to get up out of her self-rejection and hopeless state than the time it took her to get that low in the first place. its the cycle she lives every now and then, always either treading that fine line, or pushing too far, or regretting the push and recoiling into a dejected state, before trying to crawl back onto that tightrope again to get a small taste of both worlds. but never enough.

in numerology, 12 represents completion and transcendant change. she's finding herself on that fine line, slowly but surely. the cycle feels endless, and it feels like 1 step forward 3 steps back, but shes making progress with every repetition of that chorus, and eventually...

"we'll be alright" x2

eventually, they know they'll get to where they can be happy as they are. they'll be alright. right now, they're on that fine line, but they know they'll be alright. in numerology, 2 is all about teamwork, balance through cooperation. this whole song has been them pushing and pulling, fighting with and resisting themself, and now? they'll be alright. they'll find a balance that works, one that doesn't skew too far in either direction. the extremes will even out with time.

"we'll be a fine line" x2

we'll be a fine line reappearing after the relief that is we'll be alright is a realistic show that reaching balance and a happy, content state with her gender is going to take trial and error. it wont all be solved overnight, and as much as she'd like to wake up and have it all solved, she knows it's going to be a bit of back and forth even after finding equilibrium, but that ultimately...

"we'll be alright" x2

he'll still be alright in the end. he'll get there, through all the ups and downs, the nearly giving up, the risking it too much, all of it will find it's natural balance. he may not be here yet, that's not the vibe i get from the song overall. but this is where he knows hes headed, given he can be kind to himself and give himself the time and room to explore and discover where he's happiest.

he'll be a fine line. but, eventually, he'll be alright.

[punkeropercyjackson]

It’s always really frustrating when you have transfem headcanons for a character the fandom sees predominantly as transmasc and only ever seeing someone talking about them besides you is like one short post with 4 likes.

transmasc headcanons and tme nonbinary headcanons dominate fandoms when it comes to trans headcanons but it’s still incredible annoying when you see them as transfem instead.

Also transfem miles morales always goes hard. Just wanted to say.

Also wanted to say you’re cool and all your takes are the realest thing I’ve ever heard!

Tysm,it means a lot you think so♡♡♡!!!Mirasol Morales our love....I was just thinking about this regarding Persephone Jackson and how people deliberately refuse to introject her actual writing into her queerness and just want her to be every bigoted ass fandomite 'bi culture' trope packaged onto a demonia that dosen't fit and we need not leave out Piper Mclean gets seen as just afab gender fuckery rather than a transfem tomboy/a transfem butch by the same crowd that goes crazy for transmasc Jason Grace and transmasc Leo Valdez.This also applies to how whenever we get an iconic brother and sister duo,'he's trans and she's an ally' always gains more traction than 'they're both trans and just in different directions' and 'she's trans and he's just an ally' is never a big hit.Nico di Angelo and Hazel Levesque from the afformentioned Percyverse but also Dipper and Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls,Dib and Gaz Membrane from Invader Zim,Sokka and Katara AND Zuko and Azula from Atla and don't even get me started on the lack of transfem content based on canon black women even besides Hazel's constant erasure.Absolutely insane to me Luz Noceda isn't popularly seen as a trans girl even though she was confirmed by the crew to be hard to distinct on wether she's a boy or a girl apperance wise yet solely refers to herself as female on the Toh show and the one time she calls herself male it was an implied subconcious accident and Allura from Voltron and Mel Medarda from Arcane are gobbled up and spit out over and over again by the alleged believers 'every character is trans' and people not taking into account Vi would absolutely know better than to use ace bandages to call her transmasculine and not an early egg crack trans eldest daughter syndrome case and even attribute her EDS is proof she's afab.So many characters deserve to be popularly seen as trans women but y'all love to not think about transfemininity unless it's objectification,dismissive or bullying

[chronicallyqueer-afterdark]

PT UNDER CUT

Cuntsubboy

A gender/term for one who is a cuntboy and a submissive.

This may mean that one feels that one's cuntboy identity is tied into one's submissive identity, one is submissive because one is a cuntboy, one's gender is cuntboy and in one's dynamic they are submissive, etc.

Cuntboy Flag symbol/color inspo from here!!! [Link!]

~NOTE: though the term "cuntboy" has been historically weaponized against transmasculine or trans men, it has also been used against other groups. It is rooted in fetishization and dehumanization, as well as heavy objectification and reduction to one's "sex." It also has been weaponized against the intersex community, nonbinary folk, gay people, and a wide variety of others.

This term is intended to RECLAIM this slur/term. This is for one to use to label themselves in a consensual sense.

All of this being said, I have NO interest in gatekeeping this term from any group, as a cuntboy, myself, and wanted to state, anypony who wishes to use this label, may, so long as it is not intentionally in bad faith.

(Pt:

Cuntsubboy

A gender/term for one who is a cuntboy and a submissive.

This may mean that one feels that one's cuntboy identity is tied into one's submissive identity, one is submissive because one is a cuntboy, one's gender is cuntboy and in one's dynamic they are submissive, etc.

Cuntboy Flag symbol/color inspo from here!!! [Link!]

NOTE: though the term "cuntboy" has been historically weaponized against transmasculine or trans men, it has also been used against other groups. It is rooted in fetishization and dehumanization, as well as heavy objectification and reduction to one's "sex." It also has been weaponized against the intersex community, nonbinary folk, gay people, and a wide variety of others.

This term is intended to RECLAIM this slur/term. This is for one to use to label themselves in a consensual sense.

All of this being said, I have NO interest in gatekeeping this term from any group, as a cuntboy, myself, and wanted to state, anypony (anyone) who wishes to use this label, may, so long as it is not intentionally in bad faith.

End pt)

After Dark Taglist :

@bulletplay @apocalypth @archiveafterdark @tenting-archive

Any of our terms or flags or posts may be added to archives, wikis, other sites, etc. This is encouraged, in fact! Archives are important! I do not mind where you use my terms

Anyone may use my terms; I will not police your usage.

[arin-bunny]

My ever evolving info post:

Almost entirely a horny blog but sometimes memes and rambling and my thoughts, you can ignore that if you want.

MINORS DNI, I am open and poly, a nonbinary trans girl, pronouns are: they, she, or bunny interchangeably, i have four partners and no owner (These numbers are open to change :3), I'm a service switch who loves both roles, looking for other queer/ genderfucked people for friends

(or maybe more idk >///<)

DMs and asks are always open (the more embarassing the better) :3

Don't talk to me about food or eating, I'll block you on the spot.

LIKES/ HARD LIKES:

-Bunny/ Pet Play

-Predator-Prey

-Somno/ Intox

-Free Use (top or bottom)

-Submission

-Bondage

-Collar and Leash

-Service

-Voyeurism/ Exhibitionism

-Oral Fixation

-Light Pain

-Wax

- Biting/ Scratching

-Degradation

-A cataclysmic level praise kink, and more (just ask!)

-Feminize me? (not in the sissy way) that ones a little new still figuring out how i feel.

IF I TRUST YOU:

-Harder Degradation

-Harder CNC

-Serious Intox or Somno

-Objectification

Nope/Hard Pass:

Sissification (Im a girl please treat me like one)

DDLG

Cheating

Gore

Blood play

Race play

Knife/Gun play

Age play

Zoophiles

Scat

Detrans

Slurs

[self-loving-vampire]

the male gaze is a media term that describes the depiction of women as sex objects to titillate the presumed heterosexual male audience, which, like, even if lesbians/bi women may enjoy such art as well as a byproduct of being attracted to women (and thus finding gratification in their sexual objectification), does not really negate the fact that its portraying women as sex objects for the visual pleasure of straight men lol sorry.

Can't help but notice that your true objection here seems to be "you like sexy drawings where women have big breasts and are not fully dressed, which I continue treat as specific to straight men and also evil even if I now admit that non-straight women also like it and am aware the person I'm talking to is also attracted to men and nonbinary people and likes sexy drawings of them as well."

And like... I don't see a reasonable, good faith argument to treat this like a gendered, strictly hetero thing? Much less for why it's supposed to be a bad thing for drawings to be sexy.

You just don't like sexy drawings (at least ones depicting women, no comment on the others apparently), and you try to dress this up as feminism by adopting a heterosexist and gender essentialist point of view and joining People for the Ethical Treatment of Anime.

But I don't reblog them for you and I don't care if you feel bad that the drawings feel dehumanized by being given big boobs or whatever. My husband, my girlfriends, my allies of all genders, and even my loyal eunuchs like the pictures.

I think you would have a nicer time on a different blog. Maybe you should check the ones run by Mormons given your preferences.