patchworkstudies

[patchworkstudies]

Dani Torrent / "Deseo"

[patchworkstudies]

Hey other trans men (+ other trans people), FTM international and FTM newsletter publications are available online . This is stuff I urge people to read because people know nothing of trans man/FtM history, struggles, and activism.

Many things discussed in these are still things argued about today - because people refused to listen to trans men then and they are refusing to now.

[patchworkstudies]

Yesterday I was reading Wikipedia (as you do) and looked up Magnus Hirschfeld and then about 李兆堂 Li Shiu Tong, and (text from wikipedia)

Li met Hirschfeld at a public lecture for Chinese feminists at China United Apartments in 1931. Li recalled that "His lectures [were] about human sexual variation, particularly on homosexuality, a still ignorant and controversial topic." After the lecture, Li approached Hirschfeld, who claimed "[Li] offered himself to me, after my first lecture in Shanghai, as a 'companion' and 'protector', to take care of me and help me wherever I might want to travel in China, in particular to stand by my side as a Chinese interpreter." His father approved of Li accompanying Hirschfeld and hoped that his son would become "the Hirschfeld of China"... Li ended up translating for Hirschfeld in a meeting with the Kuomintang Minister of Health about "prostitution, birth control, and homosexuality." Soon after, Li quit medical school at the age of 24 in order to pursue a career with Hirschfeld... Li seems to be underrepresented when talking about sexology and the world tour on which he and Hirschfeld embarked... The original plan was to return to Berlin so Li could finish medical school and work at the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, but this was derailed by the rising influence of the Nazi Party in Germany... [Li] entered a "drifting" period after Hirschfeld's death, where he used family money to travel across Europe and North America and study at numerous universities, including Harvard, without actually completing a degree program or taking any examinations. He then moved back to Hong Kong in 1960 before settling in Canada for the final phase of his life in 1974... Li Shiu Tong died on 5 October 1993 at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada at the age of 86. Li's youngest brother dealt with his affairs, and many of his manuscripts and belongings ended up in a dumpster near his apartment.

(Li and Hirschfeld; image source.)

Then I found "The Asian Canadian gay activist whose theories on sexuality were decades ahead of their time" by Laurie Marhoefer; excerpts in indented quotes below

On the world tour, the two fell in love, though to everyone else, they passed as teacher and student. Hirschfeld decided to make Li his successor. The plan was for Li to return to Berlin with him, train at his Institute for Sexual Science and carry on his research after his death. Their shared dream was not to be. When they reached Europe, Hirschfeld realized he could never go back to his home in Berlin. Hitler was chancellor. The Nazis were after Hirschfeld because he was Jewish and because of his left-wing views on sexuality. He went into exile in France. Li stayed by his side and helped him write a memoir of their travels. It is a stunning departure from Hirschfeld’s earlier work, which trades in racist thinking – containing, for example, the claim that Black Americans had stunted brains. In the book he wrote with Li’s help, a different Hirschfeld emerges. The text denounces imperialism – for example, calling British rule in South Asia “one of the greatest political injustices in all of the world.” Hirschfeld even saw a link between gay rights and the struggle against imperialism: both grew out of an undeniable human yearning for freedom. After Hirschfeld died in France in 1935, his will named Li, then a student at the University of Zurich, his intellectual heir. Hirschfeld was the most famous defender of gay people the world had yet known. But when Li died in Vancouver in 1993, it seems no one realized his connection to gay rights. Yet Li’s rediscovered manuscript shows he did become a sexologist, even though he never published his findings. In his manuscript, Li tells how after Hirschfeld died, he spent decades traveling the world, carrying on the research and taking detailed notes while living in Zurich, Hong Kong and then Vancouver. The data he gathered would have startled Hirschfeld. 40% of people were bisexual, he wrote, 20% were homosexual and only 30% percent were heterosexual. (The last 10% were “other.”) Being trans was an important, beneficial part of the human experience, he added. Hirschfeld thought bisexuals were scarce and that even homosexuals were only a minor slice of the population – a “sexual minority.” To Li, bisexuals plus homosexuals were the majority. It was lifelong heterosexuals who were rare – so rare, he wrote, that they “should be classified as an endangered species.” Li found same-sex desire to be even more common than had sexologist Alfred Kinsey, whose studies identified widespread bisexuality.

Related: Thirty Years of Collecting Our History – Or: How to Find Treasure Troves by Ralf Dose, Magnus Hirschfeld Society, Berlin, 2012 https://www.hirschfeld.in-berlin.de/publikationen/dose_alms.pdf

Adam [who pulled Li's things from the garbage] told me that he had known Mr. Li only from meetings in the elevator of the building, exchanging a friendly “Good morning, Mr. Li”. He had come across these items because as a student, he earned some money by cleaning out the dumpster of the building once a week. And one day, after Mr. Li’s death, he found all those strange things in that room, which he thought should not be just thrown away. He could not read German, and, of course, not at all old German handwriting—but nevertheless, after asking a family member for permission, he put those items into a suitcase and took everything home. His later wife, Nancy, at that time a medical student, had heard the name of Hirschfeld, so they knew that they had found something important.

[patchworkstudies]

People do not see masculinity as being as fluid and complex and nuanced as femininity and it’s annoying as hell. Because of patriarchy’s stranglehold on masculinity and radfem theory’s stranglehold on queer spaces, people really think with their whole heart that only femininity is subversive or experimental, or frankly, queer, and that masculinity is only a power grab and nothing more. Embarrassing!

[patchworkstudies]

“never too late to be who you might have been” by sara yukiko mon | still from i saw the tv glow, “there is still time”

[patchworkstudies]

I went to a library book sale this weekend and I found a very old book called “Electronic Life: How to Think About Computers,” which was published in I think 1975? I’ve been reading it kind of like how I would read a historical document, and it’s lowkey fascinating

[patchworkstudies]

"Do Not Resuscitate"

Pansy Leatherwork

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Goncharov wouldn’t be half as entertaining if Tumblr weren’t completely and utterly willing to “yes and” all the initial flaws. Katya’s name should be Goncharova? Her calling herself Goncharov reflects her complicated relationship with both her gender and her queerness. Andrey’s name should be Andrei? No, because he’s actually a Ukrainian being mistaken for a Russian by the Italians, which is central to his character and the themes about identity and nationality in the wake of the collapsed USSR. The USSR wouldn’t even fall until 20 years after the film was made? Matteo JWHJ0715 was ahead of his time.

It’s a great example about how good faith approach to writing can really enhance the reading, when you treat flaws as opportunities rather than just nitpicking them or erasing them. The mistakes being folded into Goncharov makes for a deeper, stronger, and more interesting story than if those mistakes had never happened at all.

[patchworkstudies]

saddest thing about the "can a straight boyfriend come to chappel roan" discourse was how many people thought buying a ticket to a concert from a major artist (someone who played at goddamned lollapalooza last month) was somehow accessing a kind of hallowed queer community event

[patchworkstudies]

my favourite comic by gerard donelan 💖

[patchworkstudies]

Not everyone who is a woman is a non-man, and not everyone who is a man is a non-woman. Some people's genders aren't non-anything. Sit on that and nurture it and let it hatch and grow up to be a healthy worldview love and peace on planet earth

[patchworkstudies]

i've been reading a lot of books about urban naturalism recently, and the one big thing they all talk about is how you HAVE to stop seeing nature as something that happens somewhere else. nature is not just charismatic megafauna and state parks and mountain ranges. nature is that abandoned lot that's growing native milkweed in it. nature is the murder of crows that lives in your block. nature is the moss growing on your roof and the dandelions growing in the sidewalk cracks and the song birds at your neighbor's birdfeeder. and you should care about it! you should notice it! that's YOUR nature!

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You are not a leftist if you think two adults consenting to kink should be considered a crime. Idc what kink it is. The perpetuation of shame around sex is inherently conservative. The criminalization of sex that you don't like or understand or that you think is "wrong" or "immoral" is inherently conservative. You cannot actually believe in the freedom of all marginalized people if you would enact oppressive systems on any group that you dislike. Like this should be common sense but y'all are so far up your own asses...

[patchworkstudies]

one thing no one ever teaches you is that you can just make things nicer and more intentional- you can take your energy drink, pour it in a rocks glass over ice with a slice of lime on the rim, and sip it slow. and you'll think, "wow i am the biggest faggot to have ever lived". and you know what? you're right.

[patchworkstudies]

I love you people who show kindness because "it's what you're supposed to do". I love you people who show kindess because they like being thanked. I love you people who show kindness because it makes them feel good. I love you people who show kindness because they were shown kindness first. I love you people who show kindness for "selfish" reasons. I love you people who show kindness for the "wrong" reasons. I love you people who show kindness in a body that rejects the very notion. Your kindness is not any lesser because of its motivations. The good you added to the world is just as valuable as someone doing it for the "right" reasons. Your effort is seen. Your effort is valued.

[patchworkstudies]

Melissa Sky, “baby butch: a love letter from the future” in Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme (2011).

[patchworkstudies]

My fav algerian recipes

wrote this out for a friend but i figured i'd share here.

The best part about algerian cuisine is its all very common stuff, and easy to make. Garlic, onions, beef, garlic, cumin, tomatoes. That's most of the dishes. The one thing you'll need is harissa, which is sold in more and more supermarkets, and easily available online. You can make your own, but most algerians just get the yellow tube lol.

M'thewem - A chickpea and meatball stew with very little "broth", served with bread you dip and grab with. very filling, freezes and keeps well. You brown lamb neck or shank or whatever is cheapest, and the meatballs are just your average ground beef, but seasoned with Stuff. the video has a diced red onion, but i prefer yellow/white https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V5xgnQRmzg

"Omlette" - It's actually just spanish tortilla, but we have that. here's a vid, literally all you need is potatoes and eggs, but goes great with bread. One of the best parts of it is again, it's very easy and Incredibly filling, and easily feeds a crowd! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPYk9W9v-bI

Shakshuka - a pepper, tomato, and harissa dish that's very basil forward. its really good and very different then the recipe all the white youtubers keep doing thats based on the moracan version. this vid is close to what I do, but you can include small pieces of potato and a Lot of basil. You can expedite the process by just cutting up your veg and potato and cooking them down on the frying pan, adding water so they dont burn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJuyS_tyz_M

Merguez - SO I...dont know if you should make merguez from scratch cause it's expensive. i dont even make it. on top of spices you need harissa, but the price comes in from Needing fatty lamb/mutton and beef. It's unfortunately non negotiable, using anything else is like giving somebody a steakhouse burger recipe and they sub with 99% lean turkey. unfortunately it's my favorite thing on planet earth. serious eats has a recipe thats close to what i think is ideal https://www.seriouseats.com/homemade-merguez-sausage-recipe

None of the supermarket pre-packed brands do it justice, go to a butcher and hope they have it. I've noticed it's been getting more and more popular, so if you live in a metro area, try and find it.

merguez is like, the greatest thing ever. its great with eggs, it's great with salad, but the best, and most Most Primo Mmm-mm! way to eat merguez is in a hoagie roll with french fries and more harisa as a sandwich. A seasoned salad of diced cucumber, tomato, red onion, and olive oil goes excellent with it.