My scrap of dirt

Pour ceux que ça intéresse, dans Le Monde daté de demain (samedi 28 juin, jour de la Marche des Fiertés), il y a toute une page dédiée à la lutte contre l'homophobie avec en illustration le MAG et ses interventions en milieu scolaire.

Vous pouvez lire l'article en ligne ici.

Je connais le lycée, je connais le discours des lycéens, et je me retrouve beaucoup dans la description des interventions. Et je me rends compte, comme à la lecture d'un compte-rendu d'inter sur le site du MAG il y a quelques jours, que ça me manque vraiment beaucoup, de faire ce boulot, d'être investie dans cette assoc'.


EDIT: Il y a une interview sur Libération en plus. :D

[Keep in mind this isn't a usual research paper, we had to follow a very particular stucture - the core of the exercise is that we had to analyze three articles on a topic of our choice, and establish our critique within the framework of our class. Also, this paper isn't due until Tuesday, so any remark/criticism is more than welcome.]




Heterosexism, or heterosexual hegemony, is defined by the ideas and practices that posit heterosexuality as the only natural, normal and universal sexual expression (Ross, 2008), and is deeply embedded in our institutions, shaping our everyday assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation. Even with homosexuality becoming more visible in today's Western culture, the binary system upon which heterosexism is founded has been little challenged – it could even be argued that gay rights activists, by often taking a essentialist stand on homosexuality in hopes of making it more acceptable to the general public, have reinscribed the very gender system that is at the roots of their oppression (Pascoe, 2005, p. 342). Bisexuality and transgenderism, on the other hand, are two categories that radically challenge these beliefs about sexuality and gender, by breaking from some aspects of the male/female binary gender structure. Because it is so profound, this rupture bothers us, and might explain the extent to which transphobia and biphobia pervade our whole society, and the gay and lesbian community often just as much as the straight world.

However, the nuances are not evident for the uninformed bystander, who has long confused transsexuality with homosexuality...

We had a lockdown at university today. Knew almost nothing until I came home at night - we were advised to stay inside the AnSo building and we could hear helicopters hovering over campus, but our building's pretty isolated from the rest of campus so we couldn't see anything that was happening. Apparently the police called SWAT and locked down the bio building for a few hours because of a thread that was made, a person who could harm others.

A little strange. Mostly strange was going up to the door of the building and finding a handwritten sheet of paper that said "Do Not Leave The Building" even though nothing was wrong, as far as we could tell.

Apparently it's a university first, and the police's being that careful because of Virginia Tech.

A few links if anyone's interested in learning more: a blog entry by a student who was inside the Bio Building where everything went down, the RCMP post on their website, and a Vancouver Sun article.

(Uh. I don't really have a tag for this.)

PS. No one worry about me, by the way. I didn't see as much as the shadow of a police officer, like I said, the building I was in is isolated, and by the time I got out of class, at 5:30, it was over, and I didn't go by that part of campus anyway. Which is why it's a little surreal for me to think about it happening at all.

How many more shootings before you guys introduce some fucking serious GUN CONTROL LAWS?

I try and understand. Differen culture, different history, different country. I really do try to understand. But sometimes, you make it really fucking hard.

Fuck the NRA.




In the meanwhile, here, the Kegelin family lost a young daughter in 2004. Now they stand up in a court and say they refuse to wish for the murderer's death, that they're trying to forgive. Every time someone finds that much strength, it should remind us to thrive for the same. They're admirable.

Death is never the answer to death.

I ended up never saying a word about the presentation on gender and work I did with littlegothsin last week for our UK Civilization class. It went really well, and people asked questions afterwards. Made me so happy people actually had things to say - and it was sort of funny because afterwards Tara (one of the girls who'd asked a question) came up to me and was like, I hope it didn't bother you I asked something. Er, how about NO.

What struck me is that the few girls who took part in the discussion after the presentation seemed pretty optimistic about the situation improving in the next twenty years - Tara said something about how our generation of women wouldn't let the guys do no housework at home. It made me realize how pretty pessimistic I am about the issue - when I see how little boys (and little girls) are still raised today? I cannot bring myself to believe things will improve that greatly in a decade or two. I also get a feeling it's getting better for the higher, more educated classes, but in the meanwhile? The situation isn't getting any better for the lower classes. Listening to some kids when I go to schools with the MAG, I have a feeling things might even be getting worse.


While I'm on gender issues and gender perception in a society that's supposedly moving away from patriarchy, here's an interesting article about advertising in the men's magazine GQ.

In the same vein... the other day I was biking back from school when a couple of ads caught my attention. They're ads for one of the latest Suzuki car, the Swift. The first one says "Who said cars were solely a male fantasy?" which I was like, hey! Challenging stereotypes, yay! So it's for a tiny city car and not a Hummer, but it's a start. And then immediately after I discovered another ad for the same car, which this time reads "sensuality, seduction, swift... words are never feminine by chance." (French words always have a gender, unlike in English.) And I was like, *facepalm*.

I find interesting that this is the same ad campaign, which possibly reflects our current society's struggle between trying to challenge stereotypes while still heavily relying on those same stereotypes. Of course, the gender of word doesn't always follow a patriarchal pattern : strength (la force) and intelligence, for example, are both feminine in French. But it's never innocent to associate seduction and sensuality with women - and we can't pretend it is.

For more positive models of masculinity in advertising, see the Jules ad campaign "Il paraît que les hommes sont..." ("they say men are..."), which I really love, especially as a photographer (how much do I wish I'd taken those pictures?). It's too bad because they only have a sample there of all the cards they printed out for the campaign, but already some are pretty telling. (First one says "they say men are obsessed" and the second one, "they say men are abrupt".)


The more I go on, the more I realize this is really what I'm most interested in - gender studies, basically. Too bad that we basically don't what it is in France. Or that it doesn't lead to anywhere very precise. But hey, I guess it's still a step ahead of everyone who doesn't even know what they're really interested in!

I forgot to mention something earlier. While the bunch of us were waiting for Mme Ousset Krief to start the meeting, I started talking with people. There was this girl who's in my class and wants to go to Canada next year as well, and at some point she asks me, Do you want to be a Civilization teacher? I pause and laugh and answer that if I end up being a teacher, it won't be in France. And she proceeds to tell me that she thought I should because the presentation I did in Civilization class was really interesting and I explained everything clearly and basically just saying she'd really enjoyed it. It's not much, but it never happens here. And I enjoy making presentations so much (never claimed sanity) that it was just really nice to hear - touched me. I need to tell her it means a lot she told me, actually.

Point is. Funny Firefly stuff! By arwen_lune :

(It's really not long, but hilarious - all of you, go and check it out!)
We all wish for something (Part 1)
We all wish for something (Part 2)

Yes, I am going to be posting more in 1 week of vacation than I have in the last six months. Or it looks like it, anyway.

This is actually a serious entry. I'm doing a presentation about NAPOLEON and how his vision helped the creation of a NATION STATE in France (and Europe, potentially). Does anyone know any books on Napoleon's life, on Napoleon, on his vision of a Nation? I'm going to the library this afternoon to search, but any help would be very welcome. Don't bother looking up websites, I wouldn't want you to spend time doing this, and I'm myself losing time doing anyway ;) ;) Unless, of course, you know this awesome wesbite that has everything (I was myself rather impressed by Napoleon [dot] org!) ;)!


On a less serious level, LONGWAVE rocks my socks. Check out their website and listen to Tidal Wave and When It's Gone. Those songs, though they don't awake the same feelings in me at all, are just absolutely fabulous. I'm all grrr that When It's Gone isn't actually out on any of their albums/EPs/singles.

Anyhoot, off to keep looking up Napo!!

Not doing good. Just out of 5 hours of in-class essay about the emergence of a national conscience in Europe, and I just want to lie down and sleep in fan_elune's arms. Urgh. Of course, instead I have to work for next week. Yay weekends.

This morning I was feeling a little cheered up because Cris sent me an email and I loved irish_fairy's latest post. History essay kinda killed me, but mostly I'm getting very depressed about the flying to Manchester situation. No low-cost company seems to go there anymore, the cheapest flight for All Saints all have a connection so it takes like 4 hours to get there, and it still costs about 200 euros. I feel exhausted, not able to say if I can afford it or not, and it keeps nagging me, I just can't get it out of my mind. Plus, flights later this year (aka for Winter and Spring break) are pretty much the same price, whereas I was hoping to get somewhat cheaper tickets by buying in advance. I was so desperate I called the only person I know that deals with planes all the time, and Santa should be calling me back this afternoon, but I don't know what I'm expecting, it's not like she can make cheap tickets appear or anything. I'm tired of this flying buisness. Each time it's the same freakin' story. This time it's probably worst cuz I'm in Paris and flights are usually more expensive when Paris's on vacation. Tired tired tired. Just want to be in Manchester.

Am hoping to hear from Hailey today to cheer me up. Will be seeing Isa tomorrow, first time I'm meeting her, that should be nice and get my mind off things, too.

Gotta stop thinking about next year, about summer vacation, about working, about travelling, about Andover, about the two girls at my school, about money, about studying abroad. Miss my Buffy fix.

Off to work, obviously. Don't feel like eating, even though I'll probably force myself cuz I hear eating is kinda necessary.


PS : has someone seen the Vizir commercial with the two guys in the bathroom? Is it just me or are they gay?

Will talk about our philosophy chatroom another day, when I feel a little better. Wish I could talk about the silliest things and sex and laugh with the guys from school.

Before going into the last two days : Stupid cell phone ringing at 6:30 and stupid brain not being able to go back to sleep afterwards. Meep.

Learned yesterday my great grandma has passed away. *silence*

I'm glad to be back home. More soon I guess.

( Read up about my first two days in a French 'prep' school )

Done with the LAST history paper!!!! Now only my final exam left :-/ And four years of it if I get into the good college :-/

But for now, YAYYYYYYYYYYY. DONE.