Our visit to the city based Drop In on Thursday 9th was fun. We invited people to think about their digital self-representation across a bunch of different platforms (from Facebook to Snapchat and Tumblr) and Make-a-Meme. Hopefully some of the creative inspirations get posted to new blog pages here!
We'll be heading down to the Southern Queer Youth Drop in on Thursday 7th July... if you'd like to join us get in touch! We also had a Working Bee - organising production of our zine and preparing an exhibition of our creative works. We're sending an email out to all group members calling for contributions. Some people have already shared thoughts and images in our online gallery and now there is the opportunity to contribute up to 4 x A4 pages or 2 pieces (printed, framed etc.). We need high res original files and a brief description (title, plus 10-25 words) by 9th July. You can either email them or upload them directly to a shared google drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3JAJLz5ZSHfalVfX1dxeE9LY0U If you’d like to do your own page layout get in touch with Jesse (jekka85@gmail.com). If you’d like to be involved in curating the exhibition get in touch with Sarah (sarah.parker@hotmail.com.au). We’ll be meeting for another working bee on the 16th July to tackle the ‘to do’ list!
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So we've been meeting every month or so for nearly a year now and we have lots to show for it! The blog space is well populated and there are an amazing array of creative endeavours displayed in the online gallery, ranging from short stories and poems to memes, experimental GIFS and short videos.
We've decided we'd like to make a version of the website in material form... as an A5 zine with a double page spread for each storyteller. We'll make a top and tail for the booklet, describing the 'Stories Beyond Gender' initiative and our objectives... and maybe including a glossary of terms and some 'top tips'. We'll do a small print run so that everyone has a copy for themselves, a few for friends and family and some to share in their favourite waiting rooms... school admin offices, doctors' surgeries, public and social services, etc. We're also working slowly towards a celebration and launch - of the website, the zine, and an exhibition of our art. This will involve printing and framing some more pieces and finding an excellent space to display them in. We need some collaborators to help with these tasks... and we're aiming for around August or September. Get in touch if you've got some ideas or would like to help out. Creative production and community outreach is not over yet though! On June the 9th a few of us will be swinging by the Feast Queer Youth Drop In to share our stories and run a mini make-a-meme workshop. Following that we'll do another one for/with Queer Youth Down South. We're looking forward to mixing it up with the young 'uns and seeing if we can collectively stretch our creative boundaries! Again, if you'd like to be involved get in touch...
It was great sharing experiences of 'fashion' and the times when we feel we've subverted and/or conformed with gendered norms... it seems so much depends on context and intentions. We talked about the times when our aesthetic choices have been both challenging to stereotypes and affirming of our own perceptions of self.
If a loved one calls you 'dad' it might represent their love of your special role in their life, while a parent using 'son' might be a hurtful and deliberate misgendering representing rejection. We heard how 'my sistergirl' is sometimes used in indigenous communities to represent affinity and allegiance and that, for some people, gendered names and pronouns can be 'mismatched' without fuss - welcome 'Aunty Bill' and 'Uncle Judy'! We looked at some Pinterest collections of gender-fluid fashion and admired the 'non-binary' t-shirts being sold to raise funds for the #genderflux indiegogo campaign. The meme, analogous to a gene, was conceived as a "unit of culture" (an idea, belief, pattern of behaviour, etc.) which is "hosted" in the minds of one or more individuals, and which can reproduce itself, thereby jumping from mind to mind.
Come along to the workshop this Saturday 9th April and make a meme. They're a beautiful way to share photos, words and ideas wide and far... We'll also be experimenting with gender-fluid dress-ups. And up-cycling old library books into art works and personal poems... inspiration thanks to Hayley and Pinterest. Please bring along anything you're willing to share... we're at 10 Pitt St, City between 2 and 5pm. I've been super-busy so haven't set the next date yet - however you'll see a fancy new poll on your right - vote on your preferred option!
Meanwhile I've been reorganising the site a little - with help from Naomi and Stephanie - so as to make it a little 'tidier' and easier to find things. On the subject of search, it's really important that you add 'categories' or 'captions' to your non-text posts to make them searchable. You can also subscribe to this update page (or any blog page) via RSS (instructions below) or subscribe to newsletter via email. I'm hoping to organise a 'show and tell' at one of the forthcoming Feast Queer and Gender-diverse Youth Drop Ins that take place fortnightly on a Thursday night. Details for that to follow... Naomi's starting to edit the videos Squidge shot at the last session... and has also asked if anyone is interested in collaborating on a song. Jesse has also called for submissions and graphic design skills to help us pull together some of our creations in hard copy so get in touch if you can help or would like your work to be included. We're hoping to print a hundred or so booklets for distribution to service providers, cafes, offices and schools... Sean's been involved in some everyday activism writing to MMM to protest their representation of trans youth - impressive and articulate letter writing! Also - did you see Tobyis' and his family on Insight - beautiful (and tear jerking) awareness raising! Great work and congratulations all! There are some great additional trans news and forums on SBS site here. Finally, we hope you've all considered the opportunity to join 'TransGuidance' for an excellent opportunity to be trained as a peer-support worker! Let us know - or come along to the next workshop - if you have a story to share! |
About the blog
This blog is all about progress of the Beyond Gender project, updates to the website, new content in the gallery, and upcoming events. Archives
May 2019
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