tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869734442245242933.post9145046412385701813..comments2012-09-22T20:01:58.111-07:00Comments on Bookfrogger: A Fruity South PacificRosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04392715123860417480noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869734442245242933.post-89180212476649584462012-09-22T20:01:58.111-07:002012-09-22T20:01:58.111-07:00Setting: I like that this story pointed out that a...Setting: I like that this story pointed out that an aircraft carrier full of young servicemen is the best and worst place to be as a gay man. It's full of attractive people but most have absolutely no interest in 'you'. There's poignancy in being the odd man out.<br />Placing the story in the past rightly points out that genderqueer people have existed throughout history but ties the author's hands when it comes to an epilogue. Since the ending of the story is told in the third paragraph, there's nothing left to tell on the last page.<br /><br />Voice and gaze: At fist I was taken aback at some story telling me what 'I' thought and felt, but after adjusting to the first person storytelling it does lend itself to immersing the reader in the story. Something was bothering me about the story that I couldn't put my finger on until Vix showed me an article about narrative gaze - the choice of how and what to describe. The story's gaze is naturally homosexual and I had not realized how prevalent the heterosexual male gaze was in literature until I stumbled onto another.Gaukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05003118720250177774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869734442245242933.post-12794371261153851742012-07-01T17:41:30.362-07:002012-07-01T17:41:30.362-07:00"GENDER: This is "beyond binary," b..."GENDER: This is "beyond binary," but the character is trapped in his conception of binariness: he's either submissive or dominant, desires men or desires women's clothing and to roleplay as or be a woman. How is this beyond...?"<br /><br />There is much that I will say about what you've said, but I thought I'd start here, since this jumped out at me, and it reminded me of something that I was thinking as I read the story. We have moved quite a bit (as a society, or rather a portion of society) toward the acceptance of men who love men sexually and women who love women sexually, but within those distinctions, we continue to speak in terms of dominance and submission. Old words, and old ways of describing sexual activity continue as part of our language, and thus as part of our culture. I think this is something that many of the second and third wave feminists have right. Until we begin to adjust the language of sex, we will continue to find ourselves trapped in, as you say, binariness.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06829635972920220638noreply@blogger.com