Book and comic reviews, and more from Amy Walker, a trans, disabled writer and reviewer from the UK.
Thursday, 23 March 2017
Trans Athlete Wins Australian Weightlifting Event
Transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard has been the focus of international debate following her win at the Australian International in Melbourne on Sunday.
The weightlifter won over her fellow competitors by lifting 19kg more than her closest runner up, something that has some of the other athletes have claimed is due to an unfair advantage due to her being transgender.
The claims have been made by some of the athletes that lost to Hubbard on Sunday, despite the International Olympic Committee disagreeing that she had any form of advantage due to being transgender.
Deborah Acason, one of the other competitors, has spoken out on the matter. 'We all deserve to be on an even playing field. It's difficult when you believe you are not. If it's not even, why are we doing the sport?'
Not all of Hubbard's fellow athletes have been expressing such views however. Bronze medal winner Kaitlyn Fassina stood by Hubbards win and showed her support, 'She is who she is. That's the way the politics and New Zealanders have decided. I can't say much more than that. She is seen as female and that's the way it is.'
Unfortunately, many people seem to be sharing the same opinion as Acason, claiming that Hubbard, and trans athletes in general, have an unfair advantage over fellow competitors.
This outrage over a trans woman winning against other female athletes seems to be the exact opposite of Mack Beggs who recently won a girls wrestling title despite being a trans man. With people complaining when trans people win in the gender they conform to and winning when they're made to compete in the gender they were assigned to at birth it begs the question, will trans people ever be able to win any event without it being a 'controversy'.
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Monday, 13 March 2017
Life-Sized White Ranger Bust Announced
Pop Culture Shock included the following description of the product;
'Guess who’s back?'
Tommy Oliver began his time with the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers as the villainous Green Ranger, operating under the influence of Rita Repulsa to destabilize the Rangers from the inside.
However, once freed from Rita’s evil spell, Tommy showed remorse and a desire to atone for the damage he’d done, so he was invited to join the team. The Green Ranger was now a valuable member of the Rangers, but Tommy’s good fortune would not last. Rita had bestowed the Green Ranger mantle upon Tommy, and so too would she take it away, slowly draining his powers until they were no more!
With his powers gone, Tommy secluded himself at a lakeside cabin to re-focus and gain perspective on his situation.
While Tommy was away Zordon, aided by Alpha 5, began work on a new Ranger, one created from the White Light of Good. This new Ranger would be impervious to corruption by the forces of darkness, making Tommy the ideal candidate to wield its power.
Zordon teleported Tommy back to the command center and bestowed upon him the power of the White Ranger. Armed with his talking saber Saba, and the massive White Tigerzord, the White Ranger was dubbed the new leader of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers!
PCS Collectibles is proud to present the first in a line of 1:1 scale busts depicting the classic Power Rangers in all their Mighty Morphin’ glory!
'Having worked on the original series, Power Rangers is a property I’ve wanted to return to for a long time,' says PCS President Jerry Macaluso. 'Now that we have this chance, we’re excited to produce the most show accurate Rangers possible, using original props form the show to ensure a level of authenticity that will make these collectibles the cornerstone of any Ranger fans collection'
Aprx Dimensions – 25″ (63cm) H x 22″ (55.9cm) W x 10″ (25.4cm) D
Sculpted by – Hector Arce & Justin McMillan
Painted by – Mike Najera
Art Director – Jerry Macaluso
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers White Ranger bust has a pre-order cost of $999.99.
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