The Rescue Begins - Star Wars Rebels 'Rebels Resolve' Review

With Kanan captured by the Empire and at the mercy of Grand Moff Tarkin and the Inquisitor it’s up to Ezra and the crew of The Ghost to try and find a way of rescuing their friend and leader.

After a failed attempt at gaining the information they need to find Kanan the group is ordered to stand down in their search by the mysterious Fulcrum, who we see as a hooded hologram for the first time in the series.

Unable to follow these orders Ezra leads his own mission to find Kanan, learning that the Empire is about to take him to Mustafar, the place ‘where Jedi go to die’.

This is the kind of episode that makes Star Wars Rebels great, forget the stand alone wacky adventure, this episode builds impressively on the shows lore and takes our heroes into some very dark places.

Having Tarkin back for another episode is great as he adds gravitas and menace to every scene he’s in, and when he’s teamed up with The Inquisitor you can’t help but feel worried for Kanan’s fate.

The highlight of the episode though has to be the inclusion of Fulcrum, one of the big mysteries of the series.  Now, I’ve got my own opinion of who Fulcrum is going to be, and this episode certainly helps to support my theory.

I believe, and hope, that Fulcrum will be revealed to be former Jedi Ahsoka Tano.  The reasons I believe this is that despite the disguised voice Fulcrum is clearly female.  Secondly, she is wearing a hooded robe that is very reminiscent of a Jedi Knight.  The hood of her robe ticks up in such a way that it suggests the shape of Ahsoka’s Togruta head tails.  Add into that the strong links between the rebels and the Jedi and I think it adds up to one possible candidate. 

Amy.

xx

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Dog Kebabs - The Walking Dead 'Them' Review

Every now and then there's an episode of The Walking Dead that focuses on the dull side of the zombie apocalypse, wandering around the countryside, low on supplies and even lower on hope.  'Them' is one of these episodes.  Unusually for this type of episode though, it's actually pretty damn good.

As opposed to the usual 'we're all out of hope' type episode this one has a very character driven core, the loss the group is feeling after the deaths of Beth and Tyrese.  With two characters lost in just two episodes the group has been left reeling from the shock.

This is possibly one of the lowest points the group has ever been in, Maggie and Sasha have lost their family, Abraham has found solace in the bottle, Father Gabriel has begun to question his faith and Daryl has started to shut down.  Despite this, the episode isn't about wallowing in misery and pain but rather looks at peoples ability to move on and start to heal.

After a slow burn to begin with as the group walk down a road searching for food and supplies, the episode picks up once a massive storm hits and the survivors find cover in a barn.  After a tense moment where the group have to keep a horde of walkers out things take an almost strangely beautiful turn as Maggie and Sasha share a tender moment as they watch the sunrise together.

'Them' is not going to be a memorable episode, and won't be on anyone's favourites list but it's been much better then some episodes we've had to sit through in the past.  A slow but entertaining episode that takes the time to look at the emotional toll the world of The Walking Dead has on those who live in it with a satisfying conclusion that begins to set up some very exciting things to come.  Alexandria Safe Zone anyone?

Amy.
xx

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50 Shades Of Grey Promotes Sexual Abuse, Not BDSM

It would seem that the big thing this Valentines Day is going to watch a film about sexual abuse, sorry, I meant to say 'romance' movie.

The massively popular 'Fifty Shades of Grey' has just been released as a film, which will result in this terrible piece of work reaching a whole new audience that would not normally read the book.  That's bad news.  Very bad news.  'Fifty Shades of Grey' isn't a romance story, it's not even a story about people in a BDSM relationship (as it likes to make out), it's a story of a young woman becoming the victim of sexual abuse.

The BDSM community has been very upset by the work of E.L. James because she paints their community in a bad light, gives out misinformation and makes people who practice BDSM look like abusers, because that's what Christian Grey is.  The BDSM community is a group that believes strongly in safety and comfort.

Consent is always given, no one is forced to do something that they are uncomfortable with or do not want to do.  After acts of role play partners will comfort each other, physically and emotionally.  They tend to any wounds, they cuddle and comfort each other.

'Fifty Shades of Grey' features none of these elements.  Christian Grey uses psychological and physical abuse to dominate a young virgin girl and control her actions, doing things that are much, much closer to rape then being a dominant.

For example, during the story Christian Grey at one point refuses to listen to Anastasia when she denies him sex.  ''No', I protest, kicking him off'.  His response to a woman saying no to sex?  ''If you struggle I'll tie your feet, too.  If you make a noise, Anastasia, I will gag you.  Keep Quiet''.  Yes, some people do engage in role play, and that can include rape fantasy, but that's not what happens here.  This is someone refusing sex and someone else forcing themselves on them.  That's rape.  Pure and simple.  But because the author goes on to have Anastasia enjoy the sex that follows we're supposed to forget that it's rape.  I've even seen female fans of the series defend this scene, which frankly sickens me.

Listening to consent and stopping when a partner tells you to is a core belief of BDSM culture.  Every act that takes place must be at the agreement of all parties involved, ignoring that consent, or lack there of, of a participant goes against the concept of safe, sane and consensual.

Now, that was just one example, and I wish I could say it was the only one but unfortunately the book is full of abusive behaviour that is in no way romantic but abusive.  He stalks Anastasia, he doesn't give her full information on what she's agreeing to, he isolates her from family and friends, he emotionally manipulated her.  The whole thing is a glorified representation of domestic abuse.

But the readers are made to forgive everything that Christian Grey does, because he's rich, he's attractive and because Anastasia loves him.  E.L. James takes a character that should be hated and tries to twist him into a character that we either love or feel pity for,

Take away the money and the glamour and think carefully about the things Grey does and can you honestly say that it's romantic, that it's appropriate?  All 'Fifty Shades of Grey' does is encourage men to abuse women and women to put up with that abuse.  'Fifty Shades of Grey' encourages rape culture just as much as guys telling rape jokes, yet it has women supporting it.

People need to stop supporting these books and films, they need to stop glorifying rape and sexual abuse otherwise the world won't begin to improve.

Amy.
xx

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Cosplay Is Not Consent - An Interview With Kerry Holland

As a geek I love going to comic conventions.  There's nothing quite like being in a convention hall with thousands of other fans, meeting people with the same interests as yourself, looking at cool merchandise on sale and meeting some of your favorite actor and creators.  One of the parts of geek experience that has always interested me is cosplayers.  You see them at every convention, people dressed up as some of their favorite characters, interacting with other fans.

I've not cosplayed myself, I don't think I have the drive to do it, but the people who do are some of the most committed and talented fans around.  Some of the costumes they make are so amazingly intricate and complicated that the skill that goes into creating them is staggering.  Plus walking around all day in the freezing cold in some of the costumes female characters wear takes some doing.

Seriously, she must be cold as hell.

Whilst cosplay is a growing phenomena that is liked by many there is a darker side to the hobby.  The reports of people in costume being assaulted is increasing every day.  From verbal abuse to physical and even sexual assault it would appear that dressing as your favorite super hero is a more dangerous past time than you would first think.

New York Comic Con reminding it's attendees that cosplay
is not consent.

The problem is becoming so widespread that various conventions are even placing signs in their spaces to remind attendees that just because someone is in a revealing costume that it is not permission to perform sexual assault.

Not only is is other convention attendees that cosplayers are having to find themselves on the look out for, cosplay artists have also been subjected by massively open misogyny from internet show hosts too, as detailed by 23 year old cosplayer Mandy Caruso who when interviewed found the only thing the host was interested in was the size of her breasts.

Cosplayer Mandy Caruso Subjected to Sexual Harassment

Unfortunately it would seem like the treatment that Mandy went through has become the rule rather than the exception, with so many cosplayers facing unwanted sexual attention.  Now I know what some of you might be thinking, 'if they don't want people drooling over them then they shouldn't be dressed in those costumes'.  Well, if that thought did enter your mind then just remember that it's the same argument people make about the victims of rape.

It doesn't matter if you're wearing a small party dress or a Wonder Woman costume, being dressed a certain way is not an invitation for people to assault you.

When a British cosplayer, the beautiful and talented Kerry Holland, began to post some frankly disturbing accounts of just a small fraction of the abuse she has been made to go through and the effect that it has had on her I reached out to her to share some of the experiences she has had, and she kindly agreed.

Kerry Holland as Spider-Gwen.

Kerry, how long have you been cosplaying?

I started back in May 2011, so coming up to 4 years now, it doesn't seem that long when I think about it, it's crazy how quickly this whole roller coaster has gone.

How did you discover your love of the activity and what was your first cosplay experience?

From what I recall, I discovered most of it via Tumblr, I was in the Harley Quinn community there and so I say a lot and really admired girls such as Elise Archer, Trini Quinn and Kate Quinn.  I even started talking someone who would become one of my best friends, Holly Rose, on there due to seeing their cosplay on Tumblr.

Kate and another friend off Tumblr, called Claire then encouraged me to come down from Scotland where I was living at that point to MCM in London to take part in a Harley Quinn meet up called Harleypalooza.  So Harley was my first cosplay.  The whole experience was amazing and unique, I was sucked into the worlds instantly and hooked.  

Kerry in her much loved Harley Quinn costume.

What has been your favorite costume to make and/or wear?

Harley is most definitely the most enjoyable to wear.  She helps me loose my inhibitions and mess around at cons more than I can in other costumes, people also respond well to her which is always wonderful.  Laverne's Tentacle costume was probably the most fun to make as I couldn't stop laughing at myself as I was making it and thinking 'you fucking idiot'.

What's the cosplay community like from the inside?  Is there a lot of friendship and support between cosplayers?

Oh god yes very much so!  Don't get me wrong, I've witnessed some bitchy shit, but in my own experience people have been so kind and supportive of me, really encouraging.  It has been really overwhelming, the friendships I've built and being part of groups.  I isolated myself a lot as I grew up and never felt a part of a group, in recent years the whole journey has been a lot for me to take in.  The people though, my friends, have been some of the greatest people I've ever met.  I have learnt so much from them and owe much of who I have become in the past few years to them and their influence.

What kinds of positive experiences have you had through your work?

The friendships, cheesey as it sounds, these people I now know, mean the world to man and I can't imagine mt life without them or even being able to become a better me without them in my life.

Cosplayers comming together as a community.

What kinds of negative experiences have you had to endure?

Sexual objectification, body shaming, rape threats, my image linked to Spider fetish.  When my Spider Gwen image went viral, the intensity of all this was traumatic.  I'm not a sexual person, sexually confident, and I wasn't even trying to be promiscuous by I was slut shamed, made out to be some whore for men to abuse and slur.  I was told I was asking for it because of the way I was dressed, much like how rape victims are dealt with, even though I was dressed in a mans costume.

When I corrected people about their assumptions I was mocked and told I was wrong.  I felt the whole situation was out of my control.  It was about me and my body but I had no say in the matter, it was violating, it effected me badly.  I was in tears constantly and became a trigger for my panic attacks.  I started to fear conventions because I thought I may be touched or attacked, which stories of that happening to other girls was starting to become public at the time.  It was also off putting to see that it was still happening when most people were mistaking me for a child.  I may be an adult but these people were still giving me this treatment thinking I was a minor.

On a whole do you receive more negative experiences in person at conventions or through the internet?

Luckily mostly positive at conventions, though I tend to focus on the negative that it over shadows the good, even if the good's the majority.  Most of the harassment I've experiences is online because people like to hide behind a computer so that they do not have to face the consequences of their actions.

What kind of ratio of men and women have you found make these kind of comments, or is it a problem rooted solely in the male audience?

Generally each give different types of insults.  Men like to say how they will dominate and over power you, like how they will 'fuck you senseless' without giving me a choice.  Women like to shame and put the blame on you more, aka name me Spider-Whore.  Men tend to do that too, but that was the focus of the females.

Kerry takes her Street Fighter very seriously.

Would you say that the harassment has soured your experience of cosplaying?

Very much so, I nearly gave up completely because I have little self esteem or self respect and the experience stripped me of the little I had.  As I said, it flared up my anxiety and I began to freak out a lot about cosplay stuff.  I couldn't deal with it and felt so disgusted with myself.  My friends helped me a lot to deal with the experience.  I still have problems though, to do cosplay or similar again is being a struggle to motivate myself even though it was one of my favorite things to do.  I start over thinking and panicking when I start thinking what could happen if I try and brave the suit again.

From what you know, is this kind of harassment something exclusive to your own experiences or is it a problem the whole community faces?

I experienced it in an extreme way, but it's not only happening in the community, but it's an example of what women face every day of their lives.  The objectification, the sexual harassment, the dehumanising of ourselves, the lack of control over our own bodies, the fact that we live in fear of being sexually attacked, so much more than being humiliated if we try and stand up for ourselves, or trying to point out the issues.

The 'calm down, you must be on your period', 'you're over reacting', being called a man hater, or the classic 'but men get it too' arguments.  Sexism and misogyny is something that is still happening in society and it's locking women from reaching their full potential.

Do you feel that any responsibility of preventing unwanted sexual harassment falls to convention organisers when cosplayers are in attendance at their events?

Definitely, they need to project us and the males who get harassed too.  I also feel like we need to look out for each other, to keep each other safe.  If we won't then who will?  There are so many young girls getting into cosplay now and if they are anything like me at that age they wont be able to deal with what may happen to them, it would kill me to see them being manipulated like that.

Kerry Holland, girl wonder!

Is there anything that over convention attendees can do to try and improve the situation for cosplayers?

Watch out for inappropriate behaviour, do not be afraid if you see someone getting harassed or people following cosplayers around to step in.  Even the girl code where you see a girl you don't know being bothered by someone, coming and pretending to be their best friend or them a part of your group and taking them out of the situation.  Don't touch, even if just a hug, without permission.  Speak to the cosplayer with manners, no sexual comments or suggestions ect.  Just treat them with respect.

Is there anything that you would like to say to any of the people that have harassed you?

Think before you speak, there is a real person in that costume. Would you like it if a man spoke to your daughter the way you are treating me?

Finally, are you planning on attending any conventions this year, and if so what new costumes can we expect to see from you?

Now that would be telling. :P

Kerry has spoken about the subject with more passion then I ever could.  Whilst I'm someone on the outside who is bothered by what cosplayers have to go through she's an amazingly talented person that is being forced to live through that abuse.

Too many people see cosplayers as just another attraction at comic cons, they think that they're there for the enjoyment of others.  The thing is they're not.  Cosplayers do what they do because it makes them happy, not you.  They're real people just like you and me.  They don't deserve poor treatment because they 'look slutty', or they're 'not the right skin colour' or 'too big to pull off that character'.

Cosplay has become such a big part of the geek community that those who engage in it shouldn't feel afraid to express themselves, they shouldn't be worried if they're going to get abuse or if someone is going to do something to them or not.  This kind of behaviour can't be tolerated.  If you see someone acting badly towards a cosplayer, step in, do what you can to help.

This isn't a problem that's just going to go away, it's something that we all need to work together to stop.

I would like to thank the amazing Kerry Holland for her participation in this article.  Her answers were wonderful to read and her cosplay is great to see.  Keep up the amazing work Kerry, don't let the jerks get you down.  

Amy.

xx

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Germaine Greer Denies She's Transphobic, By Claiming Tranphobia Doesn't Exist

After appearing to speak to a debating society at prestigious Cambirdge University, 'feminist' Germaine Greer has had to face the anger expressed by a large number of students after claiming that transphobia doesn't exist.

Expressing long held opinions that she is some kind of superior being to the rest of the world Greer firstly attacked 'hoards of feminist journalists' who she believes are 'too stupid' to understand wider issues and reinforce gender stereotyping.

Greer soon went on to argue that the Everyday Sexism campaign, claiming that it made misogyny sexy.  Really?!  Anyone who is familiar with Everyday Sexism will tell you that the hundreds of thousands of accounts of women and girls who face sexism and sexual abuse is in no way sexy.  It's eye opening, it's anger inducing and heartbreaking.  But perhaps that's just my opinion, maybe Germaine Greer finds 13 year old girls talking about rape a big turn on.

Transphobia, a topic that Greer has had frequent opinions of over the years, soon became a target of her speech.  Greer went on to say; 'Women are 51% of the worlds population and I've got to worry about transphobia.  I didn't know there was such a thing.  Arachnophobia, yes.  Transphobia, no.'

Greer has been very vocal about her hatred of trans women over the course of her career, frequently denying people their correct pronouns and disrespecting their gender expression.  In her book The Female Eunuch she describes trans women as 'men who mutilate themselves' and in The Whole Woman she describes us as 'men who believe they are women and had themselves castrated'.

When faced with angry responses from the students she was talking to she quickly felt the need to defend herself, insisting that trans  people are 'the one's throwing stuff at me', possibly referring to the incident where she was glitter-bombed during a book signing.  Yes Germaine, all that hurtful glitter getting thrown at you is indeed reason enough to spread hate speech about a whole marginalised minority,

This isn't the first time that Greer has faced trouble at Cambridge University due to her transphobic views, in 1996 she resigned from her lecturing position after unsuccessfully trying to destroy the career of transgender fellow Rachael Padman.

In addition to those in attendance of the talk that took disagreement with Greer's views there were many members of the Cambridge University's LGBT+ Campaign who boycotted the event and even handed out flyers outlining Greers history of transphobia outside of the event.

Student Em Travis wrote in favour of the boycott for Cambridge's LBGT+ magazine Get Real.  They described Greer's views as 'twisted and misinformed'.  They went on to say 'I do not want to share a building with Germaine Greer.  I don't particularly want to share a city or even a planet with her, for that matter, or with any other person who contributes to the marginalisation, oppression and death of my trans siblings.

I would say that hopefully this will be the last we hear of Greer and her transphobic views after receiving such a negative reaction for them, but if her past tells us one thing she will continue to attack the transgender community at any given opportunity.

Germaine Greer turns 76 today, so hopefully she won't be alive much longer and the world can start being a better place.  Happy birthday Germaine, you vicious old hag.

Amy.
xx

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JamForLeelah Event to Raise Funds For Trans Charities in Memory of Leelah Alcorn

Saturday saw the start of a month long charity event called 'JamForLeelah'.  Aimed at raising awareness of LGBTIQ issues, specifically trans youth issues and the Leelah's Law campaign, the event will be raising money for a number of charities including Transender Law Center, Camp Aranu'tiq and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.

The event is named in honor of Leelah Alcorn, a seventeen year old transgender girl who sadly took her own life in December last year.  Due to Leelah's interest in video games and games development the events organisers, Matthew Boucher and Kara Jayne, felt that an indie game jam felt like a positive way to raise awareness of Leelah's plea for social change in a method she may not have only approved of but also taken part in.

Participants have a month in which to submit their games.  Boucher and Jayne have asked that the games be centered around trans issues in some way, such as using a trans protagonist or focuses on issues faced by trans people.  They have also asked people to look through Leelah's blog and to draw some inspiration from her own work and the thins that she liked, to try and create something that Leelah herself may have enjoyed.

Despite being held in Leelah's memory the orgaisers are asking all participants to be both respectful to the subject matter and Leelah herself.  They have asked that none of the games to actually feature Leelah as this may be seen as disrespectful to those mourning her loss.

I had the chance to speak to one of the organisers of JamForLeelah, Kara Jayne, and had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about the even.

Why did you choose to honor Leelah, what about her story spoke to you?

 

Leelah and I had actually spoken, briefly, within the forums of a trans community two months before her passing, discussing ways to deal with some of the struggles trans people face during transition. We didn’t know each other at all, and we lived on opposite ends of the globe, but she, like many trans people you talk to online, made it clear how difficult a time she was having with her family and expectations, and that brought us together. I did my best to raise her spirits, but unfortunately, when dysphoria strikes it’s hard to really penetrate that hopelessness. When the early news reports hit, my heart absolutely sank. Here was a seventeen year old girl who was put into a position in which she couldn’t see a way out, and it broke my heart.    

Being a trans woman, and reading through the letter that Leelah left on her Tumblr, I couldn’t help but relate to the feelings she described. I think most trans people can relate to the frustrations Leelah mentioned, and I think there’s an element of communal suffering in knowing perhaps, with maybe a little understanding and acceptance, it may have been preventable. It’s a tragedy, and for the trans community, it’s one that repeats far too frequently. But surprisingly, the media came out in support of a trans teenager – news reports were mostly respectful – and perhaps as a result, or perhaps as a result of the changing response to trans folk over the last few years – people really came out in droves to honor and respect Leelah’s wishes.

 

But a week after her passing, I was reading a Wikipedia page put up in Leelah’s name, and an argument was being had by its editors about whether it was notable enough news to have a wiki page, since it would likely be forgotten by the next week. It was horrifying to think she might be forgotten so quickly after what she wrote in that letter. Being in Australia, I couldn’t join the candlelit vigils, but I could share the petitions and spread her articles via social media, and I was always looking for a way to keep her message going. Keeping her message alive, and what Leelah Alcorn went through, is so important to me, because there are so many trans people in her position that need to hear that the world is changing.

  

What made you choose gaming over other avenues of fundraising?

 

I feel that many of us within the trans community reacted to her passing in the same way, with sadness and heartbreak and a sense of hopelessness that she would be forgotten too quickly, or that her story would be erased by her parents or the media. Many of the people I follow on Twitter became internet sleuths of a sort, trying to come to terms with her passing by learning more about her - following her online presence - and sharing it within the community. Her artwork, music, early comments and thoughts, all began to appear in an effort to shed some more light on what she experienced, or what we could have done to help her. It was a way of the community – I think – further humanizing a girl that, otherwise, might just become another statistic.

 

And during that time, it starting becoming very clear that Leelah was not just a gamer, but a gamer gamer. Online, she spent time commenting and checking out gaming videos, discussed game development news, wrote up game reviews on her profiles, and even talked about participating in a global game jam called Ludum Dare. As a game designer myself, this really hit home, so when another Twitter user commented that a jam should be held to honor her, I wanted to become involved and help anyway I could. The jam was created by Matthew Boucher, and I’m really honored to be a part of it.

 

Games are an amazing medium, and although the mainstream media often still clings to this infantile idea of them being children’s playthings with no value, the truth is games are able to really get to the heart of a theme or concept in ways that no other medium can. Games place you in a position as a player, faced with the unknown, and the only way you can proceed is if you come to terms with what the creators of the game set out for you. You can’t passively participate, you need to come to the understanding yourself to get through the game, and I think this is where the power of it lies. One major problem I’ve noticed many cis gendered people have is how hard it is for them to comprehend gender identity as something different to gender expression or sexuality, and perhaps putting them into that kind of narrative as an active participant could help them finally come to terms with it.    

 

 

What do you hope to accomplish?

 

Ideally, #JamForLeelah should be about remembering Leelah and her story, raising awareness about her petitions, and in doing so, raising money for really deserving trans charities. The overall goal is trying to further prevent trans people in similar situations from feeling that same helplessness that Leelah felt.

 

The jam is a trans-positive jam, and much like the #reallivetransadult hashtag, I hope that positive trans narratives come out of it. For somebody who may be having a hard time, playing through a trans narrative that ends on a positive note could really help with that sense of hopelessness. And even if the experience isn’t always positive, it can really help to just know that other people have gone through what you are experiencing.

 

A little while back I searched high and low for trans narratives within games, and although I found a couple, I was really disappointed about the lack of trans characters and stories within the medium (and all mediums really, if we’re being honest). Two games I did find was Mainichi by Mattie Brice, and Dys4ria by Anna Antropy. They were small indie games, but they still made me feel better just knowing they exist. Diverse representation is so important for any minority, and there’s so little of it in gaming. By hosting a jam entirely about trans-narratives, we hope to get a large collection of games that anyone could play, whether to gain an understanding, or simply to stop feeling quite so alone.   

 

 

Is JamForLeelah something you could see yourselves holding as an annual event?

 

We haven’t discussed this to be honest, and I personally think we should wait and see what comes out of it. We’ve had some criticism about using Leelah Alcorn’s story directly, or her name directly in the jam, and we’ve taken a lot of that feedback seriously. The last thing we wanted was to offend people who are still dealing with the loss in their own way, and we really hope that people understand that this is about spreading awareness for Leelah – it’s about getting the petition, which is losing steam, another wave of signers so that we can ban conversion therapy. It’s about raising money to charities that can further assist the trans movement, and prevent stories like Leelah’s from repeating.

 

One charity in particular, Camp Aranu’tiq, is a summer camp for transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming children and teenagers. It’s a place these kids can be completely free of questions of gender, and who they are, or what they were assigned at birth, and just be kids. A chance to be free of prejudice and hate in a world that, honestly, does not give trans people a break some times. It’s the kind of place you should send your kid if they came out to you. It would be amazing to know our little game event was able to help they further help these children.

 

 

What message do you hope this event will send to people going through the same situation as Leelah?

 

First and foremost, I hope that anyone going through the same situation as Leelah really reaches out to services like the Trevor Project, which can really help those struggling. And I hope that anybody who feels alone reaches out to the community, as the trans community is closer than most communities I’ve seen, and may help them gain a larger perspective on the situation at hand. I’ve seen trans people open their houses to strangers, give their last dollar to help somebody else get by, and they’re always there if family rejects you. The community is heart-warming, and I hope that anyone struggling really reaches out so that they can understand they’re not alone.

And for those who may play the games that come out of the jam, hopefully they get a chance to witness experiences that may reflect their own situation, and as a result gives them hope for their own future. After all, if the trans developer who made the game was able to get through the dark times, maybe the player can to.  And maybe, even just having a game with a trans protagonist would be enough to make them feel a sense of normalcy, which is so often denied to trans people in their day to day life.  

Ultimately, I hope that they would be able to see the kind of collaboration that went into these games, and understand that a lot of these designers, artists, and programmers are trans themselves and have come through similar struggles. And now, here they are, creating their stories alongside cisgendered developers who, together, want to do whatever they can in order to further prevent another tragedy like the passing of Leelah Alcorn. 

For more detail and information on how to join in with JamForLeelah click on the link below to head over to the website and help to support this great cause.

JamForLeelah Website

Amy.

xx

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I Self Harm, And It's Helped Me To Survive Being Transgender

Probably not something that most people would want to admit, but I self harm.  I intentionally hurt myself.  I do it to survive.  I've told a few people over the last few years, but I think that maybe they've thought that I was joking around because they never mentioned it to me again.  Or they simply tell me 'don't do that', with no other alternative given with how to cope.

I think it's one of those things that unless you do it yourself you'll never understand why someone else would do it.  I mean, what rational person would intentionally hurt themselves right?  It's not even like it's the same as S&M, it's not used during sex, which makes it easier to understand.

If I were to tell someone that I like to feel pain when I have sex or masturbate then I'd get a raised eyebrow, maybe someone blushing, possibly some intrigue.  When I tell someone that I self harm though they look at me with a mixture of shock, revulsion and pity.  People act like I've admitted to having performed some deeply terrible crime.  They condemn it and quickly change the subject.

The thing is, I don't do it all the time, it's not like I choose to unwind of an evening with a soak in the bath, watching a movie and cutting myself.  I can go long, long times without feeling the need to hurt myself.  And that's what it is, it's a need.

Self harm, for me, is a way of coping.  I need to hurt myself physically to help my self emotionally.  Crazy I know, but sometimes it's better to hurt physically than to feel the pain where it does the most damage.

This will be the point where people tell me that I should just talk to someone instead, to speak about how I'm feeling to friends and family.  Good advice, really.  One problem with that though is that it just doesn't work that way.  You don't always have someone there for you, you don't always have someone willing to help, sometimes you can't even being to talk about what's wrong.  The only way to relieve the pain is to hurt yourself.

I never intended to start, I always thought that self harm was a bad thing, that the people who did it were weak, or that they were stupid for hurting themselves, the way most people look at it.  Then I figured out that I was transgender and the amount of pain I felt went through the roof.  I was depressed before, but not nearly as much.  The phrase 'ignorance is bliss' never spoke truer to me than about the level of pain knowing I'm trans has brought me.

The pain was bad, but I was coping.  Then I found out that my doctors had messed up my treatment, that they'd wasted a whole year for nothing.  That's when I hit bottom.  I was alone in the dark, no one around to talk to, no one to give me something so simple as a hug.  That night I seriously considered killing myself.

It was as I sat in the dark wondering if it was even worth trying to carry on at all that I started to hurt myself.  The pain helped, it brought me back from the brink.  I'm not over exaggerating when I say that self harm very literally saved my life that day.  It's kept me from going back to that place ever since.

Its not something that I ever wanted to do, it's not something that I want to carry on doing, but it's something that I need in ways I can't even begin to describe.

For everyone out there that is going through the same, for everyone that feels they need to hurt themselves to survive, do what you need to do to keep on living.  All that I ask is that you're safe about it.  I never use a blade, I don't want to accidentally go too far and I don't want scars.  Please, please be careful.

For those that don't self harm and don't understand it.  Don't condemn those that do it.  It's not something they want to do, it's something that they need.  Don't judge or tell them to stop.  Offer them a shoulder if they need it, but understand that that wont stop them from hurting themselves.  Be there for them when they need someone, even if it's just to hold them as they cry.

Self harm is something people don't like to talk about, but it's something that can't be ignored.  If you know someone that self harms then go out of your way to tell them how special they are to you, how brilliant a person they are.  Do little things to make them smile and laugh.  Do whatever you can for them, but never judge them.

Amy.
xx

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Judge blames 16 Year Old Girl For Sleeping With Teacher

Judge Joanna Greenberg blames a sixteen year old girl for her
own sexual abuse.

A judge is facing harsh criticism for giving a suspended sentence to a forty four year old teacher after being found guilty of having sex with his sixteen year old pupil, the reason?  The judge chose to place blame on the incident on the girl, claiming that she 'groomed' her teacher.

Stuart Kerner, the man in question, had a sexual relationship with one of his students that ran for over a year, beginning when the girl was only fifteen.  From accounts given during the court proceedings Kerner took the girls virginity on school grounds and had sex with her at both their homes.

Instead of facing prison time, however, judge Joanna Greenberg QC chose to give him an eighteen month suspended sentence, placing full blame on the young girl, claiming that Kerner only 'gave in to temptation' because of the strain of his wife having had a miscarriage.  Greenberg said the following;

'Her friends described her, accurately in my view, as stalking you.  There is no evidence you encouraged her in any way.  There is no evidence you groomed her.  If anything it was she who groomed you.  You gave way to temptation because of problems with your wife's pregnancy.  She was intelligent and used that intelligence to manipulate people emotionally.  She was very vulnerable and needy and had a troubled home life.'

A rapist walks out of court a free man.

Yes, that's right.  The girl who was fifteen when she first slept with Kerner was the predator here.  Somehow a fully mature forty four year old man, a man who was responsible for the education of teenagers was somehow masterfully seduced into bed by a child multiple times over more than a year.

However, the offence of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust is principally designed to protect young people ages between sixteen and seventeen, people who might be over the legal age of sexual consent but are still considered to be vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation.  Particularly when involving a person who holds a position of trust or authority over them, such as a teacher.  In simple terms, a sixteen year old girl cannot groom a grown man!

What has happened here is that judge Greenberg has simply blamed the victim for having suffered the abuse.  Her comments support massively damaging beliefs that sexual assault, which this was even is it was consensual due to her age, are to blame.  It makes out that victims of assault are in some way leading their attackers on, and that their attackers are only making a lapse of judgement rather than engaging in a heinous crime.

The judge blames the victim, she blames the stress of his wife loosing their child.  She blames everyone and everything other than the one person who is solely to blame for the crime.  If a child comes up to you and flirts with you, you do not 'give in'.  If a child acts provocative around you, you do not 'give in'.  If a child tells you they want to have sex with you, you do not 'give in'.  If a child stands in front of you naked and begs for you to have sex with them you do not 'give in'.

Even if Kerner had only slept with his victim the one time it would not constitute to having been groomed or a lack of judgement, but sleeping with her multiple times over the course of a year, at school, at his home, in her bedroom is massive evidence that he was grooming her.

He found out that one of his students had sexual urges towards him and took advantage of that.  He manipulated her into thinking that it was okay,  He abused his position of trust and responsibility and did something deplorable.  And because of this one judge and their archaic views on sexual assault he gets to walk free.  Yes, he looses his job and has been placed on a sex offenders list, but he deserves a hell of a lot more than that.

As for the judge herself?  She needs to be taught that blaming the victim is never, ever right.  By doing so not only are you telling all victims of sexual assault that it's their fault for what happened to them, you're also telling people that it's okay to rape, to force people into situations they don't want to be in and manipulate children into bed because it won't be your fault, you'll just be 'giving way to temptation'.

Amy.
xx

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Why Are Trans Women Treated Like Outcasts in The Feminist Community?

Today I had a brief but slightly worrying conversation with a co-worker, a seventeen year old girl who has just started to study feminism in school and found the subject awful.  Initially shocked that she instantly hated feminism I asked her why, and she told me that it's because feminists are horrible people and began to describe the actions and views held by Radical Feminists.

It was sad to hear that someone so young, who was still basically forming their views on the world found the very idea of feminism an awful concept, purely because of Radical Feminists.  Feminism is something that should effect everyone, male or female.  

Feminism should be about equality for all genders, all people treated equally.  If you want women to get the same pay as men then you're a feminist.  If you think that boys should be able to wear pink without being told it's 'only for girls' then you're a feminist.  If you think girls should be allowed to want to be what they want to be without being told girls 'aren't smart enough for that job' or that they 'would be better as a secretary' then you're a feminist.  If you think men should be allowed more paternity leave to be with their children rather than just the tiny amount they are given then you are a feminist.

Feminism isn't just 'crazy man haters', it's men and women and those in-between who believe everyone should be treated equally.  It's allowing women to be treated with dignity and respect rather than as sex object.  It's about men being allowed to show their feelings and cry rather than being told they have to hide it all.  Feminism should be open to all and something that the whole world aspires towards.

I consider myself a feminist.  I think the world should be made a better place.  I try to challenge sexism and gender stereotypes when I come across them.  But sometimes I'm afraid to say that I'm a feminist.  I've seen a lot of men claim to be feminists, even a friend of mine once proudly stated the fact, and from what I've seen a lot of the feminist community welcomes their support and passion for the cause.  However, as a transgender woman I feel like I can't say I'm a feminist without meeting hostility.

I know that not every feminist is against trans people, but there seems to be a lot of hatred for the trans community in feminism that it makes me scared of sharing that side of myself.  Yes, transphobia comes from a small part of the feminist community, but unfortunately its a very noisy group.

My first real glimpse at some of the hatred and bile within the feminist community towards trans women was the Suzzane Moore/Julie Burchill incident that happened a couple of years ago.

Suzanne Moore wrote an essay on the subject of 'the power of female anger'.  The the piece she made a comment that drew complaints and criticism from the trans community and it's allies.

'We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape—that of a Brazilian transsexual.'

For a lot of non-trans people this comment was sure to have passed straight over their heads, but for those who are trans, who know a little of the struggle that trans women go through would easily find it insensitive and insulting.  Transgender women in Brazil face massive amount of hatred and danger, with many of them facing serious physical harm and the risk of murder.  To use a marginalized group as a flippant metaphor or joke is massively insensitive.

Moore was called out on this behavior, and could have very easily have gotten away with just issuing an apology.  Instead she refused to acknowledge that she had done any wrong, even going so far as to say that if you find the words she uses offensive than it's your fault for having taken offense.  She even issued the following tweet before leaving Twitter in order to escape the backlash she had caused herself.

Suzanne Moore strikes out at the trans community via Twitter.

Things got worse when Moore's friend Julie Burchill decided to get involved.  Writing an article for The Guardian titled 'Transsexuals Should Cut It Out' she proceeded to condemn the trans community for victimizing her poor monstered friend for no reason.  Here are some examples that show the level of hatred she felt towards transgender people.

'I was incredulous to read that my friend was being monstered on Twitter, to the extent that she had quit it, for supposedly picking on a minority – transsexuals. Though I imagine it to be something akin to being savaged by a dead sheep, as Denis Healey had it of Geoffrey Howe, I nevertheless felt indignant that a woman of such style and substance should be driven from her chosen mode of time-wasting by a bunch of dicks in chicks' clothing.'

'To my mind – I have given cool-headed consideration to the matter – a gaggle of transsexuals telling Suzanne Moore how to write looks a lot like how I'd imagine the Black and White Minstrels telling Usain Bolt how to run would look. That rude and ridic.'

'She, the other JB and I are part of the minority of women of working-class origin to make it in what used to be called Fleet Street and I think this partly contributes to the stand-off with the trannies. (I know that's a wrong word, but having recently discovered that their lot describe born women as 'Cis' – sounds like syph, cyst, cistern; all nasty stuff – they're lucky I'm not calling them shemales. Or shims.) We know that everything we have we got for ourselves. We have no family money, no safety net. And we are damned if we are going to be accused of being privileged by a bunch of bed-wetters in bad wigs.'

'To have your cock cut off and then plead special privileges as women – above natural-born women, who don't know the meaning of suffering, apparently – is a bit like the old definition of chutzpah: the boy who killed his parents and then asked the jury for clemency on the grounds he was an orphan.'

'Shims, shemales, whatever you're calling yourselves these days – don't threaten or bully us lowly natural-born women, I warn you. We may not have as many lovely big swinging Phds as you, but we've experienced a lifetime of PMT and sexual harassment and many of us are now staring HRT and the menopause straight in the face – and still not flinching. Trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet. You really won't like us when we're angry.'

A very small selection of some of the hatred thrown towards an already marginalised and victimised community by someone that claims to be fighting for women.  As someone who had only at that point recently come to fully understand that I was transgender and was battling to try and live my life as the person I really am I read this article and it filled me with both anger and sadness in equal measure.

Julie Burchill spreads transphobic hate.

I was angry that someone would attack a whole group of people in such a way, to knowingly use hateful words without any apology, to justify the use of the word 'Tranny' by making some weird complaint about the existence of the word cisgender and the fact that you don't like how it sounds.  It made me furious that someone cold be allowed to write a hate piece in such a public and respected place as The Guardian.

Worse than the anger though was the fact that this was someone who fights for women's rights.  Someone who wants women to be treated with the same dignity and respect as men.  To see how someone like that treated the trans community, how much hatred and lack of respect they held made me want to cry.

I never chose to be transgender, I didn't want to go through that struggle, to face that level of hatred and oppression, so as a trans woman who had just began to come to terms with what that meant reading this was crushing.  It gave a very clear message, 'feminists and women will hate you, they will never respect you or see you as a woman and no one has a problem with bombarding you with hate speech.'  

I came to realise that this wasn't the case, that many people were outraged by what Burchill wrote and demanded its removal, but it has already done its damage.  It made me weary and afraid of the feminist community and just reinforced the notion that all feminists are crazy, horrible people who hate anyone not born in a female body.

I began to learn about Radical Feminists, and in particular Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, or TERFS, who regard transgender women as men, who should not be allowed to use women's facilities such as public bathrooms or be allowed to participate in events organised exclusively for women.

'No trans people' events organised by Radical Feminists.

Trans women are women because we know we are, we feel it in our hearts and our souls.  We know it more than anything else in the world.  The knowledge is so strong that even before we're consciously aware of it we suffer.  We feel pain and loneliness and depression without any explanation.  We're not the people on the inside that we're born as on the outside.  To use something of a well known explanation we have womens brains in mens bodies.

Radical feminists reject this whole idea completely out of hand though.  They don't believe in the idea of a 'female brain', they believe that the only differences between men and women are those made by a patriarchal society, and therefore trans people couldn't possibly exist.  If the differences between men and women, other than the physical of course, is only fabricated by society then how could we be real?  Surely we're just deluded men right?

Radical Feminists believe that if you are born male then you are always and forever male, no matter if you live as a woman, undergo surgeries or change your body chemistry.  To them we're always men, with male privilege, and being demanded to be treated as women is just us using that privilege to get what we want.

To Radical Feminists transgender women can never know or experience womanhood.  We can never know what being a woman is really like.  Even if we become the victims of violence and harassment based on our gender expressions, even if it's exactly the same as a cis woman goes through we will never know the pain that women know.  

Some Radical Feminists view trans women as 'infiltrators', posing as women to try and take down feminism from the inside.  They help to perpetuate the horrific ideas that trans women will use their ability to enter womens spaces in order to attack and rape 'real' women.  To them we're worse than men, we're men who mock women by becoming 'caricatures' of them.

So many of the 'great' feminists, pioneers of the movement that are so well known to be almost household names, share these views.  Germaine Greer, Kathy Brennan and Mary Daly are just a few of the high profile feminists who actively spread hate about trans women.

Germaine Greer advocates transphobia and mistreatment of
transgender women.

I picked up a copy of Greers 'The Female Eunuch' in a charity shop, and despite knowing that she is a TERF and that there would more than likely be anti-trans sentiment in the book I chose to get it and read it.  As a feminist, and someone against TERF policies I felt that it was important to not shy away from the works of people like Greer.  What I didn't expect, however, would be just how quickly the transphobia would become apparent.  Not even at the end of the first page, in the damn foreword she attacks trans people referring to us as 'men who mutilate themselves and are given passports as statutory females'.  One page.  One damn page into the book.

A lot of the time it seems like there's just no place for transgender people in society.  

We get treated as a sexual kink and the objects of lewd sexual desire.  People think that because we're their kink that we will always be willing and glad for unwanted sexual advances, of the random dick pics or the sexualised messages.  All the while leaving us questioning if the people who show genuine romantic interest in us are just trying to fulfill some kink or if we could genuinely be loved for who we are.

We have to watch as rapists and murderers are allowed to walk free after claiming 'trans panic' as the reason for the violence that we receive.

We're included in the LGBT community, even though being trans isn't about sex or sexuality but gender.  We have to watch as the other members of that community gain acceptance and rights and we're left behind.

We stand alone as women flock together to fight for equal rights, equal pay and acceptance, all the while we're being told we don't belong to with them, while the men don't want anything to do with us either.  Left alone in limbo between genders, not accepted as either.

Feminists fight for equality for all, for all.  There are over 3 billion women on the planet.  We're the biggest oppressed group in the world.  Imagine what we could do if the infighting stopped, if the hatred and prejudice ended.  

Transgender women are women too.  We're real women.  We might not experience every aspect of womanhood that you cisgender women do, but we've had to fight through oppression and injustice just as much as you have.  Maybe even more.  Stop pushing us away, stop adding to the pain that we have to deal with.  Just accept us for who we are.  Sisters, struggling in this world just like you.

Amy.
xx

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