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aiws


The world obliges me to do something, so I create.
 Society wants me to belong, so I observe.
People force me to react, so I rebel.
They want me to stay still, so I paint.
Life requires me to live, but I am dying. . .

Safe space for cis people??? WTF??? 

18/10/2014

1 Comment

 
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This weekend was incredibly productive and inspiring. Anarchist book fair on Saturday and Anarcha-Feminist conference on Sunday. Lovely people, great workshops, and super awesome safe space policy at Anarcha-Feminist conference - cheers and lots of respect for those who worked on it.

Unfortunately even this policy didn't stop some transphobic people to attend the conference and use insulting language towards other attendees. Really disturbing incident happened during the last workshop about gender. . .

Basically we were discussing things about gender, questioning what it is, how to create safe space policy and how not to exclude others from participating. And when someone said that safe space policies put people away, they afraid to speak up, because there is no safe space for "women who were born women"! Me (and hope everyone else!) could not believe what we were hearing!!! Women who were born women, wtf??? Just a few minutes ago people were talking that if someone feels like she is a woman she is a woman, if someone feels like he is a man, he is man, if someone feels like they have no gender, they are agender, etc. etc. And just after that we have someone complaining for no safe space for cis people!!! what next? A safe space for white sic gender heterosexual men? Sounds logical for me.... 
 
Some of us tried to challenge this person and show why this use language is not acceptable (e.g.: guidelines, number 9: avoid transphobic language or behaviour e.g. excluding trans women from discussions aimed at women), but it didn't seem to work. As the every participant signed the safe space policy and have all the their time to inform themselves about the topics or just ask someone if they had questions, it made no sense just to stay and listen to this nonsense I heard so many times. So we've simply left the room. I was really impressed seeing so many of us standing up and just leaving. (In so many other places I go this support does not exist. You try to speak up and others simply silence you. No one else tries to support you or realises oppressive behaviour towards non-cis people...And it makes you feel helpless, so this kind of support at the conference really empowered and inspired to challenge this behaviour again and again!) 

We are learning all our lives. There are lots of things many of us still don't know. We do mistakes and that's fine, but we like to learn from them. Most of people come to those conferences with an open mind, to learn something new, to share their experiences, but not to use insulting language on the purpose as this clearly was the case... : / That is not acceptable! If people are genuine interested to learn, so many people would be more than happy to educate them. Outside of the conference, as one's incompetence should NEVER oppress others.  

All my 2 hours journey home I couldn't stop thinking about this. Why cis people so many times see non cis people as some kind of danger? Why they feel such an urgent need to attend events having a safe space policies and bring their harmful views to the day light? You, cisgender people, have a safe space 24 hours 7 days a week, all your lives! So bringing  your oppressive behaviour to a safe space is beyond everything! I still feel so shocked by this... 
This conference is one of so few places me and so many other people can openly talk about our gender identities, about challenges and discrimination we face every day. A place we could feel safe to open up without a fear of attacks from others...

If you see oppressive behaviour and language towards non cis people please challenge it, show your support even if it does not touch you. Maybe first time you'll be alone, maybe not. But someone needs to start. Someone needs to stop ignoring discrimination people face on their daily basis. That's the only way to stop it. We can't stay silence and just close our eyes. 
Thank you.


Copyright © Lex Kartanė

All rights reserved.
All works are copyrighted and not to be used without the permission of the author.
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A Jar of Queer Feelings

1/1/2014

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I'm happy to announce that 3 of my artworks are featured in this wonderful book, so feel free to get Your own copy to discover 36 artist and writers. More information here.
"A Jar of Queer Feelings is a queer no budget collaborative media project started by Sarah Magdalena Love in the summer of 2013. 36 artists and writers have contributed to the first edition of this book series resulting in a collage of queer life that touches on various dimensions like family, sexuality, politics, gender and liberation through various art forms, personal essays and poetry. The ebook was published for christmas, a print version will be released in January 2014. All proceeds from sales will benefit Gendered Intelligence, a charity that fosters debates around gender, educates, organizes social events and raises awareness for the ways in which heteronormativity restricts everyone. 

The copy right for every work in this book remains with the author/artist, all of which have kindly offered their contribution without receiving any payment. I strongly encourage you to check their biographies and get in touch if you are interested in seeing more of their work. "

""The universe is lot only queerer than we imagine, but it is queerer that we can imagine."
J.B.S. Haldane

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And there is another great thing about this book:.
Everyone should be able to enjoy art and poetry - but if You can't afford to buy a copy of it (and it's really not expensive. . ., but let's say You are really struggling to survive), Please send an email to hello @  sarahshantiyoga.com and she will email You a free copy of the book. Awesome, isn't it?

But if You able to spare some more money, feel free to do so. All money raised will go Gendered  Intelligence, a charity that fosters debates around gender, educates, organizes social events and raises awareness for the ways in which heteronormativity restricts everyone.

Thanks for Your attention,
dear human beings.
Have a wonderful and productive 2014!


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A great mind must be androgynous

11/7/2013

24 Comments

 
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I'm so tired of people who claim to be respectful to different opinions and life styles, but still discriminate everyone who do not fit into their imaginary pattern. I cannot understand why if person is not heterosexual, the rest of humanity feels the necessity to start questioning all aspects of everyday life, beliefs and sex experience of that person.
For example, relative to heterosexuals, and even relative to homosexuals and bisexuals, humans expressed more negative attitudes toward asexuals and desired less contact with them. Moreover, of all the sexual minority groups studied, asexuals were the most dehumanized! Asexuals were dehumanized not only mechanistically, but as well animalistically. They were seen as relatively cold, emotionless and unrestrained, but as well as impulsive  and less sophisticated. Surprised? I'm not, conclusions just showed what I always knew: most of humanity is simply lack of understanding.
If someone claims to be asexual, that means that this person is asexual and all questions should be over. It does not mean that person did not find the right partner or the sex was not good enough. You do not need to have sex with marguerites to be sure that You are not attracted to flowers (or do You?), so why another person should try to have sex if feels no necessity?

Asexuality also needs to be included in queer theory because it challenges the notion of biological essentialism. It namely challenges the essentialist notion that every human being has a need for “reproductive” sex or rather, heterosexual sex, and that every person is “made” that way. Asexuals challenge this notion in the same way lesbians and gay people do. Asexuality questions whether sex should even be viewed in society as something special, whether it should be seen as normative and the only way people can relate. By questioning the very essentialness of sex, asexuality dismantles the idea of a “normative” sexuality or sense of sexual expression and opens the world to a possibility where all forms of sexual expression or lack of sexual expression are accepted because there is no template for “normal” sexual expression.  It “distorts debates about whether gays and lesbians are ‘born’ or ‘choose’ their identity” because it deconstructs “the underlying assumption that people have sexual inclinations of some sort; second, that these inclinations persist throughout the lifespan; third, that identity is stable; and last, that sexual practices can form identities” Fahs
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Statistic in the work of Cara C. MacInnis showed that those who disliked homosexuals also disliked bisexuals and asexuals (and other queers). But what really sad is that asexual people are not fully accepted by LGBTQ community;  very often it is claimed that asexuals seem to be “perfectly normal human beings” trying to claim an orientation. Perfectly normal? what is that at all? If someone does not have sexual desire, that means just that person feels no sexual desire and has nothing to do with Normality. In fact, asexuals also suffer from heterosexism in society, they are currently even more invisible than any other LGBTQ groups. . . I agree that the discrimination asexual people experience is different from the one homosexual people get, but there are a lot of similarities. Asexuals as well get suggestions to be healed, their existence is denied (in fact, more often than any other queer group). And most importantly asexuals have a common cause with other LGBTQ  people - to challenge the prevailing heteronormative presumptions.

"Sex is. There is nothing more to be done about it. Sex builds no roads, writes no novels and sex certainly gives no meaning to anything in life but itself." Gore Vidal
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Another group that gets similar problems in queer world is pansexuals. Many people even did not heard about them! And still many deny their existence. Pansexuals are erased, ignored or disrespected. . . Well, to be pansexual is not the same as bisexual. There are more genders than cis-women and cis-men. Pansexuality teaches to accept and embrace the fact that there are more genders in the world.
I'm kind of lucky that I met so many bisexual, androgynous and transgender people in my life. I'm very lucky that when I was young I had a possibility to spend my time with my queer friends instead of mainstream. I'm kind of lucky that I never had to question other people's sexuality and never doubt the genders they introduced themselves.

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I'm going to Christopher Street Day (CSD) on Saturday (that was created in memory of the gay uprising in New York’s Christopher Street in 1969). And so much looking forward to that!
Many people told me that there is nothing to improve for homosexual people's rights in Germany. But they forget that there are a lot of others people who are neither homosexual neither heterosexual. There are not only monosexual people in this world. There are not only two genders.
way to go till EVERYONE will be able to live their own lives without being judged, threatened and abused.

Gender is more or less optional. . .
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Well, most of humans are simply lack of real possibility to understand others, and one of their greatest hobbies is to intervene in other people's lives. Everyone who thinks differently tries to destroy safety or just wants to show how special they are. Haha, no one asks for exclusive rights, just for respect and understanding that everyone is different. And it's OK to be different. It's OK challenge the society. And everyone should be free to choose their gender.
And love should be about LOVE, not GENDER!

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And another thing that has happened to me is fabulous Jérémy who came to South Germany. Thanks to wonderful Japanese culture not only for promoting queer rights and androgynous people, but as well for letting me to meet Jeremy. We "knew" each other for about 5 years and discussed about Japanese culture, Visual Kei and queer rights from time to time, but I was really surprised when he came to Germany and suggested to meet. Normally I do not have intentions to meet with strangers, but for J I did an exception, because with his own existence he fights the norms of the heteronormative society. That is a great challenge and everyone who does that is awesome.
Perhaps I just like to disagree with society.

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So, I would like to thank Jérémy for posing and spending time together. You are wonderful and so beautiful! Everyone who dares to say differently, should go and fuck themselves or whatsoever. And there is no such rule that real men do not wear make-up or cannot have long nails. Decision to be a man, a woman or to have any other gender does not start with penis or vagina, it stars in one's brain, and everyone is free to choose who they want to be. And for the rest of humanity (that is not able to make their own choices) we can just feel sorry about. Thanks for the inspiration!

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And when we had a great photo-shoot!
Copyright © Lex Kartanė

All rights reserved.
All works are copyrighted and not to be used without the permission of the author.
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    AIWS

    AIWS is a strange invention in this planet - a machine with a brush, pen and camera in its hands. It just observes and pictures the sad and cruel reality of everyday life. If You do not get it, do not worry too much, it just means that You are average. But of course You are more than welcome to read, think about and even share Your very important thoughts. Just remember: the majority of humanity does not interest AIWS at all, so please, do not feel offended. It's not You, just Your mediocrity.

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