Transgender science?

Hello,

Is being transgender scientific? I shared my heart and soul in this essay, which is beautifully written if I do say so myself.  :)

http://www.youandmemagazine.com/articles/how-could-i-be-a-woman

Please let me know what you think about it.

xoxoxo,

Michelle

What Nancy Drew on

Did you ever read any of the Nancy Drew mysteries? I read book after book, more than fifty of them. I think I learned as much about writing from those books as from English class. But when I recently rediscovered them, I fell in love for a new reason: the cultural currents she "Drew" on. (forgive me).


The earliest volumes were published in the 1930s, when the US was a different place. Did you know that the first two dozen books in the mystery series were rewritten in the 1950s and 1960s to make them more modern? The original versions of the Secret of the Old Clock and its dozen or two follow-ups had Nancy wearing gloves and hats, and this was changed when the books were revised.

Racist stereotypes were also changed. Irish servants. References to a (stupid) black woman as a "negress."

The first detective story, of any type, is generally credited to Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s. Children weren't really a market for them (or for anything else) until at least half a century after that. Oh, and in the 30s and 40s, Nancy as a strong female character, and a youth, was controversial.

Since the first Nancy Drew novel appeared in the 1930s, and are still being produced, it is now obvious that "Carolyn Keene" is a pseudonym. But it always was: no such person ever existed. Nancy Drew stories were contracted from a publishing company from the very start, with a clause taht the actual author could not receive credit or compensation beyond a small fee.

Some people dream of being given a new car (if not a blue roadster). I dream of being given a bunch of old (or new) Nancy Drew books. I'm a bibliophile and not wealthy (this is not a good combination). Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

I'd type more, but I want to go back to reading Nancy Drew mysteries. They're really fun!

Friends & shells

Tonight I did more than make a friend. An acquaintance called, we discovered that we had more in common than I thought we did. So I feel like he's a friend now.

But enjoying our conversation also helped me get out of my shell. Laughing on the phone inspired a joy of people. I'm naturally an introvert. My preferred activity is studying, after which I like to relax by--- reading. In my spare time there are solo household chores to do.

But while my brain requires quiet time to function well, and reading energizes me, I am in some ways also a recovering introvert. I'm learning that, in the right doses, friends are like needed medicine: too little and I'll be lonely (sick), too high a dose is toxic. But at least some time with friends is good for me. I've known for a while that being with people can be "good for me."

What I got reminded of tonight was that it can even be fun!

Thanks, Andrew.

[edit: it happened again. Thank you, Sara]

--Michelle

Gay execution

Saudi Arabia stones gay people to death. Legal murder! Imagine being the mother or father of someone who is kind, industrious, and happens to know in their hearts that the people they love are of the same gender. Yet, in perhaps 78 countries, same-sex sex is illegal. 

But the tide is turning: in 113 countries, it's legal. 

In some US states, it was legal to arrest people, just for who they love, as recently as 2003! 

But the tide is turning. 

The data is from The Economist magazine, October 11th, 2014. 

Respect for consenting adults is from being human. 

Love is love. 

Same sex couples can have trouble being allowed to adopt. 

If we deny parental rights to homosexuals, 

are we saying that opposite sex spousal abuse is healthier than same-sex love? 

Is that the message we want to send? 

Being straight is great, 

but straight needn't be narrow. 

Words to describe lesbian, bisexuals, gay men:

sister, brother, daughter, son. 

All of the 49 people shot to death were someone's son or daughter. 

Profound Mom

My Mom read to me when I was young, one of the greatest gifts you can give to a child. Decades later, she supported her daughter when I had a crisis. In recent years she made me laugh, like when she'd watch the news and joke that the President of the United States should call her for advice. :)

Seeing a Mother's day ad the other day was painful, because my Mom is dead. A while ago.

I'll never again hear her wonderful laugh, she didn't live to see me give a speech a year ago that would have made her proud, never got to visit my fiance and I. There are also family questions, about her life, about 1987, for example, that I'll never know the answers to.

It took me a while to figure out that it was the mother's day ad that made me so sad the other day. How could it not?

I love you, Mom.

Your tearful daughter,

Michelle