In which I do not make Joseph Campbell my bitch

[bodlon]

Barring disasters and academic failures, my final capstone project is on track to be fully complete and submitted by Friday.

This is more stressful than exciting. I've waited a long time, I've worked hard, and I'm genuinely afraid of failure. My rational basis for this is limited -- honestly, I am probably okay -- but I'm a writer. I make things up. It's what I do. As is, apparently, having nightmares about my final capstone project coming apart at the seams and having a very public failure.

It probably doesn't help that commencement is the day after my submission deadline and a week before my Ethics final.

But yes, my mornings this week (and my class times on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) are all dedicated to putting the final polish on this thing. Which is how I found myself staring at Twitter, poised to type the following:

BRB. Making Joseph Campbell's monomyth my bitch.

And I couldn't.

It's not that I haven't used the expression before, and I'm not making any claim that I'll never use it again, but...well, I just sat there for about ten minutes feeling exhausted by the fact that one of the most common metaphors in my generation's lexicon for doing something successfully and with vigor is a reference to prison rape.

So that happened.

~*~

- I wasn't going to mention the WSJ article by Ogi Ogas that I spotted this week, mostly because it's by Ogas, who makes me actively angry by being a bad scholar and exploiting communities that are dear to me. Still, I'm starting to see this link pop up in various corners, and would be remiss if I didn't point people to why Ogi Ogas and his compatriots should be excoriated at every opportunity.

- Today is International Pagan Coming Out Day. Hi. I'm pagan. This is not news. Moving on.

- The legal battle to repeal California's Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex marriage in the state, continues. This time, a court will be deciding whether Judge Vaughn Walker should have recused himself because of his sexual orientation. The assertion that Walker can't rule on a matter of gay rights assumes that he cannot be impartial on account of his sexuality is problematic, and arises from the idea that only the presumed cultural "default" (i.e. straight white men) should be allowed to try cases that involve minorities (e.g. women, gays, people of color). As my friend Racheline pointed out in e-mail, straight persons have a conflict of interest in this case too if same-sex marriage actually does in fact harm straights -- the thing NOM and its allies wish to prove.

- Shirts at Skreened, inspired by Glee's "Born This Way" episode, with a portion of proceeds going to benefit The Trevor Project. I'm still trying to pick mine out, but you can bet your ass one of these is going to end up in my wardrobe.

- Dad speaks out in support of his transgender daughter in a public hearing. This man makes the world better by existing. Wayne Maines, if you are ever in my part of the country, you have an open dinner invite.

- The royal wedding just wouldn't be British without somebody spotting the Doctor in the crowd and a festive Dalek.

- Our genderqueer family has a lesbian dad. When I try to explain to people how brilliant and fun diverse gender identities can be, I sometimes stumble. This, however, demonstrates it beautifully.

This post has been mirrored from Christian A. Young's Dimlight Archive. To see it in its original format, visit dimlightarchive.com

Comments

[keieeeye]

There's a logic flaw here, re transgender people and bathrooms.

They claim the issue is to protect children who would be "upset" about someone coming into the bathroom who doesn't appear to be the correct gender. But their method of fixing this is to force people to use a bathroom that does not match the appearance of their gender.

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