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FOR READERS & WRITERS: Best Alien Genders

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FOR READERS & WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: If we ever encounter real aliens, it’s fairly likely they won’t have the same genders we do. Readers, best books you’ve read that deal realistically with possible alien genders? Writers, what have you written? Writers: This is a reader/writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABVMeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

FOR READERS: Gender Changes in Classic Sci Fi

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FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Jim Comer: Sex changes. Gender reassignment. Gender confirming surgery. We’ve had decades and decades of sf about this topic including both good (and awful) movies and books. So tell us (esp. trans readers and writers) – what did classic SF authors get right? What did they get wrong? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABV MeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

FOR WRITERS: Future Gender

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: Over the last few decades, our societal understanding of gender has evolved beyond the binary to encompass transgender, non-binary, gender-queer and gender-fluid folks. In your sci fi works, how have you dealt with the understanding and expression of gender in the future? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat

Thorne Smith and “Turnabout.” – Boogieman In Lavender

Jeff Baker

  Thorne Smith’s Turnabout                                   By Jeff Baker             The slumber of (this) happily married couple was troubled that night by strangely realistic dreams…Tim got the impression that his body was being critically inspected. Sally later admitted that she had experienced the same feeling. And through all those dreams and dim imaginings the figure of Mr. Ram was inextricably woven…  ——from “Turnabout,” by Thorne Smith             LGBT writers, that is, writers who deal with LGBT characters and themes find themselves addressing issues of gender roles and gender identities frequently. Almost a century ago, a very heterosexual writer wrote a comic novel … Read more

Ooops… Netflix Reboot of Saunt Seiya Anime Series Changes Gender of Popular Character

Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac

In summer 2019, Netflix will release its remake of the ‘80s- and 2000s-era anime classic Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac, an animated series about five cosmic warriors defending Earth against vengeful Greek gods. The original Japanese TV program featured a gentle male character named Andromeda Shun. Shun had long green hair, wore magenta armor, was openly emotional and always tried to resolve conflicts without violence, despite being a skilled warrior. As such, some Saint Seiya fans viewed Andromeda Shun as queer or at least a groundbreaking depiction of a male warrior. However, Netflix’s remake will change Andromeda Shun’s gender to female, upsetting some … Read more

FOR READERS: Blurring the Gender Spectrum

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FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: What books do you like where masculinity/femininity, etc. is portrayed as a continuum? Where characters don’t exist as only binary choices when it comes to gender? Where gender identity is one more piece of a complex puzzle of who characters are, alongside race, class, and sexual identity? I’ve updated and edited the original topic a bit. Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat This is a legacy chat.

SCIENCE: Trans Kids’ Brains Resemble Their Gender Identity

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A new study led by a Belgian neurologist found that brain activity in transgender people resembles that found in cisgender people of their gender more than their sex assigned at birth. Julie Bakker of the University of Liege led the research, which involved MRI scans of 160 transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria who were children and teenagers. The scans also measures brain microstructures using a technique called diffusion tensor imaging. Their brain scans were compared to people of comparable age who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The study found that transgender boys’ brain activity resembled cisgender boys’, and … Read more

FOR WRITERS: Writing A Different Gender

Gender

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Tracy Timmons-Gray: What are your recommendations on how to write a character whose sexual or gender identity is different from your own? For instance, there’s isn’t one kind of asexual or gender queer person; authentic representation is often very nuanced. What things do you recommend to try to capture those nuances when writing a character? What do you try to avoid? Join the chat

CALL: Gilla Press wants speculative fiction that explores masculinities

Galli Books, whose tagline is “Socially Conscious Speculative Fiction,” is open to fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions for its first anthology, Speculative Masculinities, which seeks to interrogate Western models of masculinity and explore models of non-toxic masculinity. They are particularly looking for submission from marginalized identities and backgrounds.

Read the full post on Dale Cameron Lowry’s blog for writers.

FOR WRITERS: Queer Enough

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FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Thianna Durston: Thianna and I discussed this topic, and wanted to come at it in a way that doesn’t inflame too much passion but engenders a good discussion instead. In Romance, it’s typically fairly obvious that your characters are gay, or bi, or lesbian, or transgender or gender fluid, or ace, etc, based on the relationships they pursue and the way they express themselves in the story. But when you’re writing speculative fiction that’s not romance, it can seem a bit trickier, especially to new authors, to portray a character’s orientation, gender … Read more