Delicious LiveJournal Links for 11-10-2009

[andrewducker]

• Amazon launches Kindle for PC.
  Bookmarks and current page synched between all devices.
  (tags: kindle amazon ebooks)
• International Energy Agency has been massaging oil figures to disguise Peak Oil...
  (tags: energy oil climate economics politics sustainability peak-oil)
• Film footage of London in 1927 - in colour
  Horses on the streets!
  (tags: london history video colour)
• Penis implant brings hopes to thousands.
  I could do with another couple myself...
  (tags: penis biology sex medicine)
• The Feeling Of Power - by Isaac Asimov
  A rather touching story.
  (tags: asimov scifi fiction math science)
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
  Well, I knew a fair chunk, but nowhere near all of them
  (tags: comics marvel)
• Greggs is the biggest fast food company in the UK.
  I hadn't realised they were that big.
  (tags: bakery food uk)
• When your son wants to wear a pink dress to school
  (tags: Transvestites children school)

Comments

[marrog.livejournal.com]

And how did I feel about the experiment? Well, next week is tie-dye week at school. The class parent in charge of ordering the clothes (T-shirts for the boys, dresses for the girls) called to ask if I wanted a T-shirt or a dress for Sam. Touched by her thoughtfulness, I thought I would give Sam the same consideration she had, so I let him decide.

*sniff*

[andrewducker]

I know! It's lovely.

Hmmm

[zornhau.livejournal.com]

It's *not* a lovely story. The chances are that he's not actually gay or TS and that they've simply failed to give their son a positive message about masculinity. And now they're gloating over it and treating himn as "special", setting him up for a world of pain.

I say this because I've seen gender-confused little boys in at least two families, both quite PC.

I think what happens is that if you filter out the positive male role models that little boys do like (soldiers, action heroes etc), you're left with stories that game things to make female the interesting sex, and also undercut the male archetypes - when did you last see a children's book in which a knight was portrayed as being any good at anything?

They should let the poor little sod watch Ben 10.

Re: Hmmm

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Or maybe, rather than giving him a negative message about masculinity, they're giving him a balanced message overall and, just by himself, he's decided that he likes dresses and the colour pink?

I find it very hard to believe that parents would easily be able to filter traditional male role models out of a child's life without limiting his reading and viewing to, basically, the tellietubbies and Enid Blyton school stories (and in fairness, Enid Blyton has so many tomboys in it that that'd probably still be a fail).

I also don't remember it saying anywhere in that article that the kid was (or was assumed to be) either gay or trans - all it said was that he liked dresses and pink. It seems to me to be you, and not his parents, who are making assumptions there.

As to a lack of powerful male archetypes, what children's books are you reading?

I'm sure I have more to say here, but your point is so diffuse and such a non-point that I think you're going to have to address some of this before I'll have a better idea what you're on about.

What do you mean by 'positive male role models'? I don't really know what that means. Soldiers, knights, action heroes... do positive male role models have to be violent? What about doctors, nurses, firefighters, coastguards, scientists, writers, musicians, political or religious figures (or some of them anyway), astronauts, explorers, teachers, and so on? All positive, and all unisex.

Although admittedly, not all of them are terribly do-able in a dress. But then, that's why women wear trousers.

[cdave]

I doubt that's an authorised copy of the Feeling of Power.

I was a complete anthology nut as a teenager. One of the things I loved about Asimov's collections was that he usually managed to get away with writing an intro to each story. I think he said that the Feeling of Power was his most anthologised story. I must have about four copies of it myself.

[andrewducker]

I'd be shocked if that was authorised. Not that that bothers me particularly.

I've definitely read it before in a couple of his collections - and I also used to love reading his introductions. Occasionally more than the story :->

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

I loved his intros more than the stories. You must have picked up "I, Asimov" at some point? If not, get it. Great stuff.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

That last article was terrific and I'm passing it on myself; thanks tons for it!