And Beyond ...

Right now I'm too fucked up in the head to write anything worth shit. My life sucks -more than slightly, and for several reasons- and I cannot put two thoughts together.
Thank goodness for Facebook (you totally know I'm an internet whore) and the inspiration (or desperation) it brings.

Check this out. I belong to the Facebook version of it and now they have come up with an amazing online effort that integrates many of the wonders of technology that writers can use. And it'll educate you on forgetting about those pesky 'top' and 'bottom' labels that do not seem to let us live!
As soon as I get my life back, I'll make sure I read them ALL!

BEYOND MASCULINITY:
ESSAYS BY QUEER MEN ON GENDER AND POLITICS
EDITED BY TREVOR HOPPE


What does it mean to be a queer man? Beyond Masculinity is a groundbreaking collection of 20 smart, insightful essays from a diverse group of writers that all tackle this question. All published online, available anywhere in the world 24/7 for free. Readers will find a tremendously diverse group of queer men thoughtfully reflecting on their experiences – and using those experiences to build powerful analyses of their social worlds, including:

• Qwo-Li Driskill’s “Shaking Our Shells: Cherokee Two-Spirits Rebalancing Our World”: A poetic plea for Native American Two-Spirit peoples to search for their histories and become leaders in their communities

• Brian Lobel’s “Penis. Vagina. Penetration. The End”: A hilarious and moving recounting of the author’s quest to lose his virginity to a woman before a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor that threatens to leave him unable to ejaculate ever again

• Rob Day-Walker, “Jesus of San Francisco: Can Jesus be a Resource for Queer Masculinities?: A careful dissection of Biblical scripture, set against his own experiences as a Christian gay man, in search of a Jesus that is feminist and decidedly queer

• Daniel Solís y Martínez’s “Mestiza/o Gender: Notes Towards a Transformative Masculinity”: A brilliant attempt to understand how to build a queer identity that incorporates both his Mexican heritage and Western ideas about homosexuality

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. From an 80-year old gay man’s reflections on living life “between” male and female (Autrey’s “Somewhere in Between”), to a transgender man’s plea for bottoms to please (Macey’s “Top to Bottom”), Beyond Masculinity collectively breaks through the typical and boldly describes a resilient, challenging understanding of being a queer man in the 21st century.

Beyond Masculinity isn’t your traditional anthology. Readers become listeners when they subscribe on iTunes and download essays recorded as podcasts. Built using blogging software, anyone can log on anywhere in the world and comment directly on the essays. In short, not only does this project break topical ground, but it also explores the potential power of the Internet to provide new tools for sparking smart dialogue on sexuality and gender.

About the Editor: Trevor Hoppe is a graduate student in the joint PhD program in Sociology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan.