Home Again, Home Again

One of the obnoxious things about vacation is that the rest of the world doesn’t seem to care. Email, bills, day-job, it all keeps piling up. It’s quite rude. I’m thinking maybe the world needs to try to coordinate a little better.

Anyway, I’m back from the U.P. It was fun, relaxing, and far too short.

One of the first emails I got was confirmation that I could announce the sale of my story “Chupacabra’s Song” to Kaleidoscope, a YA anthology edited by Julia Rios and Alisa Krasnostein. This is the story I asked for help with a little while back, about Nicola Pallas (from the Libriomancer books) as a teenager, and her first encounter with chupacabras. My thanks to everyone who read the story and offered their thoughts about my portrayal of Nicola’s autism.

I also read Lisa Shearin’s forthcoming book The Grendel Affair [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which was tremendous fun, and started in on Beth Bernobich’s forthcoming book Allegiance [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which is drawing me in nicely. (Related: The first book in Bernobich’s series, Passion Play, is currently on sale for $2.99.)

I got just under 10,000 words written on Unbound, which is less than I had hoped, but I’m not going to complain. I also spent a fair amount of time doing research reading, and that counts too, right?

I took a picture of the Milky Way. Due to the light distortion in the lower left, I have now declared war against the full moon. I’m still quite happy with the picture, though. I think I may have also gotten a shot of a meteor. Or maybe a satellite. I’m not sure how to tell. The verdict is satellite.

We also took a boat tour of Pictured Rocks and climbed Sugarloaf Mountain. (I’m not so sure about calling it a “mountain,” but I guess for Michigan it qualifies.)

I’ve got a few more pictures posted at Flickr.

And now is the time when Jim tries to catch up on everything from the past week. Whee…

Giving Away a Pair of Libriomancers

Both DAW and Del Rey UK sent me author copies of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] this week, which is a wonderful thing. Except now I find myself with more books taking up space. I figure the best thing to do is get rid of a couple, and I was hoping y’all could help me out with that!

I’ll be heading off for vacation next week, but when I get back, I’ll give away one each of the UK edition (trade paperback) and the DAW mass market release. Crocheted Smudge will be keeping guard over the books in the meantime.

If you’re interested, leave a comment telling me where you’d go on vacation if you could go absolutely anywhere, real or imagined. Narnia, Neverland, North Dakota, it doesn’t matter.

When I get home, I’ll pick two commenters at random and mail each of them an autographed copy of the book.

Anyone can enter. One entry per person, etc, etc. I’ll grab comments off of the blog, LJ, Goodreads, and the rest of the places this thing is mirrored.

Three weeks and counting until Book Day! #SFWApro

PC Monsters of Genre: Collect Them All!

A week or two back, someone started a Twitter account called SFWA Fascists, dedicated to attacking the “screeching feminist witches” who are destroying the natural order — not to mention RUINING science fiction and fantasy — in the name of their twisted PC ideology.

The account itself is mostly spittle and flailing, but the creators also posted a list of the PC Monsters of SFWA (which they then renamed PC C**ts of SFWA, because I guess Monsters was too classy). These are the people deemed to be “immoral, vicious, manipulative snakes.”

DL Thurston has a copy of the list here.

Interestingly enough, people on the SFWA Fascist Enemies List reported suddenly gaining new followers, some as many as 50 to 100 in a few days.

Watching people use this list as a suggestion for “Who to follow on Twitter” made me happy. And because I was putting off working on the book one afternoon, I decided it would be fun to create PC Monster of Genre cards to go with it. (Note: All of these were made with the permission and blessing of the subjects.)

I started with myself, to celebrate my inclusion on the list. As of today, I’ve done cards for 7 of the 16 list members.

More

Review Copies and Other Codex Born Updates

There are 26 days until the official release of Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], not to mention the mass market paperback of Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which means it’s time for me to start the Official Author Fidget-Dance of Anxiety!

The Cool Stuff Summary: Book-based magic, kick-ass dryad, flaming spider, wendigos, septuagenarian werewolves, a magical organization thought to have been wiped out more than five hundred years ago, and one random Spider-Man quote.

Review Copies: If you are a reviewer who hasn’t received a copy (and, you know, would like to have one), please contact my publicist at BerkleyNALpublicity -at- us.penguingroup.com. Please include your mailing address and where you do your book reviews. Unfortunately, due to the cost of books and shipping and such, reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and personal blogs without a good-sized readership don’t generally qualify.

Upcoming Events:

  • July 26 at 6 p.m. Reading and booksigning with Mary Robinette Kowal at Schuler Books, Eastwood Location. Lansing, Michigan. (This is part of the conference kickoff for the MSU Young Authors Conference, and they will have copies of Codex Born for sale.)
  • August 6 at 7 p.m. Booksigning at Schuler Books, Eastwood Location. Lansing, Michigan.
  • August 10 at 2 p.m. Booksigning at Kazoo Books, Parkview Location. Kalamazoo, Michigan.
  • August 15-18. Gencon. Indianapolis, Indiana. (I will have books for sale.)

Giveaways: I’m hoping to give away a few free books between now and August 6. I haven’t worked out the details yet, but I’ll let folks know as soon as I come up with a suitably entertaining way to do it.

Advance Reviews: Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times have both said nice things about the book. I hear rumors that Library Journal and Locus will both be reviewing it as well. But I think my favorite and most reassuring review so far comes from Kate over on Goodreads, who picked up a copy at ALA and says, “…this was an even stronger read than the first book.”

Also, Seanan McGuire read it and started sending me rude emails about having to wait for book three, so that’s a good thing, right?

Preview: The first chapter is available in both .pdf and .epub format.

State of the Author: Nervous, impatient, grateful, and excited. The Magic ex Libris series is the most ambitious story I’ve written so far. The first few reviews have helped me — somewhat — to get past the initial bout of imposter syndrome, and mostly now I’m just really looking forward to being able to finally share this one with everybody!

#SFWApro

Q&A with LaShawn M. Wanak

Guest post time!

Please welcome author LaShawn Wanak, one of the contributors to the What Fates Impose anthology/kickstarter, being edited by Nayad Monroe. The anthology’s subtitle is “Tales of Divination,” and I was particularly curious about LaShawn’s thoughts on divination/prophesy and how that intersects with her faith.

#

1. What’s interesting to you about divination?

Growing up as a church girl, it’s been emphasized over and over to me that any type of divination was of the devil. Ouija boards, tarot cards, astrology, all of that was demonic and thus, I was to keep far away from those as possible. But I’m learning that Christianity itself has a fascinating history of divination.  King Saul visiting a fortune teller to talk to Samuel’s ghost.  Sailors caught in the storm casting lots to see who was responsible, and the lots pointed to Jonah. Jesus’s disciples cast lots to find out Judas’s replacement. I grew up in a church where people spoke in tongues and gave prophetic words. I never considered it weird. In fact, I go to a church now that doesn’t do any of those things, and I miss it. To me, it’s an important component of how God works today.

2. Have you ever had a reading (Tarot, palm, runes, or whatever)? If so, what did you think of the experience? Was it accurate, or at least useful?

A couple of years ago, I had my palm read at a Renaissance Faire. It was purely out of curiosity; I didn’t expect to learn anything useful. A lot of what the reader told me was general statements — you like to read, you have a kind and gentle spirit, you’ll will have moderate success in your job. It felt like more of a personality assessment than a fortune reading.

3. If you are against the idea of getting your fortune told, what are your reasons for that?

Trying to divine the future is a dangerous thing, especially if you don’t have the gift for it. Even in the church — no, especially in the church — it’s something to tread with care. When I was a kid, a minister who had a ‘prophetic word’ told my mother that when I marry, my husband would eventually become a deacon at whatever church we’re in. Well, I’m married, and my husband has absolutely zero interest in becoming a deacon. (No one asked me if I wanted to become a deacon, but for the record: no.) That’s just one of the tamer prophetic words I’ve received.

At the same time, though, I do believe in having the gift of foresight, which is very different from seeing the future. When I did research for my story in the What Fates Impose Anthology, I looked into fortune tellers, which is one of those taboo things at my church. I was surprised to see that many people who went to fortune tellers didn’t go to have their futures spelled out for them. Many just wanted advice, or they needed encouragement, or wanted to get a sense of themselves from an outsider’s point of view. Very similar to how prophetic ministry is used in most churches.

So I’m not against it. I’m just saying it needs to be done with care, because it can be easily, easily abused.

4. How did you get started on developing the idea for your story in What Fates Impose?

As Christians, man, do we love our personality tests. My friends pored over their Myers/Briggs results in the same way people pored over their horoscopes, which got me to thinking: how are the two related? What if you could predict the future using personality assessment? Then, last year, I took the StrengthFinders test, a Love Language quiz and a Spiritual Gifts questionnaire all in one month. All those questions I took gave me the idea for the format of the story, and it went on from there.

Also, some friends of mine just got the sweetest, the most adorable chocolate labrador ever. Once I saw Marti and her gorgeous golden eyes, I knew I had to have her in my story.

5. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Stretch yourself. Write about things you normally wouldn’t. When I was in college, I got an image in my head of walking down a hotel hallway and realizing that the patterns on the carpet were really the backs of playing cards. I tried to write a story around it, but it didn’t work out. I thought about changing the cards to tarot cards, but at the time, I wasn’t ready, because tarot cards = evil, etc, and so forth. When Nayad approached me about the anthology, that scene popped in my head. I decided I would use tarot cards. I did my research and talked to friends who showed me their decks. It demystified them enough that I was able to use them to flesh out my story better. I can now look at tarot decks and appreciate them for their beautiful art.  Which is more than I can say for the stack of Chick Tracts I have stashed in a locked box up in the furthest corner of my closet. Perhaps I’ll write a story about them…someday…when I’m sure they won’t give me horrible, apocalyptic nightmares…

6. Which subjects and themes do you write about often, and why?

Well, obviously, my faith plays a big role in the stories I write, but it’s not all happy yay-Jesus parables. Most of my stories deal with struggling with a lot of questions I have about my faith: is there a God, why do I believe there is a God, why doesn’t he make himself more visible…that sort of thing. Writing allows me to explore those questions. Sometimes, some pretty dark stuff come out, but I try to balance those out with stories that are more fun.

7. Where can people find other published work of yours?

You can find me in the anthology Dark Faith Invocations, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon. I also have stories at EscapePod, Ideomancer, StoneTelling, and Expanded Horizons. You can find links to these stories and more at my blog, The Café in the Woods.

8. What else would you like to tell people about any subject?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the What Fates Impose Kickstarter, which is happening right now. One of the rewards is a 4X6 card from me with your personality type of your choice (Myers/Briggs or StrengthFinders) and its description written in calligraphy.  Also check out Nayad Monroe’s blog, where she has more interviews of contributors to the What Fates Impose anthology, such as Alasdair Stuart, Ferret Steinmetz, and Wendy Wagner, among others.

Reporting Sexual Harassment in SF/F, 2013 Edition

I first put together this resource list in 2010. I intend to keep updating and reposting it every year until it’s no longer necessary.

If you’ve been sexually harassed, it’s your choice whether or not to report that harassment. It’s not an easy choice, and I obviously can’t guarantee the outcome. But I can tell you that if someone has harassed you, it’s 99% certain that they’ve done it to others. You’re not alone.

Please also see this post by Elise Matthesen about reporting sexual harassment. Of particular note is her explanation of the “formal” reporting process vs. informal or anonymous reports.

Reporting to Publishers:

As a general rule, if you’ve been sexually harassed by an editor or another employee of a publisher, complaints can be directed to the publisher’s H.R. department. Please note that reporting to H.R. will usually trigger a formal, legal response.

I’ve spoken to people at several publishers to get names and contact information for complaints, both formal and informal. I’ve put asterisks by the publishers where I spoke with someone directly.

  • Ace: See Penguin, below.
  • Alliteration Ink*: All complaints, formal and informal, should be directed to steven -at- alliterationink.com. Also see their respect policy.
  • Apex Publications*: “Any harassment issues related to Apex Publications should be sent to Jason Sizemore.” jason -at- apexbookcompany.com.
  • Baen*: Toni Weisskopf, toni -at- baen.com. From Toni, “You would come to me with any complaint about the company.”
  • DAW*: Sheila Gilbert (sheila.gilbert -at- us.penguingroup.com) or Betsy Wollheim (betsy.wollheim -at- us.penguingroup.com).
  • Del Rey/Spectra*: HumanResources -at- randomhouse.com.
  • Edge*: Brian Hades (publisher -at- hadespublications.com).
  • Harper Collins: feedback2 -at- harpercollins.com.
  • Jo Fletcher Books*: Contact Jo Fletcher directly. jo.fletcher -at- jofletcherbooks.co.uk.
  • Orbit: Andrea Weinzimer, VP of Human Resources. andrea.weinzimer -at- hbgusa.com. Inappropriate conduct can also be brought up with the publisher, Tim Holman tim.holman -at- hbgusa.com.
  • Penguin: Contact page links to an e-mail submission form.
  • Random House: Contact page has some info.
  • Roc: See Penguin, above.
  • Solaris Books: Please use the Contact Page.
  • Tor*: Report the incident directly to Macmillan Human Resources, or to Beth Meacham, at bam -at- panix.com or in person. Reports can also be made online at http://speakup.macmillan.com (please note that the online form is not a “formal” report unless you follow up with HR).

Publishers – I would love to expand this list with better information. Please contact me.

Reporting to Conventions:

Often harassment doesn’t come from editors, but from authors, convention guests, or other fans. If this happens at a convention, you can contact convention security, ops, and/or the convention committee. Many (but not all) conventions include harassment policies in the program books and the websites.

A convention committee doesn’t have the same power as an employer. However, if harassment is reported at a convention, the individual may be confronted or asked to leave. In addition, reporting harassment by guests (authors, editors, etc.) is very helpful to the convention in deciding who not to invite back.

To any convention staff, I would encourage you to make sure you have a harassment policy in place, and equally importantly, that your volunteers are aware of that policy and willing to enforce it. Please see the “Other Resources” section below for starting points on developing such a policy, if you haven’t already done so.

Please see also John Scalzi’s Convention Harassment Policy Pledge, which has been c0-signed by more than 700 people who will not attend conventions that lack a posted and adequately publicized harassment policy.

Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) – Updated 4/25/2017:

SFWA President Cat Rambo points to the documents that the organization has provided for the benefit of the organizers of conventions or other gatherings

Accessibility Checklist for SFWA Spaces: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/public-relations/accessibility-checklist-for-sfwa-spaces/

Policy and Procedure on Harassment in SFWA Venues: http://www.sfwa.org/2011/11/sfwa-statement-on-sexual-harassment/

She adds: If someone feels that they have been or are being harassed at a SFWA event, table, booth, or other SFWA space, whether real or virtual, they should contact: 1) myself and/or Executive Director Kate Baker, 2) any SFWA board member, 3)  SFWA’s ombudsman, Gay Haldeman, at ombudsman -at-sfwa.org, or (4) if at an event, with any SFWA volunteer there. Our events follow the Anti-Harassment Policy and make it clear to attendees.

In the case of SFWA online space such as the discussion boards or the blog, posts and comments can be reported to the moderators or webeditor as appropriate.

SFWA wants its face to face and online community to be spaces where members can come together to exchange professional information, advice, and announcements as well as accessing the wealth of resources the organization offers its members.

What to Expect:

Ideally, someone who was sexually harassed could report it and expect to be treated with respect. Their concerns would be taken seriously, and all possible steps would be taken to make sure the behavior did not happen again, and that the offender understood such behavior was unacceptable. Disciplinary action would be taken when appropriate.

This is not a perfect world. Employers are required to follow the laws and their own policies, which take time. Even a formal report may result in nothing more than a warning (particularly if this is the first report of harassment).

That said, when I originally posted about sexual harassment in fandom, everyone who responded expressed that such behavior was unacceptable. And there were a lot of responses, from fans, authors, editors, con staff, and agents. The growing conversation suggests that more and more of us are taking sexual harassment seriously and working to put an end to this behavior.

As a rape counselor, I saw how powerful and important it can be to break the silence around assault and harassment. However, it’s always your choice whether or not to report. Making that report will be stressful. It may also be empowering, but there are no guarantees. It may or may not have visible results.

First and foremost, please do whatever is necessary to take care of yourself.

Other Resources:

Essays:

Please contact me if you know of additional resources that should be included here.

Midnight Blue-Light Special, by Seanan McGuire

One of the best parts of going to Book Expo of America? The books, of course! Including a few I grabbed when I visited the DAW office, like Seanan McGuire’s Midnight Blue-Light Special [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. This is book two in McGuire’s Incryptid series. (I reviewed book one here.)

This one picks up quite smoothly where book one left off. Discount Armageddon introduced us to Verity Price, cryptozoologist and ballroom dancer, who was watching over the cryptids of New York City and doing her best to avoid attracting the attention of the Covenant of St. George, something that got more complicated when she started dating Dominic De Luca, a member of said Covenant. Also, there were dragon princesses and talking mice, a scary psychic math whiz, and lots of sharp pointy things.

Book two ups the stakes: the Covenant is sending a team to purge New York City. If Verity runs, the cryptic population she’s tried to protect will be slaughtered. If she stays, well, there’s a good chance they’ll be slaughtered anyway, along with Verity. Though the Covenant wouldn’t kill her right away. First they’d force her to reveal the location of her family so they could wipe out her entire line.

While the plot felt a little light, there’s a lot that impressed me about this one. First of all, when you combine it with book one, you have a full character arc for Verity. It feels like you’re reading an episodic book, just like a hundred others, and suddenly you realize McGuire knows exactly where she’s going with Verity’s internal journey as well as the external battles. A lot of books have action; not all of them have that kind of internal development.

McGuire also demonstrates her willingness to break the rules (guidelines? expectations?) of first person point of view novels, and does so effectively. I love the way the chapter dingbats (the symbols at the start of each chapter) change when we jump to a different PoV. That was beautifully done.

I’m quite fond of the characters, as always. From the religious mice to the introductory quips from Verity’s family to Sarah the cuckoo, who we get to see much more of this time around. (Sarah is both wonderful and scary.)

Basically, it’s fast-paced urban fantasy that passes the Bechdel Test with ease, includes McGuire’s trademark creativity and banter, and makes for a fun read. If you liked book one, pick this one up as well.

My ALA Talk on Sexism and Kick-Butt Heroines

This is my best reconstruction of the talk I gave at ALA on Sunday. I’m sure I’m forgetting bits, but this should give you the gist of things…

I was originally thinking about just doing a Q&A for this. I like the informal approach, and normally I’d probably be sitting on the edge of the stage chatting with you all. But as I was driving down to Chicago, I started thinking about various incidents that have come up recently, and I decided that if ALA was going to be kind enough to give me a platform and a microphone, maybe there was a better way for me to take advantage of that.

The past few months have been pretty intense in parts of the science fiction and fantasy community. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has been in the spotlight for a chain-mail bikini cover and a follow-up essay that dismissed complaints as the ravings of liberal fascist PC thought police. We have the former SFWA presidential candidate who accused a well-known black author of being an “ignorant half-savage.” Then last week, a well-known editor at one of the major SF/F publishing houses was outed for his history of sexual harassment.

The thing is, the blatant stuff is easy. It’s easy to focus on these instances of sexism and racism because they’re so obvious, and because they create a simple separation between us and them, between the heroes and the villains. But when we draw those lines, we tend to miss the larger picture.

These are systemic problems, not just individuals. They’re problems that show up in cover art, in award ballots, in which books get reviewed, in who shows up as the heroes in stories vs. the sidekicks, in token characters, and much more. In many cases, if not most, it’s an unconscious, unintentional problem.

So how do we respond to such a problem? Well, some of us choose to write long-winded rants online, or to contort ourselves into ridiculous cover poses. We can also speak up when we see these things happening, rather than turning away or accepting it because “it’s always been that way.” If you see someone who looks like they might be being harassed, say something. Offer them a casual escape from the conversation.

As a writer, I think one of our most powerful tools is our stories.

Take the story of the kick-butt heroine, a trope that’s become incredibly popular over the past decade or two. Now, I appreciate this trope — I’m a huge Buffy fan — and I’ve written this kind of character myself on multiple occasions. But there are ways in which it’s problematic. Sure, it’s incredibly satisfying to see the heroine physically whoop the harasser/abuser/etc. But when that’s the dominant story we’re sharing, aren’t we basically suggesting that it’s the women’s job to physically overpower and defeat their aggressors? As opposed to men learning to move beyond such behaviors, or to challenge such things when we see them?

The kick-but heroine is certainly one solution, but it’s one that puts responsibility on the victims, and by implication, puts the blame on those victims if for any reason they were unable to physically stop what’s essentially an ongoing culture of systemic sexism.

There are other stories and other characters we need to share. Stories that show men and women as equals. That show relationships built on respect. Stories that give us more than one token example per book of a strong female character. Stories that move away from narrowly defined roles.

And now is when I take a minute to talk about my own stuff. Lena Greenwood is my latest attempt to engage with the kick-butt heroine trope. She’s … well, without spoiling things, she’s also very problematic. In many ways, that was deliberate. But she’s not the only strong female in these books. You have Nidhi Shah, a psychiatrist with no magical abilities whatsoever. There’s Nicola Pallas, an autistic bard. Jeneta Aboderin is full of teenaged attitude, refusing to take crap from anyone. Not to mention the sarcastic bug-eating ex-librarian Deb DeGeorge. My hope is that each of these women has their own strengths and weaknesses, that they present different ways to be powerful.

I’m not saying kick-butt heroines are bad. Any time I talk about something like this, someone responds, “Why are you trying to censor us?” Just like with cover art — I’m not saying we should never have sexualized or semi-clad women (or men) on book covers. What I’m saying is that it would be awfully nice if we could broaden our portrayals.

I’ll wrap this up with a few recommendations of authors who, in my opinion, do this stuff well. Karen Lord is a fairly new author, but her first book blew me away, in part for Lord’s choice to step away from the well-trod tropes. Elizabeth Bear is another. Saladin Ahmed, who just won the Locus Award for his debut novel, presented us with an Arabic-based fantasy and an old, heavyset, somewhat grouchy man as the protagonist. Tobias Buckell. Nnedi Okorafor. Seanan McGuire. These are just a few of the authors working to move beyond the tropes.

And that’s my time. Thank you all for giving me the chance to talk about this with you.

#SFWApro

In Which Taz the Cat Helps Me Change My Insulin Pump

Me: Time to change the insulin pump again.

Taz: SOMETHING INTERESTING IS HAPPENING IN THE BEDROOM HOLD ON HUMAN HERE I COME!!!

Me: Peels sticker and catheter off of my belly, removes vial from pump, sets the pump, vial, and tubing on the bed.

Taz: LOOK OUT! I WILL SAVE YOU FROM THE IMPROBABLY SKINNY SNAKE THAT WAS BITING YOUR BELLY!

Me: Fills new vial.

Taz: Excuse me, human, but the snake appears to have bitten my face.

Me: Removes sticker from Taz’s face.

Taz: Ooh, this looks like an expensive piece of medical equipment. But you know what it’s missing? A CATBUTT-PRINT!

Me: Removes Taz from my insulin pump.

Taz: You appear to be getting ready to jab a needle into your belly. I shall assist by RUBBING MY FACE ON YOUR ELBOW!

Me: Thank you. Pulls out new tubing and prepares to hook it up.

Taz: THE IMPROBABLY SKINNY SNAKE HAS REINFORCEMENTS! IMMA KILL IT FOR YOU!!!

Me: Dork.

Taz: Runs away for no particular reason.

Stumbling Over Gender, and an Apology

My awareness and understanding of gender issues is … well, let’s just say there’s an ongoing and deliberate evolution.

As a kid, I got the basic Kindergarten Cop lesson: Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina.

By the time I got to college, I was starting to recognize more layers. I distinguished between sex (a biological binary) and gender, the (again binary) performance of cultural sex-roles.

I met a friend who introduced me to the concept of transgenderism. He (at the time we met) was in the process of coming out as female. I stumbled over pronouns a few times, but then got it through my head that she was now R—-, a woman, and that was that. No problem.

Along the way I also sorted out transgender vs. transsexual vs. transvestite in my head (a process that might have gone more quickly if I had been into Rocky Horror half as much as some of my friends were).

Later on, the term “cis” started popping up. “Cisgender” and “cissexual” both threw me for a loop the first time I encountered them, and they still don’t feel like an entirely natural part of my vocabulary. Yet. But I recognize them as useful terms to identify “an individual whose self-perception of their gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth.” (From Wikipedia.) They also help move away from the flawed premise that cisgendered individuals don’t need a particular terminology because we’re “normal.”

I’ve finally started getting past the deeply-ingrained binary assumptions I grew up with. I learned the genetics a while back. Yes, we have XX and XY chromosome sets. We also have XXY, XYY, and other variations. They may be less common, but they certainly exist. If we have that much range at the genetic level, why the hell should gender identity be fixed or binary? For that matter, why the hell should gender be tied to biology at all?

I’m still learning, I’m still struggling, and I’m certainly still screwing up from time to time. I tossed out a joke yesterday that a few people challenged as cissexist. I didn’t get that at first. After walking away … well, I still may not agree with every single comment, but I think I better understand and agree with a lot of what people were saying.

I went through the typical defensive reactions in my head, of course. But that’s not what I meant! Why are you attacking people who are on your side? How hard do you have to be looking for offense to find it in that comment? Look how many people thought it was funny. And so on.

All bullshit. But bullshit that still goes through my brain when people call me on stuff like this.

Where I usually seem to mess up here is by asserting the implied equivalence of biology and gender. Or, to put it bluntly, with dick jokes.

I don’t make them often, because I try to keep a generally PG tone out of personal preference. But in my opinion, penises are goofy-looking bits of equipment, and as such, are useful elements for humor. (Or maybe a part of me is just perpetually stuck at age 12.) So when another all-male anthology or awards ballot comes out, I find myself wanting to make quips like, “Because everyone knows True Literature must be typed using only your penis!”

I think that’s a rather funny (and disturbing) image. It’s also problematic, because it equates “male” with possession of a penis. It reinforces that limited, binary, and demonstrably false worldview.

Defensive Brain immediately jumps in to say, “Okay fine, maybe you’re right, but it’s not like I’m committing hate crimes here or intentionally trying to hurt anyone!”

Defensive Brain needs to shut the &%^$ up. Because what I am doing is suggesting that a subset of people don’t exist. As they struggle for rights and recognition and legal protection, I’m making them invisible. Sure, it may not seem like a big deal to me … any more than “lady editors” was to a pair of SF authors from a recent sexism flap. But it’s one more unthinking erasure. One of a thousand daily slights, indignities, and assaults.

And I’ve contributed to that.

I won’t say that I fully get it yet, but I’m working on it, and certain things have finally begun to click. What can I say … sometimes I can be a little dense.

I apologize for my mistakes and missteps along the way.

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The cardinal photo is from http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/a-gynandromorph-cardinal-one-half-male-the-other-half-female/

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