Odds-n-Ends

I’ve been getting such positive feedback about “Bisexual Cowboys in Love“, my Brokeback Mountain article! I’m all smiles.

A Canadian friend sent me this link. Our neighbors to the north are getting it right.

Perusing Livejournal brought me into awareness of the Magic cone, which may be of interest to women and transmen alike.

Finally, I finished my upgrades and improvements at DearAmy.net! The site now has two main sponsors (Nerve.com and Match.com), with more on the way. I also added a search engine, a press page — so readers can check out some of the publicity DearAmy’s been getting — and an online store. I can’t believe it, but I now have my own little store at Cafe Press! How cute is that?!

Oh, one more thing. Here’s an interesting call-for-papers sent to me by a friend in New York:

REALNESS IS OVERRATED
Rejecting the Requirement to Pass

Slated for Fall 2006

What lies are people forced to tell in order to gain acceptance as “real?” When someone passes-as the “right” gender, race, class, sexuality, age, ability, body type, health status, ethnicity-or a member
of the dominant religion, political party, social/educational institution, exercise trend, fashion cult, or sexual practice- someone else fails. How do we break the rules and make the tools to skewer
dominant cultural norms and open space for those in the margins?

I am looking for essays that explore and critique the various systems of power seen (or not seen) in the act of passing. I’m seeking not only scathing critiques of passing into the mainstream, but also essays that examine unconventional passings and standards for inclusion in subcultures and cultures of resistance.

I’m looking for essays that confront the perilous intersections of identity, categorization and community in order to challenge the very notion of belonging. I’m especially interested in confronting gender
normativity within trans communities and racial profiling by individuals already marginalized by race, as well as rules of passing enforced by model minority mythologies, class striving obsessions and cultural
appropriation scams.

Realness Is Overrated will make sure that nothing escapes scrutiny. If we eliminate the requirement to pass, what delicious and devastating opportunities for transformation might we create?

EDITOR: Mattilda, a.k.a. Matt Bernstein Sycamore is the editor, most recently, of That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation (Soft Skull 2004) and the author of Pulling Taffy (Suspect
Thoughts 2003).

PUBLISHER: Seal Press, an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group Inc., publishes groundbreaking books by and for women in a variety of topics.

DEADLINE: is January 31, 2006 (but the earlier, the better).

LENGTH: 3,000-6,000 words

FORMAT: Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated. Please include your address, phone number, email address, and a short bio on the last page. Essays will not be returned.

SUBMITTING: Send submissions to Realness Is Overrated, c/o Mattilda, a.k.a. Matt Bernstein Sycamore, P.O. Box 640047, San Francisco, CA 94164-0047. Please include a short bio.

PAYMENT: Contributors will be paid $60-$100 for accepted work, depending on the total number of essays included in the anthology. Each contributor will receive two complimentary copies of the completed anthology.

REPLY: Please include your email address on your query letter and I will respond.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 21st, 2005 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Bisexuals/ Bi Activism, DearAmy.net, Published Writing, Transgender, Uncategorized, Women . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.