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Bodies of Knowledge

Tomorrow, all day, is the Bodies of Knowledge Conference at University of South Carolina, in Spartanburg. I’m speaking at 2:30, but others include:

From the website:

The Bodies of Knowledge Symposium is designed to raise awareness on campus about sexual diversity, to cultivate anti-homophobic attitudes among Upstate students, faculty, staff and administration, and to provide LGBTQ students with opportunities to deepen their ties to each other, to the LGBTQ community, and to their straight allies on campus, as well as in the region of the U.S. Southeast.

I’m really looking forward to it, so do come if you can, & are in the area.

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Taking the Crescent

I’m taking the Crescent down to Spartanburg, South Carolina today, where I’ll be speaking at the Bodies of Knowledge conference on Friday, April 11th, at 2:30 PM. I’m very much looking forward to the conference and to meeting the organizer and other speakers.

Then I turn around & come back home in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of having met Betty.

The beauty of 28 hours of round-trip train time? Writing time. No cell phone. Sims when I want or need a break. Theoretically, naps. And then, well, Amtrak food.

Thank you again to my secret laptop donor. You really have made my life remarkably easier, and better.

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Wish List

I’ve found myself back in Brooklyn after teaching a term at Lawrence and a semester at Merrimack, needing work.

I’d prefer teaching work in the NYC area, or lectures at colleges or the like, but really I’ll consider anything that pays okay. Lecture gigs are always good fun.

I am, of course, for hire as a coach, to help find transition resources, and for other trans-related stuff. I’m happy to provide an ear or a shoulder to cry on for trans people & partners alike.

I’m also a decent editor, writer, and admin. I’m a good lecturer and teacher. I can bookkeep if necessary. If you want to see more about what I do and what I’ve done, my author website is the place to check: www.helenboydbooks.com.

But if any of you know academics, especially in English or Gender Studies, please mention me to them.

& While I’m at it, I need a new literary agent who represents fiction, too. & A grant to finish writing my novel.

Okay, I think that’s it for now.

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Pregnant Man, Redux

That bonehead Bill O’Reilly made fun of Thomas Beattie for having a baby since his wife can’t.

Keith Olbermann called O’Reilly one of the “worst persons in the world” for doing so.

Olbermann 1, O’Reilly 0.

For those of you who are confused by the whole “pregnant man” story, here’s the nutshell: female-bodied person needed to change gender due to internal sense of gender role. Took testosterone, had breasts removed, was legally declared male on important documents. Did not have full hysterectomy. His wife, Nancy, unable to have a baby due to her own gyn stuff, opted to impregnate her husband via artificial insemination, who went off testosterone two years ago in order to be able to do so.

So that’s it. It’s not complicated, it’s not disgusting. It’s just a man who, with his wife, wanted to have their own child, and had the plumbing to do so. End of story. If any other husband could, and did, we’d all be talking about how brave & selfless he was, but because this particular man was born female at birth, people are freaking out. No need. Choice is the gig, and stuff like this is going to keep happening — baby, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

While I’m here, can we toss the phrase “artificial insemination”? It’s silly. You sure can end up pregnant, & there’s real sperm involved and a real egg. So how about “technologically assisted insemination”? “Manual insemination”? Something better than “artificial.” That makes it sounds like people are getting pregnant with robots or extras from Steven Spielberg movies.

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Goddess Worship

The Times of India ran an interesting story about a crossdressing religious tradition:

They are about to take part in the Kottankulangara Sridevi temple festival. The ancient temple in Chavara, Kerala, has a unique tradition. On the last two days of the festival, regular men, common office-going professionals, dress up as women for the chamayavilakku (chamaya is make-up, vilakku is lamp). Bedecked with flowers, lamps in hand, they wait patiently till the wee hours of dawn for the goddess to bless them.

It’s also become a gathering for “feminine men,” or Kothis – which the article identifies as homosexuals and transvestites.

(Thanks to Veronica for the link.)

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What a Heel.

Is anyone else grossed out by the PedEgg commercial? Has anyone else seen it? Do I really need to see someone’s heel skin scrapings on TV?

I don’t think so. Though I do find it ironic – make your feet pretty, and totally gross out your housemates in the process!

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Opening Up

Tristan Taormino has a new book coming out about non-monogamous relationships called Opening Up. I’m actually really excited about it, since so many people have asked me how to manage that kind of change in a relationship, and I’m pleased to have a resource for it, and written by someone who knows.

The book has its own website, designed by the very fabulous & talented Betty, so do go check it out.