Re: [Air-l] Social media in rural communities
Hi Steven, I'm completing a book about LGBT and queer young people's uses of new media (primarily personal websites, lists, online coming out stories) to negotiate identity and public belonging in the rural United States. There's a small piece of that coming out in the journal "American Studies" (if the review process finishes before I retire). The larger ethnographic study (19 months in rural KY and along 3 of its state borders) will be out (please!) by Fall 2008. It's tentatively titled "Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and the Queering of Identity" NYU Press. </shameless self-promotion in the guise of sharing information> ; ) Mary ________________________ Mary L. Gray, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication and Culture Affiliate Faculty Gender Studies Department and American Studies Program Indiana University Mottier Hall-Ashton Center 1790 East 10th St. Bloomington, IN 47405-9700 ph. 812/855.4379 fx. 812/855.6014 email: mLg@indiana.edu http://www.indiana.edu/~qcentral On Apr 30, 2007, at 4:17 PM, air-l-request@listserv.aoir.org wrote:
Message: 10 Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:47:21 -0500 From: "Steven Clift" <slc@publicus.net> Subject: [Air-l] Social media in rural communities To: <air-l@listserv.aoir.org> Message-ID: <08dd01c78b3e$d82539e0$6600a8c0@publicus> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I am looking for research/researchers exploring the use of social/ citizen media in rural communities/areas.
This might include uses of interactive web 2.0 tools and the like either autonomously by rural folks "MySpace" or collectively around local community "OurSpace."
Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
P.S. We are working up a grant proposal to extend Issues Forums <http://e-democracy.org/if to a few rural Minnesota communities built from a series of generic citizen media and online engagement outreach presentations across the state.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven Clift - clift@publicus.net
Web: http://publicus.net Blog: http://dowire.org/notes NGO: http://e-democracy.org
Replies to slc@ may be missed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Is "queer" acceptable (non-prejudicial) these days? I have a hard time keeping up with the fashion. James "qCentral/Mary L. Gray" <qcentral@indiana.edu> wrote: Hi Steven, I'm completing a book about LGBT and queer young people's uses of new media (primarily personal websites, lists, online coming out stories) to negotiate identity and public belonging in the rural United States. There's a small piece of that coming out in the journal "American Studies" (if the review process finishes before I retire). The larger ethnographic study (19 months in rural KY and along 3 of its state borders) will be out (please!) by Fall 2008. It's tentatively titled "Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and the Queering of Identity" NYU Press. ; ) Mary ________________________ Mary L. Gray, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication and Culture Affiliate Faculty Gender Studies Department and American Studies Program Indiana University Mottier Hall-Ashton Center 1790 East 10th St. Bloomington, IN 47405-9700 ph. 812/855.4379 fx. 812/855.6014 email: mLg@indiana.edu http://www.indiana.edu/~qcentral On Apr 30, 2007, at 4:17 PM, air-l-request@listserv.aoir.org wrote:
Message: 10 Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:47:21 -0500 From: "Steven Clift" Subject: [Air-l] Social media in rural communities To: Message-ID: <08dd01c78b3e$d82539e0$6600a8c0@publicus> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I am looking for research/researchers exploring the use of social/ citizen media in rural communities/areas.
This might include uses of interactive web 2.0 tools and the like either autonomously by rural folks "MySpace" or collectively around local community "OurSpace."
Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
P.S. We are working up a grant proposal to extend Issues Forums
built from a series of generic citizen media and online engagement outreach presentations across the state.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven Clift - clift@publicus.net
Web: http://publicus.net Blog: http://dowire.org/notes NGO: http://e-democracy.org
Replies to slc@ may be missed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
errr. yes. In the West, at least, it's the acceptable catch-all for sexual minorities - gay, lesbian, transsexual and transgender people, bisexual and intersexed people... There is an extensive body of queer theory in social science and literature studies that has been built up since the early nineties. So if it's a fashion it's a persistent one. Some older gay men have said to me that they can't bear the word - it has very painful resonance for them, as it was used as an insult when they were young. But it does have wide acceptance. M-H James Whyte wrote:
Is "queer" acceptable (non-prejudicial) these days? I have a hard time keeping up with the fashion.
James
"fashion?" "preference" perhaps ... ? I think that at all times we are in search for words that would reflect our changing realities and our changing perceptions ... I just don't find "fashion" as having the right ring to it, to describe the process. Jarek
From: James Whyte <whyte.james@yahoo.com> Reply-To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] Social media in rural communities Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:00:45 -0700 (PDT)
Is "queer" acceptable (non-prejudicial) these days? I have a hard time keeping up with the fashion.
James
"qCentral/Mary L. Gray" <qcentral@indiana.edu> wrote: Hi Steven,
I'm completing a book about LGBT and queer young people's uses of new media (primarily personal websites, lists, online coming out stories) to negotiate identity and public belonging in the rural United States. There's a small piece of that coming out in the journal "American Studies" (if the review process finishes before I retire). The larger ethnographic study (19 months in rural KY and along 3 of its state borders) will be out (please!) by Fall 2008. It's tentatively titled "Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and the Queering of Identity" NYU Press.
; )
Mary ________________________ Mary L. Gray, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Communication and Culture Affiliate Faculty Gender Studies Department and American Studies Program Indiana University Mottier Hall-Ashton Center 1790 East 10th St. Bloomington, IN 47405-9700 ph. 812/855.4379 fx. 812/855.6014 email: mLg@indiana.edu http://www.indiana.edu/~qcentral
On Apr 30, 2007, at 4:17 PM, air-l-request@listserv.aoir.org wrote:
Message: 10 Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:47:21 -0500 From: "Steven Clift" Subject: [Air-l] Social media in rural communities To: Message-ID: <08dd01c78b3e$d82539e0$6600a8c0@publicus> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I am looking for research/researchers exploring the use of social/ citizen media in rural communities/areas.
This might include uses of interactive web 2.0 tools and the like either autonomously by rural folks "MySpace" or collectively around local community "OurSpace."
Cheers, Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
P.S. We are working up a grant proposal to extend Issues Forums
built from a series of generic citizen media and online engagement outreach presentations across the state.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven Clift - clift@publicus.net
Web: http://publicus.net Blog: http://dowire.org/notes NGO: http://e-democracy.org
Replies to slc@ may be missed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
--------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos. _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
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I agree with Jarek, that the use of the word queer is less about "fashion" than it is about 1) a deliberate attempt to reclaim (often medicalizing and normalizing) academic discourses about non- heterosexual people and practices and 2) a reflection of the work done by activist groups and movements such as Act Up who challenged the assimilationist message of more mainstream gay and lesbian groups. If you are interested in the use of the word queer and queer theory in general, a great place to start would be with Fear of a Queer Planet edited by Michael Warner or Queer Theory/Sociology edited by (I believe) Steven Seidman. CJ ___________________________________________ C.J. Pascoe, Ph.D. Institute for the Study of Social Change University of California, Berkeley Phone: 510-643-4227 Web: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~cjpascoe Book: http://ucpress.edu/books/pages/10671.htm Digital Youth: http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu On Apr 30, 2007, at 4:23 PM, J. J. wrote:
"fashion?" "preference" perhaps ... ? I think that at all times we are in search for words that would reflect our changing realities and our changing perceptions ... I just don't find "fashion" as having the right ring to it, to describe the process.
Jarek
--- James Whyte <whyte.james@yahoo.com> wrote:
Is "queer" acceptable (non-prejudicial) these days? I have a hard time keeping up with the fashion.
I hadn't seen (or more accurately I guess heard) it used for many years. It had, I suppose, become politically uncorrect (incorrect?) to talk about queers in the early '70s. Very not PC, but people used to talk about queer bashing. Seeing it used came as a bit of a shock - but a quick search revealed quite a lot of current usage (a few URLs follow), so presumably it's a term happily/conciously used by the gay young folk themselves. Are there not gay old or middle aged folk as well? Or is it solely used by the young queers? Language usage and meanings do change, and well may go in cycles of change in meaning if not acceptability. Mind, I gave up having a fag (UK English usage if not fashion) about 15 years ago. http://www.queeryouth.org.uk/ http://www.fyne.co.uk/index.php?item=94 http://www.qnet.org.au/content/faqs_and_articles/publications/Yes_I_Am.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer_Youth_Alliance http://dixitque.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-queer-fiction-for-young-people.htm... http://bayarea-nodrink.tribe.net/thread/39bec6e4-b1ae-49fd-87be-03cf78eb60f1 Dominic Dominic Pinto http://www.ecademy.com/user/dominicpinto http://www.linkedin.com/in/dominicpinto Live or work in, or visit Covent Garden and Westminster? Check out http://www.westmin.co.uk/index.php e-m: dominic.pinto@ieee.org M: +44 780 302-8268 Ph: +44 207 379-8341 In the U.S. M/Cell: +1 215 667-3001
I'm a middle-aged lesbian and I use it. As I posted before some older gay men have told me they can't use it or even bear to read it, but it's a very common parlance, both popular and academic, and has been for 15-20 years. The list of queer theoreticians is too long to mention, so I'd suggest you try putting 'queer theory' in google scholar. You'll find some famous names there. And queer bashing hasn't gone away. M-H Dominic Pinto wrote:
I hadn't seen (or more accurately I guess heard) it
used for many years. It had, I suppose, become politically uncorrect (incorrect?) to talk about queers in the early '70s. Very not PC, but people used to talk about queer bashing.
Seeing it used came as a bit of a shock - but a quick search revealed quite a lot of current usage (a few URLs follow), so presumably it's a term happily/conciously used by the gay young folk themselves. Are there not gay old or middle aged folk as well? Or is it solely used by the young queers?
Language usage and meanings do change, and well may go in cycles of change in meaning if not acceptability
I find this interesting... I am a mid-30s, straight academic and I hear it all the time. It is so common that I found myself laughing at the question about it being "what the kids say." Mind you, I live in the gay village, and have a variety of gay and lesbian friends, study at a leftist university, and have many colleagues that identify themselves as "queer scholars." So no, it doesn't feel odd or hurtful to me at all. Queer theory is tossed about so readily that I even equate it with social theory. On 5/1/07, Mary-Helen Ward <mhward@usyd.edu.au> wrote:
I'm a middle-aged lesbian and I use it. As I posted before some older gay men have told me they can't use it or even bear to read it, but it's a very common parlance, both popular and academic, and has been for 15-20 years. The list of queer theoreticians is too long to mention, so I'd suggest you try putting 'queer theory' in google scholar. You'll find some famous names there.
And queer bashing hasn't gone away.
M-H
Dominic Pinto wrote:
I hadn't seen (or more accurately I guess heard) it
used for many years. It had, I suppose, become politically uncorrect (incorrect?) to talk about queers in the early '70s. Very not PC, but people used to talk about queer bashing.
Seeing it used came as a bit of a shock - but a quick search revealed quite a lot of current usage (a few URLs follow), so presumably it's a term happily/conciously used by the gay young folk themselves. Are there not gay old or middle aged folk as well? Or is it solely used by the young queers?
Language usage and meanings do change, and well may go in cycles of change in meaning if not acceptability
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I grew up in a rural southern US community. I was always different than my red-neck bretheren and made friends with all the kids who were marginal (as was I). One of those friends was a dancer and who later moved on the be a principal dance in the New York Ballet scene. Aside from being talented he was clearly of a different orientation than I. On reflection, I think my friendship with him was important to both of us. It taught me to be tolerant it taught him that all straights were not hatefull. Our town never embraced him or me. The word "Queer" makes the hair stand on the back of my neck, as does many epithets of prejudice. IMHO the use of such a words, even by those to whom it may apply, serves nothing but darkness. My question was innocent, the answers are not satifsying. It is a private problem. Never mind. I --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.
James, you are right to call it a private problem. As with any terminology, it ends up, ultimately, being a matter of personal preference. In my experience and observations of others, I would say that it depends on the situation more than the terminology itself. Reading a book on "queer theory" is a largely different experience than having the word "queer" flung at you in a drive-by flaming (drive-by flaming - in which a person too cowardly to actually insult you to your face does it at you in a car passing at 30 mph). This is perhaps the same reason why I am able to call my male friends fags, while a straight person might be greeted with hostility on doing the same. Not unlike a joke falling flat in e-mail because of a lack of visual or other situational clues. The context is as much, if not more important than, the vocabulary itself. A word is nothing more than a collection of sounds. What the word is used *for* is where its meaning lies. -Alexis On Tue, 1 May 2007, James Whyte wrote: ::I grew up in a rural southern US community. I was always different than my red-neck bretheren and made friends with all the kids who were marginal (as was I). One of those friends was a dancer and who later moved on the be a principal dance in the New York Ballet scene. Aside from being talented he was clearly of a different orientation than I. On reflection, I think my friendship with him was important to both of us. It taught me to be tolerant it taught him that all straights were not hatefull. :: :: Our town never embraced him or me. The word "Queer" makes the hair stand on the back of my neck, as does many epithets of prejudice. :: :: IMHO the use of such a words, even by those to whom it may apply, serves nothing but darkness. :: :: My question was innocent, the answers are not satifsying. It is a private problem. Never mind. :: :: :: I ::
And here's a few more on just a 'queer' search: Everything in the known universe tagged queer http://technorati.com/tag/queer Queer Theory http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-que1.htm Queer History http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/gaylink1.htm
participants (8)
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Alexis Turner -
C.J. Pascoe -
Dominic Pinto -
J. J. -
James Whyte -
Mary-Helen Ward -
qCentral/Mary L. Gray -
Sam Ladner