Planting Neons #1 // Gender

Planting Neons Gender

#1

FOREWORD - BOOKSY QUEERS Ever thought how publishing and books affect the way we see the world?

As far as we’re concerned, it’s undeniable.

So there it is, a new fanzine. A project driven by two students. Both aspiring publishers, both passionate about social issues. As publishers, we believe it is our job to take care of the ideas that will shape the global way of thinking.

By writing about the book industry and the social world in the same place, we show how co-dependant the two are.

For our first issue, we chose a big, scary theme : Gender. This word is used by everybody, but is often empty of a definition, even though gender inequalities and representation should be learn at school see. What exactly is Gender?

The social sex, some might say, and it is progressively getting rid of the male/ female binary to become more of a spectrum, different for everybody depending on how you want society to perceive you. As for books, the strengthening of a sense of community gives hope for the future of queer publishing, letting minorities hear their voices, shaping the multi-diverse literature and society of tomorrow.

Taking as example our beloved minorities and what we hope is the future of publishing, we can now proudly say that Planting Neons #1 is here, and is queer.

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WHAT’S GROWING THIS ISSUE Meet the team Books for thoughts Leafing through books

p.4 p.5

The kids’ books are alright Bye bye, queer publishers?

We could be heroes

Bright

society

About

next time...

p.7 p.8 p.10

The beginning of a new haira Let’s feel pretty, oh so pretty!

Education is the key

p.14 p.16 p.18 p.20

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Capucine The "plant part" of the fanzine. Always singing show tunes off-key, (very) enthusiastic about approximately everything, I see life in bright yellow and think of publishing as a platform in which every community can have a voice.

Mathilde The designer and neon part of the team. I have a tremendous passion for period dramas, and I spend most of my time reading and playing video games. If I had to define publishing, it would be an industry where everything is possible.

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BOOKS FOR THOUGHTS

What we left behind, Robin Talley

Girls will be girls, Emer O’Toole

Toni and Gretchen have been in love since high school. As they try a long distance relationship when getting into college, Toni explore the complexity of gender, while her girlfriend tries to understand. An important and powerful young adult novel about discovering yourself and accepting others that reassures teens and emphasise how figuring out your own identity isn’t always a crystal-clear and easy process.

If the world is a stage, then gender is a performance. That’s the stance of Emer O’ Tool, who, through her own experiences as a woman, questions gender, identity and social conditioning.

Mostly autobiographical, Girls will be girls analyses with a humourous tone, how complex gender is and how it impacts our society. We read the author’s experiences and ask ourselves "how society would react if I act like this?"

CD

MY 5

Leafing Through Books

The

kids’ books are alright

Whenever people ask me for a short book recommendation, I almost always answer with one title : George, by Alex Gino (and if I don’t, it’s because I’ve already recommended it to that person, and I don’t want to be a boring old record – which never happens anyway because they always end up reading it. But I digress.).

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hen I talk to someone about George, I start with the obvious: it’s published by Scholastic, it’s a children’s book. "So why are you recommending it to me then?" because, my dear, this book is one of the most important published this past years. A book about a transgender kid, written by a transgender author, for everyone. Yes, it is as amazing as it sounds.

What’s more, it’s real. There’s nothing wrong with castles, princes.se.s and fairies, but it’s good for the kids to know that true stories exist as well, with children like them dealing with their identities and discovering who they are. The story, of course, isn’t violent – it’s meant for under-10, don’t forget – but it’s not sugarcoating the truth either : people will have problems with who you are if you aren’t like what they are expecting you to be. Alex Gino is genderqueer. They wanted to write for kids like them so they could have support growing up and not be as lost as Alex was. Thus, George was written, where she doesn’t understand why she can’t play the spider in her school adaptation of , Charlotte’s Web, and why does everybody thinks she’s a boy?

I talk about this book, but more and more kidsoriented trans stories are being published nowadays, and isn’t it amazing? Because novels like George aren’t

just for trans youth (although, obviously, they are the main audience concerned here), but can be read by anyone. It’s a kid’s book before being a trans book, and a great mind opener.

Kids aren’t born with prejudice. Make them read books about trans and gay kids and teens, take the time to talk with them, for less prejudiced generations in the future. Because trust me, there’s no better feeling that seeing a cis, straight person getting interested in the queer book you’re talking about and asking you about gender so as to be more educated. It’s hope.

CD George, Alex Gino Scholastic 224 pp

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Bye

bye, queer publishers?

With a growing effort to be more inclusive coming from big publishers, are small, LGBT+ only presses still relevant, and is there a future for queer-only literary spaces?

Q

ueer publishing has been around for decades, as a way to counteract the white heterosexual novels. Those proud and political publications were then a safe space for queer authors to be accepted and published, but now that "traditional" publishers are becoming more inclusive, I wonder what will become of those queer-only presses. Are they even relevant anymore or should we just thank them for their work and move on? Are we, us queer readers, slowly killing them?

Gay’s the Word, the UK’s last LGBT+ only bookshop and a must-visit if you’re in London), only one or two, if any, can be found in any European country...

"But now, there’s LGBT shelves in regular bookshops", you might say. And to you, I respond: is there really?

Sure, now that big publishers are putting out queer (YA or adult) novels, they are most likely to be seen in bookshops, which brings a much needed awareness to the masses. However, the "unconventional love" stigma is still unfortunately strong and books continue to be marketed as such.

Even more tiring, notice how, in the"gay section" of bookshops, poetry, theatre, essays, YA novels, classics and erotica are all put there together, their only common point being that they’re LGBT. Which is why this – very important to queer readers link between them can still be found, while being logically divided into genres and categories, in specialized bookshops, who also happen to create a safe space for LGBT people who needs to find their sense of community without going to bars and clubs (for example thanks to reading events) and do not hesitate to put front and center unique stories from less known publishers.

Well, in a way, yes we are.

It is our job as readers, more importantly as queer readers willing to fight and support our community, to continue to look out for small publishers and support queer editors, and queer authors. Granted, it isn’t always easy, as they tend to be overshadowed and are mostly known thanks to word-to-mouth. So it’s time to pack a bag, and go hunting for small bookshops with queer books, because we mustn’t forget either about LGBT bookstores. Those sacred places for us queers’ fates are directly linked to the future of LGBT publishing. Indeed, small publishers and small bookshops can and should help each other, especially now that little, independent queer publishing structures are starting to grow again, prouder than ever before, thanks to fanzines, magazines, and a renewed thirst for social justice and intersectional inclusivity. Although some of them are doing well and are a reference throughout their country or even internationally (such as London’s

Now with big houses creating diverse novels, it is undeniable that small queer houses aren’t the only ones to provide LGBT readers for their need to be represented, and we cannot foolishly assume that those 8

bigger houses won’t overshadow the smaller ones – not to say their influence is absolutely awful since, like we said before, their actions and presence greatly helps gay authors and LGBT representation. However, those previously underground small presses are there to keep the editorial field diverse in a way that they can offer alternative plots, characterization and issues, both in fiction and non-fiction, and keep books from being published by the same company over and over again. Their strengths can be found in a devoted queer readership that would fight for representation and are proud to support members of their community, but also because queer publishers get and know what we precisely want to read as a LGBT reader. They know how to look beyond a gay character, and how to market their publication first and foremost as a book which happens to feature a gay protagonist that everyone, regardless of gender and orientation, can identify to so as to be a commercial success. Gaysi Zine’s chief editor Pirya admitted to dnaindia.com in November 2014 that "We have moved ahead of just writing about our identity and sexuality. We have many straight writers too and a lot of content that straight people would be interested in".

fight between big, multinational publishers and small, dedicated, independent presses. On the contrary, the two of them both work their part in a different way: while the multinational provides a wide readership and the spotlight on queer issues, small houses can publish more niche essays and literature that will find a dedicated, although smaller, audience. The way the two complete each other leads to the creation of a truly diverse range of LGBT books, that everyone, queer, straight, people looking specifically for representation or just a good story, can relate to and enjoy.

CD

Thus, a paradox is created : queer only publishing spaces are being created while other are closing ; the publications are queerer and prouder but also open to straight people so as to reach a wider market. Because then again, what’s important about queer publishing is to get the word out, help representation, fight censorship and communicate about our community so as to be seen and understood by as many people as possible so as to get more accepted. Hence, I do believe that the queer publishing field isn’t a David and Goliath-like 9

We

could be heroes

10

There was a time in my life when I read mostly comics and mangas, I still read a lot of them nowadays. However the more I grew up, the more I questioned myself about representation in this particular genre. Why were the (super) heroes mostly cis straight white men? Why were women in comics only used as props? Why couldn’t I identify with the main characters? Well, first of all most comics are drawn and written by cis straight white men for cis straight white men..

T

hankfully, the internet came to the rescue and brought webcomics. At last, it was possible for me to read gems like Todd Allison and the Petunia Violet (which is unfortunately discontinued)–by the way, Tapastic is also a great website if you’re into webcomics.

Thus, webcomics remain the way for minorities to express themselves and to write about their experiences. For example, webcomics such as Gender slices by Jey Pawlik or Assignée garçon by Sophie Labelle are about the author’s experiences with gender and identity, and it feels refreshing to read a comic with people who actually deal with it in their everyday lives.

having webcomics is a way to counterbalance a white heterosexual dominated field.

“Having webcomics is a way to counterbalance a white heterosexual dominated field”

Of course, it’s also far easier to publish webcomics: authors don’t need to go through the "traditional" process, and they won’t risk to be rejected because of their stories’s content which supposedly won’t satisfy the mainstream public, and 11

Fortunately, some big publishers like DC comics or Marvel have decided to step up their games by adding characters that defy traditional gender roles. So now we have comics like Ms. Marvel whose heroine Kamala Khan is a Muslim Pakistani girl. Still, we mustn’t forget the fact that publishers want to sell their books, which is understandable of course. Having a character who will not please the majority of their audience could be a risky bet.

By the way, this is what G. Willow Wilson, the creator of Ms. Marvel said about Kamala Khan, "I think when we were discussing the creation of this character, she was the trifecta of death," Wilson said. "She was a new character, and new characters do not tend to do well. She was a girl — female characters do not tend to do well. And she was a

minority, and minority characters do not tend to do should add new characters that will please their new well." (FiveThirtyEight, October 2014) public,their characters are still mostly cis straight white men. Therefore, webcomics are still the way to Which leads me to my next question : the public. go when talking about diversity.

Men are the most avid readers of comics, but they are followed closely by women. That may explain why I personally like the webcomic world. Webcomics publishers have begun to make comics with female cha- author, well some of them, are not drawing to be puracters. Indeed, women like female characters, maybe blished by big publishers.They draw what they want, because it’s easier to identify with someone who looks without constraints and with a lot of freedom, freedom like you Shocking I know). Unfortunately, men reading which could be hard to find with a publisher. Above comics tend to forget it. Who could blame them, for all, they know that they will find a community who years they were in the spotlight. So, when the new Thor are like them. was announced, it felt as if the world was ending. Thor couldn’t possibly be a woman! When"male" roles are MY assumed by females the public just goes crazy, and they will find thousand excuses to justify their dissatisfaction; like according to mythology Thor was meant to be a man, only can a man can do that type of thing, it isn’t logical that they change the character. Honestly, have you ever seen a person with superpowers or mythological Gods?

My only counter-argument about this would be that instead of having a umpteenth remake of xxx character, having a brand new character would be great.

Moreover, it is important to note that misogyny is rampant in the comics scene. I can’t recall the number of anecdotes I’ve read where women had to undergo interrogations just to prove that they weren’t a fake comics fan. So, of course publishers still need to step up their games a little bit, but maybe cis men comic fans need to see that everything isn’t necessarily about them.

In the end, even if big publishers have seen that they 12

Bright Society

The

beginning of a new haira

I

f I asked you to draw a woman*, how would you draw her? You don’t have any other instructions.

If I ask you to do that, I’m sure that the majority would draw a woman with long hair. Why? The answer is simple, we associate long hair with femininity. Society and media taught us this, we have an ingrained idea of what women’s hair should look like.

For most people, a woman with long and silky hair is considered beautiful and feminine. Why? Because she respects the norms established by society. But what about women and women aligned people with short hair? Well, not so much.

There is a link between hair and femininity, especially between long hair and femininity. Have you seen a Disney princess without long hair? It kind of became an injunction for women to have long hair to the point that if a girl decides to go to the hairdresser to cut her hair it’s as if the world was ending.

Of course throughout History, some women decided to drift away from these conventions. Take the flapper movement for example, women decided to cut their hair, appropriate male privilege and behave freely. As expected, they were ostracised by society.

The moment when a woman dares having short hair, she will have to answer many questions. The main one being "Are you a lesbian?" (as you may know if you’re attracted to girls you can’t have long hair, I don’t make the rules).

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Anyway, you just have to look online and see discussions about this subject.

For some people (cis men) short haired women are not feminine enough, they are "damaged", or even worse, if a woman cuts her hair, she "cuts" her femininity.

Of course, for some people having short hair can be a political statement or a way to affirm their ideas. Why not, your body, your choice. Cutting one’s hair can also be useful, all the more when trying to pass.

No need to beat around the bush, in most cases the people who think that short hair is not feminine enough are often cis men. We live in a society where women should exist for male viewing pleasure only, and by cutting their hair, women decide to do something for themselves. Since it doesn’t please men, that kind of behaviour is often seen as revolutionary. No wonder they try to repress it.

What’s more, what about non binary or agender people? Putting a label on everything just doesn’t work in our society. Hair can be, above all, a way to express ourselves, so we should try to not confine it in a box. * Women + women aligned people

MY

Besides, thinking that hair can dictate a gender or a sexuality is completely archaic. Hair is neither masculine nor feminine, after all it’s just hair, and simplifying someone’s gender by the length of their hair is kind of ridiculous.

However, we live in a society with strict gender norms where your hair’s length can be judged by anyone.

A woman with short hair is too masculine and is a lesbian, a man with long hair is too feminine and he’s gay, obviously. This kind of reasoning is harmful and what about people who don’t fit into these categories?

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Let’s

E

feel pretty, oh so pretty!

verybody wants to look good.

That is a Fact. Whether it’s for a significant other, or for yourself; to have a great profile picture, to go out or even when you’re just wearing sweatpants and watching T.V all day. Who doesn’t want to be pretty? Self-love is important, and, although looks are not the be-all end-all of our lives, actually smiling when you see yourself in a mirror never hurts.

It is also accepted that make-up

aims to make you look different.

I am not saying it automatically makes you prettier, but for those who enjoy it, it is a fun way to transform your face into anything you want.

So why is an innocent and creative way of making you feel good about yourself still is subjected to such a heavy stigma and stereotypes? And I am not only talking about the take-her-swimming-onthe-first-date-and-only-fake-girls16

wear-makeup kind of stereotypes, but just the "only girls wear makeup" part.

Let’s focus on a boys-and-girls type of binary here for a moment.

Boys generally aren’t expected to"be"pretty, this very word being seen a negative when aimed towards any boy or man older than 10. Let’s also dwell on that : when someone uses "pretty boy" as an insult, several things are implied : the target is

1. Vain so he’s also 2. Effeminate which automatically means that he’s 3. Gay. Of course, every gay person is pretty, but –spoilers!– being pretty doesn’t make you gay. Which leads us directly to the main point of the article : makeup. Let’s take a look at the equation, shall we?

stuff is so gendered, then what should nb people do?

Only put on makeup on half their faces? By putting mundane things such as makeup in gender boxes, we are restricting ourselves and overall making our lives more complicated than necessary. I do understand that the affiliation with femininity (or masculinity for other examples) can be useful for trans folks trying to For a man, it is generally admitted that being "pass", but on the other hand we should let everybody pretty=being gay. If putting on make up = being pretty, do what they want with their faces. After all, makeup is then putting on makeup = being gay, according to the about being fun and creative, and since when are those common way of thinking and no science whatsoever. gender based character traits?

It is thus impossible for a manly straight man to wear make up. Or so it seems.

But times are changing, and some brands try to help by CD having male models wearing make up in their ads (such as Tom Ford, Maybelline or Covergirl, although some things could be said about their choice of ambassadors), but their ads are still targeted towards women. Because, after all, it is women who mostly buy makeup, because they’ve been encouraged to do so and it is more socially accepted – if not mandatory.

This link between femininity and makeup hasn’t always been here – a few centuries ago, men were as powdered as women but, along with heels and other similar attires, it is now effeminate.

The fact that makeup is seen as feminine isn’t totally separated from the fact that it is frowned upon either. Indeed, it is one among many things in the long list women are required to do – take care of themselves, be pretty i.e take the time to do their makeup – while simultaneously are ridiculed for it – let’s be natural!

But let’s not show any spots or dark circles, shall we?

Moreover, if all of this appearance and makeup 17

EDUCATION IS THE KEY T here have been countless talks about gender during these past years. Still, a lot of people are not aware of what gender is exactly, and some of them think of it more as an internet phenomenon. All in all, there is a lot of disinformation around gender.

O

f course, if you’re interested in the subject, you can always find some information on the internet, and that’s what I did. I googled "what is gender", the first thing I found was "gender: the state of being male or female", and if I behave like any other internet user, the first answer will be the one I use. However, as you may or may not know, gender is not binary.

Technically, school should be the place where you could learn about gender. However, the question remains, why don’t we talk about gender in school? Wouldn’t that be easier if children learned about it when they’re young? In my opinion, you need to educate people, you can’t expect them to know about gender inequality or gender gaps. Hopefully, they won’t reproduce them later in society if they are aware of their existence.

If they learned that there is more than two genders, maybe they wouldn’t be surprised once they come across someone that doesn’t fit into these categories.

of course having this kind of classes is already a progress.

But let’s get back to the main question which is: why don’t children learn about gender in schools?

Thanks to my arduous journey on the internet I found an answer.

Parents are the principal obstacle.

As you can guess, the recurring arg uments are that children are too young, it’s not age-appropriate, it could clash with the "values" of their families, it could shock them...and so on. When you read what some people and parents think about gender, you may think that teachers are going to show them a R-rated movie.

What I find the most surprising is reading that gender is irrelevant, that it’s not important. How gender could be irrelevant when we live in a society where gender is everywhere? Kids are always learning about it in their everyday lives, gender has affected them since the moment they’re born. They are surrounded by messages telling them that x is for girls and y for boys, their toys are gendered. They live in a sexualised society. Moreover, gender has also a strong presence in school .Often, boys and girls will be separated in class,

Obviously, learning about gender is possible, but most of the time it only concerns university courses.

Besides, people who decide to learn about it are often people who are aware of what gender is, and already know things about this subject. In the end, you preach to the converted. I don’t complain about this situation, 18

in February 2016 "We must work against our traditional way of thinking (...) The world that I grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. The children are going to be adults in 15 or 20 years’ time. They are going to live in another sort of society. We have to prepare them for that."

when they play sports or in some other activities. Unconsciously, they form their own ideas about gender roles.

Furthermore, can we really say that gender is a complicated concept to explain? It is the same with a multitude of subjects that a child can encounter while in school.

Learning about a language, math, science, history... is complicated, yet you don’t see parents saying things like "my child won’t learn french because the grammar doesn’t make any sense". Children are not going to have a PhD in gender studies, they’re just going to know more about this issue.

Learning about gender will allow them to understand it better, and it will surely help them later in their lives. Also, do we think about kids or teenagers who don’t fit in the traditional gender spectrum? What about them? Won’t it be reassuring for them to learn that they are not an exception that they can fit into society, and that they are perfectly fine?

Nevertheless, we live in a society where different genders are more accepted. Of course, it’s not the case everywhere and the situation is far from perfect. Still, it’s clear that we can’t just ignore it.

MY

Fortunately, some schools have decided to include gender in their curriculum, that’s the case in Washington, where children will be learning about gender identity among other subjects, or in Sweden. In the case of Sweden, some schools have decided to implant a gender neutral policy in order to teach equality to children.

They don’t differentiate between them. They let them choose their toys, or the sport they want to play. After all, why do we need to treat them differently because of their genders?

In these schools, teachers think that children and their parents should challenge the way they think, and as Lotta Rajalin, the head of five state preschools for children aged one to six in Sweden said to the Guardian 19

About

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Issue #2

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ŠCapucine D, Mathilde Y Design by Mathilde Y 20