It Is Complicated

Gaining our voice is complicated - So is making ourselves heard.

This week we have a guest - Michelle Belcher - https://www.michellebelcher.tv/ and we three talk about voices, gaining our voices and giving voice to our thoughts.

What does it mean to gain your voice? What decisions do we make to be heard (and seen) as ourselves? How can we prepare ourselves for changes to our voices? What do we give up when we try and be heard as ourselves?

What does it mean when we have to work to make sounds right? How does this impact on our way of communicating?

When you hear us, how do you read us?

Tickets to Dr J’s TEDx talk - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tedxsquaremile-2021-tickets-139184890755

We have a transcript for this episode - IIC Episode 38 Transcript

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about being heard as ourselves.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being Trans is complicated - especially in times of covid! 

This week we have a guest - Michelle Belcher - https://www.michellebelcher.tv/ and we three talk about coming out as trans or non-binary, how we found ourselves, how this changes in the midst of covid, and how that reflects on the ways we’ve all come out, as queer, as trans, as non-binary - often more than once.

We cover history, the gaming industry - and talk how Gilgamesh (via a musical) and Octodad (a video game) show that we queers have always been here.

Tickets to Dr J’s TEDx talk - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tedxsquaremile-2021-tickets-139184890755

We have a transcript for this episode - IIC Episode 37 Transcript

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about the complications of trans in times of covid.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Getting healthcare is complicated - what script can we use? We talk about getting healthcare/medical interventions and the experiences we have had. We talk about ‘Trans broken arm” (or in one of our cases Trans Broken leg), and while sometimes we think we’ve had privilege - we find out we didn’t.

Content Note: We discuss medical procedures and transphobic treatment

We talk about a script of three questions to make interacting with healthcare as a trans/non-binary/gender non-conforming person better.

- What pronoun do you prefer?

- What hormones do you make and which do you take?

- Would you want a bottle or a pan?

This is written up more here: https://drjharrison.github.io/portfolio/genderfluid-the-solution/

If you want to have more discussion on Jesus Fucking Karen! We recommend watching Lindsay Ellis on Transphobia in the media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHTMidTLO60&t=3004s) and ContrePoints (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gDKbT_l2us) on JK Rowling

Honestly - after both of those wonderful videos - we feel we have flogged this dead horse sufficiently to move along - for now. 

We now will end on a positive note - discussing how Keanu Reeves is Breathtaking

We have a transcript for this episode - IIC Episode 36 Transcript

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about healthcare.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being queer is complicated - are we queer enough? We talk about the notion of queer and the extended ideas that come with queer and when are we “queer enough” - and when can we call ourselves queer?

Where does “queer enough” begin? Who gets to decide? Do we recruit? 

We have a transcript for this episode - IIC Episode 35 Transcript

The short film we mention - Queerer than Thou - on YouTube - Queerer Than Thou

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about being queer enough.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being bullied is complicated - and how others respond is also. This comes with a content note - we discuss bullying and violence.

We talk about that phrase “Don’t be a victim” and the status quo warriors who say it to us - and what that means in terms of how bullying works and the complications of our responses - the social scripts we play and those we play against.

We give our ideas on how to solve such a complex situation from our different perspectives - and we have quite different views.

We have a transcript for this episode - IIC Episode 34 Transcript

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about bullying and how we as groups respond.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lockdown and Covid trauma - and queer survival is complicated. How queers are surviving the lockdown and the extended trauma of the Covid pandemic. We talk about privilege, and the privilege of being able to shelter - and how we as queers have developed superpowers to survive these long slow trauma events - we are glittery cockroaches who will be there at the end of days - not just surviving - partying!

We talked about two books - Jamie Hale’s book of sonnets - Shield - available here: https://vervepoetrypress.com/product/jamie-hale-shield-pre-order-free-uk-pp/?v=7516fd43adaa

Kate Bornstien “Hello Cruel world” -  available from all booksellers - so go independent and support your local bookshops! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/214002/hello-cruel-world-by-kate-bornstein-foreword-by-sara-quin/

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about if queers are glittery cockroaches partying at the end of days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Episode 2 -  2021 continues - and is 2020 plus one. A special episode, recorded live (so unedited, and one of us is on pain medication), where we cover the last 26 hours or so… and why our “homework” is late.

TLDR; Josephine has a broken leg after a fall in the snow

This will lead to another episode in the future - “So you’re trans/non-binary and engaging with basic healthcare” or "What to do when you as a medical professional find out your patient is trans/non-binary"

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to connect with you about the shite fest that is 2021

No transcript today - our apologies for this lack of accessibility - the one of us who is awake enough doesn't have the typing skills - the other is on pain meds, and is happily floating around at the moment - and so we lack the capacity this week to get them done.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Media is complicated - or maybe not. We talk through the Bechdel test, what it is for and how it works and propose our own version for Trans and Non-Binary representation in film/TV/shows.

The Laverne Totah Test:

1) Have a Trans or Non-Binary Character

2) Played by a Trans or Non-Binary actor

3) Whose main narrative purpose is not tragedy

It’s simple! It’s setting the bar incredibly low (we talk about why this is important). It is simple to pass the Laverne Totah Test - you can simply have a trans character, played by a trans actor, walk on screen, look around, and walk off!

This is the alpha, the 0.9 version - so let us know what you think of this on our Twitter...

We reference the Breathtaking - Keanu Reeves, Laverne Cox, Josie Totah, Elliot Page and of course Alison Bechdel who presented the original test in Dykes to Watch out for.

Now with improved accessibility - we will have a transcript for this episode (we're running a bit slow on these - thanks 2021)

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to hear your thoughts on our test for Trans and Non-Binary in media

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing ourselves is complicated - and it can be an emotional journey. We talk through what a change in employment can mean, what being visibly ourselves when we are employed can mean. We cover the notions of visibility and safety, and how this complicates our lives and the decisions we make every day about visibility. 

How our fear of loss can impact on our ability to enjoy, and relax in spaces.

Now with improved accessibility - we have a transcript for this episode

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to hear your thoughts on our Introductions dilemma.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Being lighthearted complicated - we attempt to do something fun and fail due to complications. We discuss postcolonial readings of popular Christmas songs, Latin for “in the middle of”, we attempt to answer simple random questions, and thanks to events we even had to add a postscript as events and people’s comments overtook our conversation - thanks to a particular trans person's comments in the media.

We go on many journeys - and rants abound. Yes… everything is complicated.

Now with improved accessibility - we have a transcript for this episode

Our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/itiscomplicated

Give us feedback - we’re on twitter - https://twitter.com/ItIsComplicatd - we’d love to hear your thoughts on us trying to be Lighthearted..

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.