"Glee" Introduces It's First Transgendered Character

Glee raised the bar for diversity on network television again last night, when it introduced a new character named Unique, a transgender African American student and performer in rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline. The character is played by Alex Newell, who finished as a runner up on The Glee Project; the Oxygen reality show in which a group of hopefuls competed for a spot on Fox’s hit show. Audiences first saw Unique as Wade, a shy student from a different high school who gushed with fandom for Kurt and Mercedes and asked for their advice on coping as outsiders. Wade recalled being tormented by other kids at school and even family members, and revealed that “Ever since I was a kid, I would play this game. Where I would pretend I was a different person. The person I dreamed of being. The real me. I even have a different name. Unique.” Kurt offers words of support, saying “I hope one day you have enough courage to be him.” To which Wade responds “Actually, Unique’s a her.” The education of Kurt came later in the episode when, with help from Mercedes, he attempted to deter Unique from performing as a girl. “I’ve worn some flamboyant outfits, but I’ve never dressed up as a woman," he tells Unique. "That’s because you identify yourself as a man," she replies. "I thought you of all people would understand.”

 With shows such as this maybe more people will understand! We need separation from the gay and lesbian cultures to be accepted and understood!!!!

Civilian Gender Crafts

I operate a shop at "Etsy". If you have never heard of it, it is a arts,crafts and vintage collectible sales site.
As I searched it the other night, I came across an interesting post about "gender specific" crafts:

"Gender crafts still exist partly because of past generations taking their sons to the 'shop' and their daughters to the 'sewing room.' Without any conscious effort my grown sons have sat at my sewing machine more than my daughter, who has learned the skill of tile setting. If we allow the next generation to be drawn to their own interests and not steer them to gender appropriate work it may well come back full circle as gendered."
Here is a portion:
“Women’s work.” It’s a phrase that’s often applied to tasks viewed as simple, routine, and “soft.” It’s a point of view made plain, surprisingly, at an avant gárde training ground for architects, artists, and designers: the Bauhaus.
From 1919 to 1933, this influential school in Germany combined fine arts and design with a craft-based curriculum that included metalworking, cabinetmaking, pottery, and typography. The result was a kind of utopian guild where artists and craftspeople together created functional and beautiful objects. Well-known architects and painters including Mies van der Rohe, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky were among the faculty."
"Those who led workshops at Bauhaus were called masters, and part of Bauhaus philosophy was an easy-going relationship between masters and students. But for all its modernist thinking and many female students, there was only one female master: Gunta Stölzel. In 1927, after significant complaints about the male weaving master, Stölzel was given the title of young master and entrusted with the leadership of the weaving workshop precisely because it was considered “women’s work.” She had been a Bauhaus student for six years"

Check the entire link for the whole story but the end of the article says it all:

In the year before taking over workshop leadership, Stölzel herself wrote: “Weaving is primarily a woman’s field of work. The play with form and colour, an enhanced sensitivity to material, the capacity of adaptation, rhythmical rather than logical thinking — are frequent female traits of character stimulating women to creative activity in the field of textiles.”
What do you think? Have attitudes have changed significantly since the days of the Bauhaus? Do gendered crafts still exist?

What a surprise!

Quote of the Day!

If you shoot for the stars and miss, you may just hit the moon which is way above most people!
Unknown!