An Inked Rose

Science fiction is descriptive, as Le Guin herself says in the introduction to Left Hand of Darkness . She describes a world without gender as humans know it, there are no gendered roles or jobs, no differences in sexual presentation except during mating, and the planet of Gethen appears to function like a well tuned machine. Their society and social dynamics are shifted completely and do not favor certain Gethenians over whether they have borne children or not, and so their children inherit this behavior towards their parents and their peers. Their mating is brief, cyclical, but also holds a reminder of how humans reinforce gender roles socially in adulthood. It is this society that allows Genly Ai to unlearn his own assumptions that are tied to gender and see Gethenians and himself as people first instead of being women or men something warped in relation to the traditional western human binary. Gethen shows that gender is a learned behavior within society because the very notion o

  Group projects are a dreaded thing in any educational or workplace setting. Unless you know your partners and their work habits, skill sets, and personalities intimately well, there are going to be problems. Introverts in the workplace dread forced interaction as it dilutes their personal skill and personable extroverts can be hindered in the same ways. But the work has to get done, so you buckle down and grind through and hope that your idea goes according to plan. The secret to group projects is knowing that nothing is going to go to plan. Ever. It seems to be a twisted law of the universe. There is always going to be a problem; someone deletes the file, another gets sick, a car breaks down, schedules rarely match up, the list goes on. Honestly, group work is a recipe for failure that anyone included in resents. The rare brain trust of success is the only reason group projects are even encouraged, and for them to be successful it can take weeks or even years to develop the proper p

If anyone assumes that equal rights in America has been reached, do not allow their ignorance to continue. The world today has progressed in science, technology, medicine, and in human rights to a point. But the society that surrounds us today is one that still resists becoming truly equal. The community of Gender and/or Sexual Minorities (GSMs) is under constant fire every day. As some lobby for equal rights others resist this shift in laws and mentality. These people range from gay, to bisexual, to transgender, to non-binary individuals, to asexuals, and a full spectrum of fluid sexual, gender, and romantic orientations that cannot be fully listed. The world is not a black and white place, it is possibly least clear in the world of gender, sexuality, and romance, so many identities are highly individualized as people strive to describe how they feel. America has not made major change to the laws and policies that would allow people the rights they deserve, such as not being discrim

Words and Wings Art by Anthony Francisco Fingers and Talons You always fall Slipping loose from those delicate ropes but one thread holds to harness, as your fingers do gripping my talons. It is strange thought. Companion? I am all that keeps you alive My wings, my claws, my eyes, my roars. I am the only color here, more blue than the sky red would not suit any of us. Be still, and should you slip I will carry you, friend, always. Art by Dan Milligan Gold and Amber The flagon we have shared is almost empty, the dish forgotten beside it as I hold you up The white you wear and the gold which adorns you gifts of rank, of blind love yet I am who you pour yourself out to like wine. Any who try to call you any who disturb you any who make you weep shall see my golden eyes my horns will be the circlet they receive and my teeth the white they meet. I am yours, as you gave yourself to me my amber scales offer all they can. Art by William Smith Sand and Wind Ah, finally! It’s taken you months to

  A Journey All art by Matt Rhodes A Pause I’m lost among life I watch from the feet of a tree Barely seen among the greenery as life tangles with the water surrounded by trees older than this age and reveals a way for me. and a leisurely twisting river an escape? I cannot tell. a layer of mossy life covers all but forwards is all that remains a blanket for the forest, until I can find the true way out pillows of grass, t o where I am not swallowed by life, curtains of vines. perhaps someday I will call it home. A waking dream to stand here, a single silent breath overcome, and I all alone wonder where am I to go next? home is not here, ‘tis too long gone An Edge I can see for leagues but closer than I guessed nearer than I hoped the horizon gleams red a bad omen for this place this place of stone towers and secrets lost