WisCon, Third Act: What is Worth Saving About Gender?

[bcholmes]

After the poly panel, I went to panel called "Alien Gender", which, sadly, was a bit of a lost cause. The moderator was a really fascinating speaker named Justine Larbelestier (whose book on this topic, Battle of the Sexes is a really interesting review of representation of gender in science fiction), but the panel was overpowered by people who wanted to go off on various tangents. The only really good thing I got out of this panel was the idea that I should buy Justine's book, and I did.

Shortly after that panel, I ran into Debbie, and had a brief chat with her. She saw my copy of Battle of the Sexes and flagged down Justine to get her to sign it for me.

After that, I went to a panel called "What is Worth Saving About America?" I'm still trying to work out some thoughts around a perception I have that there's a difference of outlook between Americans and Canadians. And I'm actually quite ambivalent about that perception -- at some level, I wonder if examining that perceived difference is much like examining the perceived difference between "men" and "women".

I was really enjoying a story that Karen Joy Fowler started off the panel with, before she was rudely interrupted by another panelist (I've seen this particular panelist be a dolt in other panels, and I think I'm just gonna stop going to panels that he's on).

redbird was really good about dragging the topic away from "this is stuff that pisses me off about the current government" to "this is stuff that I want to save". But it was a very charged panel, and it seemed like all the panelists were taking a toll.

One observation that I'm still chewing on was something that panelist Cheryl Morgan said. In response to a long conversation about non-American who ask the question "What do Americans think of X?", she said (I'm paraphrasing), "I can understand why some people might assume that there was a uniform answer: unlike a lot of countries, the US is based on an idea." I'm not sure how far to take that thought, but I am still chewing on it.

I approached Karen Fowler after the panel to tell her that I liked the story she was telling during her intro (she's been relatively quiet after being barked at by the other panelist), and we started talking briefly about The West Wing, and about the idea that politics is the art of the possible.

Then I went to dinner with kalikanzeros. I'd been trying to find a good roast beef dip, but was stymied. We found a little "bar meets grill" place off of State Street, and grabbed some deep fried food. The place had a TV which started showing a program about zombies and Vodou. This is now the fourth or fifth time something like this has happened to me. Vodou is following me (a year ago, it was Kwan Yin).

Later, I attended a panel on "Writing across Sexual Orientation Lines" -- a panel about what goes wrong when het writers write queer characters and vice-versa. deepforestowl was on the panel.

That evening, I donned my wings and went to hang out on the sixth floor where all the room parties are. I didn't get into the vibe at all that night, so I didn't spend much time there.

And at midnight, I went to a panel called "Gender is a Lie", which disappointed me because I feel like the panel was too... I dunno... too 101. One of the things I started saying at the con was that I really appreciated being able to have 201 discussions everywhere. WisCon attendees tended to have already absorbed the 101 material and we could just Get On With It, Already. This panel disappointed me, 'cause it was structured as a 101 panel, and for WisCon, that's a rare thing.