Paper Preparation

Hi guys! Nothing special really happened this week at the Youth Center. Everyone 

remembered my name except for one person who doesn't remember anyone's name

and they also seemed pretty happy to see me, so that was exciting! 

We lost our volleyball game again (surprise surprise), this time against some 

tough old men in purple shirts. On Tuesday we watched a bit of 

Sweet Blue Flowers, an anime with a whole host of queer characters, and talked

a little bit about why anime is popular and how it has affected us personally. 

I've only ever seen Attack on Titan, so it was nice to learn of other anime shows. 

Many of the youth really enjoyed the freedom that the anime characters have,

whether it be the ability to jump ridiculously high or ignore traditional gender roles

or fall in love with whomever they want. 

On Wednesday a Building Block Counselling representative (who also happened 

to be a One N Ten alum) came in and led a discussion on substance abuse. Thursday 

was yoga, and while only half of the youth decided to participate, 

 everyone seemed pretty happy afterwards. 

Since it's already Week 7, my focus this week was on my upcoming paper. 

I met with my faculty adviser, the fantastic Mr. Wells, 

and planned out what exactly my argument was and what the format would

look like. Apparently it's going to be a sort of watered-down AP Research paper,

which is scary, but Mr. Wells seems to think I can do it so do it I shall. 

Over the weekend (and also early next week because there's a Speech and 

Debate tournament tomorrow) I will be working on coming up with interview questions

for a couple of willing youth and staff members. Then it's on to starting the first draft

of my paper and - it's all coming so soon! - my PowerPoint presentation,

since there's a workshop for that next Saturday. Ah!

It's really weird to think that in a few weeks I won't be going to One N Ten. 

I've made some nice friends there, and it's going to be weird not to see them every day. 

But I'm also really happy for them, because they're moving on to some great stuff. 

One has plans to fulfill her dream and move to Las Vegas, and the other will

soon be moving up to Montana for a job opportunity. 

See you guys soon!

Call Me by Your Name, by Andre Aciman

Elio, a seventeen year old boy, lives with his parents, a scholar and his wife, on the Italian Riviera. During the summer they host an academic, and this year the visitor is Oliver, an American editing a scholarly manuscript in order to ready it for publishing. During the six weeks that Oliver stays there, he charms everyone, confuses and pains Elio, and eventually begins a relationship with him.

The book is narrated by Elio - or rather, the book is a record of Elio's continual inner monologue. He is obsessed with Oliver. Within the first week he is mentally begging Oliver to touch him. And the reader has no idea what Oliver thinks of all this, because Elio is so wrapped up in himself and questions and rethinks Oliver's actions so constantly that there really is no way to tell what their interactions are really like. For a book that is supposed to be about an intimate, passionate romance, it's a little frustrating that the reader can't even tell what's actually going on.

And let me stress that Call Me by Your Name is about a boy's sexual awakening (which I don't understand because he sleeps with girls and clearly has had feelings for boys as well - he seems well aware of what he wants) and a romance so deep and powerful that Elio and Oliver still have feelings for each other twenty years later.

Which brings me to my main problem with this book: Elio and Oliver barely know each other before they confess their undying love to each other. Which is something I hate in romance novels. They chitchat for four weeks, go through strange acts of ignoring each other (although, because Elio is so trapped inside his mind, I have no idea what Oliver was doing during these periods. Was he aware of Elio's strange behavior? Did he reciprocate? Having an unreliable narrator is not a good way of convincing the reader that this is an epic romance), then suddenly have a weird moment of confession and get straight to molesting fruit and sneaking into each other's bedrooms.

This relationship progressed very, very fast but had no depth, no real intimacy. Yes, they got physically intimate, but they were never friends, either before or after they slept together. Did Elio talk to Oliver about his life in the States? No. Did he know anything about Oliver besides his obvious knowledge of scholarly texts? No. Did they even discuss favorite animals? Favorite colors? Favorite foods? No.

They could talk about anything as long as it was philosophical or physical, but they couldn't even laugh together. So no, Aciman, you have not convinced me that this is the most intimate relationship Elio or Oliver will ever have. This is not the happiest they will ever be. This is the story of a teenage boy lusting after a summer visitor.

I've complained about the content (or lack of content) but I can't write a review without talking about the writing. I didn't like it. Self-indulgent to the max, the book could have been a hundred pages shorter. And the language - vague to be vague, vulgar to be vulgar. The writing is supposed to sound scholarly and edgy, and it means nothing. Which violates a basic code of writing: If you're going to write, say something.

Other reviews you might enjoy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/books/review/DErasmo.t.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102069.html
https://literaryfictions.com/2017/03/06/call-me-by-your-name-a-capsule-book-review/

Next week I will be reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, her first and most well-known novel. It is a retelling of the story of Achilles and Patroclus, who bond as they go to war with Sparta.

Back from Australia

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, I am 

back in the good ol' U S of A. And also jetlagged and confused. I've either 

been in a plane or in an airport for a good twenty hours today. Nothing feels real.

Before I go into this week's topic, I wanted to add a little to the discussion about Q High.

One N Ten hosts the site, but AZ Virtual Academy provides the classes and the 

teachers (although staff at One N Ten will help tutor). There are more than 130

core, elective, and AP classes available, so yes, the students are able to select from

a wide range of classes and follow their interests (while completing required

courses).  

Since I haven't been at the Youth Center all week, let's talk a little about 

homeless LGBTQ youth. I'll be referencing the research I compiled while planning this 

project.

Unfortunately, LGBTQ youth are over-represented among homeless youth, about 

comprising 9-45% (depending on the context of locality) of all homeless youth while

only 5-7% of the general population of youth, as found by the LGBTQ Homeless Youth Provider Survey (Cray). The most commonly-cited reasons for living away from home,

as reported by the homeless LGBTQ youth, are family rejection and conflict.

The youth seem to feel that they cannot stay at home once rejected, and

43% of the providers that were part of the survey state that youth were forced out

by their parents after coming out. However, the survey found that LGBTQ youth

are less likely to state that they were “thrown out” than their heterosexual and

cisgender peers, instead self-identifying as “runaways,” indicating that while

the LGBTQ youth may not be forcibly removed from their homes on a large scale,

they often feel that the familial conflict leaves them no choice but to leave (Cray).

None of the youth at the Center have spoken to me about why or how they became

homeless, but I'm not surprised by that. It also seems that the older youth

at least are more used to being homeless and just take each day as it comes.

No one should have to feel like this.

The CDC found that a disproportionate number of LGBTQ youth

engage in health-risk behaviors compared to the general population ("Sexual").

Homeless LGBTQ youth are three times more likely to participate in survival sex,

such as trading sex for food or shelter or other basic needs, than their peers,

thus increasing the risk of trauma, violence, rape, and disease (Cray).

I hope I don't need to explain how bad that is.

We can change these statistics by providing more GSA clubs

(some support is better than none, plus it's a nice message that the school

supports all of its students) and other institutional supports.

Youth Centers like One N Ten are doing a great job, but it would be nice

to prevent the homelessness and poor quality of life in the first place.

Sources:

Cray, Andrew, Laura E. Durso, and Katie Miller. "Seeking Shelter - Center for American Progress."

Center for American Progress, Sept. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2016.

"Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts and Health-Risk ..." Center for Disease Control, 6 June 2011. Web. 3 Nov. 2016.

A Boy's Own Story, by Edmund White

Told out of chronological order, A Boy's Own Story follows an unnamed young narrator as he comes to grips with the nature of his homosexuality and his desires. Growing up in an inattentive family, he resorts to his fanciful imagination and obsesses over sex and power. He desperately wants an older lover to whisk him away and be under his command. He lusts over his father, his teachers, his peers.

I don't know what else to say in a summary of this book. The narrator is obsessive. He is lustful. He is arrogant. He craves power and the climax of the novel is him using and betraying a teacher because he feels used and betrayed by others, although I hesitate to say 'climax' because the act is pretty bland and predictable, plus there is absolutely no building of plot or conflict.

I did not like this book. I don't understand why this book is placed on such a high pedestal. Reading this, knowing it was semi-autobiographical, just disturbed me. I don't know if it's because I'm asexual or sex-repulsed or what but the narrator's constant desire for sex and constant sexual objectification of the people around me made me feel ill. All I could think of when reading this book was that this boy desperately needed to see a psychologist to help him out.

I didn't even like the writing, which has been praised endlessly for its poetic but frank style.

The only aspect of this novel that I found interesting is that the boy desires only men, and is aware of this desire, but doesn't want to be a homosexual. He hated the label "homosexual," but was perfectly fine discussing (even with others in the novel, as opposed to internal musings) how his sexual desire and obsession concerned only men.

And yes this review is curt because the narrator really made me uncomfortable and I got absolutely nothing else from this book.

Some over reviews you might like:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/10/edmund-white-a-boys-own-story-rereading-gay-literature
http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/14/reviews/1355.html
http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21598626-american-memoirist-recalls-lost-love-boys-own-story

Next week (week 6, I believe? someone correct me if I'm wrong. I have no sense of time and Australia isn't helping) I will be reading and reviewing Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman. Call Me by Your Name, winner of the 2007 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction, is the story of a sudden and powerful romance between a 17 year old boy and a summer guest at his parents' mansion on the Italian Riviera. Andre Aciman is currently a distinguished professor at the Graduate Center of City University of New York. He teaches the history of literary theory and the works of Marcel Proust. He is also well-known for his 1995 memoir Out of Egypt, which also won a Whiting Award.

Maurice, by E. M. Forster

Maurice follows young Englishman Maurice Hall as he matures from an adolescent oblivious to sex and sexuality to an undergrad at Cambridge just beginning to settle into his sexuality and finally to a thoughtful man willing to work and devote himself to a relationship condemned by society. 

Maurice is an unremarkable young man. He was born into a wealthy family, is more or less attractive, and doesn't think much of the lower classes (doesn't think too much at all, really). He does reasonably well in primary school and continues that trend at Cambridge - until he meets Clive Durham, a fellow student who introduces Maurice to ancient Greek writings on same-sex love. Although Maurice isn't as enthralled as Clive is by the writings, they quickly become fast friends and, after some brief internal conflict on Maurice's end, lovers.

Although Forster wrote Maurice in 1914, he felt it unpublishable owing to the homophobia of the time and the happy ending he insisted on. Any books with homosexual characters, especially men, were expected to end unhappily, so as to not promote a gay lifestyle. Interestingly, when Forster wrote this there wasn't even really a word for homosexuality; Maurice ends up referring to himself as "an unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde sort." The book is a great portrayal of homosexual lifestyle among upper class Englishmen.

I really liked this book. Maurice by himself isn't all that lovable, but watching him grow endeared him to me. And yes, the ending is an unrealistic "Happily Ever After," but after reading about so many troubled and painful lives and relationships, it made me so excited to read about Maurice's happiness with his partner (and this book I really don't want to give away too many details about the ending because I was a little surprised and you should all read it and it's a really nice happy book).

Some other reviews you might like:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/05/rereading-maurice-e-m-forster

https://thechicagolibrary.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/e-m-forsters-maurice-a-review/

http://www.polarimagazine.com/classicbooks/maurice-em-forster-extended-review/

Spring Break (and no WiFi)

Hey guys! I'm currently on spring break in lovely Australia. 

The idea was to get out a couple of book reviews, one on Maurice and the other

on A Boy's Own Story but we are currently staying in a place with very little WiFi.

It works for maybe a minute and then cuts out for at least five. 

So we'll see what happens with that.

I'll be back to posting regularly next week!

Q High

Hello, all! I have had a great week at One N Ten 

(although our team is really, really bad at volleyball)

and this week I wanted to share something that is little unique to One N Ten.

One N Ten hosts Q High, which is the product of a collaboration with 

AZ Virtual Academy. Mike Schneider, my on-site mentor and Program Coordinator 

for the Youth Center, describes it as a "blended learning center," which basically means

that youth (aged 14-24, the same as the Youth Center age) can come to the Center to 

take online lessons from AZ Virtual Academy according to a personalized curriculum that 

AZ Virtual Academy puts together with the student. Q High is an alternative to 

traditional high school and is open to straight allies as well as LGBTQ students - 

anyone who feels uncomfortable in a traditional high school setting

and who supports LGBTQ rights can attend. Those who finish high school

with Q High under 21 years of age receive an actual high school diploma,

while those over 21 can get their GED. 

I know I'm throwing a lot of information at you, but this is really exciting! 

Q High has been so successful that AZ Virtual Academy has actually incorporated

some of Q High's methods, although Mike didn't go into detail as far as what those methods were.

The One N Ten staff members also help to tutor students and help them turn in assignments 

on time. Currently Q High is at capacity with 16 students (who are automatically 

considered One N Ten youth) but they're hoping to expand it to 35 students.

Right now, One N Ten is the only LGBTQ youth organization in the state to

offer something like this program. The only other thing close to it that's

available to LGBTQ youth is a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) club at school,

which isn't the same thing. A GSA is a student-run club at a traditional high school

that does provide a safe space for students to meet and support each other,

but it doesn't provide the wholistic support that Q High does. It would

be fantastic if other youth organizations offered something as supportive as Q High, 

so that as many youth can feel comfortable and graduate from high school as possible.

So that's Q High! As far as the Group activities go, this week we lost at volleyball,

 ate chicken wings, had a very intelligent and impressive conversation on the 

pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, and watched "To This Day" to open

a discussion on bullying.

My Maurice review will go up soon, and next week's book will be the 1982
semi-autobiographical novel A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White. It is the first
in a trilogy of books describing the unnamed narrator's coming of age and experience of
homosexuality in the 1950's in Cincinnati, Chicago, and Michigan. Although it is part
of a trilogy, the books can be read independently of one another, and so I probably
will not be reviewing the other two on this blog. Edmund White writes primarily on
same-sex love, and is known for his book The Joy of Gay Sex and his biography of
 Jean Genet.

I will be going on Spring Break next week, so I will only be posting the book review.
I will be in Australia with my family for the next two weeks, but I will be posting the
second week. Hopefully I can find some interesting bit of LGBTQ facts in Australia!

Bye!