Category Archives: LGBTQ

The Long Way Down

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Another day, another punch in the face when I first read news in the morning. And another one that hits close to home: I’m genderqueer myself, and have a ton of Trans friends. I’ve already been agonizing over the ghoulish … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Human Nature, LGBTQ, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Beautiful Americans

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Hm. Given his fussiness about flag integrity, I wonder if my design here is enough for the Mango Mussolini to want to strip me of citizenship or throw me in jail. I guess we’ll see! What with the post-election surge of asshats deciding that the country … Continue reading →

Posted in Diversity, Ethics, LGBTQ, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Purple Lie

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Another election year, another purple map. Breakdowns like this also came out four years ago (and I believe in 2008, too.) They’re intended to be comforting, but they’re also somewhat misleading.   To help explain why, let me also talk about … Continue reading →

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Listening

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Something interesting is going on today on the Tumblr of TV writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Most recently, Javi was one of the lead writers on The 100, but he has a healthy list of well-known shows to his credit, including the underrated … Continue reading →

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Tesserae

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Realized I forgot to post about my new book here! Tesserae is my third novel, and the first of a two-part story (the sequel will be released later this year.) Basic gist, if you don’t want to read the back-cover … Continue reading →

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Shipping and homophobia

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

“Shipping” — fans cheering on a relationship between characters in a story — is nothing new. The concept drives most love stories, after all: the writer wants the audience to pull for a given potential pair and then either pays … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, LGBTQ, TV, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Diversity and the perception of “normal”

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Diversity in YA creator Malinda Lo is currently doing a great blog series on how reviewers often betray underlying biases when reviewing books about characters from marginalized groups. Highly recommended read. The topic is also a big jumping-off point for … Continue reading →

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Subtext and subversion: Part Two

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Carrying on from the previous post, below is a detailed, episode-by-episode rundown (with pictures!) of Ragnar and Athelstan’s relationship. I present this not as a “This is why my slash ship is canon” manifesto, but instead as an illustration of the relationship itself, so folks can … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Geekery, Human Nature, LGBTQ, TV | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Subtext and subversion: Vikings edition

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Long time, no post! Life’s been chaotic in recent months (no need to bore you with details), and to keep from melting down, I’ve spent a fair amount of my (limited) free time escaping into my usual happy places of pop culture and fandom. … Continue reading →

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Problematic entertainment, part two

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Shawna (A Mediated Life)

Carrying on from the specific-show discussion in part one. In this segment, I’ll explain why I keep watching the problematic stuff I do, while I also ditch stuff that’s theoretically less problematic.

Posted in Entertainment, Ethics, Feminism, Geekery, LGBTQ, Movies, Politics, TV | Tagged , , | Leave a comment