The Gender Rebels Podcast

We review Netflix's Will & Harper. Overall we think it's really really good and can help educate people who might need it.   Faith says she can't get U.S. State Department Security Clearance because she's too weird.  We agreed Mike "I'm a weird guy" Warnke is also probably ineligible. But Weird Al is pretty wholesome; I bet he could get it.   Could you get clearance?   Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.  Faith's book, American Transgirl, available now! Music by one of our favorite bands, the super cool, all-female punk band Jasper the Colossal. Download their new album "Take Your Time" and all their tracks on iTunes. 

We review Netflix's Will & Harper. Overall we think it's really really good and can help educate people who might need it.   Faith says she can't get U.S. State Department Security Clearance because she's too weird.  We agreed Mike "I'm a weird guy" Warnke is also probably ineligible. But Weird Al is pretty wholesome; I bet he could get it.   Could you get clearance?   Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.  Faith's book, American Transgirl, available now! Music by one of our favorite bands, the super cool, all-female punk band Jasper the Colossal. Download their new album "Take Your Time" and all their tracks on iTunes. 

We're in the news again, yay. First, the stats: The US held 21.0% of the world's prisoners in 2015, even though the US represented only around 4.4 percent of the world's population in 2015. The Wikipedia site "Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries" has additional sobering stats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_United_States_incarceration_rate_with_other_countries#:~:text=The%202021%20US%20incarceration%20rate,in%20adult%20facilities%20in%202015.     Highlights of Kamala's fox interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbNxiLaY6I0   Alford plea (not "Alfred" plea): https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/alford_plea An Alford plea, also known as a "best-interests plea," registers a formal admission of guilt towards charges in criminal court while the defendant simultaneously expresses their innocence toward those same charges.(It) skips the full process of a criminal trial because the defendant agrees to accept all the ramifications of a guilty verdict (i.e. punishment).   Prisoners were left to their own devices during Hurricanes Milton, Florence, and Katrina: https://www.ncja.org/crimeandjusticenews/some-florida-jails-and-prisons-evacuated-ahead-of-milton-but-many-incarcerated-remained-in-storm-s   The number of inmates requesting gender affirming surgery every year is miniscule, according to Bureau of Prisons. There have been only two known surgeries approved via court action. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/us/politics/trump-prisons-transgender-care-harris.html   Trans folx are more likely to be a victim of a crime: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-trans-press-release/   Let's step outside of prison for a minute. The #1 most common gender affirming surgery in minors? Researchers found roughly 150 cases in which a minor received gender-affirming surgery in 2019. But of those cases, 146 — about 97% — were chest reduction surgeries performed on cisgender male youth, constituting gender-affirming care for conditions like gynecomastia (which can develop nearly half the time among those undergoing testosterone-dominant puberty). https://www.them.us/story/gender-affirming-surgery-vast-majority-cis-kids-study

Faith and Kath are surprised that they liked this movie so much.  Remember Amanda Bynes? She's so funny and we at TGR Headquarters wish her well. The movie is helped by surprisingly funny Channing Tatum in his first movie role and a bonkers story by Billy Shakespeare.  Apparently pretending to be the opposite sex is stressful and Bynes said she struggled with depression for months after seeing herself onscreen.  Sounds like gender dysphoria is hard even in small doses. Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.  Faith's book, American Transgirl, available now! Music by one of our favorite bands, the super cool, all-female punk band Jasper the Colossal. Download their new album "Take Your Time" and all their tracks on iTunes. 

Today we watched director Billy Wilder's 1959 hit Some Like It Hot, winner of 11 Academy Awards. Our feelings are... complicated. But for a movie with cross-dressing, produced in compliance with the Hays Code's absurd limitations, it is actually pretty cool.      Marilyn Monroe's character gave off "Born Sexy Yesterday" vibes. Pop Culture Detective coined the phrase for characters like The Fifth Element's Leeloo; learn more here! In 2023, J. Harrison Ghee won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical  for their performance in the Broadway musical, the second out nonbinary actor to win the award.  (Mere MINUTES after Alex Newell, the first out nonbinary Tony winner. So close!)   I know what you're thinking-- Best Actor? Nonbinary person?  Well, there is a larger conversation happening about gendered award categories for major performance awards. Maybe we'll see some changes in the future.   Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.  Faith's book, American Transgirl, available now! Music by one of our favorite bands, the super cool, all-female punk band Jasper the Colossal. Download their new album "Take Your Time" and all their tracks on iTunes. 

Yesterday we went to I Saw The TV Glow followed by a Q&A with writer/ director Jane Schoenbrun.  Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith star in a coming-of-age story where two junior high outsiders find each other and bond over a creepy Buffy The Vampire Slayer-like TV show.  The show gets darker and the protagonists' ties to reality start to loosen.  We've loved Brigette Lundy-Paine ever since Atypical and see all their work-- even Amelia's Children, yikes.) Unlike Amelia's Children, I Saw The TV Glow was excellent: dark and strange and sad, with an amazing soundtrack. We highly recommend it!     Topics of conversation covered: Buffy creator Joss Whedon is a terrible person  The Cocteau Twins has an album The Pink Opaque   Our episode on Bringing people into the closet with you   Faith like the band Velocity Girl Faith's blog is still up!    Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.  Faith's book, American Transgirl, available now! Music by one of our favorite bands, the super cool, all-female punk band Jasper the Colossal. Download their new album "Take Your Time" and all their tracks on iTunes.   

This week we saw a reddit post that asked "Would I be a bad leftist if I get SRS?" It started with "my ex told me that girls who get SRS are an obstacle for trans liberation." Wow. We knew Faith needed to weigh in.   Caution: we make pretend sex noises throughout this ep. Try to not get too turned on, thanks.   Gaslighting means "manipulating someone into questioning their own perception of reality".   Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.

Listener Claire asks a great question about how to move in a more feminine way. We can't all be ballerinas or elegant gliding angles on ice like the truck drivers of Manitoba, but we can all take some yoga or barre, work on our posture, get video to track our progress, and attempt to emulate the Playboy bunny walk. But ultimately, it all comes down to practice.   Barre class and how to pronounce it. (It's just "bar", y'all.) Frances Ha starring (probable possible likely Academy Award winning director of "Barbie") Greta Gerwig where the character Frances has a "weird man walk". Fashion Week staffers work for free. What's Guelph? Faith loves her chirp wheel because her shoulders and neck get super tight from sitting at her desk.   Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.

  Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is not covered by some health plans. If your health insurance company says they won't pay for a surgery you need, you can appeal that decision. Listener Robin asks for tips from Faith, who succeeded with her appeal on her third try.   Our other FFS episodes: Faith F's her F Part I Faith F's her F Part II Faith vs Her Health Insurance   "Insemination style genitalia" and "gestational genitalia" are terms that Faith thought up in her weird brain and we do NOT recommend googling them. Kath thinks AFAB and AMAB are adequate.   Faith learned about appealing decisions from your health insurance at the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference. There was no 2023 conference but there will be one in 2024 and we will see you there!    Legal aid societies that can help you with your appeal, for each state.   Faith said people with gestational genitalia (aka AFAB people or people who were assigned female at birth) "retain neoteny". Neoteny refers to child-like facial characteristics. These “neotenous” characteristics include a large forehead with lower set eyes, nose and mouth; a smaller, shorter, more recessive chin; fuller lips; larger eyes; a smaller nose; higher, thinner eyebrows; and a rounder, less angular face. This can be (but is not always) associated with attractiveness, to some people.   Our old video of conventionally attractive people whose facial features are androgynous or even skew toward those of the opposite gender included the jerk Ezra Miller. Join us in cancelling that creep.    Faith's surgeon, Bella Avanessian, MD at Mt Sinai, also has Jazz Jennings as a patient. See Dr. A. in this video as a baby doctor, just starting her surgical fellowship.   Legal Eagle YouTuber has an episode about arbitrators and also "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".   Former New York State governor Mario Cuomo groped staff members and helped the LGBTQ+ community a lot. Those are two uncomfortable truths we have to live with.

Ken Ham founded the Creation Museum and Faith got extra credit for going to see him speak on--what else?-- science.  This is a cool diagram of all the metabolic processes. Kath remembers each and every detail of this diagram, even now, 20 long years since her graduate biochem class.   Amanda The Jedi reacting to "Pure Flix", the Christian alternative to Netflix. Her other videos are really good, too.   Bob Jones University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) as of  2017 and the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools as of 2011.    The Kids in the Hall sketch Homo Alone.   At 3:30 in this video, Pat Robertson says people in San Francisco wear rings to give other people AIDS.   The southern strategy linked the GOP with racists and evangelicals.   Check out Self Made Kingz for cool shirts!   Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.

  "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." We misattributed this quote to Lee Atwater. It was in fact Lyndon B. Johnson.  Don't feel bad for Atwater; he was no peach either.  Here's audio of him spelling out how Republicans should signal that they support racist policies without actually saying racist things. TW for some seriously fucking brutal racial terms.   Fauci could have handled the AIDS crisis better.  This Frontline tells you all about it.    The Justins in Tennessee. (the link is a gift article; enjoy!)   The GOP won't change their policies to get more voters. They'll just get rid of democracy.   Protest works. There were sustained protests in East Germany before the wall fell like the Leipzig prayer protests every Monday. ACT UP used unapologetically confrontational die-ins to force progress on AIDS funding, research, and treatments.   Conservatives don't want their kids learning about Ruby Bridges or Rosa Parks.   RIP Congressman John Lewis and let's all make good trouble.       Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!  

  In our final episode on transgender music, we discuss Jenny Lewis in Rilo Kiley One of The Guys, The Regrettes A Living Human Girl, Liz Phair Firewalker, Metric Too Little Too Late, R.E.M. Hope, and Chvrches Death Stranding. We really hope you liked this series!   Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!  

  We're back with even more songs.  And this ain't all, there's still a part 3 in your future!   In this episode, we discuss: Fraulein Wunder Wenn Ich Ein Junge War or "If I Were A Boy". Faith's judgment: a good song.  The Soviettes Middle of the Night  Hole My Beautiful Son and the link shows you a picture of Kurt Cobain looking pretty in a dress and lipstick and pearls at 0:52 Lords of Acid I Like It (best known for the song The Crab Louse about pubic crabs)  James Laid  St Vincent has a song about Candy Darling Green Day King for A Day The Replacements and Peter Buck Androgynous Laura Jane Grace is lead singer of Against Me! and she transitioned in public. One of the band's albums is Transgender Dysphoria Blues.  Pitchfork hates every album.   Trans or queer musicians: Kim Petras  Romy Haag Pete Burns of Dead of Alive which you know from "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)".  Kurt Cobain  New York Dolls  David Bowie  Getting a used toaster as wedding gift is just one of the many objectifying, dehumanizing virginity metaphors Faith was taught. But sure, let's follow that comparison to its conclusion.  A used toaster? What if it's just the right toaster for you? What if it's amazing, and it sees you and treasures you for who you are, and it makes you laugh, and it shares your values and interests? Yes, then I wouldn't care if the toaster has a few crumbs in its tray from a previous owner.    Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!  

You KNOW we have opinions on everything from "Lola" to "Walk On The Wild Side" to "Dude Looks Like A Lady". The good, the bad, and the strange.  And this is just part one!! Links galore: Jasper the Colossal Markers and Beer live version. It slaps.      Make famous friends by cultivating fandoms for less- famous people. Faith admires awesome YouTuber Lindsey Ellis -- and she reteweeted one of Faith's dog pics!  Lake Baikal is a super deep lake. Terrifyingly deep. SNL Ashlee Simpson debacle.   Okay, music! In this ep, we discussed: Aerosmith's Dude Looks Like A Lady. Faith's judgment: Not a good song. Here's a picture of Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe (not Poison; apologies to both Mr. Crüe and Mr. Poison), for reference.  Hair metal, for reference including two cool lists of Top 10 Best and Bottom 5 Worst Hair Metal Bands.   The Kinks Lola. Faith's judgment: Good song but not on her mix or karaoke list. Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground Take a Walk on the Wild Side (Faith's judgment: good song and not on her karaoke list) and Candy Says (Faith's judgment: same-- good song and not on her karaoke list)    Learn about: Candy Darling ! Andy Warhol's Factory ! Joe Delassandro !   The Community commercial where they say "meet different people!"     Many familiar crabs are of the genus Cancer   Suzanne Vega As Girls Go.  Faith's judgment: not a good song. Matt Baum's Culture Cruise on YouTube talks about the representation of gays in TV and movies.  Madonna's What It Feels Like For A Girl. Faith's judgment: a good song.    Garbage Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go),  Androgyny, and Bleed Like Me . Faith's judgment: 100% awesome songs.  Bonus is their cover of Candy Says that's also spectacular. The JT Leroy literary hoax    Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!      

Transition is expensive.  A listener writes in to ask, what's the harm with starting an OnlyFans account to help with the costs? Chasers are creepy, but money is money. She's got systems in place to ensure her anonymity and safety.  What do you think? Topics in this episode include: Usury laws Bible says don't charge interest when you lend money, but Christians still seem to like it for some reason.  "Caveat" means an old-fashioned necktie, we're pretty sure.  Don't Fuck With Cats taught us people can locate you based on your images, if they're motivated enough. NYC paramedic outed (correction: not fired) for having an OnlyFans account. The concept of "less dead" in criminal justice  Porn actress Asia Carrera retired to Utah because no one looks at porn in Utah.   Speaking of Utah: the only thing better than the breathtaking canyon walls of Zion National Park were the cute Utah queers we encountered there. We see you and we love you. Faith does not love driving in Phoenix AZ.       Listen past the end credits for sounds of one of our dogs sleep- barking!   Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!  

Krav Maga is a hand- to- hand combat technique originally developed by the Israeli armed forces.   And Faith and Kath took the field by storm a few months ago.  Hear how it's going in their women- only classes and their mixed classes.   Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!  

  Listener and Rebel Erin wrote in to ask about mourning her lost girlhood, and also about her obligations to help other transfolx having a hard time with transition.  Thanks Erin!     Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke. Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.

Listener Hayley actually wrote in with three excellent questions.  She asked the Rebels' thoughts on transgender representation in video games, transitioning in the public eye, and how transgender academics handle a lifetime of publications attributed to their deadname.   Buy Faith's book! It's the mid 1990s, and a high school guy in Georgia is grappling with his queerness, his faith, his friends, and his future in Disgusta by Faith DaBrooke.   Faith has been playing Civilization for years and Civ 6 is the newest one. A recent article about trans representation in video games-- including 3 games that get it right.   The super-easy, super-tasty popcorn recipe Faith likes.  And that website has a TON of great vegetarian recipes.  We're not even vegetarian and we like Cookie & Kate's recipes!   Within the last year, leading academic publishers have developed a simple policy to help transgender academics: rapid and discreet revisions on all electronic resources. Nature, Science, Elsevier, Wiley and other of the top academic publishers are paving the way.   Kath does not know how to pronounce Elsevier. It is "el suh veer". Both of her guesses were wrong.   Wiley published the MR safety book with Kath's chapter, chapter #30.  But don't buy that book. Buy Faith's book.    Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.

You know things are bad if the Gender Rebels do a political episode about sports.  But ignoring politics is a luxury for privileged people and we're just plain pissed.   Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.

The book is here! The book is here!!  The second edition of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is finally out, featuring 2 pieces by our very own Faith Da Brooke!! We can't contain our excitement even though this 649-page ENCYCLOPEDIA is going to put us out of business.  Written almost entirely by trans people, it is an exhaustive resource on healthcare, legal stuff, relationships, history, poetry, and more. And we were so lucky to have the opportunity celebrate the launch by interviewing 2 of the people who were the force behind this, Kelsey Pacha and Kevin Johnson. Kelsey Pacha is more than just President of the TBTS Board. He's also a consultant for workplaces who want to move forward with their diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kevin Johnson is a doctor in upstate New York specializing in addiction medicine. Help us get Trans Bodies, Trans Selves into libraries! Support us on Patreon to help us keep making great content, and to get some cool rewards! Check out our website for our latest episodes!   Follow us on twitter for all our shower thoughts and other musings @TheGenderRebels  Like us on  FaceBook so we can haunt your feed.