🏳️🌈 #DearJune Day 16: Icons 🏳️🌈 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I was struggling with the theme of ‘icons’ a lot because I don’t have any specific icons of my own I look up to, and I couldn’t think of anything clever to say about computer icons. I googled icons and read the sentence ‘Pop icons of previous eras include Benjamin Franklin and Mozart’. This seemed kind of wild to me both because those two people are surely still iconic in some way today, and also because the term ‘pop icon’ just doesn’t seem a comfortable fit for them.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’ve realised I associate the phrase ‘iconic’ quite strongly with the queer community. Interestingly, there are many, many people with ‘queer icon’ status who aren’t queer. We end up in this weird position of wanting so desperately for both characters and actual real people to come out as queer because they fit this queer icon image. I hope in the near future there will just be more queer queer icons. They are definitely out there. I’m glad there are already some amazing queer icons to look up to, I’m just always starved for more.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It really struck me at the Spice Girls how many of the attendees were visibly queer. I feel like the Spice Girls are such a weird image of 90s feminism and even though they were going full out with the inclusive messaging, I felt like I could see the split in the audience where there were super straight people and super gay people. Are the spice girls queer icons? Discuss.
🏠 #DearJune Day 15: Home 🏠 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Everyone wants to go to New Zealand. A lot of people joke about relocating there entirely as if it’s some kind of utopia of equality and happiness. On the other hand, most Kiwis I know want to go everywhere else.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
When you grow up in one corner of the world in a country missing from a surprising number of maps, you get a little restless. New Zealand is over 1500km from top to bottom with some of the most dramatic landscapes, beautiful beaches, and drinkable coffee in the world. It’s hard to imagine wanting to leave unless you’re one of the ones who grew up there and discovered that’s exactly what you want to do.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don’t want to be away from home forever, in fact I miss it very much. I would like to be a part of the change happening at home, while other places seem to be going in the opposite direction*. Home is an amazing place and I am lucky to have ties there. However, just for now, I want to be close to the world, and New Zealand can’t offer me that.
📝 #DearJune Day 14: Learning 📝
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I love to learn. According to a ‘Via Institute on Character’ test my love of learning is my greatest strength. However, while I love it, I definitely struggle with it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I did not always find learning difficult, it came very easily to me as a child. At primary school I was exceptional at maths in particular, but never struggled with other subjects. In my first year of high school I became embarrassed by being good at maths. By my fourth year I missed it. I couldn’t process science and maths the way I had been able to before. It was incredibly frustrating. University was a whole different ball game. I worked my ass off for my degree, and I didn’t do badly, but I couldn’t believe how hard I found it all even when I put hours and hours and hours into something.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
While I often didn’t enjoy ‘education’ I still love learning. When I discover amazing facts online, or in museums, or passing conversation, I light up inside. Not only do I enjoy it more, but I actually remember it! I don’t have to pore over books and test myself for hours and hours to drill it in. Something that strikes me is how less than a year ago I could name maybe 10 British birds (don’t tell the people that hired me). Through my job I now know more about Scotland’s wildlife than I could ever do anything with. Someone suggested to me I write a book about birds the other day, like, in a genuine way. I never sat down and forced myself to learn about birds, I’ve just read, and written, and shared such a volume of content at this point that if I didn’t know these things it would be incredibly strange. But the best part is I’ve enjoyed (almost) all of it. Maybe it’s because I’m getting paid instead of paying, maybe it’s because of the variety of ways I’m exposed to information, maybe it’s because the people I learn from are so passionate that they’ve dedicated their entire lives to the subject. It’s just so different to just listening, taking notes, and regurgitating information, and now that I’m learning outside of school, I’m learning to love it again.
🦸♀️ #DearJune Day 12: Superheroes 🦸♀️
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I think I purchased this T-shirt in 2014 and haven’t let it go since even though it now has holes in it. I was a little scared to wear it at first - women in particular are often questioned on their knowledge of whatever logo is on their shirt. I didn’t know a lot about comics, or superheroes, but I knew I liked badass women and I look cute in a crop top.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Since then both comics and films have been edging toward better representation for women, and I’m beginning to pay attention. I genuinely can’t put into words the emotions I felt watching Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. They sure weren’t perfect but I was actually seeing women superheroes! In big budget films! Fighting bad guys with their ridiculous powers! (Even watching the all-woman ghostbusters I felt awesome). I know it’s cliché but I always leave movies like that with the thought ‘is this what (cis, abled, straight, white) dudes feel like all the time?’ because I do genuinely come out of those movies feeling empowered.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
When I learned about the fat superhero Faith I lived above a comic book store, so I literally walked down the stairs and bought an issue immediately. I had never bought a comic before in my entire life, but I HAD to read about this badass woman superhero who was FAT. That was all it took to get me into a comic store.
