11 Comments

The mask/queer correlation is true, but honestly I think it's pretty well chewed over at this point. The more interesting one is the gay/queer split. At what point will "queer" as a kind of bell hooks-y radical-left political identity detach itself entirely from the nurse log of homosexuality, and how will that play out in left politics?

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Hanya Yanigihara's novel To Paradise features a society plagued by pandemics in which the Extreme Covidians have definitively won. It's hella bleak.

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Kat, that pesto recipe is violence against Ligurians.

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This idea of a correlation (look I am 49 and not really okay with using 'queer', I'm glad it's been reclaimed and all, that's great, but I would prefer to use something else myself that wasn't a slur in my day) between LGBT and extended masking is new to me. I've been thinking of it as a GenZ thing; it makes sense to me that the kids who were in high school during the pandemic would be more comfortable with long-term masking. It's been a much longer chunk of their lives, relatively speaking, than it has been for me. I was thrilled to be able to stop in most places, but of course I still do when appropriate. But also I live in a semi-rural area and honestly our transmission rate is now so low that it's hard to get very worried.

But then Gen Z is also very LGBT. What do LGBT millennials think of extended masking?

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I am an LGBT millennial. "80's baby on fire with the safety off." (Don't worry, I'm not as narcissistic as I sound.) See below for my thoughts but know that my view is likely not representative of the larger millennial population.

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Scusi, I meant to say "not representative of the larger millennial LGBT population."

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Just to spice things up a little (light heartedly of course), I am a "queer" person (but I don't usually identify as that since I'm not a huge fan of the identity trend and feel cringe about centering my sexuality, though I'll say queer if asked, but only because I feel like people think I'm a perv if I say "pan")

(also please forgive my poor grammar. I'm not the most well rounded tool in the shed).

I also have continued to mask consistently since the beginning of the panny, but mostly because of my chubs (working on getting below the 30% BMI line) and my lungs also suck. My daughter's mother is just a skosh incompetent when it comes to mentoring, so I need to at least live until she finishes highschool. That said, I think judging people for ditching their masks is silly, considering that these aren't deviants from the norm. I mean maybe it would be weird if everyone was dutifully masking and we were still getting aggressive messaging from health authorities, but that's obviously not the case. It also seems like these Covidians (Did I spell that right? Am I one?) don't make much effort in understanding how COVID fatigue hits folks differently. I do worry about those close to me having a fatal outcome from a lack of masking sometimes, but generally just try to stay positive and hope for the best. I've also gotten a lot of stank-face looks when passing people in public or approaching cashiers while wearing a mask. Additionally, my mom and sister have made subtly condescending comments about it (in spite of the fact that my anti-vax dad got himself killed by Delta last November).

So yea, spice-up delivered? : p

On a less [PLACE-HOLDER] note, I hope this mask/queer correlation (borrowing from Bruce N) is not reliably reproducible. I've learned to hate the inevitable shame that comes when the more narcissistic folk of my ilk tirelessly lobby for a crappier group reputation. If these people really are out there in large numbers, I hope they find some self awareness. In the mean time, you can count on me as an ally, just don't give up on us. I know there are others like me!

P.S. Another engaging episode as always. I'd say give a hug to the poodles for me, but as a cats-only person, I'm pretty sure we are supposed to not like each other or something. So maybe just hook them up with a brief scratch behind the ears? idk

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P.P.S. Just hit the part about designer masks. I absolutely wear designer gaiters and turtle-neck masks on top of an N95 because I think the N95 is ugly. Gotta keep it snazzy.

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Just ordered at Harper Collins, “You Must Remember This” by Kat Rosenfeld. (Can Pheobe comment on English/French “must” on podcast?” Photo- cannot attach.

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I am new to the page and perhaps I am thick, but if we take the offer on Kat's new book, how do we send the screen shot of the receipt? I don't see an email address and I am sure you don't want to post them all in "Comments."

Secondly, Kat's discussion of the uncertainty of life reminded me of the passage in the beginning of Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" where Satan (visiting pre-war Bolshevik Moscow) falls into a conversation in the park (in the guise of Visiting Professor Woland) with a convinced scientific socialist about man's ability to "govern" his own life with assurance and safety. Forgive me if you are already closely familiar with the work (which inspired the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil")--but if not, the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation is excellent, and I have dropped a link to the specific segment from a good Russian production (with English subtitles) below. Needless to say, the scientific socialist does not make his meeting of the Writers' Union that evening as planned.

Short note to Phoebe: when you design your artisanal protective mask with its pasta and other attachments, be sure to design it with internal "overpressure" so "bad air out, good air in."

Lastly, as a non-female ally, can I identify as a unicorn?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrAGf2EMAbs

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Also, the real problem with that picture is that Kat is a Yankees fan.

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