I didn’t get all the Gay Genes but I Got the Fashion One

I’m gay. I grew up in a small northern town. It’s pretty obvious that I encountered a lot of stereotypes and people making assumptions about me because of my sexuality.

 I am aware that there’s certain stereotypes about being a gay man I conform to. I have artistic hobbies, I like to dress well and there’s definitely some songs on my iPod that are considered ‘gay anthems’. I’m not afraid of being gay and I don’t mind who knows it but my interests and hobbies have absolutely nothing to do with my sexuality.

Even before I’d actually figured out that I was gay a lot of my class mates were convinced that they knew my sexuality better than I did. For example the fact that I was good at Textiles was 100% solid evidence that I must be attracted to men. People were telling me this about two years before I even started to figure out for myself that I was gay!

There was also a phase where I listened to songs from Glee a lot – about one/two years before I came out to my classmates. The music I listened to had absolutely nothing to do with my sexuality but apparently that was solid evidence that I must be gay. Though in reality the only relation between Glee and my sexuality was that the character Sebastian Smythe (played by the love of my life Grant Gustin!) was my role model because he was gay, unapologetic about it and yet never let it define him. Side note, representation in the media is so important it would be a lot easier to be a gay teen if there were more characters who were unapologetic about their sexuality and yet never defined by it.

That’s just a couple of examples of the assumptions people made about me but there were loads more. Even if a comment wasn’t said directly to me I still felt a sense of hurt if someone casually used a homophobic slur. I definitely feel like being gay and going through the school system in a small Northern town meant that I had to get a thick shell to let comments just roll off me and had to emotionally mature faster than most of my school mates.

When I did feel comfortable enough to start to come out to my peers the first two people I told were my (then) best friends. One of them claimed that she’d always known however I’ve always doubted that. Just the more that I think about it the way she acted around me changed after I came out as if she assumed that I’d start filling the role of the stereotypical ‘gay best friend’ but that’s just not who I am. The more I’ve thought about it the more I think that she felt betrayed that I hadn’t come out sooner as if being in the closet was a personal attack on her.

Growing up gay for me has not been a completely awful experience. My family have honestly been incredibly supportive and in the eyes of my close family I am still just Alex. So I know I have been luckier than a lot of people but still going through secondary school was really tough for me sometimes.

The Superhero Hang-Out - My Latest Craft Project

The long awaited DC and Marvel crossover, my superhero living room craft project!

So earlier this year I came across a bargain priced doll of Princess Tiana that I couldn't resist buying. This kicked off the start of a collection which has also relaunched my love crafting. Seriously - dolls are great for crafting from making outfits to making rooms. Anyway that's all a story for another post, today I've finished off a new room, a living room for the DC Superhero Girls dolls and the 12" Marvel action figures.

I make rooms like this in a cereal box - I got this idea from watching MyFroggyStuff craft vlogs on YouTube. One of the benefits to making rooms like this is that they can easily be folded up to store away when I want to change displays.

Once I have a basic decorated room it needs to be furnished! I used mini-pallets I found in Tiger and hot glued together to make a coffee table. Using old socks I made two Ottomans - another MyFroggyStuff idea - and used more sock to make cushions. I have quite a lot of socks I either never wear or wear so much that I wear them out so that's an ideal - and inexpensive - craft resource!

I bought these metal chairs from Tiger which are the perfect size for dolls. I then used fabric - in patterns that correspond with the hero's theme - to make blankets to cover the chairs. DC Superhero Girls' Bumblebee naturally got yellow and black strips whilst I chose a floral print for Poison Ivy.

And this is the more or less completed room. From this stage it just needs the dolls and their things to go in it.



So here's the DC Superhero Girls, Poison Ivy and Bumblebee in the completed room. That cacti is actually an eraser that I found in Tiger. I love displaying my collections like this, it's just a lot of fun and makes a display that is interesting to look at.

You’re A Wonder, Wonder Woman!

So I’ve been watching the classic Wonder Woman TV Series starring Lynda Carter. It’s aged surprisingly well and is actually really enjoyable.

The Wonder Woman TV Series is definitely on the fun side of live action superhero stuff. There’s no dark grittiness and if that’s what you look for in superheroes then this just isn’t your thing. I’m no expert on the vast Wonder Woman mythology but from what I gather the TV Series did a good job at portraying Wonder Woman’s WWII origins.

Some parts – like the special effects – have aged like you’d expect. Though that said there’s something very endearing about the effects for things like the Invisible Plane. The stories will sometimes stretch credulity – seriously how does no one figure out that Diana Prince is Wonder Woman! – but they are entertaining, often madcap and fun to watch.

One of the real strengths of the series is Lynda Carter. I’d say her role is probably one of the most iconic portrayals of a superhero ever. And there’s good reason for that. Lynda Carter does a good job at capturing both Wonder Woman and her alter ego Diana Prince and making the two different enough but both compelling. Somehow Lynda Carter managed to make it look convincing when she’s fighting the bad guys whilst her theme song plays (seriously the play the theme song over all the fight scenes!) But Lynda Carter also did a good job at conveying Wonder Woman’s empathy - which I feel is an important trait of the character but something the more warrior focused depictions of the character forget about.

On the part of both the writers and Lynda Carter I like that the ‘warrior princess from another civilisation’ trope is not over played. Yes Wonder Woman is curious about things and doesn’t always get our ways or our slang – as she should be given she arrives from Paradise Island straight to 1940s America, it would obviously take her time to adapt. But it is never shown in a way that could have so easily infantilised the character.

Also in terms of representation of women in a male dominated genre it’s actually held up pretty well. Sure Wonder Woman’s outfit is far from practical for fighting crime in and Steve Trevor does sometimes make very cringey remarks about women. But female solidarity is a key theme in multiple episodes. Diana Prince has a strong friendship with Etta Candy, generally there’s at least one Bechdel Test passing conversation between them per episode. Multiple times Wonder Women is underestimated because of her gender which leads to the downfall of the villain of the week. Speaking of the villains of the week – there’s a pretty even split between male and female villains. Whilst the attitudes shown towards women is a product of its time there’s also enough that as a feminist viewer in 2016 I don’t feel guilty about enjoying the series.

I hope the (long awaited) Wonder Woman movie that is (finally) released next year manages to capture the spirit of the original series. From the look of the trailers I think it might.

Why Tiana is the best Disney Princess

Tiana is my favourite Disney Princess and she should be featured more often. So I’ve mentioned I like Disney movies - I’m on the committee of the Disney Society at uni! And I have a lot of opinions about Disney stuff. Opinions like the fact that Tiana is the best Disney Princess and I just wanted to do a post sharing my reasons.

‘Fairy tales can come true, you gotta make 'em happen it all depends on you.’ Tiana has such an admirable attitude to life that I find genuinely inspiring. Yes it’s great to have dreams but you have to be prepared to work to get them. That’s such a great moral for a Disney Princess to be teaching kids but it’s also something that inspires me.

And her dream isn’t love, it’s running her own successful business - which is part of why I think she deserve more appreciation. Unlike other Disney Princesses Tiana is not content to wait for something to happen, she knows that a good relationship and marriage isn’t all there is to life.

Disney didn’t cheat with her ending. It would have been so easy for her to just happily marry Naveen and that was the end of the film but Disney didn’t do that. Sure she marries him but then Tiana goes off with him to open her restaurant. Tiana gets what she wants and what she worked hard for as well as getting married.

The Princess and the Frog does everything a Disney Princess movie should. With the Princess movies there’s a certain set of expectations that other Disney movies – like say Zootropolis – don’t have. In a Princess movie I’m expecting adventure, romance, fun songs, a cool villain and a gorgeously animated setting. For me Princess and the Frog is the only one of the princess movies that delivers all of that and delivers it at a high standard. I could easily fill a blog post with reasons that I enjoy The Princess and the Frog!

Tiana is a well realised black character. I apologise if I say something wrong here –bear in mind that I am a white man writing this. But in my opinion Disney did a great job at depicting a black character with Tiana. Her race never defines her but there are moments in the movie that acknowledge the prejudice and racism a woman of colour would have had to deal with in 1920s America. Her character and costume designs avoided using stereotypical ‘black attributes’ that Disney could have so easily used and left Tiana as a caricature. Yes she is ‘the black princess’ and that is a part of who Tiana is but it’s not something that defines her.

I think most importantly though Tiana is driven. There are many great aspects to her but I think her drive and motivation are - for me – what makes her such a compelling and interesting character.

So That’s What Having Friends Is Like!

Last year at uni I really struggled to find my feet. I know there’s this myth that once you arrive at uni everything is immediately wonderful and you have hundreds of friends but for me it just was not like that.

The first Monday of the first semester of my first year was awful. I remember going back to my flat that afternoon curling up on my bed feeling like I just wanted to give it all up there and then. But I didn’t and now I’m so glad that I didn’t. Most people get lucky with their flatmates in first year and find someone that instantly becomes their best friend. I really didn’t get that lucky. I was in a flat of four last year and when tensions quickly start to rise between you, it’s not good! And to make things even worse my ‘best friends’ from Sixth Form were either ignoring me or just sending me three word texts.

So yeah, I really didn’t get off to a good start in terms of friends last year.

However this year I do have friends! I’ve been socialising and talking to and hang out with my friends so much over the past week or so. Basically first year is weird and kinda sucks at times but second year is a lot more fun.

Last year I may have struggled to find my feet but this year I’ve hit the ground running!