Queerly

Due to this weekend’s LLW festivities, the Exiles’ August program has
been moved to the 4th Friday of the month. So come by the Women’s
Building on Friday, August 27, for a great program!

Fun with Military Protocol
Friday, August 27, 2010
(NOTE DATE CHANGE)

8-10 p.m., doors open at 7:30 p.m.
$4 Exiles members, $10 non-members
at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th St. @ Valencia, SF
Programs are open to women and those whose gender self-identification
is other than male.
ASL interpretation is available.

Ever wondered where some of those great Leather traditions came from?
Want to know the “correct” way to present club colors? How about
having fun with formations and formal “positions?” This class will
answer those questions, plus! We will discuss what military protocol
is, the place of rank and hierarchy in the military and beyond, and
how this can be used in BDSM and the leather scene. We will also talk
about (and practice) the etiquette of receiving lines and dealing with
foreign dignitaries. If you like formality or uniforms (or looking at
those in uniforms), you will surely enjoy this evening. Come ready to
actively participate and have lots of fun!


About the Presenter:

Jody (Northwest slave 2010) is the property of her Mistress, Liza, and
is bound to Liza for life. Jody came out as a leather dyke and a slave
in 1980 in Los Angeles, and shortly thereafter founded Leather and
Lace, a support and social group for woman to woman BD/DS/SM and
served in most of the officer positions of that organization until
1993. Before founding Leather and Lace, Jody was in the U.S. Air Force
(and, before that, in the Arizona Wing of Civil Air Patrol) and
trained Drill Teams and Color Guards. For much of her 30 years as a
leather dyke, Jody has been teaching classes on a variety of topics
covering slavery, the Master/slave dynamic, military protocol, and
safety.

Jody was a Judge for the 1990 International Ms. Leather contest and
has also served as a judge for local leather contests. In 1993, she
produced “This is Leather,” educating and entertaining more than 2.000
leather and non-leather folk during the Christopher Street West
Festival in Los Angeles. More recently, Jody has been active on the
steering committee for Leather Levi Weekend, serving as the Events
Chair from 2007-2009 and now as the Secretary of LLW. Jody is a proud
member of the Exiles, three local chapters of Masters and slaves
Together, and the Bears of San Francisco. Along with Liza and a group
of friends, Jody produces the Ms. San Francisco Leather contest.

For more information about the Exiles, check out www.theexiles.org as
well as our groups on FetLife, Facebook, MySpace, and Tribe.net!
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I read this blog post this morning and it’s stuck in my brain like a piece of gristle caught in your teeth- you must worry at it and pick at it until it’s gone. I post it here- because I think Cognitive Dissonance particularly impacts queer folks- add in any other category- like race and or class or survivor and it gets denser and more interesting.

Here’s a quote from the beginning but go on and read the whole thing. It’s worth the read and for you writers there are prompts to write to- worth the read, certainly worth the write. If you ever get the chance to take one of her workshops- do it- she is an amazing facilitator and author.

“I recently heard that cognitive dissonance occurs when you act in a way that’s at odds with your values.  I’ve also heard that cognitive dissonance happens when, in order to function, you have to hold in your consciousness two totally different ideas or realities at the same time.  Some of us experience this kind of thing when we’re kids, if we come from abusive places, where, out in the world or at school, we were met as giving or smart or creative, and at home we were met as stupid or selfish or bad. We had to hold both of these realities of ourselves at the same time — we had to somehow understand that different people could interact with us in completely different ways, opposing ways, even if we thought we assumed it seemed as though we were the same person (weren’t we?) when we moved from one situation to the next.” via Jen Cross