Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.
The focus this time: Unscholarly scholarship.
First, a little mood music:
Carrying on…
What are “2SLGBTQI+ Picture Books”? This “queer early childhood educator” is going to find out! From the abstract:
“At a time when 2SLGBTQI+ identities are targeted with increasing hostility, criminalization, and attempted erasure by government officials, binary gender norms saturate the field of early childhood education (ECE). While there has been a surge in the publication of gender-diverse children’s literature in recent years, many of these books are now banned in the United States, which impacts their reception in Canada, including BC, Alberta, and New Brunswick. This study elicits children’s responses toward picture books about gender nonconformity, demonstrating how circle time can be queerly reimagined and practiced in ECE. Grounded in queer theory and trans studies, queer circle time is presented as an urgently needed and replicable pedagogical practice for ECE.”
Apparently there is a field of Queer Tolkien scholarship, and apparently Frodo is asexual. From the abstract:
“Queer Tolkien scholarship has seen a number of homosexual readings of Frodo Baggins. While there are indeed many elements within the text that support a queer reading, it is a mistake to insist that queer elements necessarily point to homosexuality. This article advances an alternative queer reading of Frodo: an asexual reading. Drawing queer and asexual scholarship, including Ela Przybylo, Danielle Cooper, Audre Lorde, and Jack Halberstam, this article examines Frodo’s actions, journey, and characteristics through an asexual lens, focusing on his solitary life in the Shire, the way he is perceived by the other Hobbits, his lack of any love interest, and the strong non-sexual relationships that he builds. It goes on to discuss Frodo’s relationship with Sam, arguing that asexuality can exist alongside homoromantic intimacy and unconventional family structures. Finally, it delves into the larger implications of this asexual coding, exploring what asexuality can reveal about the power of the Ring; about Tolkien’s representation of disability; and about Frodo’s departure from Middle-earth, which, when read through the lens of “queer failure,” can be seen as an act of resistance against the erasure and inadequacy of compulsory sexuality and reproductive heteronormativity.”
What is the connection between Native Americans and horses?
“Spaniards brought horses to Mexico in 1519. Indigenous peoples then took the reins, rapidly transporting offspring of those equine newcomers north along trade routes. As a result, a new study finds, many Native American populations across the Great Plains and the Rockies had incorporated horses into their ways of life by the early 1600s, decades before encountering any Europeans.
“…
“Some Indigenous oral histories suggest that their interactions with horses go back thousands of years to equines that might have survived the Ice Age. But analysis of DNA retrieved from remains of two Ice Age horses previously found in Alaska — one dating to about 26,100 years ago and another to around 28,400 years ago — showed no direct ties to later North American horses. Scientists generally suspect that wild horses first evolved in North America over tens of millions of years before dying out around 10,000 years ago.”
Yeah 10,000 years without any meaningful contact with a horse does not a spiritual connection make.
Hat Tip for first two articles: Colin Wright.
TTFN.
