Hi everyone,

I have been signing up for several freelance writing websites, in pursuit of my dream of making my writing a full time career. But alas, everyone has a lot of experience, while I am just a young street kid who has never written professionally before! I received a writing award as when I was thirteen, but that hardly counts as extensive writing experience.

So! My request is that you assign me a topic. Something I would have to research perhaps. It can be any topic, and it does not need to be gender related, although it can be if you wish. Just give me an assignment so that I can build up my portfolio. In exchange, you will earn a forever spot in my gnawed up little heart.

- Elio Ayla

Snow leopards
Vampire in folklore and mythology
The rise of comic book popularity and what about superheroes/villains appeals to people
Giant squids
Shamanism
Red tides

Quote from: ElioAyla on October 23, 2014, 08:50:36 PM
Hi everyone,

I have been signing up for several freelance writing websites, in pursuit of my dream of making my writing a full time career. But alas, everyone has a lot of experience, while I am just a young street kid who has never written professionally before! I received a writing award as when I was thirteen, but that hardly counts as extensive writing experience.

So! My request is that you assign me a topic. Something I would have to research perhaps. It can be any topic, and it does not need to be gender related, although it can be if you wish. Just give me an assignment so that I can build up my portfolio. In exchange, you will earn a forever spot in my gnawed up little heart.

- Elio Ayla

Who many of the non-binary end up as binaries?  I am saying this because I have seen a number of folks who went from crossdresser to non-binary to full transsexual... but I do not have an statistic on it... so if you take the bait... there you have quiet a challenge to search and research and perhaps an interest story at the end of the rainbow... so to speak

Quote from: peky on October 23, 2014, 09:19:07 PM
Who many of the non-binary end up as binaries?  I am saying this because I have seen a number of folks who went from crossdresser to non-binary to full transsexual... but I do not have an statistic on it... so if you take the bait... there you have quiet a challenge to search and research and perhaps an interest story at the end of the rainbow... so to speak

Peky

Good suggestion but I guess that the challenge here is to find out whether folk who went through a non binary phase see this just as part of their transition or was this a distinct phase in their life when they really identified as non binary.

Along the same lines it would be interesting to find out how many folk who underwent a binary transition subsequently identify as non binary.

These questions are timely and, as I am finding, really quite complex.  Some folk identify as non binary and maintain much or all of their body assigned at birth whereas others want the lived experience of the opposite binary even thought they consider themselves non binary. 

The more that I look at this, the more I tend to the view that physical or even chemical/endocrine change may not move in line with identity and that the picture is confused further when most folk would say that they are not 100%M or 100%F and sit along some form of continuum.  It becomes even harder to determine a classification against which to collect meaningful data when non binary is such a broad category of often self defined and experienced gender identities eg how would we treat gender fluid folk who see their gender as situationally dependent?

Not saying the research problem is insoluble or interesting, but perhaps not as simple as the first two questions that you and I have posed, might suggest.

Safe travels

Aisla

Quote from: ElioAyla on October 23, 2014, 08:50:36 PM
Hi everyone,

I have been signing up for several freelance writing websites, in pursuit of my dream of making my writing a full time career. But alas, everyone has a lot of experience, while I am just a young street kid who has never written professionally before! I received a writing award as when I was thirteen, but that hardly counts as extensive writing experience.

So! My request is that you assign me a topic. Something I would have to research perhaps. It can be any topic, and it does not need to be gender related, although it can be if you wish. Just give me an assignment so that I can build up my portfolio. In exchange, you will earn a forever spot in my gnawed up little heart.

- Elio Ayla

Elio

Here are other possibilities:

-  How many marriages end when one partner comes out as trans.  The only study which I have seen indicates that most relationships survive but threads on on Susans suggest that this may not be the case.

-  In the general population how many folk self define or come within a standard criteria of trans*.  I have seen figures from as low as 0.7% but this appears to solely refer to TS,  to as high as 5% when surveyed participants indicate that they have questioned their gender to the point where they have experienced discomfort or dysphoria.

Judging from a talk that Cindy gave at the ANZPATH conference I suspect that she would have a range of potential research topics that you might find more compelling than the above.

Really look forward to your decision and better still, learning the results!

Safe travels

Aisla

I would like to read a historical timeline of gender variance or transexuality through written time. Just dated examples of transgender people in history, say jumping ahead from biblical times every few hundred years, or as often as examples appear, up to modern day..

That's too big a project I'm sure, just something I've always been very curious about.?

trans and spirituality.
just to see what trans people believe in before coming to terms with their identity, when transitioning, and after transition.
do beliefs become stronger or fade away? are religions blamed for hurting or are gods loved for saving one's life?

how are trans people treated in their different local communities?
is this based on prejudice, blamed on religion, or what differences are there between different areas?
are liberals really more accepting than conservatives, or do they just have different ways of accepting or rejecting?

in the history of rather serious research on homosexuality, it has been tried treated with transsexual transition in order to make the homosexual individual more acceptable to a society that only allows love between opposite sexes. and probably because of curiosity too. with devastating results, ofc.
an article about how science has viewed transsexuality and homosexuality would be interesting to read.
they have been seen as the same but found to be different. or did they know from the start that they were different?

I would start a blog. I got one of my writing positions from having a blog and an opinion. If you want to right non op-ed articles make sure you include references, and I'd advise writing in subjects that interest you to start with.

Quote from: Aisla on October 23, 2014, 10:20:13 PM
Peky

Good suggestion but I guess that the challenge here is to find out whether folk who went through a non binary phase see this just as part of their transition or was this a distinct phase in their life when they really identified as non binary.

Along the same lines it would be interesting to find out how many folk who underwent a binary transition subsequently identify as non binary.

These questions are timely and, as I am finding, really quite complex.  Some folk identify as non binary and maintain much or all of their body assigned at birth whereas others want the lived experience of the opposite binary even thought they consider themselves non binary. 

The more that I look at this, the more I tend to the view that physical or even chemical/endocrine change may not move in line with identity and that the picture is confused further when most folk would say that they are not 100%M or 100%F and sit along some form of continuum.  It becomes even harder to determine a classification against which to collect meaningful data when non binary is such a broad category of often self defined and experienced gender identities eg how would we treat gender fluid folk who see their gender as situationally dependent?

Not saying the research problem is insoluble or interesting, but perhaps not as simple as the first two questions that you and I have posed, might suggest.

Safe travels

Aisla

Hi Aisla,

Good points and good questions.. some food for thought

oo

P