【Native Speaker每日综合训练—40系列】【40-12】文史哲 Drag Queen

ffffionabear

内容：Fffffionabear 编辑：Fffffionabear

公益申请名额，每月一名

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这次脑洞大开的周日主题是drag queen呢（伪娘→_→木有~相信我一点木有黑男人的意思）变装皇后美貌胡子男你们造嘛~~我私心满满的po了好多图~简直业界良心~！！你们感受一下~
speaker是关于自我性别认定新看法~~transgender小能手帮你找到新生
speed是大红人Conchita Wurst的获奖新闻~~他的得奖是不是说明人们对异装癖同性恋什么的更加宽容了呢
obstacle是对变装皇后获奖与社会政治相关背景的分析~enjoy~~

Part I: Speaker

How I help transgender teens become who they want to be
Source: TED talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/norman_spack_how_i_help_transgender_teens_become_who_they_want_to_be/transcript#t-19796
[Rephrase 1, 16:53]

ffffionabear

Part II: Speed

An Austrian Drag Queen Wins Eurovision
BY SALLY MCGRANE MAY 12, 2014

[Time 2]
In the wee hours of Sunday morning, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest—a pop extravaganza founded in 1956 with the purpose of fostering good relations between neighbors after the violence of the Second World War—drew to a close.

Many have called it the most political Eurovision ever: over the course of the evening, which was watched by a hundred and twenty million people, the blonde, teen-aged twins representing Russia, where they are widely touted as virgins, were booed—a first in the history of the contest. Televotes from Crimea had been counted, according to Eurovision decree, as Ukrainian. (They went to Sweden.) The Russians had, as usual, awarded high points to Belarus, whose song was about cheesecake.

But the crowning statement was yet to come. As the last of the thirty-seven participating countries weighed in (Israel, the Netherlands, Iceland, Slovenia), a dark-horse winner emerged: Conchita Wurst. A glamorous drag queen, the Austrian candidate was decked out in a long, glittering dress and sported a full beard. The crowd in Copenhagen went wild. “This night is dedicated to everyone who believes in peace and freedom,” Wurst said, brandishing the glass trophy. “You know who you are. We are unity, and we are unstoppable.” Later, in a press conference, she addressed the same message directly to Vladimir Putin.
[217 words]

[Time 3]
Conchita Wurst is the alter ego of the twenty-five-year-old Tom Neuwirth, who created Wurst in response to the discrimination he faced growing up gay in a small Austrian town. (Wurst means both “sausage” and “it’s all the same” in German, and stands, in Neuwirth’s lexicon, for acceptance: “It’s all the same, at the end of the day, how you look or where you come from, because the only thing that counts is the person you are.”) Though she is Eurovision’s first bearded woman, Wurst is by no means the first gender-bending act to do well in the competition; in 1998, the transgender Israeli singer Dana International won. But, against the current political backdrop, the singer’s resounding victory can be read as a statement about Europe’s commitment to progressive ideals.

“It’s a firm and clear rebuke against Putin’s anti-L.G.B.T. legislation and people who support it,” William Lee Adams, the editor-in-chief of WiwiBloggs.com, the Internet’s most-read Eurovision Web site, said. Adams added that the passage of anti-gay-propaganda laws in Russia, in combination with the Sochi Olympics, the annexation of Crimea, and the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, gave Wurst’s act, which one journalist described as “James Bond/Adelle/Sheena Easton-style,” the emotional weight it might not otherwise have had. “She’s singing about rising like a phoenix,” Adams said. “She’s been burned.”

Certainly, Wurst’s path to Eurovision victory has not been easy. A petition against her circulated in Austria after she was chosen as this year’s national candidate. Subsequent petitions in Belarus and Russia objected that Wurst’s participation would turn Eurovision into a hotbed of sodomy. Some people—including Russian politicians—demanded that Russian television edit out her act. (This is against Eurovision rules and was not pursued by any stations, a Eurovision spokesperson said.) Jan Feddersen, an editor at the German newspaper TAZ and a longtime Eurovision reporter, said Austria’s win indicates that there is less of a cultural divide in Europe than is widely thought: Wurst garnered nearly as many votes from Southern and Eastern European countries, like Italy and Slovenia, as from traditionally left-leaning countries like the Netherlands. “There’s the idea that Eastern Europe is homophobic, and this proves it’s not true,” Feddersen said. “Conchita Wurst is a success of liberal, democratic Europe.”
[370 words]

[Time 4]
Eurovision scores are comprised of rankings made by appointed jury members in combination with a popular televote. Wurst’s popular ranking held additional surprises: in Armenia, a country that recently considered instituting Russian-style laws against so-called gay propaganda, the public ranked Wurst second. In Russia, Wurst was televoters’ third-favorite act. Yury Gavrikov, the leader of the Russian L.G.B.T. organization Equality, said that this was remarkable. “The Russian people, who are under really aggressive government propaganda in the past couple of years, in spite of all of this they voted for the Austrian with a great percentage,” he said. “They gave him or her bronze.”

Indeed, Eurovision can be seen as a measure of Russia’s changing attitudes toward homosexuality: in 2003, Russia sent t.A.T.u., a carefully choreographed faux-lesbian duo described by one journalist as “the biggest Russian export after oil and gas.” In 2007, Russia awarded the Ukrainian drag performer Verka Serduchk’s song, whose refrain included a nonsense phrase that sounded like “Russia goodbye,” the highest score possible. “The difference is that, in seven years, we have the idea of ‘an enemy’ recreated by the Kremlin and Putin,” Gavrikov said, adding that the Russian L.G.B.T. community is happy with Wurst’s win. “It’s a great compensation, you know, for all the history of the past couple of months. I think it will invite a new process of thinking for people.”

This seemed to be true for this year’s Armenian finalist, Aram Mp3. He apologized to Wurst after saying publicly that his team would help her figure out if she is a man or a woman and that he drives as fast as he can through the gay district in Yerevan. Wurst accepted his apology; before long, according to media reports, they were on hugging terms. Wurst sees herself as a catalyst for discussion about terms like “other” and “normal,” and an embodiment of the idea that you shouldn’t be judged because you are different. Adams, who called her “the goddess of tolerance,” agreed. But, he added, Wurst has also proved to be a surprisingly unifying figure. “People talk about the splintered European Union, about the U.K. pulling out,” he said. “But, last night, everyone got behind an Austrian drag queen.”
[367 words]
Source: The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/an-austrian-drag-queen-wins-eurovision

Conchita Wurst’s gender-fluid win
Eurovision's "bearded lady" scores a victory unlike any other
TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014

[Time 5]
“You’re born naked,” a famed sage once said, “and the rest is drag.” But in just the past few weeks, Ru Paul’s maxim about how we challenge gender — and what it means to be male, female or anywhere in between – has been getting a serous pop culture workout. And nowhere has that been more evident that in the Eurovision triumph this weekend of Conchita Wurst. Wurst, who’s been described as everything from “Austria’s bearded lady ” to “a cross between Jesus and Kim Kardashian,” took Europe’s venerable song competition with the torchy “Rise Like a Phoenix.” It was a song delivered in a simmering gown and full facial hair – and above the protests and petitions regarding Wurst’s presence circulated in Armenia, Belarus and Russia.

Even for drag, this was unique. In life, we’re most accustomed to people who identify as, and are identifiable as, male or female. A drag character is usually accepted as opposite gender while in character, however the person may define offstage. Trans men and women frequently (but not always) leave behind one name and gender identity for another, as Chelsea Manning did when she recently announced her legal name change. And Eurovision’s even already had a transgender winner, whenDana International took the top prize in 1998.
[210 words]

[Time 6]
But not everyone makes firm distinctions. Three years ago, in a candid New York magazine profile, performer Justin Vivian Bond, creator of the legendary character Kiki DuRane, announced, “I used to be a man, but now I’m a trans person. Nothing has changed, just the words. And the prescriptions.” On Bond’s site, the performer, who eschews traditional gender pronouns, says, “For me to claim to be ‘a woman’ would feel just as false as the charade I’ve been asked to play for so much of my life of being ‘a man.’” Earlier this year, Facebook opened up nearly 50 new gender identities for users to choose from, including “androgynous, bi-gender, intersex, gender fluid, and transsexual.” And if you need further evidence that gender – even transgender – isn’t always defined exclusively as maleness or femaleness, behold this year’s Tony-nominated Broadway blockbuster: “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” The “inch,” by the way, is a spoiler. The enduring, adored character of Hedwig, currently personified by Neil Patrick Harris, may wear blond wigs and high heels, but lives “in the divide between east and west, slavery and freedom, male and female.”

Newly crowed Eurovision victor Wurst, meanwhile, identifies as male offstage – his given name is Thomas – but describes himself as having “two hearts beating in my chest.” He says that “The private person Tom Neuwirth and the art figure Conchita Wurst respect each other from the bottom of their hearts. They are two individual characters with their own individual stories, but with one essential message for tolerance and against discrimination.” Unique persona aside, Wurst’s Eurovision win may still only ever yield him Díma Bilán-level international musical stardom, but right now, the 25-year-old Wurst says the win is evidence “that people want to move on, to look to the future.” And though in his bio Wurst says, “It’s not about appearances; it’s about the human being,” after the competition he couldn’t help but add, “I’m just a singer in a fabulous dress, with great hair and a beard.”
[333 words]
Source: Salon
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/12/conchita_wursts_gender_fluid_win/

ffffionabear

Part III: Obstacle

The reaction to Conchita Wurst’s victory at Eurovision highlights the polarisation over LGBTI rights across Europe

[Paraphrase 7]
The Eurovision Song Contest, held on 10 May, generated controversy in some countries in Europe over the victory of Austrian singer Conchita Wurst. Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz writes on the political dimension to the contest and the wider issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights. He notes that the varied reactions between some countries in Central-Eastern and Western Europe highlight the polarised nature of LGBTI issues, but that the results of the public vote across Europe may mark a change of popular attitudes.

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest, and the victory of the Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst, more than ever before illuminated Europe’s contemporary culture wars. Europe witnessed a triumph of performed gender – a camp drag show outclassed all rivals, including catchy songs and rather lascivious performances of the kind so familiar in western pop culture.

The verdict of the European public is a good sign for progressive forces because it suggests an appreciation for an intrinsically queer and gender transgressive performance. At the same time, the conservative outcry against Conchita can be situated in the nexus of the homophobic backlash in Russia and its periphery, as well as the politicisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights ahead of the European Parliament elections on 22-25 May.

The political dimension to Eurovision

Whether deliberate, accidental, or a result of the western aspiration of some of the ‘almost European’ members of the European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision is known for its campness. Since its naissance in 1956, Eurovision has had a political dimension linked to the early stages of European integration – for a brief moment it even competed with an Eastern Bloc equivalent, Intervision. However, since the 1990s, the extension of the contest to all of Europe, and to its near periphery, has infused it with more political temporality, manifested in ideological statements, voting bargaining, and various forms of social subversiveness.

This year in Copenhagen, blatantly political references were also inescapable: the anchor from (the former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia emphasised the country’s ‘Macedonianess’ every few words he uttered; while the persistent booing of Russia from the audience each time the country’s song received points was symptomatic. As with every year, there were a few performances that can be seen as contemporary emanations of opera buffa, however, Austria’s act took centre stage.

The singer, Tom Neuwirth, appearing under the artistic pseudonym of Conchita Wurst, was not the first queer performance in the history of the contest. Most notably, it was Dana International from Israel who as early as 1998 in Birmingham broke the gender taboo when it turned out she was a transsexual female. Back then, apart from mild consternation and protests coming from the Orthodox community in Israel, the song Diva became an international hit.

Other similar entries followed, with Sestre the Slovenian transvestite flight attendants trio in 2002 in Tallinn, a Danish drag performer Drama Queen in 2007, and Ukrainian drag comedian Verka Serduchka singing ‘Russia goodbye’ the very same year in Helsinki. In the end that edition of the contest was won by a lesbian singer, Marija Šerifović, from Serbia. In 2008 Dana International re-entered the contest in Belgrade, though with moderate results.

This year in Copenhagen, however, the Austrian entry was not only more performatively queer than any song ever before, but also coincided with a heightened politicisation of LGBTI rights in Europe, and a visible polarisation of attitudes in societies and governments alike. This trend continued after the contest with Russian officials acting to prevent a parade from taking place in Moscow on 27 May to honour the Eurovision winner.

The politicisation of LGBTI rights in Europe

Although Eurovision is no stranger to frivolous and carnivalesque songs that explicitly play with gender roles, Conchita Wurst was exceptionally transgressive in terms of her physical appearance, musical performance, and the construction of the artistic persona. Following Butler’s and Sedgwick’s understandings of ‘performativity’, the gender of Conchita Wurst results from her artistic practice, transgresses culturally normative gender identification, is ungraspable, and hence socially subversive.

The decorum of Conchita’s seemingly feminine attributes – a gallant frock, a diva-like appearance, and a song à la Dame Shirley Bassey – is symbolically broken by the prominence of her full beard. The beard is there to remind us about the normatively understood sex of the singer and to heighten the effect of transgression that takes place. Conchita is deliberately queer.

It is no surprise that responses to Conchita’s victory varied greatly. Even before the contest began, radical groups in Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan vocally campaigned to deny her entry – a similar petition also appeared in her native Austria, though with a meagre 40,000 signatures. However, the reactions to Conchita’s victory not only stem from the intensified gender performativity of her act in comparison to the ones Eurovision has seen before, but have to be related to the current politicisation of LGBTI rights in Europe.

Most prominent is the current scapegoating of LGBTI people by the present Russian regime. This has been carried out in terms of an ideological construction in which Vladimir Putin, his supporters, and the Russian Orthodox Church have drawn a distinction between ‘healthy hetero-normative’ Russia and ‘morally repugnant homosexual’ Europe. Consequently, one of the leaders of Russia’s government sanctioned opposition in the Duma, the ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, expressed his outrage over Conchita – the very same man who a few weeks ago caused controversy with comments in which he stated that one of his bodyguards should ‘rape’ a pregnant journalist. It was also in Russia where young men started shaving their beards and announcing it on Twitter in reaction to Conchita’s win.

In the EU, negative reactions came mostly from right-wing political forces and have to be seen from the perspective of the upcoming European Parliament elections. In Hungary, the conservative weekly Heti Válasz featured Conchita on a bull with the title “The Rape of Europa: The Gay Lobby Won Song Contest”, somewhat obscuring the classic Greek myth. In Poland, the country’s entry to Eurovision, a rather awkward celebration of Slavic women, was juxtaposed with Conchita’s act by right-wing MEPs. However the Polish entry marked its own ideological divide, given it reproduced a brand of explicit sexism common to American pop culture.

The gap between public and elite-level opinion

The vote of Eurovision’s audiences somewhat highlights an illiberal-liberal divide over LGBTI rights in Europe and in its neighbourhood. In a historical context, 12 points given from Israel to Austria are particularly curious. However, the apparent polarisation in Europe over LGBTI issues is nuanced by the detailed results of popular vs. jury voting. The points in the contest are allocated using a mix of public voting and rankings by a jury of experts in each country. As it turns out, the public votes showed high support for the Austrian entry irrespective of geography, while the low points given to Austria by most Central-European countries, as well as in Germany, stemmed largely from the professional juries.

In other words, while the public was equally taken by Conchita’s performance across Europe, elite-level opinion in a few countries thought otherwise. It was also in these states where her win became a politicised public issue and served as a supply of ideology for right-wing parties gearing up for the European elections. Moreover, the popular protests against Eurovision’s winner were largely exaggerated by social media, as has previously occurred in other instances of politically stimulated homophobic outrage, particularly in Russia.

While LGBTI rights activists may be pleased with this symbolic victory, the performativity of Conchita Wurst is still confined to a sideshow, where the mediated sociability of Europe’s television audience allowed many to vote outside of their regular comfort zone or acceptance standards. At the same time, the success of this inherently queer and subversive performance marks a change of popular attitudes towards LGBTI people in Europe. Hence, following the Danish anchor of Eurovision, it’s wholly justifiable to offer ‘congratulations to Conchita, the Queen of Europe’ and wait for what might come in the next Eurovision contest in Vienna in 2015.
[1335 words]
Source: LSE
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2014/05/17/the-reaction-to-conchita-wursts-victory-at-eurovision-highlights-the-polarisation-over-lgbti-rights-across-europe/

ffffionabear

赶紧占个沙发~~哼╭(╯^╰)╮
----无限感恩~！！进击的阅读小分队~~你的作业（ ￣ー￣）[冷笑]  不，是你的作业~~一天不做，浑身哆嗦~~--------------------------------------
[speaker]
Teens are having mix answers to define their gender.
Your gender is not made by description of your sex,not the birth,nor do how others define your gender.It's so normative to define other's gender by their genetic gender,but here still have sexual identity and gender identity what we cannot change.Tests can't define who you are neither.  
[speed]
1'34
A glamorous draq queen Conchita Wurst won the the Eurovision Song Contest,which is thought to be the most political Eurovision ever.
2'19
As the only breaded woman and gay,Wurst's victory in Eurvision seems to be people's response to the discrimination of LGBT.Some critcs regards her victory as a success of liberal,democratic Europe.
2'08
Now people's attitudes have changed toword homosexuality,Wurst was televoters'third-favorite act,they got behind an Austrian drag queen.
58'
We're most accustomed to identify one by what he or her calls,and what his or her identifiable as,male or female.But now,a new trend of culture emerge,a drag character seems to be acceptable.
1'50
Not everyone makes firm distinctions,there are sometimes two hearts beating in one's chest.However,Wurst's win proved that people want to change,they're moving on,accepting those who as a human being,not what her or his appearance is.
[obstacle]
8'13
main idea:Wurst's win in Eurovision broke the "morally repugnant homosexual"Europe,regraded as in political demension to the LGBTI rights.The culture changes,it start to suggest an appreciation for an queer and gender transgressive performance.But the reaction of different level in Europe is extreme because:
1.Wurst wasn't the only queer won in international games,but Eurvision always has a poliical dimension linked to its origin.
2.Europe used to be  regarded as "hetero-normative" ,holding hatred in unnormative thing such as homosexuality.Wurst's victory seems to be "rape" the European traditional culture for some critics.
3.Elite-level take her victory as supply of ideology for right-wing parties.

ShilohQ

2’03‘’
1‘40’‘
1’57‘’
1‘03’‘
2’01
6‘28’‘

cynthia0114

speed:
time2: 2'06''
time3: 3'24''
time4: 2'30''
time5: 1'05''
time6: 2'08''

obstacle看不下去了。。。

风随心动01

之前看到新闻的时候只是当做新鲜事来看待，没想到Drag Queen的背后有这么深层次的含义。联想到国内一些比赛结果常常被抨击不公平，有人的地方就有各式各样的诉求，真的做不到绝对公平。
Time 2：00:02:09.21
-A singing contest draw to a close in Saturday evening
-The contest this year was called the most political one because the treatment to the Russian and Ukrainian canadians were different.
-An australian Drag Queen dressig a long dress and with a full beard won the contest.

Time 3  00:03:55.72
-A little introduction of CW.
-The media commont of CW's winning.
-The way to Victory was not easy.

Time 4: 00:03:06.68
-The Russia L.G.B.T organization regarded the victory of CW as a improvement of Russian sexural attitudes.
-Other statement about CW.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
有关阅读方法：
我现在阅读真是渣一样。。。
现在做阅读小分队是这么做的：
读一个Time，计时，记笔记、整理回忆；读第二遍，查单词，更正回忆。
因为读得慢，如果特别在意时间的话很难做到active reading，现在只好先牺牲速度，练习阅读时的思考方式。同时这样做的话往往一个越1000字的Speed就要将近半个小时，Obstacle我至今不敢尝试。。。争取明天做小分队时能完成一个完整Speed文章和一个obstacle文章
不知道方法对不对，求大神指导~

charming9386

18 AUG 曾经让白人决定黑人该不该成为奴隶 让男人决定女人该不该接受教育 现在让异性恋决定同性恋合不合法
SPEED  不过我还是不太喜欢 特意把自己打扮地太奇怪的 You are  beautiful just way you are
00:59 [217 words]
我怎么说画面风格这么诡异 Drag Queen 原来是gay的意思 涨知识了
Mainidea：a drug queen win the Eurovision song test

01:46 [370 words]
Mainidea:Conchita Wurst face the discrimination about gay and Adams said that the laws against gay gave the Wurst's act.
         The idea that Eastern Europe is homophobic is not true and CW is a success of liberal

02:20 [367 words]
Mainidea:CW'act is the televoters' third-favorite show and someone apolpgized to CW.


00:48 [210 words]
画面风格依旧奇怪
Mainidea:Conchita Wurst’s gender-fluid win
         我还是用she吧 she was just like a phoenix and a drug character is the opposite gender.

01:48 [333 words]
Mainidea:facebook now open 50 kinds of sex charcaters and CW said that she was a singer in a fabulous dress with the great hair and beard.
         The win shows that "people want to move on and look to future" .

Obstacle
06:01 [1335 words]
我又涨知识了LGBTI----LES GAY Bi Tran Inter 五彩旗
Mainidea:
Structure:
          1)BACKGROUND
          Now,the Europe shows that the polarization and the win marks a change in popular attitudes.
          2)the political dimension to Eurovision
          Eurovision have experienced some activities like this one
          3)The politicisation of LGBTI rights in Europe
           A disagreement between public and elites.

YajunJessica

Time 2: 1’15’’ (217w)
Time 3: 2’26’’ (370w)
Time 4: 2’22 (367w)
Time 5: 1’31’’ (210w)
Time 6: 2’07’’ (333w)
补齐了~~~

cyndichiang

Time2 1'31''
Drug Queen won the Eurovision

Time3 2'32''
She faced many difficulties during her competition but she was supported by Southern and Eastern European
Her success reflects the more liberal Europe

Time4 2'24''
Wurst's ranking of televote was surprising: the second in America and the third in Russia
Russia gradually changes mind toward homosexility

Time5 1'40''
Time6 1'57''
People are borned to be male or female, but not everyone makes firm distinctions
Many transgenders or intersexers or else announced their identities.
Wrust won the Eurovision and she struggled for transgenders who are discriminated by human-beings

Obstacle: 8'20''
Eurovision and the LGBT rights in Europe links to political demonsion
Polarisational attitutes of LGBT in Europe:
Russian Orthodox Church have drawn a distinction between ‘healthy hetero-normative’ Russia and ‘morally repugnant homosexual’ Europe
The gap between public and elite-level opinion:
Elite-level thinks that the LGBT is linked with the political issue and involves to form an ideology for right-wings in order to win the election