Douglas Rushkoff on Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020)

[boingboing]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/03/14/douglas-rushkoff-on-genesis-br.html

…

[Ratel]

A Mutant, First Class.

[arkadian]

it kinda bothers me that the author misgenders Gen the entire article.

[anon47741163]

That’s a beautiful tribute.

[NickyG]

Thanks Douglas, for the great tribute, and your own contributions to my brain mutations as an impressionable teen a number of years ago now.

[sethgodin]

Thank you Doug, for sharing your care and humanity.

I’m so sorry for the loss. Good friends and happy mutants are difficult to find.

[rushkoff]

So sorry it wasn’t clear. Gen’s gender changed throughout their life, and I referred to Gen by the pronouns Gen used in whichever period I’m talking about. Gen went from He to She to They, and sometime S/he. Gen did NOT see themselves as transgender, or as a woman from birth who got gender confirmation through surgery. That’s why it would be inappropriate - at least from Gen’s perspective - to refer to the GEN from Throbbing Gristle as a she or they.

I know it’s upsetting - especially to those who believe we have one gender form birth - but that was part of Gen’s point. Things change, people change. Changing is a defense against cultural norms and social control. The categories and social policing - from all sides - are problematic.

[Mindysan33]

@boingboing

I got to watch - from safe behind him and a set of keyboards - as he showed his brand new breasts to a crowd of confused, mostly male devotees. They were still wearing macho army outfits from one of Gen’s prior incarnations. They were shocked. Was their hero softening?

I love this part… That crowd that accrued around the original industrial scene tended toward the hypermasculine and needed to be challenged by one of their heroes.

@boingboing

There were many Gens, and that’s probably part of the point.

Indeed! They meant many things to many people over the years, as I’m sure the tributes over the next few weeks will show.

So sorry for your loss @rushkoff.

[DeadWriter]

This is a lovely little documentary on Pandrogeny, Lady J, and Genesis.
Warning, nipples are shown. Most will not care.

Blight Of The Twin (It’s worth the 5 minutes, but if you must jump to 2:29).
Warning, nipples are shown. -for those that need the warning.

Source: YouTube clip posted by Nowness, of Blight Of The Twin by Hazel Hill McCarthy III

Alternate clip/version, YouTube clip (here) posted by MOCAtv/KCET, of Blight Of The Twin by Hazel Hill McCarthy III

I have memory of a much longer version that I watched years ago, but the data in The Web shows my memory to be wrong.

[NoThisIsPatrick]

@rushkoff

Changing is a defense against cultural norms and social control.

I needed to read that.

[Stillman]

A much better write-up.

[pesco]

Doug was Gen’s dear friend for decades. His essay is a personal remembrance, not a biographical obituary like the one you linked.

[Garymon]

In 1992 I moved to Eugene, Oregon to go to College. It didn’t take me long to find the alternative book store, and once inside I was immediately caught in the gravity well of Modern Primitives and Genesis. I already had ideas about alternative living but MP and Gen was what galvanized it all for me. Looking back at the choices I have made over the last 30 years, their influence on me is more clear than ever, as I can see myself trying in various ways to live up to the ideal (although I never did get around to suspension body mods).

Did anyone here ever catch the shows s/he did in Eugene in the mid 90’s when they were living at a farm house outside of town?