Jessie Gender
On this channel, I talk about the nuance in the nerdy, and focus on issues facing the LGBTQ community, transgender specific community, women, nonbinary and autistic folks as well as other social and political issues through and within geek topics, with an eye to the most vulnerable. My goal is try to create a space where we can talk about hard issue but in a way that is constructive, positive, welcoming, and educational, and still never loses sight of the joy and love for each other that brought us together in the first place.
New videos every Friday!
Posts
Jessie Gender
Hey everyone, I have some really exciting news! My friend and fellow YouTuber and filmmaker Patrick Willems has a new short film, POWER TRIP, coming out IN THEATERS.
POWER TRIP is directed by Patrick, written by Matthew Kelly (Nando v Movies), produced by Oscar-winner Dan Jinks and Dave Wiskus, and stars Amir Arison and Tony nominee Julia Knitel. Power Trip is a thriller that follows a rideshare driver who gets pulled into an unexpectedly complicated situation with her passenger. I think it sparks some incredibly strong conversations about so many issues we’re all wrestling with right now, from technology encroaching on our lives to the corporate dehumanization of the people who are pushed aside by it. I’m so proud of Patrick for this wonderful film, and so excited for you to see his work.
This is what excites me about Nebula: it helps creators and filmmakers like me make ambitious narrative work and develops our voices as directors and storytellers, while also helping us YouTubers survive amid YouTube's constantly changing whims. And most of all, watching my friend Patrick make something like this is genuinely awesome.
Right now, POWER TRIP is playing in theaters for a limited time, with screenings at Regal Essex Crossing in New York from September 24–30. Each screening will also have a live Q&A with the filmmakers. If you’re in NYC, see it on the big screen and support filmmakers getting the chance to make complicated, interesting art. Get your tickets through Regal at www.regmovies.com/movies/power-trip-live-qa-ho0002…
3 days ago | [YT] | 700
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Jessie Gender
NEW VIDEO UP ON PATREON: Why are trans and queer filmmakers called “self-indulgent” for making personal art when cis male auteurs are praised for doing the exact same thing? Also, I get into a bit of spoiler-free discussion of the AMAZING new "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma". www.patreon.com/jessiegender/posts/why-is-queer-ar…
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1,659
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Jessie Gender
It's time to watch the TV Movie: Blood & Chrome - A prequel set during the first Cylon war, following a young William Adama on his first mission as a pilot. Honestly, it's a nice breather from the show proper right now.
AUDIO VERSION - councilofgeeks.libsyn.com/frak-this-podcast-79-blo…
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 28
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Jessie Gender
Frak this Podcast continues with a classic "setting things up for the series finale" style episode that manages to undermine one of the things Vera recently said she appreciated about the show, and I laugh at her pain.
Podcast: councilofgeeks.libsyn.com/frak-this-podcast-78-isl…
1 month ago | [YT] | 27
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Jessie Gender
NEW VIDEO up on Patreon (coming next week to Nebula and then YouTube) - "Progressive Men's 'Obsessive' Sex Doll Savior Complex'; a look at the history of sex/wish-fulfillment women in fiction and how these stories are a Rorschach test for the misogyny we are often better at naming in others than recognizing in ourselves; looking at reactions and readings to stories like Pygmalion, Ex Machina and, recently, Obsession. www.patreon.com/jessiegender
1 month ago | [YT] | 438
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Jessie Gender
Starbuck takes up piano, while Chief Tyrol connects with Boomer like it's the first time, and we get one of Battlestar Galactica's best moments where we start to learn more about the mysterious origins of the All Along the Watchtower song on this episode of the Frak This Podcast.
AUDIO VERSION - councilofgeeks.libsyn.com/frak-this-podcast-77-som…
1 month ago | [YT] | 2
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Jessie Gender
Ellen Tigh returns to the Galactica, Baltar tries to become a figure of hope, and show host Vera gets so angry at this show that she doesn't even have the energy to yell anymore.
AUDIO - councilofgeeks.libsyn.com/frak-this-podcast-75-dea…
1 month ago | [YT] | 17
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Jessie Gender
So, my long-fabled Ferengi video finally went live this morning and, in true Ferengi fashion, Paramount immediately arrived to demand a percentage. A couple of hours after the video went up, Paramount copyright-claimed and blocked it worldwide. I’ve disputed the claim, of course. Paramount used to be fairly good about reviewing and releasing these, but lately they’ve been letting them time out over 30 days. So the video may be trapped in the Rules of Acquisition waiting room for the next month. And it’s not just this video. Over the weekend, I also received a claim on a six-year-old Star Trek essay about PTSD and trauma. Apparently, a number of other Star Trek YouTubers have been hit with similar claims recently. I know Paramount is a gigantic corporation, and this probably wasn’t personally ordered from the top of Mount Skydance. But widespread blocks like these still reveal a company with very little interest in supporting the fan community, criticism, and conversation that have kept Star Trek alive, particularly when those conversations come from marginalized creators working within a franchise supposedly dedicated to uplifting marginalized people. Given the current regime, perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising. It is still exhausting.
I’m incredibly proud of the Ferengi video. I spent an unreasonable amount of time in full Ferengi makeup. There are lobes and root beer. It’s a good time, and I hope the video will be back next week. It has also been genuinely refreshing to make videos about things I’m excited by again, even when YouTube’s algorithm increasingly seems to demand that every video be about DRAMA and ANGER.
But to be direct, views have been down across my channel and for many other video essayists. It has been frightening for my wife and me, especially with her student loan payments beginning again after several years of deferment. So I hate having to ask, but if you’re able to support my work on Patreon, it genuinely helps us weather this terrible economic moment and the increasingly hostile YouTube and companies towards queer/non-mainstream/non-angry content.
The Ferengi video is already available there, entirely unblocked and beyond the reach of the FCA. But if Patreon isn’t possible, don’t feel guilty; I know we're all going through a lot. There’s still another big video coming later this month about sex robots, android women, and anger when it turns out us women have interiority. WHAT A SHOCK, right? More weird, ambitious stuff is coming. Paramount permitting. patreon.com/jessiegender
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 218
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Jessie Gender
The Cylons were created by man. They rebelled. They evolved. There are many copies. And they have a plan... at least I think they do? We pause the final season to watch The Plan, a prequel/midquel/feature-length continuity patch promising to reveal the meticulous strategy behind the Cylons’ mysterious actions in the first two seasons. Because it’s called The Plan. So there was definitely a plan. Right? …Right?
AUDIO VERSION - councilofgeeks.libsyn.com/frak-this-podcast-75-the…
1 month ago | [YT] | 31
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Jessie Gender
The mutiny arc concludes aboard the Galactica as Tom Zarek plays the revolutionary who goes to fire cue the villain music, and Gaeta tries to hold down the fort as Adama and crew try to rescue the ship... all while Vera tries her best to hold on to her sanity.
AUDIO VERSION - councilofgeeks.libsyn.com/frak-this-podcast-73-blo…
2 months ago | [YT] | 19
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