All posts in category LGBTQ

Beauty Quadrant: Thoughts on Ulta’s Podcast Episode with Dylan Mulvaney

Hello to all of you beautiful nerds and I am back with a post that should be thought about and I figured I should also share my thoughts.

Thoughts on Ulta’s BackLash Towards Their Podcast with Dylan Mulvaney

Disclaimer! This post is based on thoughts and opinions from the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and what she thinks towards the hashtag against the company since she is human! You have been warned!

So, I was watching What’s Up in MakeUp this morning while having my lunch from Fresh Set since I slept in on a fine Sunday, I deserved after working and studying all week and this came across on the episode where people are boycotting Ulta because of their latest podcast episode with a trans woman and people thought it was “Woman Face” where it’s like “Black Face” where it’s bad to have a trans woman on to talk about her journey in becoming her own self and how beauty affected her. Even the host, David Perez who was gender fluid also talked about his journey as well. I felt like posting about this since it’s been a while talking about LGBTQ related issues such as this since we did lose a dear friend who has helped us and was about to go on their own journey.

As you know, I have been shopping at Ulta since around 2012 after finding their location at the Millenia Mall back then and fell in love with shopping in the NYX section every time I get that moment. I have bought from other brands such as Ulta’s own, Essence, Smashbox, and even Urban Decay. Makeup has been a creative outlet for me as a visually impaired person since I can’t draw on paper as much as I had in the past doesn’t mean I can’t find my new canvas. One thing that has been big ever since living with a conservative family is that I was drilled in my head that makeup is for girls only! However, makeup has not been really. The earliest time that men wore makeup was around 3000 BC in China where men wore nail polish as part of status, another example is Ancient Egypt with the eyeliner look we are familiar from seeing in ancient artwork along the tomb walls or even at the Mummy ride in Universal Studios. Even the Silla people of Ancient Korea believed that beautiful souls inhabited beautiful bodies that beauty belonged to both men and women, even their Hwarang army wore jewelry, powder, and rouge in battle. 

So, let’s fast forward to 2016 when we started seeing new trends in wearing makeup where James Charles came onto the scene by being CoverGirl’s first Beauty Guy and this shook up the beauty game. I am pushing aside his controversies for this post because he has given a new path to new faces on YouTube where we have men like Manny MUA, Gabriel Zimora, even Jeffree Starr showing up and making videos all about makeup and this gave a new idea in self-expression, which some people have forgotten. Heck, for years, my favorite bands have worn eyeliner such as Good Charlotte, Green Day, Simple Plan, and so many more and they haven’t given smack for it either so why a transwoman in the first place when men have taken the beauty space and made it more unique? And why does it have to have boundaries?

Thoughts on Podcast Episode

I had to watch this podcast episode for myself to see where the backlash laid and there was nothing with it. I also just read Jeff Johnston’s article up to the point where a woman talked about on Twitter where Mulvaney can’t be a mother and how most women saw these two people in the video wearing makeup “mansplaining” girlhood. I saw more of a talk about how the two got to their point as a way of how to tell stories. As someone who has done podcasting, sorry for not having new episodes due to my schedule, podcasting is a way of storytelling and I have been in the audience of so many, especially Annie Spano’s Becoming Fearless where she talked about how she got out of a toxic situation and being her own girl boss and I think Mulvaney was telling his story from transitioning and that is what we need more of is seeing people going through their transitions as in seeing when they realize they were born in the wrong body and go through their transformation and seeing who they really are and doing things they didn’t like to what they liked and that is what this episode was about and Ulta celebrating it. Their response to it was even great where they said beauty has no boundaries and they are right about that.I feel that with how we are here in 2022 that beauty is one size fits all, I can see where Patrick Star got it, since we should not put a cap and say this is meant for girls when it’s really not, even with how history explained it all. I mean Ulta even featured someone in a wheelchair on their window displays as a way of celebrating people with disabilities and they are doing the same with transexual women and men. I did enjoy the episode and I hope Mulvaney keeps doing what she does since she wants to get back into theater and I respect that. I did love her story about the canopy bed since she was exploring decorating as a woman for the first time in her first apartment. I can relate since I had moved out in 2018 and didn’t start working yet so I couldn’t buy anything for my apartment after doing so, I had to rely on my dad on the moving journey by going to thrift stores, WalMart, Target, and Ollie’s for my stuff for kitchen and bathroom. 

Should Beauty Have Boundaries?

Hell no! It should not, even with how Ulta showed it in this episode. Like I said, it was nothing vulgar or anything bad being portrayed, it was just two trans men  talking about their lives and how they came to be in the end and that is what we need to hear more about. People in the LGBTQ community get a lot of bad rep and they shouldn’t anymore since we are all human in this world. If I would, I could have turned the clock back to my college days and taken the courses on this topic since it is part of our culture and we shouldn’t push them aside either. I think this episode is a pivot point in our society where beauty can be anything, anyone, and any sex and gender since beauty and makeup has evolved and came a long way. I would say watch the episode for yourselves and see what you think. I see it as two people connecting and showing who they are and telling a story while others don’t see it that way but if they are boycotting Ulta, so be it. I am not boycotting the store since I have a convention coming up and I know I have to hit the NYX section for my favorite lipstick and eyeliner!

That is it for this post, you can catch the “Beauty of…Girlhood with Dylan Mulvaney” on YouTube.. If you want to comment, they did shut off comments there but you can comment on their Twitter.  What’s next? I will be talking about brands going bankrupt!

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by moonleopard85 on October 23, 2022  •  Permalink
Posted in beauty, Internet, LGBTQ, Social Media

Posted by moonleopard85 on October 23, 2022

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2022/10/23/beauty-quadrant-thoughts-on-ultas-podcast-episode-with-dylan-mulvaney/

The Book Quadrant: AntiSocial by. Heidi Cullinan

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! I am back with a new book review!

AntiSocial by. Heidi Cullinan!

Disclaimer: This was an advanced copy I received from NetGalley for me to review and this review is based on my own thoughts and opinions. Please respect the thoughts of AntiSocial on Amazonthe lead writer of this blog and also respect the content of the writer you are about to see that this review is on. Thank you!

Xander can’t stand people especially frat boys until Skyler Stone walked into his life. He came to Benten, a school soaked in Japanese culture, to get away from being one of the corporate types until he has to spend all summer with Skyler in order to be changed into a more social person.

Skyler Stone had everything handed to him and planned out and even hoped to be a lawyer once he gets to grad school at Yale. When some of his frat brothers messes up a mural painted by Xander he has not only win Xander’s forgiveness but promises to work with him all summer to prepare for his final senior project by building his social media. As time goes on these two start forming a relationship and start changing each other into new people they never thought they knew even to themselves.

Thoughts: I know I promised a different book at first but when reading that one I couldn’t take it since I felt like it was too much Fifty Shades of Gray and decided to read this one which was next on my Google Sheets page. All I have to say is that I made the better choice to do it because this was a really good read. It is not only a version of Pygmalion also known as My Fair Lady but it was also done as a yaoi story which to anyone new to this name it is known as boys love in Japanese. I know it’s ick to some but I have been a yaoi fan and my first title was actually Gravitation and still have my DVDs thank you very much.

I did love Xander’s and Skyler’s relationship throughout this book because of how much it kind of reminded me of Yuki and Shuichi where Xander was Yuki and Skyler was Shuichi where at first Xander was a grumpy and artistic hermit that loves to pain and hates his work but also works on a campus-wide manga and Skyler is the happy-go-lucky guy that is rich and in a frat at first but then later when the relationship gets deep they start shedding those personalities we see at first and Xander becomes a nicer guy and gets inspired by Skyler in his work and also being more soft towards him and his friends while Skyler becomes someone who is indecisive and has more feelings and cares more about Xander and other people and prefers to follow his own path and not be the person his family expects him to. It was very touching and trust me I was chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” As they were getting closer to it every page turn. I had to put on my ear buds while reading this and also I admit I was kind of jealous of Xander having COpic markers. Long story short my ex got me an external hard drive for my birthday a month before we broke up instead of Copic markers because he didn’t know that he could just get me a basic set during my artist days. I admit I am still bitter about that and yet still have a ton of colored pencils. Anyways, I do love how Xander and Skyler were anime fans in this one which you do see the manga FullMetal Alchemist throughout this book and was referenced by Skyler since I do see a little bit of symbolism with it. I don’t want to give away too much in that. I also find it awesome that Heidi is one of us, as in anime fan!

Rating: 5 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! This was a very heart-warming yaoi story because it shows how two guys can find love even if they can’t be accepted by their own families at home but at college in general. I did feel like tears almost came on but it did have a very touching ending to it and I did like how Skyler gave his dad his own “Screw you! I don’t care about your money!” I hope I read more stories by Heidi Cullinan because she wrote a really well-paced story and gave it a very happy ending. I would love to see this as an anime because it fits that art style and if I were to pick who voices who, I may pick Newton Pittman and probably Josh Grelle or Eric Vale to be Skyler. Unless I didn’t think of voices due to how well the story and characters were written in the end. I would highly recommend this book if you are into yaoi, well unless you don’t mind the characters not being Japanese. I did enjoy it after all.

Well guys that is it for this review. Come on back for my Glam Bag Plus! Until next time!

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by moonleopard85 on September 17, 2019  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, LGBTQ, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on September 17, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/09/17/the-book-quadrant-antisocial-by-heidi-cullinan/

The Book Quadrant: THe Riddle of the Sphinx by. Alexander Montague

Hello to all of my beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast universe! I am back with a new book review!

The Riddle of the Sphinx by. Alexander Montague

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts of the lead writer of this blog. Please respect her thoughts and opinions on this literary work.

Synopsis: This book gives off three perspectives with one boy escaping Tyran on horseback to a student in Princeton going through a love affair that leads to trouble, and finally ends a lawyer trying to find out about himself at his job and how he fits in.

Thoughts: I know that was a short description of the book but it was pretty much written like that on the NetGalley page for it. This book was an interesting read. Even though it says it’s a psychological drama but I didn’t see much in the first part of the book since it deals with a shah losing power in 1970s Tiran and yes it does lead with the seeing how a boy kind of has a sexual relationship with a boy and then ends with a so-called death and goes to Princeton. Apparently this book follows a boy named Kavan in the beginning and I think his name gets changed to Eric from what I’m seeing and it shows how he has a thing for men since we see it early on in the book with a friend that ended up going missing and was tricked in going with a teacher to be in a radical group. Then we go to many years later where Eric is a college student and meets a guy named Mark who ends up dating each other and this causes some complications when he meets up with the shah prince Ali and somehow they were seen to be connected and an article kind of makes things more complicated. This book was pretty complicated even though when it got to Princeton I felt the story was more cohesive due to how it is a young man exploring his gay side and able to love himself and his partner. I wished the Princeton stuff was the entire story since the older Eric was him in the start of the book where he has a wife and two daughters. I wonder if this book is supposed to do three stories with different possibilities.

I did find it strange is that I was wondering why did this book had the title The Riddle of the Sphinx and it did get revealed towards the end where Eric has a dream seeing himself in Princeton and him as a boy and he wonders why is he seeing these two versions of himself where the Princeton one fell ill with AIDS while the kid him was trying to head home when he remembered being brought to Paris. I just wondered is that did he get found with the group of boys in the desert somehow and was rescued with the rest of them? I would like to know. I have a feeling the riddle deals with how different lives can be experienced by the same person but the outcome is always survival since the boy version was that he survived the desert trying to find his friend but got tricked, his Princeton version was in a great relationship until a guy he spent a night with screwed it up and causes a break up and leading to his contraction with AIDS with a stranger even though he thought it wasn’t real but survived potential suicide, and now his adult version where he wonders if being a lawyer was what he really wants and his daily life is his survival? That is what I can tell from what I read.

Rating: 3 Star Paw Prints Out of 5! I found that this book should have just stuck with Princeton instead of having the other two parts to it. I found it more intriguing since it did show the drama of college life and how someone can get into a homosexual relationship depending on who you are with easily. Well, love is love and can’t judge it. I did find it funny that the wife in the end of the book did figure out that Eric was into men but didn’t want to leave him because it would look bad since they are a couple that is seen out in public a lot. Even though this was an interesting read but it was kind of confusing and the title for it was hard to fit in my mind. Doesn’t mean I can’t leave the link in case you guys want to read.

Well guys that is it for this post! I hope I won’t take too long with any of the other books since I have so many to read. Now hoping my Ipsy does come soon since I still need to post that! So stay tuned!
The Riddle of the Sphinx Book Link

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by moonleopard85 on August 22, 2019  •  Link  •  Permalink
Posted in Books, LGBTQ, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on August 22, 2019

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2019/08/22/the-book-quadrant-the-riddle-of-the-sphinx-by-alexander-montague/

Conventions: Friday Panel Summary from Holiday Matsuri 2017!

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! I am back and with more coverage from Holiday Matsuri!

Friday, December 15, 2017 Panels: So, I have some bad news! At first we had video footage of the two Friday panels from the con but due to some technical difficulties and not being able to replace the files, we could not be able to upload videos but the good news is that I did take notes on the panels and will be giving you a summary about them. I am really sorry and we will make sure that the files work next time and have copies for now on. Normally this is a rookie mistake and lost one video once and hoped not to do it again but what can I do when it comes to tech wanting to mess up. Be glad that I take notes for reviews on my handy dandy Braille Sense U2 and will be doing a post on that soon with how voice actors are mesmerized by it. Let us get onto the panels shall we?

Christina & Nate Wants to Battle Panel: First panel we covered was the Christina & Nate panel that started the convention for us since we did not get to Holiday Matsuri until 1:30 that afternoon.

This panel was a pretty good panel with a lot of questions and answers. When they introduced themselves, Christina was a guest at Hol Mat back in 2013 and I remembered that year since we were at the con at the time hosting a panel before we started doing press for Hol Mat and I still have my Homura mug box signed by her which she played her in Madoka Magica and she is also the voice of Sailor Mars in the re-dub of Sailor Moon and in Sailor Moon Crystal. While Nate has been a guest at Hol Mat every year and has been a tradition for him to be a guest. If you want to know what he does, he is a musician and does some voice work. In case if you are on YouTube, you can catch some of his music there, even covers of anime songs including the theme song for the anime Erased by Asian KungFu Generation. (By the way, it is on Hulu in EngEnglish, the series I mean.)

There were a variety of questions being asked at this panel. One of them happened to be their start in voice acting which Christina started at the age of twelve while Nate had his start when he met Tyler Walker, the Director of Fairy Tail, and was sent a script to read. He does have a role in something Fairy Tail but forgot which role it was. I will hear him and look it up when I buy more parts since I am a little behind. I did ask Christina about her role as Sailor Mars since it was one of my interview questions for her in how does it feel to b her and if she got to meet Katie Griffin and her answer was meet it was so so surreal to be in it because she watched Sailor Moon at a young age and she got to meet a lot of the cast from the original series but Katie. Maybe you will get to do that someday Christina.

One interesting question was the methods in getting the character that they are voicing and Christina says that she is visually oriented when it comes to developing the voice which she sees the character and comes up with it and Nate is the same way. Another was the hardest roles they have done and for Christina it was Homura because since she was the youngest on the cast at the time. I found that interesting since I figured Lauren Landa, who was also on the cast as Sayaka (I think I got her name right) probably would be the same age. Nate, on the other hand, his hardest role was Chad 2054 because he had to do a raspy voice.

There were a lot of other questions and Gondras did bring one up and that was about Christina has participated in the Power Rangers Hyper Force RPG which you can watch over on the Hyper RPG YouTube channel and it is pretty good from what we have seen. She plays as the first female black power ranger and she gets to play alongside Paul Shrier and Andres the Black Nerd and so many more. Heck, the first episode had Jen from Time Force!

It Gets Better Panel with J. Michael Tatum & Brandon McInnis: Next panel with J. and Brandon and that that day was. This panel was something I was not expecting because I thought it was going to be all about voice acting but it was about the It Gets Better Project and the LGBTQ community since these two…well J. is gay and Brandon is bi-sexual and they have been dating for a while now. I must confess that I thought when Brandon mentioned he was J.s partner that I thought work at first but everything was revealed.

If anyone does not know about the It Gets Better Project is, it is where actors in the LGBTQ community reach out to the youth in this community and J. mentioned how it is social suicide in Texas if you come out as gay, lesbian, and the rest and did not know about that part. After this panel and during it, I did think back to an article I had to read in two of my writing classes from Rolling Stone from 2010 about how a small town went through suicides of young teens who were a part of this community and this also around the time Rise Against did their song Make It Stop (Septembers Children) from their End Game album which ended with some of the teens saying It Gets Better and now I know know.

It was great to know about J. and Brandon a little more because we always hear them in Black Butler and other anime but not who they are out of the booth. I even found it amazing that I do relate to J. because I had a speech impediment myself when I was younger like he had and did work myself out of it. You do not hear it in my videos but I had issues with the s sound and the sh sound when I was younger and everyone thought it was funny.

What I did find true was how bullies can be created out of jealousy and fear and also it is a phase in high school which you can make friends with your bullies later on, heck I did it a little while ago when I found my worst enemy on Facebook and she apologized for picking on me when I told her who I was. Now we are pretty close even though she lives in Cali but I do comment on her posts time to time.

Well, that is it for this summarizing since there was a lot from both panels and would love to put it all down but it would take a long time writing and translating my notes. Too bad I do not have the videos of it but I do with the Idol Festival which is the last coverage we have from this past Hol Mat. But in between, I want to do my post on voice actors learning about my Braille Sense because it does fit with this since Brandon watch me type since we did have front at his panel with J. Until next time! The

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by moonleopard85 on January 4, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, conventions, Internet, LGBTQ, Panels

Posted by moonleopard85 on January 4, 2018

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2018/01/04/conventions-friday-panel-summary-from-holiday-matsuri-2017/