Play along with Gender Ordeal’s famous flag game

Hey friends,

Hope you’re all hanging in there. I just gave myself a headache by looking at too many hyper-niche pride flags online, which technically counts as a workplace injury, I think.

If you’ve been to a Gender Ordeal show, there’s a good chance that you’ve watched us play something called “These Colors Don’t Run,” better know as The Flag Game. To prepare each round of the game, I trawl through Tumblr collecting flags and their purported meanings. For example: 

Photo: A ruffly, many-colored "venvillaipprenteth" pride flag; full text available here.

Next, I create three other multiple-choice options intended to trick Mattie & Calvin. It can be tough to dream up alternate meanings that seem equally plausible and also fit the vibe! For this one, I literally looked up words in Latin:

Photo: A yellow flag with stars and what sort of looks like blue curtains, with the options a) deusamortalis, b) scaenamorus c) magiciazan and d) theater kid 4 theater kid

For this one, I sent the flag to my friend Miranda and asked what they thought it could possibly mean. (They said "Maple syrup lover, obviously!!!")

Photo: An orange and brown striped flag with a burnt orange leaf in the middle, with the options a) maple syrup gay b) pumpkin spice tgirl c) autumnonbinary d) falloplasty, sorry

Sometimes, I bail on the fourth option to make a little joke, like I did with the example above. But other times, what looks like a cop-out….

Photo: A grey yellow and red flag with the options a) geek gay b) avengers bisexual c) iron enby d) lesbians who like Bucky Barnes

…turns out to be the answer all along.

Photo: Revealing that the flag IS for lesbians who like Bucky Barnes

Can you guess this one? I’ll put the answers to all of these at the bottom of the newsletter.

Photo: A green yellow and brown wavy pride flag with a big white paw print in the middle, with the options a) feralsexual b) bear ally pride c) cannapupgender d) adult paw patrol fan

Anyway, speaking of Gender Ordeal, our final show is this Friday, May 9, at the Bell House! My current plan is to make Harron Walker play the Instagram Game, then make Esther Fallick and Chris Renfro play a little game called Gender Ordeal After Dark, and then finish off the show by subjecting Mattie & Calvin to one final round of the Flag Game. (Btw, if you spot any flags that I should stick in the game, plz let me know.)

In between those games, of course, there will be cartoons and historic personal ads and the COGIATI and a bunch of jokes about divorce and Luigi. We’ll be signing books and posters after the show, as well. Hope to see you on Friday! 

Okay, let’s do Links & Stuff.

• My friend Malachi recently taught a bunch of candle-making workshops and learned so much about gender. 

• Xtra wrote about what we really lose when department stores close down (it’s gay sex)

• Two absolutely horrifying migrant stories: Venezuelan men sending a literal SOS from inside a Texas detention center, and Indonesian fishermen regularly trapped on boats for 10 months without outside contact or food 

• Two resources: A “really basic digital security zine” from Shay Mirk and a more advanced digital security guide from Margaret Killjoy 

• Two albums I’m listening to (other than the new PUP album obviously): Better than Botox by Buddy Wynkoop and Guttering by MJ Lenderman & Wednesday 

Tuck’s Creature Corner

• This comic by Gender Conceal alum Sol Brager taught me a lot about the swans I see every week in the park

That’s it for this week. Here’s your weekly Rhubarb. See you on Friday.

Photo: Ruby looking sort of classically beautiful sitting in the window

Xo,
Yr resident gender detective 

PS: It brings me no pleasure to report that the correct answers are:

a) deusamortalis, "a xenogender that can only be described by being a mortal loved by a god/being a god and loving a mortal"

b) pumpkin spice tgirl (no explanation given)

c) cannapupgender, "for individuals who are only connected to pupgender or feel that their connection to pupgender is stronger while under the influence of thc and related substances"