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2011 Time Capsule: The Year of the Pop Diva and the Queer Anthem

2011 saw the release of an extraordinary number of legendary pop songs.

Photo by: Aron Visuals / Unsplash

2011 was a turbulent year, a year of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, of murdered dictators and earthquakes.

In terms of American pop culture, it was a time of great exuberance and energy. Female pop stars dominated the airwaves, as did the British Royal Wedding, as political unrest tangled with the public's desire for flashy distraction. Here are the pop culture highlights of 2011.

Music: Fridays and Queer Anthems

2011 was the year of the pop diva, and an almost unfathomable number of iconic hits by women hit the airwaves that year. Katy Perry and Adele dominated the charts, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" became a queer anthem, Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" played perpetually, and Rihanna dropped her scandalous "S&M," the absolutely legendary "Man Down," and another song about Friday, "Cheers (Drink to That)".

Lady Gaga - Born This Waywww.youtube.com

Rihanna - Man Downwww.youtube.com

Avril Lavigne had us bopping along to "What the Hell" and Nicki Minaj had everyone learning the words to "Super Bass." Beyonce released "Love On Top" and "Who Run the World? (Girls)" and Jessie J. put out "Domino." Carly Rae, of course, dropped "Call Me Maybe."

Nicki Minaj - Super Basswww.youtube.com

Beyoncé - Run the World (Girls) (Video - Main Version)www.youtube.com

There were some sad bangers in the midst of all the girl power; Demi Lovato put out "Skyscraper" and Lana Del Rey dropped her mysterious amalgamation of found footage for "Video Games."

Lana Del Rey - Video Games (Official Music Video)www.youtube.com

And last but not least, Rebecca Black's "Friday" went super-viral and lodged itself in everyone's brains for eternity.

Rebecca Black - Fridaywww.youtube.com

Folky boys Conor Oberst, Wilco, and Jeff Magnum of Neutral Milk Hotel all had big years—the first two dropped great albums and the third reemerged from obscurity with a flood of unreleased gems. The ukulele also grew in popularity, taking center stage on the hit album w h o k i l l by tUnE-yArDs.

That year, we also tragically lost Amy Winehouse, who passed away at 27.

Movies: Franchises Come to a Close

2011's greatest hit was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which smashed box office records. It was also a good year for the Twilight franchise; in Breaking Dawn, Part I, Jacob the werewolf imprinted (or fell eternally, irrevocably in love) with his former love interest's, Bella's, baby daughter.

Twilight 4 Breaking Dawn Part 1 Jacob imprints on Renesmee, the Cullens and the werewolves fight Ywww.youtube.com

Overall, it was a strange year for film. The Artist had everyone falling in love with an adorable dog; Drive polarized audiences, and so did The Descendants; and the heart-wrenching Like Crazy had everyone sobbing.

Las mejores escenas de Uggie ''The artist''www.youtube.com

TV: Escaping to Sweeter Times

Like the movies, television favored escapism, with shows like The Great British Bake-Off and Downton Abbey transporting viewers to other, sweeter times. Game of Thrones promised that "winter is coming," and South Park gave us "tween wave."

Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Fringe, and other dramas gained continued success.

Entertainment: Kate and Pippa Middleton Make History

2011's biggest entertainment event may have been the Royal Wedding, which dominated America's hearts. Kate Middleton's dress went down in history.

Kate and William offer a wave from the balcony to the masses gathered at Buckingham Palace. Not visible: a handful of revelers who decided to splash around in a nearby fountain Britain Royal Wedding PicturesPhoto by Matt Dunham/AP/Shutterstock

In terms of viral trends, honey badgers and planking were huge. The year's top Twitter trends were:

It wasn't a great year for Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan, whose hard-partying habits (and lawsuits) made headlines constantly. Lady Gaga arrived to the Grammys in a giant egg. Kim K. and Kris Humphries married and got divorced. Beyonce announced she was pregnant. Justin Bieber debuted his relationship with Selena Gomez–and was also slammed with a paternity suit. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher broke up. Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosted what was called "the worst Oscars ever."

That was 2011... A year of divas and distraction, chaos and comedy, and of course, the only 11/11/11 any of us will be alive for.

From Your Site Articles

VIDEO GAY-MER | A short list of trans characters in video games.

From Birdo to Crem, trans characters do exist in games.

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

Trans visibility in video games is so not-talked about. People toot their own horns about having queer characters in their games, but I can count on my hand how many well-known trans characters I've actually seen in gaming. It's a travesty! Gays and lesbians, while they do not have a lot of characters, at least have a good and growing amount. It's even the same for bisexuals (even though half the time they never actually say they're bisexuals).

So, what's the deal with trans characters in gaming? Are they just never going to have characters? Well, no, they do have a very small few. And honestly, except for a few examples, these characters are either inconsequential, villains, or played off as some sort of joke. It's hard, especially when you're part of a community that mostly consists of cis, straight, men who really don't like the diversity. (Hello, gamergate, anyone?)

Still, trans characters do exist - and I think they deserve to be showcased somewhere. And I'm only sticking to characters that I know are trans. So, characters that are genderless or androgynous characters are out of the running. If you know any other characters, please tell me as I'd love to keep updating list. To show the good and the bad, so we can see what works and what really, really, really needs to stop:

Birdo - Super Mario Bros. 2

Here's the deal with Birdo - most people can't really decide what they want her gender to be. Originally, she was originally named Ostro and her description said, "He thinks he's a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth," according to the Super Mario Bros. 2 handbook. And eventually, all mentions of Birdo's "gender confusion" was erased from the game. Still, characters in later series would mention how it was strange that Birdo had a male body. Oh, and she is also Yoshi's girlfriend in some games.

I don't know how to feel about Birdo. Part of me definitely feels like Ostro was originally supposed to be a joke - and in that game you did kill her. So, while that's not ideal, Birdo did appear in later series as a not-so-negative character. So, there you have it? I guess?

While it's not the best - Birdo is technically the first trans character in gaming. So, much like Vivian in Moonmist - she has to count for something right?

Poison - Final Fight

Poison is another character that is definitely controversial. Poison wasn't originally intended to be a trans character - she was supposed to be a female character. But, the developers didn't think it would look right to hit a woman - so instead they decided to make her trans? It's a really gross sentiment, and I don't like it at all. However, American gamers didn't see her initially, because she was later replaced by two male characters: Billy and Sid.

However, later appearances that Poison made seem to be much more forgiving. The character was definitely trans - but the language around her identity was still really gross. Yoshinori Ono, a producer of Street Fighter IV, said, "Let's set the record straight: in North America, Poison is officially post-op transgender. But in Japan, she simply tucks her business away to look female." And it just bothers me.

So, while Poison has been confirmed as being trans by the producers of the games she's appeared in - I don't feel like that's an incredibly good thing? Although, I have also never seen her in action? Perhaps her character in game is a lot better than the way she's talked about outside of the game.

Krem - Dragon Age: Inquisition

Krem! Kre-e-e-e-e-em! Krem is so unapologetically trans that I was just over the moon when I saw him. BioWare are rock stars in the queer world, and they're doing their best to do be as diverse as possible - and despite how terrible Andromeda was - I think they're doing a good job. Krem is the only trans character I've ever seen in a major video game (or any video game for that matter) that really went the extra mile.

Not only did Krem have a backstory, but he was given an amazing group of people that supported him. That's so important for trans people. I've said it before and I'll say it a million times, positive representations of LGBTQ+ people are so important. They impact people's lives in ways you cannot imagine. That's what makes Krem and the rest of Dragon Age so important.

So, that's all I have for now. Most other characters that I read about were either never stated outwardly as trans, or they were considered genderless. However, I am an imperfect human being and I would love to be proven wrong. So, if you have any more trans characters anywhere - I'd love to see them and add them to this list!

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