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Talk:Transvestic fetishism

Untitled
Fetishes on cross dressing
 * Return Petticoating article - Someone redirected the "Petticoating" article to this page. The "Petticoating" article deserves to be included in Wikipedia. Originally, both it and the current "Transvestic fetishism" articles both had their own pages (perfectly fine), but then several vandals (Mdwh and Dr Zak, among others) moved the "Petticoating" article to the "Transvestic fetishism" page and redirected readers from the original "Petticoating" article to this one on "Transvestic fetishism." Both pages should appear among Wikipedia's articles, as they originally did. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gpscholar (talk • contribs)

The discussion was at Talk:Petticoat Discipline. The upshot, as far as I can see it that there is nothing wrong with an article on petticoating per se. There were however serious problems with your article, it's unreferenced, ill-defined and written in the style of an essay.

The fact that your article its getting pasted all over Wikipedia doesn't help much either. Dr Zak 01:02, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Nice try, Gpscholar, but the one who persistanly moved the Pettycoating article into this one was you. I also doubt that anybody would mind an NPOV article about that pettycoat-thingy, under an appropriate title. And as your moving mania shows, you should know enough about WP to retrive the article in question. Therefore, this complaint is obviously made in bad faith. —Preceding unsigned comment added by AlexR (talk • contribs)

Proposed merge
I have proposed that the article on Autogynephilia be redirected to this article. It seems that this article is about the actual psycological diagnosis in the DSM IV which coresponds to Autogynephillia. What do the people who edit this article think of this proposal? 66.92.130.180 16:45, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I don't think this is a very good idea, because it confuses this humbug-diagnosis of autogynephilia with one that is indeed in the DSM. Not to mention that the other article is about women who get SRS, while this one here is specifically about people who won't get it. And the other is about one specific outsider theory with no merrits whatsoever, which should not be thrown into with any other articles. -- John Smythe 19:51, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * If anything should be merged at all it's the articles on Ray Blanchard and Autogynephilia. Autogynephilia is a controversial concept/theory (to be polite) related to gender dysphoria, and Ray Blanchard's fame AFAIKS rests on having invented that theory. Transvestic fetishism on the other hand has nothing to do with gender dysphoria, on the contrary, it involves men dressing up as women. Dr Zak 21:12, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Well, well, so the theory goes ... but you can bet that there is a considerable number of transwomen who tried to tell themselfes that they were just transvestic fetishists. There is a considerable number who tried to cope by cross-dressing in all variations.
 * I am not sure about a merge with Ray Blanchard either; there are after all a few more who promote this theory, it isn't called B(lanchard)B(aily)L(awrence) for nothing. -- John Smythe 23:34, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * All of the above is somewhat true. But I have found the following information on the matter. The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism (2003), page 169, third paragraph.  This accursedly simplistic book is a primary source in this source at the location I have refred to transvestetic fetishim is equated with autogynephillia.  Perhaps the catch is the severity of the condtion.  Certainly most men who crossdress who are avdily hetero, comfortable and successful as men etc would not desire a sex change.  What this article is about does not seem to be what it's title is about.  The article seems to be about casual cross dressing that does not yet rise to the level of the true diagnosis of transvestetic fethisism.  As a matter of fact here is what I would do with the article on transvestetic fethisism.--Smartgirl62 14:12, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I don't think they should be merged.

Proposed post merge version of this article between these lines.

Transvestic fetishism: Proposed post merge article.
Transvestic fetishism is a sexual fetish for the clothing and/or role of the opposite gender. It is one of a number of Transgender behaviors and is primarily a psychiatric term as defined in the DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Transvestic fetishism, fetishistic transvestism and sometimes transvestism are also often used to describe any sexual behavior or arousal that is in any way connected to clothes of the other gender. In the most extreme form this behavior has been called “Autogynephillia”. In plain language this term means men who are attracted to the image of themselves as women. Hence they seek gender reassignment surgery.

Also, not every sexual behaviour where clothes of the other gender are involved are transvestic fetishism, they are also often used in sexual roleplay without being a fetish. Also, many transgendered people, mostly transwomen, also cross-dress, in sexual situations, before coming out.

Some male transvestic fetishists collect women's clothing, e.g. nightgowns, slips and other types of nightwear and lingerie. They may dress in these feminine garments and take photographs of themselves to live out their secret fantasies. Many men love the feeling of wearing silk or nylon and adore the silky fabric of women's nightwear and lingerie.

Most transvestic fetishists are said to be heterosexual men. As of late there are in fact studies which affirm this. Even those who seek gender reassignment surgery will remain married to their wives if they can. The studies which affirm these observations are not without controversey however.

When is it a psychiatric condition?

According to the DSM IV-TR the diagnositc criteria for this condition are.

A. Over a period of at least 6 months, in a heterosexual male, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing.

B.The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Specify if: With Gender Dysphoria: if the person has persistent discomfort with gender role

Controversy

Continued inclusion in the DSM The DSM is the diagnostic and statistical manual of the American psychiatric association. Mental disorders are classified and cataloged in the DSM. Work on the DSM V has begun and there are discussions about the validity of transvestetic fetishism being a paraphillia and gender identity disorder being a mental illness. By 2010 these disorders may not be considered...disorders any more. There are mental health workers who say that it should not be an article of shame and pathologizeation to be arounsed by womens clothes. Afterall how is that so different from being aroused by a photograph of a woman?

Reactions among transwomen

The model is highly controversial and conflicts with the commonly accepted model of gender identity disorder. Some suggest that, since correlations do not establish causality, Blanchard may be mistaking a symptom of gender dysphoria for its primary cause. The model has also been questioned on the grounds that it does not properly account for the behavior and self-identification of a great many transsexual and transgender women. Proponents of the concept, who are classic, primary, "homosexual transsexuals", have asserted that "autogynephiles" are willfully deceiving others in claiming to exhibit behaviour that does not fit within it. Specifically they repeat the well known, canned, history of a "homosexual transsexual". A number of transwomen, who could be described as autogyneophilles have accepted this theory. They take the diagnosis of DSM Code 302.3 Transvestic Fetishism ( autogynephillia ) as an adequate description of themselves. Where as the alternative theories deny their desire for sex reassignment all together. References ( I will fill this out for the actual article)

Related topics
 * Compare also: List of transgender-related topics
 * Category:Transgender people and behavior
 * Category:Sexual and gender identity disorders
 * Category:Sexual fetishism
 * de:Transvestitischer Fetischismus
 * is:Transvestic fetishism
 * he:פטישיזם טרנסווסטי
 * nl:Travestiet

How does the above read to you all? This seems concise and to the point and covers both concepts fairly and wihout bias.

As for my opinoion of this as a model for why some transsexuals are the way they are. I think this model is overly simplistic and faluty. A more in depth model is needed to really know what the heck is going on. Many people feel insulted by this description of what they are as being a paraphillia. A sexual disorder on the same level as peadophillia, or beastiality. I would say they are right to be offended by that. Historically what would count as a paraphillia seems to vary with time and place. So I give no weight to the idea that those designations have any meaning. --Smartgirl62 14:23, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Errr ... you are aware, I hope, that at least in the German WP there is an article on TVF as well as one on autogynephilia? -- John Smythe 17:25, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

 * ErrRerr.. We don't have to do what the Germans say we beat them remember. :-) Seriously the evidence I have preseted in particular a link to a book written by one of the psychologitwho studies all of this says that they are the same thing.  Now I am no psychologist myself.  But I think they know their own theories.  Here agin I post the link.  The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism (2003), page 169, third paragraph.--Smartgirl62 21:01, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I don't understand why the idea of transvestic fetishism is controversial - this is about a fetish, not merely cross-dressing, and so shouldn't apply to transsexuals. This proposed merged version seems to confuse the two very different concepts of transvestic fetishism and transsexuality, as if they were the same thing. You have also put in other changes, such as stating that there are studies affirming that "Most transvestic fetishists are said to be heterosexual men", without giving any references (unless you have some to put in?) Mdwh 22:35, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Bad proposal -- too much content missing
What's the point of this proposal? Most of the information from the other article is missing. Now, it does not belong here anyway, but you know, removing material is a bad, bad, bad idea. -- John Smythe 19:42, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

Well most of the content of the other article was POV garbage. A bunch of misdirected sour grapes. Wikipedia is not the forum for refuting or arguing for anyting. Articles should just be a dry and concise presentation of facts. Keeping trash is never a good idea. I take it you are in favor of the status quo on this issue. No need to yell Mr. Smythe. --Smartgirl62 13:13, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

 * yawn* I am not yelling, and this article does stick to the facts. I also don't know what you think the status quo of the issue (which issue?) is, so I can't tell you whether I am in favour of it. I also don't quite see where the "sour grapes" are supposed to be; it isn't as if people could possibly gain something from being called either pervertes or thiefs. And if there are no potential gains, then there are no sour grapes, either. Whatever, I guess I won't bother with your rants any more; they are conspicuously lacking any arguments, and you are loosing the VfD anyway. -- John Smythe 13:56, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

You think anything I have wrote is a rant. Apparently you have not seen very many rants. Nice technique though. Calling someones argument a rant is a good way to make other people ignore it. --Smartgirl62 13:13, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Totally not inline with self-identification
The problem that I see with such a merge, is that autogynephilia is a proposed etiology for transsexualism (which has its own DSM and ICD entry), while transvestic fetishism is exactly that, a fetish. TVF is an intense sexual interest in wearing female CLOTHING, while autogynephilia is an intense sexual interest to BECOME female. There is a very explicit difference here, and I don't see how mingling the two would make any sense, clarify anything, or help anyone.

At worst, it would cause an autogynephiliac transsexual to read this page and go "Oh, I just have a fetish for wearing women's clothing", when in reality they would best receiving treatment as a transsexual as soon as possible. I am not an autogynephiliac transsexual, but even I at some point wondered if this was "just a fetish", which is what I went on for at least a year as an explanation. But after reading about TVF, it was clear that this is was not what I was suffering with (yes, "suffered," my issues were causing me considerable distress and difficulty in life), and after reading about "autogynephiliac transsexuals" vs "homosexual transsexuals" from Anne Lawrence (who agrees with Blanchard quite strongly) I figured I had to be an autogynephiliac transsexual, since I sure wasn't so pronouncely placed in the homosexual transsexual category that it could be called, also Blachard and Anne Lawrence tend to have a very strong "you're A or B" attitude towards this issue no different than "you're either man, or you're woman", and anyone in the TG spectrum should easily dismiss the latter, why not the former?

I'm certainly not strictly homosexual transsexual, I've had only male-female sexual relationships in my life (as a male), but yet I see now just how unfufilling and undesired they were to me. Yet, my transsexuality is so deep that I absolutely despise my penis, I am presenting full-time as a female before I've even had hormones, and before I made my decision, I was a complete and miserable mess, who was apathetic about everything. The Autogynephilia response may represent a number of transsexuals, but it leaves out more than just the homosexual transsexuals, and the position that "if you're bi, then you're autogynephiliac" is perposterous. What kind of person working with TGs would ever even THINK that such a declination were possible? I mean, don't they deal with people in between all the time? --Puellanivis 01:12, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

 * Let it be known that I am the same person as Smartgirl62. I have decided to step out from behind the curtain. :-)

 * First to the poster above if you really want to know if you are HSTS or AGP you need to go to a psychologist. They will interview you for about six months, then ask you a LONG list of questions like those found in |The Man Who Would Be Queen page 192. Then they will diagnose you.  If you get your hands on the actual DSM IV-TR you will see the way GID and transvestic fetishism are presented in the DSM with TVf as a subheading under GID.  If they just diagnose GID then you are not an autogynephile.  If they diagnose TVF then you are definately an autogynephile.  Only a psychologist who is versed in this theory and who feels such a theory is valid will give you this information.

 * The only difference between TvF as described by this article and autogynephillia is the presence or absence of gender identity disorder due to that fetish.--HFarmer 15:07, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

 * However, the Blanchard school treats both groups as men with a mental disorder, only that the alleged disorder is different, or the cause of the gender identity disorder. In the "HSTS" group, the disorder is supposedly extreme effeminacy that is virtually impossible to suppress (along with homosexuality, which the Blanchard school still ultimately views as pathological), and that makes it very hard to live as a man, even inside the gay scene, while in the "AGP" group the root disorder is claimed to be a special paraphilia ("autogynephilia") caused by transvestic fetishism.
 * Nevertheless, when pressed on this point, Blanchard et al. also claim they do not deny transition treatment to anyone they deem "AGP" in principle. (Whether this is actually true I have no idea. Clearly anyone who fits the "HSTS" type should find it a lot easier to blend in as a woman than the typical representative of the "AGP" type will, however, since transition appears to relieve the issues of the "AGP" group, too, there is no principled reason to deny them treatment, as long as they are clear on the risks and disadvantages.)
 * In fact, as argued here, transition treatment (HRT, at least) is a logical solution for a crossdressing paraphilia that the patient is suffering from. Whether the patient will undergo further treatment such as epilation, voice training or surgeries – and whether the patient will actually go on to publicly come out live as a woman at any point – should be left to their own discretion.
 * Reading older literature like this, by the way, it becomes obvious that the Blanchard school is still stuck deeply in the attitudes of the 1960s and 1970s (when cisgender psychiatrists were still unsuccessfully looking for psychological causes of transsexualism and ways to "cure" transsexualism without transition, and focussing their efforts on transsexuals assigned male at birth while neglecting the female-assigned ones), and in fact even fall behind the more nuanced hypotheses and classifications of the time. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 14:33, 20 January 2019 (UTC)

The 2nd picture
Does the second picture really represent "Transvestic fetishism"? The person depicted look more like a woman then a man to me which would make it not an example transvestic fetishism. I could be wrong though.--Cab88 10:31, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Indeed. Click on the picture, then go to its commons history. Then go to other contributions by the same person and you'll find this self-portrait. --AliceJMarkham 12:06, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

 * None of the three images in this article at present illustrates transvestic fetishism.
 * The first and third might have captions that claim they represent transvestic fetishism, and both were contributed by a person identified as "Fetishist", but those are the only indications. They merely show some items of underwear/lingerie which would not be out of place in an article about stockings or slips.  It should not be necessary to look at other images, not in the article but by the same person, in order to see that they might be related to Transvestic Fetishism.
 * The second image is a generic photo of ankles and feet in stockings, and serves to illustrate the caption that says some men find stockings erotic.
 * I don't know if there are some better images out there, but I believe that the first and second of these are certainly not worth including as they stand, and all of them are only about transvestic fetishism as experienced by males.49Sally (talk) 17:15, 3 September 2015 (UTC)

I'd go further than Sally. These pix add absolutely nothing to the article. GeorgeTSLC (talk) 22:10, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Please review an addition
User:71.231.210.181 has included the text:
 * A small number of people with Transvestic Fetishism, as the years pass, want to dress and live permanently as women, and desire surgical or hormonal sex reassignment. In such cases the diagnosis should be changed to Transsexualism.

with an accompanying reference. Remembering something that happened long ago, I may have overreacted and deleted that text. Upon questioning, I've restored the text and would like more qualified people to comment. (Everybody is more qualified than I am, should be easy?) Shenme 04:33, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you for restoring my edit. 71.231.210.181 05:27, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes Yes we have heard this all so mnay time before i really do fail to see why we must be continued you labled as some quite of weird peoples we are not this way at all we are just peoples like anyone else except that we want to and desire to dress and be just the opposite of the way we were born that is we want to dress in what is still refered to as women or girls clothing and really folks is it so very awful to want to be who and what you are suppose to be male and or female we are al humnas and should be accepted as what we are inside as well as out it is not some fad or weakness we are what we are and thats the way it really should be if and when you want to be or become the opposite of what you were born as theyn who is really to question it at all being labled only makes it all the harder!

Jay! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eleventhdr (talk • contribs) 15:57, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Causes of Transvestic Fetishism.
Definition:

Transvestic fetishism is defined as sexual arousal by clothing belonging to the opposite sex of the subject.

The Transvestic fetishism is contrary to homosexual fetishism, which consists in the sexual arousal by clothing belonging to the same sex of the subject.

Description:

It is complete in the principal article...

Possible Causes of Transvestic Fetishism:

According to the DSM-IV, this fetishism has been described only in heterosexual men.

The main reason why a fetishist man get aroused by women's clothing is mainly due to the material they are made garments, the softer to the touch, the greater the stimulation. In fact, is the stimulation of the erogenous zones causing sexual arousal in the fetishist man.

If a man wears woman's clothing, such as lycra stockings, made of a smooth and soft material, to the contact with the corresponding erogenous zones, including the buttocks, feet and legs, will cause sexual arousal in the man due to stimulation of the erogenous zones.

Most people think a transvestite is a homosexual, but all are heterosexual by nature with a certain homosexual attraction, as to he feels sexual arousal by seeing other men dressed in women's clothing.

This last happens for a narcissistic sexual theory that says:

"'That that arouse you to wear on your own person will arouse you by seeing it in other people of your same sex.'"

According to this, If a man get aroused by wearing skirts, he will get aroused by seeing other men who wear skirts, even more that see women wearing them.

But both, the man and the woman who wear a skirt, will be a source of sexual arousal for him.

Classification of sexual fetishes, two categories for sexual fetishes:

A) Transvestic fetishes involving sexual objects belonging to the opposite sex.

B) Gay/homosexual fetishes that involves sexual objects belonging to the same sex.

Rafaelosornio (talk)

Possible Transvestic fetishism treatment:
Transvestic fetishism treatment: The transvestic fetishism treatment consists of not wearing women´s clothing, and stay away from them and from the sight of men who wear them. Rafaelosornio (talk) 02:20, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I reverted you. Your information is unsourced. We have no way of knowing that you are a researcher in this field. And even if you are, you must adhere to our WP:Reliable sources guideline and our WP:Original research policy. Read that, and also read WP:MEDRS and WP:Conflict of Interest. Flyer22 (talk) 04:46, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Discussion at WT:LGBT about similarity among several related articles
A discussion about the similarity and differences among several articles including Cross-dressing, Transvestism and other related articles (Drag (clothing), this article, Ball culture, et al.) is taking place at WT:LGBT. Your feedback is welcome. Mathglot (talk) 22:42, 15 January 2019 (UTC) Archived. Mathglot (talk) 23:11, 26 October 2019 (UTC)

transvetic fetishism
transvetic fetishism is a made up disorder I can't find anything online about it other than it definition I can't find one person that admits to having it can't find anything in social media like facebook such as group page or webpage devoted to it nothing but it definition which is not that well define such as most people that have it or heterosexual men but then says they some times sleep with other men that would make them bisexual I think it made up disorder and should be removed from wikipedia  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.118.111.22 (talk) 18:43, 26 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Straining to give you the benefit of the doubt regarding the seriousness of your question: you "couldn't find anything online" about it? And your go-to sources are Facebook and social media? Wikipedia does not allow article content that is present only in social media, since they are a self-published source, and not considered reliable for verifying article content. The definition is quite well-defined: it's code F65.1 in ICD-10, and 302.3 in DSM-IV TR.  (In both cases, they are up for review for the next version, but they are clearly defined.) If you want to make general comments about whether the disorder exists or give your personal opinion about it, please don't do it here; you can use the Ref Desk for that.  Mathglot (talk) 22:22, 26 October 2019 (UTC)

I said any where online you idiot — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.118.111.22 (talk) 14:39, 31 October 2019 (UTC)

Glamour (presentation)
Can someone tell me if Glamour (presentation) is a fetish? --14Jenna7Caesura (talk) 23:09, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

The article rewrite/expansion and its reversion
Edit: Never mind, please disregard. – 104.177.77.7 (talk) 02:56, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

 * I passed off to WT:LGBT because I didn't have the bandwidth to fully deal with this. Since you've pinged 1 of the 3 respondents there, I'll add pings for User:Flounder fillet and User:Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist. -- Tamzin  [cetacean needed] (they|xe) 04:56, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I disagree with the overemphasis on 'conditioning' and social explanations in the 'causes' section. The sources don't really put much emphasis on that. The Lawrence source seems to suggest against it. As I understand it, Blanchard and Bailey believe it is probably non-social or random. For example, Bailey 2003 page 169 states "Regarding the fundamental question of whether autogynephiles are born or made, my intuitions are with “born.” Perhaps every day in this country, at least one adolescent boy secretly puts on his mother’s or sister’s lingerie for the first time, becomes sexually aroused, and masturbates. As far as anyone can tell, there is nothing unusual about the environments of these boys, and certainly nothing in their environments obviously contributes to their unusual preoccupation. This smells innate to me. (I do not claim to be making a strong case here.) Anecdotally, I have heard several accounts of first-degree relatives (brothers, or fathers and sons) who discovered that both were cross-dressers. The discovery was invariably after both relatives had a great deal of cross-dressing experience that they had hidden from each other. This smells genetic to me. Again, though, this is not meant to be a strong argument".
 * Also, the Lawrence source you used actually has an entire section dedicated to "possible biological factors" which you made no mention of? Edit: just to clarify, this comment shouldn't be taken as an endorsement of Blanchards typology. Zenomonoz (talk) 05:13, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
 * You have effectively announced the intent to create a WP:CFORK in your edit summary here. The contents of the body make this a clear WP:POVFORK. Flounder fillet (talk) 11:48, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Two notes:
 * 1) I followed Wikipedia policies for the article, like WP:RS, WP:MEDMOS, and WP:MEDRS.
 * You added almost 160 citations to a single book chapter by Lawrence (not a MEDRS)
 * You added ~70 citations to the DSM-5, many of which are not supported by the text. Such as Most cases of transvestism involve autogynephilia or The concept of autogynephilia, which is believed to underlie most cases of transvestism, was introduced in 1989 by Canadian sexologist Ray Blanchard.
 * Apart from Lawrence, there were 100s of citations to WP:FRINGE scholars such as Blanchard, Bailey, and Zucker
 * The article frequently conflates "transvestism" and "transvestic fetishism" - the DSM-5 is clear that they are different.
 * The Notable cases section is entirely BLP violations - is there any evidence Virginia Prince, F1NN5TER, or Vladimiros Nicola have been diagnosed with "tranvestic fetishism"? You use Lawrence to diagnose a bunch of people "Caitlyn Jenner, Deirdre McCloskey, Kate Bornstein, Katherine Cummings, Nancy Hunt, Rebecca "Becky" Allison, and Renée Richards, among others" as having "transvestic fetishism", same issue.
 * TLDR you did not follow Wikipedia's policies - the article conflated as you rewrote it conflated two things that are not considered the same, committed BLP violations, misrepresented MEDRS, and heavily relied on WP:FRINGE sources.
 * 2) If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to rewrite this article? I ask because it's very odd for an IP editor to completely rewrite an article from scratch like this.
 * Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist ⚧ Ⓐ (talk) 18:17, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

 * I waited to comment after seeing this posted at WT:LGBT to think about the matter and see what others said.
 * I've only given a fairly brief skim to the long version, but I agree with a number of the critiques above. Specifically: the section listing BLPs is very problematic. You need to use only sources specifically about "transvestic fetishism" in this article. Other content may be better at transvestism and perhaps cross-dressing, contingent on it being well-sourced and reaching consensus there. I see that some sources are WP:PRIMARY, which on a medical topic not to mention a controversial topic, should just be dropped. Please stick to review articles, academic books, and similar absolutely top-tier sources. And these have to be used fairly - both the views within them and in terms of which sources you choose.
 * Contra some of the comments above, while Blanchard's two-type theory of the causes of gender identity in trans women, and of autogynephilia being one of them, holds less sway these days, that isn't necessarily the case for everything he and others in that sphere have said about 'transvestism', or autogynephilia in itself. Certainly there do exist people who are cis men, yet engage in cross-dressing as an erotic activity or fantasy. In this distinct sphere, I don't think we can say (at least based on what I've seen so far) that Blanchard and others' research is widely rejected - it's in the extension of such theories to explain gender identity and gender transition where the problems start. As noted here, the DSM-5 does include autogynephilia as a specifier to "transvestic disorder", and the DSM-5 is certainly not fringe.
 * I can certainly understand why having one's work reverted would be frustrating, but to be fair, it is a controversial topic, so I'd be more surprised if a big addition did not cause waves. I'd suggest that, after revising your work to drop the problematic stuff, you then think about what article each bit would really belong in. Then, only address a small part at a time; re-adding it all wholesale isn't going to happen. If high-quality sources exist with the opposite POV to the ones you have been using, add them, and use WP:In-text attribution liberally (e.g. 'psychologist Jones states that... professor of trans studies Smith argues that this is instead due to...' etc.) Crossroads -talk- 20:51, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

I appreciate the responses. I've reassessed my aims based on the input. It's clear to me now that this subject area is very hot-button and it would be a very difficult and involved process to reach consensus on the content and complete the rewrite. I'll be honest, I shouldn't really be spending time on any of this and need to be focusing on off-wiki things. I was hoping for a reasonably fast resolution (as in the article being restored) and other editors besides myself working out any disagreements and problems with the content. But per the comments, that seems quite unlikely. I tend to get really sucked into things, so further working on the rewrite, particularly considering how controversial and contested the subject matter is, wouldn't be good for me and I can't really have. Moreover, I was enjoying myself working on the article before, and it's clear to me that further working on the rewrite from here would not be especially fun. As such, while quite painful to have put in so much work for nothing, I've accepted the situation and have decided to withdraw the content submission from consideration. Thank you for your time. – 104.177.77.7 (talk) 02:27, 31 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Transvestic fetishism


text: Category:Epigraphers

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Category:Epigraphers


text: User talk:68.91.91.113

title: User talk:68.91.91.113


text:
Nissan Armada

The Nissan Armada (retrospectively referred to unofficially as the Nissan Pathfinder Armada) is a full-size SUV manufactured by Nissan for the North American market. From 2003 to 2015, the first-generation Armada was assembled in Canton, Mississippi based on the Nissan Titan. From mid-2016 onwards, the second-generation Armada has been built in Yukuhashi, Kyushu, Japan and shares the same platform as the Nissan Patrol, with American-specific modifications, and went on sale in late mid-2016 as a 2017 model. A luxury version of the Armada has been sold as the Infiniti QX80 (originally QX56).

First generation (TA60; 2004)

The 2004 model Pathfinder Armada was unveiled on April 17, 2003, at the New York International Auto Show. Developed under Carlos Ghosn's NRP (Nissan Revival Plan), development was done in September 1999 to 2003 under lead designers Shiro Nakamura and Diane Allen and chief engineers Yuzo Sakita and Larry Dominique. In January 2001, a final exterior design by Giovanny Arroba had been approved by Sakita, Allen, Nakamura, and Nissan executive management, with the final design freeze being completed in July 2001. It is assigned the platform code TA60.

Prototypes based on the Y61 Patrol were hand-assembled as mules from 2001, with the first TA60-specific prototypes being completed and sent to testing in early 2002. Design patents were filed in 2003, with production starting on August 14, 2003, and going on sale on October 1, 2003.

The Armada had a 5.6 L VK56DE V8 engine that made 305 hp and 385 lbft of torque. This was mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission, and the Armada had a choice of either rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. There are some Armadas that are capable of using E85. It has a towing capacity of up to 9000 lbs.

The rear door handles are installed on the "C" pillar as part of a Nissan design tradition that started with the 1986 Nissan Pathfinder. When the four-door Pathfinder was introduced, Nissan chose to conceal the door handles as a part of the "C" pillar trim to visually make it appear like a two-door truck with a camper shell, with conventional door handles on the front doors.

The switch to the Armada name occurred in September 2004 for the 2005 model year, where it received new badges without "Pathfinder." The 2005 model year also included a backup camera.

2008 refresh
A facelift was designed through 2005, being introduced in early 2007 for the 2008 model year.

The updated VK56DE V8 engine now produces 317 hp (236 kW) and 385 lbft of torque with an improved towing capacity of up to 9,100 lb (4,127 kg) when equipped with towing package.

Standard features now include an 8.0 inch infotainment screen, an updated interior, a new front fascia and rear fascia, new headlamp and fog lamp designs, a twist knob ignition switch for the Intelligent Key System, a new one-piece roof rack design, and third-row seats that fold electronically.

The latest Nissan Armada Platinum edition features a 9.3 GB hard drive for storing music, and a CF (Compact Flash) memory card reader.

The 2011 model year Armada removed the SE and Off-Road trim levels and moved to a tiered system: SV (base trim), SL (middle trim), and Platinum (top trim). Nissan discontinued the use of the Armada platform for the Infiniti QX56 produced in Japan.

The 2013 model year added Bluetooth and satellite radio as standard on all models, Platinum Reserve trim package and an updated steering wheel. Navigation added NavWeather capability, Zagat Survey, Bluetooth audio streaming, one USB port, and a 40 GB disk drive. The Nissan DVD Entertainment System mounted screens in the back of the front head restraints.

The 2015 model year updated interior door panels.

The Nissan Armada (TA60) was sold in the United States (including all US territories), Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East in left-hand-drive only.

Second generation (Y62; 2017)
Nissan unveiled the second-generation Armada at the 2016 Chicago Auto Show, and it went on sale in August 2016 as a 2017 model. This version is based on the Nissan Patrol (Y62), the platform also used for the Infiniti QX80, as moving the Armada and Patrol to the same global platform instead of the Armada sharing the platform of the American-built Titan saves considerable development cost. The Armada grew in length and width, but the wheelbase and height were moderately reduced.

The engine was upgraded to the VK56VD Endurance V8, increasing horsepower from 317 to 390 hp at 5200 rpm and torque from 385 to 394 lb.ft at 4000 rpm. In addition to the Endurance V8, a seven-speed transmission was introduced to improve fuel economy and acceleration. The exterior moderately differs from the updated Patrol, which was introduced in early 2014. As with the previous generation, the Armada continued to offer 2WD and 4WD and available in SV, SL, and Platinum trims. It has been described as a large-sized, low-volume, but high-profit model for Nissan.

2021 refresh
An updated version of the Nissan Armada was revealed in December 2020. The front end was redesigned, with a larger grille and C-shaped LED headlights along with two new exterior colors. The taillights were redesigned as well and are also LED. Inside, the center console was redesigned, with a wider infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto along with a wireless smartphone charger standard. Nissan's "Safety Shield 360" became standard. Trim levels and powertrain remained the same with the SV getting leatherette seating with silky carbon trim, SL retains leather-appointed seating with wood-tone trim and new 20-inch wheels, and the top-of-the-line Platinum getting new quilted leather-appointed seating with birdseye maple wood tone trim, along with new 22-inch wheels and the base S will be available at a later date, although the 5.6 L V8 gained 10 hp and 19 lbft of torque. A Midnight Edition, which treats the exterior to an under-the-radar, blacked-out color scheme, was also added. The updated Armada went on sale in North America in late January 2021.

For the 2022 model year, one-touch power-folding third row seats were added as standard equipment for the Armada Platinum.

title: Nissan Armada


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Donald Malinowski (politician)

Donald Marto Malinowski (March 14, 1924 in Lwow, Poland – May 16, 2003 ) was a priest of the Polish National Catholic Church and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1986.

The son of Stanley Malinowski and Marlyn Gajewska, he was educated in Poland, Scranton, Pennsylvania, and St. John's College. During World War II, Malinowski fought against the Nazis in the Armia Krajowa, who supported Poland's government-in-exile in London. He was wounded on three occasions, and was sentenced to death for refusing to sign an oath of allegiance to the communist government that came to power at the war's end. He escaped from his prison to Sweden, where he remained for three years, gaining an appreciation for its principles of social democracy. He came to Canada in 1950.

In 1952, Malinowski entered a Polish National Catholic Church seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was later ordained as a priest, and married a nurse named Anna Glazer (the PNCC is a separate denomination from the Roman Catholic church, and does not require priestly celibacy). The couple worked in New York State before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1959.

Malinowski served as a chaplain at the Royal Canadian Legion, and was named the parish priest at St. Mary's National Catholic Church in north-end Winnipeg. By 1972, he had been given authority over all churches in western Canada. In addition to his religious work, he was involved in developing a number of housing projects in north-end Winnipeg.

He first ran for the legislature in the provincial election of 1966, but finished a distant third in the riding of Winnipeg Centre. In the 1969 election, he won an easy victory in the north-end Winnipeg riding of Point Douglas, and became a backbench supporter of the NDP government of Edward Schreyer.

In the provincial election of 1973, Malinowski faced an unusual challenge from independent candidate Joseph Borowski, who had served in Schreyer's cabinet before leaving the NDP in 1972. Borowski ran as a social conservative, criticizing the NDP government's toleration of abortion services and suggesting that Malinowski was guilty of hypocrisy in this regard. Notwithstanding these attacks, Malinowski scored a fairly easily victory, defeating Borowski by over 2,500 votes. He was re-elected again by a greater margin in the 1977 election.

Malinowski supported Howard Pawley's successful bid to become the NDP's interim leader in early 1979, following Schreyer's resignation. In the provincial election of 1981, he was re-elected in the redistributed riding of St. Johns. He retired from the legislature in 1986. Despite his long tenure, he was never appointed to cabinet (he once joked, "cabinet ministers come and go, but I am always a minister").

A social democrat by conviction, Malinowski was an opponent of communism for his entire life. During the 1980s, Malinowski provided aid to Lech Wałęsa's Solidarity movement in Poland via the Polish Relief Program, and also provided financial support to Polish refugees living in Austria. In 1988, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for being "instrumental in organizing the Polish Relief Fund during the early 1980s".

He died of cancer in Calgary in 2003. The Manitoba legislature held a moment of silence in his honour in 2003.

title: Donald Malinowski (politician)


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Westonia, Western Australia

Westonia is a small town located in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the Great Eastern Highway. It is the main town in the Shire of Westonia.

History
Westonia came into existence with the discovery in 1910 of gold in the area, by a sandalwood cutter named Alfred Weston (17 May 1876 - 26 September 1924). Initially the area was known as Weston's Reward and later as Westons. By 1915 there were two major mines in the area, and the population was in excess of 500. By 1917 the area, by then known as Westonia, had a population of more than 2,000. In 1919, low gold prices forced the closure of the mines, and many people left the area. Westonia was gazetted as a town in February 1926. In 1935 one of the mines reopened, but closed again in 1948, only to be reopened in 1985. The mine then closed once again in 1991. In mid-2009, it was announced that mining would once again commence at Westonia's Edna May Gold Mine, with the first gold pour anticipated for May 2010, coinciding with the centenary of the discovery of gold in the district.

In October 2009, Westonia won the Tidy Towns - Sustainable Communities competition for the central Wheatbelt region. Westonia won the same title in October 2010, and was also declared the state winner in November 2010.

Things to see

 * Westonia Historic Townsite
 * Wolfram Street Facades
 * Westonia Caravan Park
 * Westonia Common
 * Boodalin Soak
 * Elachbutting Rock
 * Yanneymooning Reserve
 * Baladjie Rock
 * Edna May Gold Mine

title: Westonia, Western Australia


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Arts & Letters Daily

Arts & Letters Daily is a web portal which links to news stories, features, and reviews from across the humanities. The site is owned by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Content
According to founder and former editor Denis Dutton, Arts & Letters Daily was inspired by the Drudge Report but was meant to reach "the kinds of people who subscribe to The New York Review of Books, who read Salon and Slate and The New Republic—people interested in ideas". Arts & Letters Daily has in turn been the inspiration for similar "idea based" blogs such as Abbas Raza's 3 Quarks Daily."

Robert Fulford characterized its value as follows: "'A & LD' does for ideas what the Bloomberg service does for commerce. It watches developments, sorts things out, tells you what you need to know. It doesn't produce the profits Bloomberg brings in, but over time its ability to make connections may turn out to be even more important than the stock market."

Design
Arts & Letters Daily's layout, designed in July 1998 by Dutton, "mimics the 18th century English broadsheets and a 19th century copy of a colonial New Zealand periodical, the Lyttelton Times". Three columns of links dominate the site: Articles of Note, Book Reviews, and Essays/Opinions.

To the left of the main columns is a series of links to other online content providers, as well as a section titled “Nota Bene" (the Latin for "mark well"), which is the site's fourth and final collection of daily links to articles deemed to be of particular interest.

History
Arts & Letters Daily originated from "Phil-Lit", a mailing list created in 1994 by Denis Dutton and D.G. Myers, which served as a symposium on articles and reviews found on the web. When the list reached eight hundred subscribers, Dutton suggested that the articles be put together on a single webpage.

Arts & Letters Daily went online in September 1998. Dutton was assisted in operating the site by three former Phil-Lit subscribers: Sharon Killgrove of the Mojave Desert; Harrison Solow of Malibu, California; and Kenneth Chen, then a student at University of California, Berkeley. Still in 1998, A&L Daily spawned a "sister site", SciTechDaily, run by Dutton's friend Vicki Hyde, a science editor and author whose web company hosted both sites.

By August 1999, A&L Daily was attracting 250,000 monthly readers and praise from USA Today, Wired, and The Observer; the latter called it the world's top website, ahead of The New York Times and Amazon.com. The site's high-profile led to a bidding war among several potential buyers, in which the online magazines Feed and Slate competed with The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Lingua Franca. Lingua Franca eventually became the owner.

In 2000, Dutton asked Tran Huu Dung, a professor of economics at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, to serve as managing editor of the website. Though Dutton and Dung had never met, the two had corresponded via e-mail.

In April 2002 The Webby Awards granted A&L Daily a "People's Voice Award" for Best News Website. By August, Lingua Franca had declared bankruptcy, and A&L Daily lost its only source of financial support. Dutton and Dung financed the site themselves until October 7, 2002, when A&L Daily went offline.

On October 25, 2002, The Chronicle of Higher Education purchased it along with "the assets of its parent company, which published the magazine Lingua Franca" - and A&L Daily came back online.

By March 2005 the site had attracted more than 2.5 million page views a month and was about to receive its 100-millionth impression.

In August 2007, PC Magazine included it among its list of "Top 100 Classic Web Sites", crediting the site for "pull[ing] together some of the most interesting reads available on the Web today".

On December 28, 2010, Denis Dutton died. The Wall Street Journal commented that A&L Daily sent "tens of thousands of new articles to readers whose readership might otherwise be painfully small".

Evan Goldstein of The Chronicle and Tran Huu Dung continue to produce the site.

title: Arts & Letters Daily


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The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a first-person action and stealth video game developed by Starbreeze Studios and Tigon Studios, and was published by Vivendi Universal Games. Released for the Xbox and Microsoft Windows in 2004, the game's story is a prequel to the futuristic science fiction film Pitch Black. Actor Vin Diesel—who was involved in the game's development—reprises his role as that film's protagonist, Richard B. Riddick.

The game follows Riddick, the anti-hero of the two films Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, as he attempts to escape from a maximum-security prison called Butcher Bay. Escape from Butcher Bay's designers focused on exploring Riddick's character in a prison break setting to differentiate the game from the film. The game's influences include the film Escape from Alcatraz, and video games such as Half-Life and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.

Escape from Butcher Bay received acclaim by critics, who lauded its graphics and its implementation of stealth, action and adventure elements. Some critics consider the game superior to the film, a rarity among film tie-in games. However, they commonly lamented its brevity and lack of multiplayer components. The game has garnered a cult following and is often cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. It went on to win several accolades, including the Golden Joystick Award for Unsung Hero Game of the Year and the Spike Video Game Award for Best Game Based on a Movie. In 2009, the game was included in The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, with enhanced visuals.

Gameplay
In Escape from Butcher Bay, the player takes control of protagonist Richard B. Riddick as he attempts to break out of Butcher Bay prison. The game incorporates various elements from video game genres such as first-person shooter, adventure and stealth, and is played primarily from a first-person perspective, though the camera switches to a third-person perspective during certain scenes. Unlike many first-person shooters, the game contains no head-up display; on-screen cues are limited to flashes when a new weapon is selected, and small, white boxes that display the player character's health when damage is taken. Health can be replenished in designated areas throughout the game. By finding cigarette packs hidden in levels, the player can unlock concept art and video files.

The player may interact with and receive quests from the prison's residents, and earns information, tools and other rewards by completing quests. Violent conflict often occurs between the player, inmates and prison guards. The player attacks with Riddick's bare hands, or with improvised weapons such as shivs and clubs. Combos are created by stringing together punches. A DNA-scanning security system initially prevents Riddick from using firearms, but a limited arsenal later becomes available.

A "stealth mode" is activated when the player character crouches, allowing the player to move silently and tinting the edges of the screen blue when the player is hidden. While in stealth mode, the player can drag bodies out of sight and hide from enemies. The mode grants attacks that quickly kill enemies; the player may drop on enemies from above, or execute them from behind. During the game, Riddick acquires eyeshine, allowing him to see in the dark but temporarily blinding him if used in brightly lit areas.

Setting and characters
Escape from Butcher Bay is set in the futuristic science fiction universe of the Chronicles of Riddick franchise, and is a prequel to the film Pitch Black. The game takes place inside Butcher Bay, a maximum-security prison from which no prisoner has escaped. The facility—constructed on a barren planet—contains three increasingly secure holding areas, and a subterranean mining operation.

The game's protagonist is Richard B. Riddick (reprised by Vin Diesel), a murderer recently confined in Butcher Bay. Riddick is resourceful, and seeks to break out of the prison by any means necessary. His capturer is the bounty hunter William J. Johns (reprised by Cole Hauser); the two have had previous encounters. Butcher Bay's warden is a man named Hoxie (Dwight Schultz), while Abbott (Xzibit) is a prison guard disliked by the inmates. The inmate Pope Joe (Willis Burks II) is an insane old man, who lives in the sewer tunnels beneath the prison.

Story
The opening cinematic shows Riddick in hiding, having grown out his hair and beard, before the opening scene of the Chronicles of Riddick movie. He hunts an animal and after killing it, a disembodied voice starts talking to him asking him where he got his eyes. He states that he received them from a "slam preacher" and this causes him to remember his time at Butcher Bay. The game takes place in a flashback.

Another opening cinematic takes place in which Riddick is being transported for collection on the bounty. He and Johns have a brief conversation in which Riddick tells Johns that there is no way he is going to get the price he wants. Riddick wakes up as they land and stands out front of Butcher Bay waiting for the warden. He sneaks up behind Johns and breaks his neck and proceeds to escape. After getting his hands on a gun, he goes through the ventilation ducts and seemingly escapes into the desert. Everything fades to white as Riddick hears Johns saying, "Rise and shine, Riddick." It turns out this escape was simply a dream.

Riddick wakes up and Johns escorts him off the ship. Johns meets with Hoxie to negotiate his pay, while Abbott escorts Riddick to his cell in the "single-max" security area. After making enemies with and killing a gang leader named Rust (Steve Blum), Riddick familiarizes himself with the facility, and soon instigates a riot; during the confusion, he escapes into the prison's sewer system. Armed with a shotgun and a dying flashlight, Riddick discovers he is not alone in the sewers. Fighting through the sewers against mutant "dwellers", Riddick eventually meets Pope Joe, for whom he retrieves a lost radio, which Joe calls a blessed voicebox. A woman named Shirah (Kristin Lehman) tells Riddick that he "has been blind too long", and he gains his trademark "eyeshine" night vision. Afterwards, he accuses Pope Joe of tampering with his eyes; Joe says that he merely treated Riddick's injured arm. Riddick then continues his escape, while using the eyeshine to his advantage.

After emerging from a manhole in the showers of the guard living quarters, Riddick uses a guard uniform to blend in as he makes his way to the space port and his chance at escape. Realizing he requires a guard to get through the retinal scanner that locks the doors to the space port, Riddick decides to go after Abbott and take his eyes. He gains access to Abbott's apartment by telling him there is a delivery for him. A fire fight ensues and after that, as Abbott bleeds out on the floor, Riddick moves in for the kill but is stopped by Johns.

Riddick is captured and transferred to the "double-max" security area. Gaining the trust of the inmates by participating in fighting matches, Riddick eventually kills the champion of the fighting matches, a guard named Bam. This leads him to be taken to a room where no surveillance is seen and several guards await to kill Riddick. Abbott walks into the room, fully healed, holding a baseball bat. Shirah returns to him and tells him that the fury of all of his kind is within him, and he can release it if he chooses. Riddick lets out a loud scream as a blast of energy called the 'Rage of Furya' kills all the guards around him except Abbott, who hides and then panics and attacks Riddick. Riddick kills Abbott, steals his keycard, and proceeds to find another way to escape. Using a secret entrance to an elevator, he infiltrates a mining facility. He meets an inmate of great influence in the area named Jagger Valance (Ron Perlman), who wishes to escape with him. He makes a bomb and plants it in a mining site with a massive gas leak. However, Riddick is discovered and caught by the guards. During his transfer to another section, the prison is disrupted by an outbreak of creatures called "Xeno", due to the bomb Riddick planted, in order to create the confusion necessary for his escape, and Riddick attempts to escape with Valance. His plans are foiled again by Johns. After a fist fight, Riddick and Johns are both shot by Valance (who only meant to hit Johns) and Valance is killed by the guards. After meeting again with the warden, and telling him that he is just getting started, Riddick is placed in the "triple-max" area, where inmates are kept in cryonic sleep. They are awakened daily for two minutes of exercise; during this time, Riddick discovers a flaw in the system and escapes. He then hijacks a large robot and fights his way through Butcher Bay to reach Hoxie.

Tired of dealing with the prison officials, Johns helps Riddick to elude the guards. Riddick knocks Johns out and flies the ship into the warden's office. The warden calls in two robot guards with cloaking abilities and Riddick defeats them. After Hoxie surrenders, Riddick receives the codes to Hoxie's ship and Riddick and Johns escape disguised as a guard and prisoner. Two guards enter Hoxie's room, where Hoxie is bound and covered in Riddick's former attire with a gun tied to him and aimed at the door. The guards mistake Hoxie for Riddick and kill him. Riddick and Johns take off in Hoxie's ship, ending the game.

Development
Escape from Butcher Bay was co-developed by Swedish company Starbreeze Studios and the Vin Diesel-founded Tigon Studios, and published by Vivendi Games and Tigon Studios. Universal Studios Consumer Products Group granted The Chronicles of Riddick license to Universal Interactive; both companies were owned by Vivendi Universal. The game was announced in March 2004 as an Xbox title. Tigon Studios' Cos Lazouras said, "[The game] features an original storyline that provides insight into how Riddick evolved into such a complex character".

In contrast to other film tie-in games, which often closely follow the events of their source material, the development team of Escape from Butcher Bay focused on differentiating the game from The Chronicles of Riddick. They sought to explore Riddick's character in a prison break setting, and took inspiration from films such as Escape from Alcatraz. Starbreeze was also inspired by video games such as GoldenEye 007 and the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series. The opening sequence, in which Riddick is escorted into Butcher Bay, is a tribute to Half-Life, the game's hand-to-hand combat was inspired by Punch-Out!!, and the stealth mechanics, such as hiding in the shadows and leaning, were inspired by that of Thief: The Dark Project and Deus Ex. Starbreeze focused solely on developing the game's single-player mode, and did not include multiplayer; the company believed that such a mode would require a design team twice as large and another year of development.

Vin Diesel, the lead actor of The Chronicles of Riddick, provided his voice and likeness for Riddick. He and director David Twohy also contributed to the game's plot and character design; the game's story was developed in conjunction with the film's. Per the filmmakers' instructions, the designers made the origin of Riddick's "eyeshine" vague. Diesel offered guidance to the game's lead writer during voice recording sessions; this included dialogue rewrites to reduce Riddick's lines, as Diesel believed the character spoke too often.

Starbreeze intended for Escape from Butcher Bay to feature more complex role-playing game systems, but feedback from Diesel and game testers dissuaded them. Starbreeze senior producer Peter Wanat said, "We tried to limit the number of really hard or really intricate RPG elements, and that was a choice because we wanted the game to be playable." Other removed features include an electric bullwhip for the guard Abbott, and a 25-minute final boss fight. A PlayStation 2 version that was in development was cancelled so the company could focus on the Xbox version.

The game uses normal mapping, which allows detailed textures to be drawn on models with lower polygon counts; this increases visual fidelity, without sacrificing higher frame rates. It also featured dynamic lighting with per-pixel stencil shadowing and self-shadowing.

Escape from Butcher Bay was completed in 18 months. Vin Diesel promoted the game and the accompanying movie at the May 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game convention. The game was released in North America on June 1, 2004, shortly before The Chronicles of Riddick. North American pre-orders of the game included a DVD of promotional content, such as a partial interactive walkthrough and footage from the film. The game's soundtrack, composed by Gustaf Grefberg, was released by Vivendi as a free download on June 24, 2004.

Following rumors, Vivendi confirmed in July 2004 that a Windows port of Escape from Butcher Bay was in development, entitled "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Director's Cut". The game features a higher display resolution, additional cigarette packs, and new scenes where Riddick steals mechanized riot armor. It includes developer commentary which details the game's creation and design decisions. The game was released on December 8 in North America.

Expanded remake
In May 2007, Vivendi announced that Escape from Butcher Bay was being remade by Starbreeze Studios for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Entitled The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, the game was referred to by Vivendi as a "reinvention" of Escape from Butcher Bay; it would include a multiplayer mode and new single-player content. It was planned that Vivendi-subsidiary Sierra Entertainment would publish the game in late 2007.

In December 2007, Activision and Vivendi Games merged to become Activision Blizzard; the new company announced the dismissal of Assault on Dark Athena, Brütal Legend, Ghostbusters: The Video Game and others from its roster in July 2008. The titles were put up for sale to other publishers. In September 2008, Starbreeze Studios confirmed that the game was still in development, and that it was nearing completion. The following month, Atari reportedly paid a flat fee for the publishing rights to Assault on Dark Athena and Ghostbusters: The Video Game; Atari later confirmed that it had picked up both titles. The company also stated that it had struck a deal with Universal Studios to develop more Chronicles of Riddick games. Assault on Dark Athena was released in April 2009 in North America, Europe, and Australia.

Reception
Escape from Butcher Bay received critical acclaim. Certain reviewers preferred the game over its film counterpart, and considered it an exception to the general mediocrity of film tie-in games.

Escape from Butcher Bay's gameplay was compared to first-person shooters like Far Cry and Half-Life, and to stealth game series like Splinter Cell, Metal Gear, and Thief. Reviewers enjoyed the variety of gameplay elements: Game Informer's Jeremy Zoss noted that "every aspect of play is expertly implemented", and GameSpot's Greg Kasavin believed that the game "effectively and innovatively combines excellent shooting, hand-to-hand combat, stealth, and adventure elements". While the game's stealth mechanics were praised, certain critics received its first-person shooter elements with less enthusiasm. Reviewers applauded the control scheme, such as the Xbox version's analog stick-based hand-to-hand combat. The implementation of Riddick's eyeshine ability was also generally praised, but Computer and Video Games believed that it was no different from night vision goggles in other first-person shooters, and said that it "could've been developed into so much more."

The game's visuals—particularly the Xbox version's—were acclaimed, and compared to those of Doom 3 and Half-Life 2. GameZone's Michael Lafferty said that the game's graphics "[take] the genre to the next level". The textures and lighting were cited as high points, particularly because of the gameplay role of shadows. Character models and facial animations were considered highly realistic; much praise was given to those of Riddick. GameSpot appreciated the developers' attention to detail; they noted that recent bullet-holes glow red and smoke, but gradually cool and darken. Certain reviewers complained about graphical glitches, such as "seams" and "clipping", and gave as an example the visibility of bullet tracers through walls. The portrayal of Butcher Bay was considered convincing, and 1UP's Shawn Elliott compared it to the settings of the Alien franchise. "'You can almost smell the thick stink of Butcher Bay and its inhabitants from the grime on the walls, dirty clothes of the inmates, and environmental textures. This place oozes with style and creates sense of reality in which it's easy to become immersed.'" The audio of Escape from Butcher Bay was generally well received, and critics praised its voice acting; the performances of Vin Diesel and Cole Hauser were given special commendation. In regard to the music, FiringSquad's Jakub Wojnarowicz stated, "It's not good enough to sweep you away[,] but it's also not bad enough to stick out like a sore thumb". IGN said, "The music isn't memorable, but it's not bad". The Sunday Herald Sun called the voice acting "Surprisingly good". The game's length was commonly criticized. Reviewers noted that it could be completed in eight to fifteen hours,  and IGN said, "If you consider around 12 hours of gameplay short, then Riddick is just that." Several reviewers were displeased by the game's lack of multiplayer components;  Computer and Video Games referred to it as a "missed opportunity". Game Informer said, "Since the main quest is short [...] and there is no multiplayer, it’s not a ton of game for your money."

Professor James Paul Gee, a researcher of video games, has used Escape from Butcher Bay in his studies. He discussed the relation of Garrett from Thief and the nameless soldier from Full Spectrum Warrior with the character of Riddick, saying that the games "allow players to take a projective stance to the (virtual) world, but a stance that is rooted in the knowledge, values, and ways of seeing and being in the world of an authentic professional, an 'expert'."

Sales
The Xbox version of the game had sold 159,000 units by August 2004, and was among the best-selling games on any platform during June 2004; it was later re-released as a Platinum Hits title. Conversely, the PC version sold 32,500 after six months on shelves.

In a December 2008 interview, Ian Stevens (Head of Tigon Studios) said that sales were lackluster because consumers were not "big on Vin Diesel" and "highly skeptical of a film property translating well as a video game".

Awards and accolades
Both versions of the game were given editor's choice awards from IGN, GameSpot,  and GameSpy. GameSpot named it the best Xbox game of June 2004, and the PC version was IGN's PC Game of the Month for December 2004. It later won GameSpot's annual "Most Surprisingly Good Game" and "Best Game Based on a TV or Film Property" awards, and was a runner-up in the publication's "Best Action Adventure Game", "Best Original Music", "Best Sound Effects", "Best Story", "Best Graphics, Technical", "Best Voice Acting" and "Most Innovative Game" categories, as well as for „Game of the Year”. The editors of Computer Gaming World presented Butcher Bay with their 2004 "Action Game of the Year" award, and hailed it as "the best movie prequel ever produced". Computer Games Magazine named Escape from Butcher Bay the tenth-best computer game of 2004.

IGN later ranked Butcher Bay 12th on its list of the 25 greatest Xbox games of all time. Game Informer placed Escape from Butcher Bay as the 8th best on their list of 25 greatest Xbox games of all time. Escape from Butcher Bay was nominated for GameSpot's Game of the Year award for 2004, but it lost to World of Warcraft. Computer and Video Games called the PC version the 98th best PC game of all time. Billboard's Digital Entertainment Conference nominated Riddick as its Best Character in a Game and a Golden Joystick Award for "Unsung Hero Game of the Year". GamesRadar placed Escape from Butcher Bay in their "Top 7 movie games that don't suck" list, and said that "Escape from Butcher Bay was a triumph on almost every level." In 2013, IGN ranked Escape from Butcher Bay as the 27th greatest first-person shooter of all time.


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Westonia

Westonia may refer to:

 * Elizabeth Jane Weston (1582-1612), English-Czech poet known as Westonia
 * Westonia, Western Australia, a town
 * Westonia (brachiopod); see List of brachiopod genera

title: Westonia


text: Category:1116 deaths

title: Category:1116 deaths


text: User talk:204.118.183.213

title: User talk:204.118.183.213


text:
Block heater

A block heater is used in cold climates to warm an engine prior to starting. They are mostly used for car engines; however, they have also been used in aircraft engines.

The most common design of block heater is an electrical heating element embedded in the engine block.

Purpose
Pre-heating of an engine is primarily used to make it easier to start. Added benefits are:
 * The cabin heater produces heat sooner for comfort and to thaw the windscreen.
 * Reduction of condensation of fuel on cold cylinder walls during start thus
 * saving fuel and reducing exhaust emissions and
 * reducing oil dilution by gasoline scraped into the oil pan by the piston rings.
 * The engine reaches operating temperature sooner, so the engine does not run rich as long. This further reduces fuel consumption and emissions.
 * Less load on the starter and battery thereby prolonging their service lives.
 * Less engine wear as oil circulation is improved.
 * Reduces the need for a Remote starter, thereby further saving fuel and emissions.

Block heaters or coolant heaters are also found on the diesel engines in standby generators, to reduce the time taken for the generator to reach full power output in an emergency.

Considerations
The vehicle operator must have access to electrical power. In cold climates, parking areas for residents, employees, or students, or paid public parking areas, may have electrical outlets.

The operator must disconnect the power cord before driving away. Forgetting to disconnect can result in damage to the power cord or the vehicle. After a snow storm, the cable may not be visible under the snow. Residential overnight street parking may not allow an extension cord to cross a public sidewalk.

The energy used to heat the engine adds a cost. However, the savings in fuel generally outweigh this cost, especially if a timer is used to limit the heating period to about 4 hours before the expected start time, taking the needed precautions, a kerosene jet-heater can be used.

Designs
Some cars are produced with block heaters from the factory, while others are fitted with block heaters as an aftermarket add-on. The most common type of block heater is an electric heating element in the engine block, which is connected through a power cord often routed through the vehicle's grille. Some block heaters are designed to replace one of the engine's core plugs and therefore heat the engine via the coolant.

Alternative methods of warming an engine include:
 * Engine oil heater attached to the engine's oil pan with magnets.
 * Engine oil heater inserted into the dipstick tube.
 * In-line coolant heaters, which are installed into a radiator hose to warm the coolant (sometimes with a circulation pump to increase its effectiveness).
 * Electric blankets that are laid over the top of the engine.

Electric timers are often used with engine warmers, since it is only necessary to run the warmer for a few hours before starting the engine. Some cars pump hot coolant from the cooling system into a 3-litre insulated thermos-style reservoir at shutdown, where it stays warm for several days. While idling is commonly believed to warm an engine, for most it is not effective.

Usage
Block heaters are frequently used in regions with cold winters such as the northern United States, Canada, Russia and Scandinavia. In some countries where block heaters are commonly used, carparks are sometimes fitted with electrical outlets for powering the block heaters.

Testing in the 1970s of warm-up times for block heaters found little benefit in operating a block heater for more than four hours prior to starting a vehicle. It was found that coolant temperature increased by almost 20 C-change during the first four hours, regardless of the initial temperature. Four tests were run at ambient temperatures ranging from -29 to -11 C; continued use of the heater for up to two hours more only further increased the temperature by up to 3 C-change. Engine oil temperature was found to increase over these periods by just 5 C-change.

History
An early example of pre-heating piston engines prior to start-up was in the 1930s in Northern Canada, where aviators flew with flight engineers who were responsible for preparing the radial engines for shutdown and startup to reduce the effects of subzero temperatures. The flight engineer was responsible for draining the oil into buckets at night, and preheating the engine and buckets of oil using a blanket wrapped around the engine and a device known as a blow pot – essentially a kerosene jet-heater used for several hours prior to flight.

During World War II, German pilots could not stop the oil freezing in the engines of their Messerschmitt Bf 109 planes because of the extreme cold first experienced in the 1941 winter campaign in the Soviet Union. A captured Soviet airman showed them how pouring aviation fuel into the aircraft's oil sump would thaw the oil. Another solution, also learned from the Soviets, was to ignite fuel in the space around the engine.

An early automotive use was the "head bolt heater", invented by Andrew Freeman in the United States and patented on 8 November 1949. These early heaters replaced one of the engine's head bolts with a hollow, threaded shank containing a resistive heating element. Before the block heater was introduced, people used a variety of methods to warm engines before starting them, such as pouring hot water on the engine block or draining the engine's oil for storage inside overnight. Some even shoveled embers underneath their vehicle's engine to obtain the same effect.

title: Block heater


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Island Park Caldera

The Island Park Caldera, in the U.S. states of Idaho and Wyoming, is one of the world's largest calderas, with approximate dimensions of 80 by 65 km. Its ashfall is the source of the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff that is found from southern California to the Mississippi River near St. Louis. This super-eruption of approximately 2500 km3 occurred 2.1 Ma (million years ago) and produced 2,500 times as much ash as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Island Park Caldera has the smaller and younger Henry's Fork Caldera nested inside it.

The caldera clearly visible today is the later Henry's Fork Caldera, which is the source of the Mesa Falls Tuff. It was formed 1.3 Ma in an eruption of more than 280 km3. The two nested calderas share the same rim on their western sides, but the older Island Park Caldera is much larger and more oval and extends well into Yellowstone National Park. The Island Park Caldera is sometimes referred to as the First Phase Yellowstone Caldera or the Huckleberry Ridge Caldera.

To the southwest of the caldera lies the Snake River Plain, which was formed by a succession of older calderas marking the path of the Yellowstone hotspot. The plain is a depression, sinking under the weight of the volcanic rocks that formed it, through which the Snake River winds. Other observable volcanic features in the plain include: the Menan Buttes, the Big Southern Butte, Craters of the Moon, the Wapi Lava Field and Hell's Half Acre.

These calderas are in an area called Island Park that is known for beautiful forests, large springs, clear streams, waterfalls, lakes, ponds, marshes, wildlife, and fishing. Harriman State Park is located in the caldera. Snowmobiling, fishing, and Nordic skiing, and wildlife viewing are popular activities in the area. The peaks of the Teton Range to the southeast are visible from places in the caldera.

title: Island Park Caldera


text: User talk:24.159.32.65

title: User talk:24.159.32.65


text:
Violin Concerto (Elgar)

Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is one of his longest orchestral compositions, and the last of his works to gain immediate popular success.

The concerto was composed for the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere in London in 1910, with the composer conducting. Plans by the recording company His Master's Voice to record the work with Kreisler and Elgar fell through, and the composer made a recording with the teenaged Yehudi Menuhin that has remained in the catalogues since its first release in 1932.

Even though Elgar's music fell out of fashion in the middle of the twentieth century, and the concerto's reputation as one of the most difficult in the violin repertoire grew (because of its use of constant multiple-stopping, fast and unorthodox string crossings, and massive, rapid shifting around the instrument), it nevertheless continued to be programmed and played by acclaimed violinists. By the end of the 20th century, when Elgar's music was restored to the general repertoire, there had been more than twenty recordings of the concerto. In 2010, centenary performances of the concerto were given around the world.

History
Elgar had begun work on a violin concerto in 1890, but he was dissatisfied with it and destroyed the manuscript. In 1907 the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who admired Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, asked him to write a violin concerto. Two years earlier, Kreisler had told an English newspaper: If you want to know whom I consider to be the greatest living composer, I say without hesitation Elgar... I say this to please no one; it is my own conviction... I place him on an equal footing with my idols, Beethoven and Brahms. He is of the same aristocratic family. His invention, his orchestration, his harmony, his grandeur, it is wonderful. And it is all pure, unaffected music. I wish Elgar would write something for the violin. The Royal Philharmonic Society of London formally commissioned the concerto in 1909. Elgar, despite himself being a violinist, called upon W. H. "Billy" Reed, leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, for technical advice while writing the concerto. Reed helped him with bowings, passage-work and fingerings, playing passages over and over again until Elgar was satisfied with them. Kreisler also made suggestions, some for making the solo part more brilliant and some for making it more playable. Before the premiere, Reed, with Elgar playing the orchestral part on the piano, played through the work at a private party.

The premiere was at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert on 10 November 1910, with Kreisler and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. Reed recalled, "the Concerto proved to be a complete triumph, the concert a brilliant and unforgettable occasion". So great was the impact of the concerto that Kreisler's rival Eugène Ysaÿe spent much time with Elgar going through the work. There was great disappointment when contractual difficulties prevented Ysaÿe from playing it in London.

The concerto was Elgar's last great popular success. Of his later large-scale works neither the Second Symphony nor Falstaff nor the Cello Concerto achieved the immediate popularity of the First Symphony or this concerto. Elgar remained particularly fond of the work. His friend Charles Sanford Terry recalled "I have never heard Elgar speak of the personal note in his music except in regard to the concerto, and of it I heard him say more than once, 'I love it'." Elgar told Ivor Atkins that he would like the nobilmente theme in the andante inscribed on his tomb.

Even in the 1950s when Elgar's music was unfashionable, the concerto featured frequently in concert programmes. By the end of the twentieth century, when Elgar's music was once again in the general repertoire, there were more than 20 gramophone recordings of the concerto. In 2010, the centenary year of the work, the violinist Nikolaj Znaider began a series of performances in venues including Vienna, London and New York, with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and conductors Valery Gergiev and Sir Colin Davis. Also in 2010 Philippe Graffin gave a performance at the Three Choirs Festival using Elgar's original manuscript, and new recordings were issued by Znaider, Thomas Zehetmair, and Tasmin Little.

Enigmatic inscription
The concerto is dedicated to Kreisler, but the score also carries the Spanish inscription, "Aquí está encerrada el alma de ....." ("Herein is enshrined the soul of ....."), a quotation from the novel Gil Blas by Alain-René Lesage. The five dots are one of Elgar's enigmas, and several names have been proposed to match the inscription. It has been widely believed to allude to Alice Stuart-Wortley, daughter of the painter John Everett Millais. She was Elgar's dear friend whom he nicknamed "Windflower", and his love for her and her inspiration to him are well known. There is no definite proof linking her to the inscription of the concerto, although Elgar dubbed several of the themes "Windflower", and in his letters to her he referred to it as "our concerto".

Another possible inspiration for the concerto was Elgar's early love Helen Weaver, to whom he was briefly engaged in the 1880s. Dora Powell ("Dorabella" of the Enigma Variations) suggested a third possible candidate, Elgar's American friend Julia "Pippa" Worthington: Powell recalled an occasion at the Elgars' house, Plâs Gwyn, when she was looking at a copy of the score of the concerto: "I came next to the Spanish quotation ... the five dots caught my eye and a name immediately sprang to my mind. The Lady [i.e. Alice Elgar] came and stood by me, saw what I was looking at, and translated the Spanish sentence: 'Herein is enshrined the soul of ...' Then she went on to fill in the name – that of a personal friend ... Mrs. Julia H. Worthington, a most charming and kind American friend. She was known to intimate friends by another name – also of five letters, and I cannot say definitely whether the composer had this name or her first Christian name in mind. Nor does this matter; the gap is now filled."

The Elgar biographer Jerrold Northrop Moore suggests that the inscription does not refer to just one person, but enshrined in each movement of the concerto are both a living inspiration and a ghost: Alice Stuart-Wortley and Helen Weaver in the first movement; Elgar's wife and his mother in the second; and in the finale, Billy Reed and August Jaeger ("Nimrod" of the Enigma Variations).

Orchestration
Elgar's violin concerto is scored for solo violin, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in A, two bassoons, contrabassoon (ad lib), four horns in F, two trumpets in A, three trombones, tuba (ad lib), 3 timpani and strings.

Musical analysis
Elgar said of the Violin Concerto, "It's good! Awfully emotional! Too emotional, but I love it." Like the vast majority of earlier violin concertos, Elgar's has three movements. The Elgar biographer Michael Kennedy suggests that structurally the concerto is modelled on those by Brahms and perhaps Bruch. It is on a very large scale for a concerto, typically taking between 45 and 55 minutes to perform (see "Recordings" below for indicative timings).

Allegro
The first movement, in traditional sonata form, begins with a long orchestral exposition of the themes. Six related themes are presented, ranging through several keys, after which the first theme is repeated, first by the orchestra and then by the solo violin. This passage is described by Kennedy as "one of the most effective and haunting entries by the solo instrument to be found in any concerto". The solo line repeats and elaborates the five themes, particularly the second subject which has appeared briefly in the opening orchestral section and is transformed in the solo part into the "Windflower" theme, "of a poetic beauty exceptional even for Elgar". The movement follows the classical pattern of development and recapitulation, in which "the interplay between violinist and orchestra is on an heroic scale", and ends with an orchestral flourish.

Andante
The second movement, in the key of B flat, has a shorter orchestral prelude, and is mostly quiet and songful, but rises to an impassioned climax. Kennedy calls it "a display of sustained and noble eloquence".

Allegro molto
The last movement begins with a quiet but strenuous violin passage, accompanied by the orchestra, with many double stops and fast arpeggios; themes from the first and second movements are recalled and then, as the movement seems to be heading for a conventional finish, there is an unexpected and unconventional accompanied cadenza in which the orchestra supports the solo with a pizzicato tremolando thrumming effect. This cadenza, though demanding to perform, is not the usual virtuoso showpiece: it is the emotional and structural climax of the whole work. Themes from earlier in the work, including the "Windflower" theme, are restated and finally the concerto ends in a characteristic blaze of orchestral sound.

Recordings
The first recording of the concerto was a truncated version made by the Gramophone Company under the HMV label in December 1916, using the acoustic process, the technical limitations of which necessitated drastic rearrangement of the score. There were two 12-inch discs: D79-80. The soloist was Marie Hall, and the unnamed orchestra was conducted by the composer. Electrical recording, introduced in the 1920s, gave a greatly improved dynamic range and realism, and the two leading English record companies, Columbia and HMV both made recordings of the concerto that remain in the catalogue.

The first complete recording was made in 1929 for Columbia by Albert Sammons with the New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by Sir Henry Wood. HMV hoped to record the work with Kreisler, but he proved elusive (believing Elgar to be a poor conductor) and HMV's producer, Fred Gaisberg, turned instead to the young Yehudi Menuhin. The recording was made at EMI's Abbey Road Studio 1 in June 1932 and has remained in print on 78, LP and CD ever since. These two recordings typify the two contrasting approaches to the work that have existed ever since: Sammons and Wood, in a brisk performance, take just over 43 minutes to play the work; Menuhin and Elgar, in a more overtly expressive reading take almost 50 minutes. Other recordings of the monaural era include those by Jascha Heifetz (1949) and Alfredo Campoli (1954). Both these performances are in the Sammons/Wood tradition, taking, respectively, approximately 42 and 45 minutes.

Many modern stereo recordings favour the slower approach of Menuhin and Elgar. Menuhin himself in his stereo remake in 1965 was slightly quicker (just under 48 minutes) than he had been in 1932, but Pinchas Zukerman in his two studio versions took a little over 50 minutes in his first recording and a little under 49 in his second. Both of Nigel Kennedy's recordings play for nearly 54 minutes. Itzhak Perlman's is slightly faster, at just over 47 minutes; and Dong-Suk Kang's takes under 45 minutes. The slowest version recorded is with Ida Haendel and Sir Adrian Boult conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, at well over 55 minutes. A recording released in 2006 used a text based on Elgar's manuscript score rather than the published version. Reviewing the CD in June 2006 the Gramophone critic Edward Greenfield observed, "... the differences are very small ... I have to confess that had I not been told, I might have appreciated only two of them."

The BBC Radio 3 feature "Building a Library" has presented comparative reviews of all available versions of the concerto on two occasions. The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, 2008, has three pages of reviews of recordings of the work. The versions recommended by both the BBC and The Penguin Guide are those by Menuhin (1932) and Sammons (1929).

Notes and references
Notes

References

title: Violin Concerto (Elgar)


text:
Islam in Mali

Islam is very important to traditional Malian culture. Muslims currently make up approximately 95 percent of the population of Mali. The majority of Muslims in Mali are Malikite Sunni, influenced with Sufism. Ahmadiyya and Shia branches are also present.

Islam has been present in West Africa for over a millennium, and Mali has been the center of various Islamic empires, such as the Ghana Empire and the Songhai Empire. Mali was a French colony and now follows the secular French model in which the government does not intervene in religious matters.

Islam as practiced in the country until recently was reported to be relatively tolerant and adapted to local conditions. Women participated in economic and political activity, engaged in social interaction, and generally did not wear veils. Islam in Mali has absorbed mystical elements, ancestor veneration and the African Traditional Religion that still thrive. Many aspects of Malian traditional society encourage norms consistent with democratic citizenship, including tolerance, trust, pluralism, the separation of powers and the accountability of the leader to the governed.

There has been a surge in conservative interpretations of Islam in recent decades, particularly in Northern Mali where extremist groups have targeted religious minorities with violence. Despite this surge, many Muslim leaders have argued against the imposition of Sharia law. Christian missionaries have not observed any discrimination against Christians or other minorities in areas under government control, and have reported that the government has continued to adhere to the constitutional requirement to treat all religions equally.

History
During the 9th century, Muslim Berber and Tuareg merchants helped to spread the religion of Islam in the region, with the founders of the Sufi brotherhoods (tariqah) playing an instrumental role. Conversion to Islam connected the West African savannah through belief in one God and similar new forms of political, social and artistic characteristics. Cities including Timbuktu, Gao and Kano soon became international centers of Islamic learning.

The most significant of the Mali kings was Mansa Musa (1312–1337), who expanded Mali's influence over the large Niger city-states of Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenné. Mansa Musa was a devout Muslim who was reported to have built various major mosques throughout the Mali sphere of influence; his gold-laden pilgrimage to Mecca made him a well-known figure in the historical record.

Muslims in Mali
Relations between the Muslim majority and the Christian and other religious minorities—including practitioners of African Traditional Religion were reported to be generally stable until recently, although there have been several cases of instability and tension in the past. It is relatively common to find adherents of a variety of faiths within the same family. Many followers of one religion usually attend religious ceremonies of other religions, especially weddings, baptisms, and funerals.

Since the imposition of Sharia rule in northern parts of the country in 2012, persecution of Christians in the north has increased significantly and has been described as severe by the Missionaries of Open Doors which publishes the Christian persecution index; Mali appeared as number 7 in the 2013 index list.

The implementation of Sharia in the rebel-controlled north has included the banning of music, cutting off the hands or feet of thieves, stoning of adulterers, and public whippings of smokers, alcohol drinkers, and improperly dressed women. Several Islamic sites in Mali have been destroyed or damaged by vigilante activists linked to Al Qaeda extremists who have claimed that the sites represent "idol worship".

Some foreign Islamic preachers operate in the north of the country, while mosques associated with Dawa (an Islamist group) are located in Kidal, Mopti, and Bamako. The organization Dawa has gained adherents among the Bellah, who were once the slaves of the Tuareg nobles, and also among unemployed youth. The interest these groups have in Dawa is based on a desire to disassociate themselves from their former masters, and to find a source of income. The Dawa sect has a strong influence in Kidal, while the Wahabi movement has been reported to be steadily growing in Timbuktu. The country's traditional approach to Islam is relatively moderate, as reflected in the ancient manuscripts from the former University of Timbuktu.

In August 2003, a conflict erupted in the village of Yerere in Western Mali when traditional Sunni practitioners attacked Wahhabi Sunnis, who were building an authorized mosque.

Foreign Christian missionary groups based in Europe have engaged in development work, primarily the provision of health care and education.

Status of religious freedom
The constitution provides for freedom of religion and does not permit any form of religious discrimination or intolerance by the government or individual persons. There is no state religion as the constitution defines the country as a secular state and allows for religious practices that do not pose a threat to social stability and peace.

The government requires that all public associations, including religious associations, register with the government. However, registration confers no tax preference and no other legal benefits, and failure to register is not penalized in practice. Traditional indigenous religions are not required to register.

A number of foreign missionary groups operate in the country without government interference. Both Muslims and non-Muslims are allowed to convert people freely.

Family law, including laws pertaining to divorce, marriage, and inheritance, is based on a mixture of local tradition and Islamic law and practice.

During presidential elections held in April and May 2002, the Government and political parties emphasized the secularity of the state. A few days prior to the elections, a radical Islamic leader called on Muslims to vote for former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. The High Council of Islam, the most senior Islamic body in the country, severely criticized the statement and reminded all citizens to vote for the candidate of their choice.

In January 2002, the High Council was created to coordinate religious affairs for the entire Muslim community and standardize the quality of preaching in mosques. All Muslim groups in the country currently recognize its authority.

Extremism
Extremists have been responsible for some reprehensible acts in Mali, most notably what has been nicknamed the Battle of Gao, in which an Islamic extremist group, Ansar Dine began to destroy various Muslim World Heritage Sites. The most significant of these was the Islamic mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar and in mausoleums around the capital, including that of Sidi Yahya, militants broke in and destroyed Muslim tombs.

Many towns in Mali are falling victim to extremist groups’ implementation of their sect's interpretation of Sharia law, by which many African cultures and enjoyments have been denied. A recent report in The Guardian revealed that extremist groups have banned music in certain regions and were known to turn up randomly in villages, armed with weaponry, to burn musical instruments and musical items on bonfires. One guitarist was threatened that his fingers would be chopped off if he ever showed his face in one town again. On 18 May 2017, a man and a woman were stoned to death for living maritally without being married. According to officials, the extremists first dug two holes, one for the man and the other for the woman, then the couple was buried up to their necks and then four extremists started throwing stones on them and continued throwing until they died from their wounds. Public were invited to take part in this stoning. The couple was accused of violating Islamic law by living together without marriage.

title: Islam in Mali


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title: Category:999 deaths


text: Category:Fictional archaeologists

title: Category:Fictional archaeologists