Tag Archives: Lioness

Wow, A ‘Gender Fluid’ Lioness, Who Looks, Acts And Roars Like a Male, Discovered in Africa

Scientists have discovered a lioness that is said to exhibit the physical characteristics of both male and female lions.

Mmamoriri the lioness – who lives on the plains of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, southern Africa – has naturally adopted the characteristics of her male counterparts in order to survive.

She has grown a mane to fool invading prides into thinking she is male, as well as developing a deeper and more masculine roar.

However, Mmamoriri – who was first discovered back in 2012 – is not alone.

The scientists believe she is one of five lions in the area with the same adaptations.

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In addition, they say that the phenomenon will pass down to the next generation; an evolutionary twist that will ensure future prides can survive at their most vulnerable, if the alpha male is killed or dies.

Mmamoriri is one of the stars of the new BBC documentary, The World’s Sneakiest Animals, which will be shown on Christmas Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT_Ddpbw5fQ

Others who have adapted their gender in order to survive include male deer, which don’t grow antlers – meaning they are able to ‘sneakily’ breed with females, while the other males fight for access.

The show – presented by wildlife expert Chris Packham – also features cuttlefish that can change colour and shed skin to disguise themselves.

The argument that same-sex relationships are somehow “unnatural” is often wheeled out by those opposed to gay rights – yet the animal kingdom continues to prove that they couldn’t be more wrong.

Same-sex activity is used in the animal kingdom for many reasons, ranging from pleasure-seeking to conflict solving. Many species even form bonds for life with their same-sex partner.

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Ellen Page Promises To Create More Diverse Movies For Women

Ellen Page says she plans to promote diverse storytelling when producing films in the future.

I’m focusing mostly on stories that are meaningful to me and stories for women and supporting more gay characters. Statistically, there’s less women behind the camera, less women composing the music, less women writing the stories, less women acting particularly as protagonists.”

Page has said that she hopes to see more women – gay or straight – getting their stories told in Hollywood.

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Talking to Screen Daily, she said

If you’re a woman and you happen to be an Africa American women, or a First Nations woman, then your chances are even more limited and your stories aren’t being told. I think what we’re seeing in television is a reflection that audiences do want more diverse storytelling, they want to see other stories and they are responding to that. I feel like the film industry is going to start following that path. Hopefully that will keep changing.”

She added that she hopes to see more women come out in Hollywood, in order to garner a true understanding of how gay women want to be represented on screen.

There are not that many out gay women [in Hollywood] so it’s hard to come to some sort of consensus about what that means. I’m feeling grateful for what options and opportunities I have.”

As well as acting, the actress has recently began producing films – including upcoming lesbian drama, Freeheld, which also stars Oscar winner Julianne Moore.

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She is also set to produce another gay love story, in which she will star opposite Fantastic Four actress Kate Mara.

The actress – who came out last year while working on Freeheld – went on to praise the diversity seen on television, but argued that Hollywood still has a long way to go, especially when it came to women and race.

Page will be honored for her LGBT rights advocacy during the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 19th annual National Dinner in Washington, D.C. At the Saturday, October 3 event, seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney will present Page with the group’s National Vanguard Award.

Reed Morano To Direct Ellen Page In Lesbian U.S. Marine Drama ‘Lioness’

This summer is was announced that Ellen Page was attached to star in Lioness, a film about real-life US Marine Lance Corporal Leslie Martz who was a gay women stationed in Iraq for a time.

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Her agenda there was to gain the trust of Afghan women and prepare them for independence, but Martz was also tasked with surreptitiously extracting intelligence from those same women about their Taliban husbands.

Now the film has a director, and it’s a very intriguing choice. Reed Morano, whose work as a cinematographer you have very likely seen in films like Frozen River, Kill Your Darlings, and The Skeleton Twins, will helm the film.

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It follows her directorial debut Meadowland, which hits theaters next month.

Rosalind Ross, one of the writers of the El Rey Network series Matador, wrote the script, making this a refreshingly all-female affair (unlike Page’s last film where she played a lesbian character – Freeheld).

The film is eyeing an April 2016 start.

Ellen Page Prepares To Become Lioness

Ellen Page already has her next project lined up. She’ll play real-life US Marine Lance Corporal Leslie Martz, in producer James Dahl’s developing war drama Lioness (not to be confused with the English women’s football team).

Martz was stationed in Iraq for a time, but Lioness is concerned with her stint in Afghanistan, leading a ‘Female Engagement Team’. Her agenda was ostensibly to gain the trust of Afghan women and prepare them for independence, but Martz was also tasked with surreptitiously extracting intelligence from those same women about their Taliban husbands.

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The soldier, who now lives in San Diego, was also waging a personal war on several fronts. She was hiding the fact that she was a gay woman in the military, and on top of that found herself torn between the desire to prove herself and her superiors and the allegiance she developed toward the women and children whose strength and courage she grew to admire.

Lioness doesn’t have a director yet, but newcomer Rosalind Ross has written the screenplay and will join Dahl on the producers list. Dahl is also behind the Rolling Stones movie The End Of The Tour, starring Page’s To Rome With Love co-star Jesse Eisenberg.

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Page has two films set for release – the sci-fi drama Into The Forest and the biohraphical romance Freeheld, although neither currently has a release date.