Men who just wear women's clothes for whatever personal reasons, who are identified as crossdressers, transvestites, etc., are not transgender women. They're men who wear women's clothes. It's not an identified medical or psyhological condition anymore, it's just what some men like to do.
These men should not be recognized in the same definition as the whole array of women who identify as transitioning women, androgynous women, gender-queer or variant women, or however they identify as. Women are women by their own gender identity.
Men who just wear women's clothes identify as men, live as men, aren't required to get psychological or psychiatric therapy for gender identity diagnosis, aren't required to be under medical care for their transition, don't go through the process to change their legal documents to be recognized as women.
Men who just wear women's clothes are just men who like to wear women's clothes, nothing more. And they certainly are not transgender women! Let's drop the pretense for the bullshit line they want to believe they're something they're not.
They don't want to be or live as women, they just like the clothes. They should not be included in the definition of transgender women, should not be protected under laws for transgender women, and should not be treated by society as women.
The transgender community is doing themselves and all transgender women a disservice by including them under the umbrella as "gender presentation" because they are exactly what conservatives use as examples of "men in dresses" to discriminate against all transgender women.
Transgender women have it hard enough to get through their life, they don't need to be lumped into an identification with crossdresser, transvetites, drag queens, female impersonators, etal. Transgender women need to be separate from them for their own identity as women.
The best thing the transgender community can do is jettison them from the community. This has happened in some cities and states where they're treated separate, as legally recognized women, and achieved these laws and rights they would not have gotten otherwise.
I don't see men who just like to wear women's clothes as women in any manner. Whatever their "feminine side" they want to express is irrelevant, it doesn't make them women by any measure when they take the clothes off and they are physically men, identify as men, and live as men.
Clothes don't make men women. The person's gender identity does.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Friday, August 21, 2015
Really
Caitlyn Jenner failed to stop while driving on the Pacific Coast Highway and her Cadillac Escalade hit a Lexus pushing it into on coming traffic hitting a Hummer, killing the woman driving the Lexus, and hitting a Toyota Prius. She’s never admitted fault for her actions, said she prayed for the dead woman’s family, and now faces possible vehicular manslauter charges.
Yet she was awarded an Arthur Ashe ESPY award for courage and character for coming out as a transgender woman, even though millions of women have come out, and many transitioned, before her to face hate, discrimination, joblessness, poverty, violence and even death. What courage and character has she shown outside of what of her wealth and privilege has provided her to be insulated from realtiy the rest of us live?
The transgender community has embraced her despite her statements saying transgender women should get jobs and not depend on the government to help them in live and their transition. This from a woman who earned her wealth as Bruce Jenner, Olympic champion, and member of the Kardashian family with the reality TV show.
Caitlyn has admitted to being a staunch republican, flaunting her wealth and privilege on her own TV show, all the while the transgender community thinks she deserves respect for coming out with the help of her money, her family, Vanity Fair magazine and a television network, while she questions ordinary transgender women needing help to survive, live and hopefully transition.
And that's worth an ESPY award. Really?
Yet she was awarded an Arthur Ashe ESPY award for courage and character for coming out as a transgender woman, even though millions of women have come out, and many transitioned, before her to face hate, discrimination, joblessness, poverty, violence and even death. What courage and character has she shown outside of what of her wealth and privilege has provided her to be insulated from realtiy the rest of us live?
The transgender community has embraced her despite her statements saying transgender women should get jobs and not depend on the government to help them in live and their transition. This from a woman who earned her wealth as Bruce Jenner, Olympic champion, and member of the Kardashian family with the reality TV show.
Caitlyn has admitted to being a staunch republican, flaunting her wealth and privilege on her own TV show, all the while the transgender community thinks she deserves respect for coming out with the help of her money, her family, Vanity Fair magazine and a television network, while she questions ordinary transgender women needing help to survive, live and hopefully transition.
And that's worth an ESPY award. Really?
Monday, July 20, 2015
So It Goes
So it goes. While many in the transgender community promote gender diversity and the whole spectrum of gender expression and presentation, there are many who, while understanding and accepting the idea of the non-binary, like the binary.
There's nothing wrong with liking and living in the gender binary if it's makes you comforable with yourself and your life. That's your right, and it's not the right of the advocates of the non-binary to criticize, or worse, atack or demonize you.
There's nothing wrong with not identifying as a transgender woman or man and not wanting to be reconized, and especially not labelled, as a transgender woman or man. It's your right to self-identify as non-binary people advocate for themselves.
There's nothing wrong for both sides of the argument for gender identity and the use of the word transgender to exist without declaring war against the other. It's the right of everyone to choose who they are and how they want to be identified.
There's nothing wrong if both sides agree to just let everyone be themselves. And hopefully, to do it respectfully and without malice toward others. But that's not what is these days in the fight for inclusion where inclusion is everyone whether or not they want to be included, and more so want to be excluded.
So it goes these days. The whole transgender community at war within itself. You can't decide for yourself anymore. Others get to decide for you, decide who you are and how you should be called. And argue you can't disagree with them.
And the transgender community wonders why so many (transgender) people don't like them anymore, and don't participate in the community. They created the atmosphere and environment and encourage the fight, forgetting they're losing most of their own in the process.
So it goes. The many not caring, if even watching, and the few yelling at each other about who's right or wrong.
There's nothing wrong with liking and living in the gender binary if it's makes you comforable with yourself and your life. That's your right, and it's not the right of the advocates of the non-binary to criticize, or worse, atack or demonize you.
There's nothing wrong with not identifying as a transgender woman or man and not wanting to be reconized, and especially not labelled, as a transgender woman or man. It's your right to self-identify as non-binary people advocate for themselves.
There's nothing wrong for both sides of the argument for gender identity and the use of the word transgender to exist without declaring war against the other. It's the right of everyone to choose who they are and how they want to be identified.
There's nothing wrong if both sides agree to just let everyone be themselves. And hopefully, to do it respectfully and without malice toward others. But that's not what is these days in the fight for inclusion where inclusion is everyone whether or not they want to be included, and more so want to be excluded.
So it goes these days. The whole transgender community at war within itself. You can't decide for yourself anymore. Others get to decide for you, decide who you are and how you should be called. And argue you can't disagree with them.
And the transgender community wonders why so many (transgender) people don't like them anymore, and don't participate in the community. They created the atmosphere and environment and encourage the fight, forgetting they're losing most of their own in the process.
So it goes. The many not caring, if even watching, and the few yelling at each other about who's right or wrong.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Really
Caitlyn Jenner did what every woman who has transitioned has done before her, is doing now and will do in the future, but very, very few of those women had the family support, money and resources to transition what then Bruce Jenner decided to do, become themself, Caitlyn in this case.
And the vast majority of those women, then, now and to be, have had to deal with the whole array of life's issues with a transition, from coming out to family and friends, and then to come out their employer and co-workers if they had a job, and then become public.
Many of those women faced the whole array of adversity, problems, even hate and violence, and often losing their job or their careers. They had to find the medical resources to go through the transition, facing humiliation and often discrimination, just to get into see doctors or therapists.
Many of those women had to find ways to transition with the money they had, and often with almost no money, to have to resort to work they find dehumanizing. Many had to extend their transition for years for the lack of funds.
Many of those women didn't have the ability to pass in public without looks, stares, or ridicule. Many women didn't have the funds and access to medical resources to get surgery to become passable, and those that do were strapped with significant debt just to get by in life without public humiliation or embarrassment.
And through all that very few got recognition for their courage. Yet Caitlyn gets an ESPY award for courage? Really for what? Doing what hundreds of thousands of woman have done before her, including some professional or amateur athletes.
I don't see she deserves anything more than what many women have already done, but then it only goes to show you what lengths celebrities will go to for publicity and fame. If anything Caitlyn shows, it's not courage, but selfishness for publicity.
And for that ESPN gave her the Arthur Ashe award for courage.
And the vast majority of those women, then, now and to be, have had to deal with the whole array of life's issues with a transition, from coming out to family and friends, and then to come out their employer and co-workers if they had a job, and then become public.
Many of those women faced the whole array of adversity, problems, even hate and violence, and often losing their job or their careers. They had to find the medical resources to go through the transition, facing humiliation and often discrimination, just to get into see doctors or therapists.
Many of those women had to find ways to transition with the money they had, and often with almost no money, to have to resort to work they find dehumanizing. Many had to extend their transition for years for the lack of funds.
Many of those women didn't have the ability to pass in public without looks, stares, or ridicule. Many women didn't have the funds and access to medical resources to get surgery to become passable, and those that do were strapped with significant debt just to get by in life without public humiliation or embarrassment.
And through all that very few got recognition for their courage. Yet Caitlyn gets an ESPY award for courage? Really for what? Doing what hundreds of thousands of woman have done before her, including some professional or amateur athletes.
I don't see she deserves anything more than what many women have already done, but then it only goes to show you what lengths celebrities will go to for publicity and fame. If anything Caitlyn shows, it's not courage, but selfishness for publicity.
And for that ESPN gave her the Arthur Ashe award for courage.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Elinor Burkett
I read Elinor Burkett's article, "What's makes a woman", in the New York Times opinion section of Sunday's (June 7, 2015) newspaper. It was more confusing than anything as she seemed to say what doesn't make a woman than what does.
While I agree with her assessment of the "mainstream" view of transgender activists and celebrities, using Caitlyn Jenner's recent photo shoot and interview (which I disliked for it's obvious self aggrandizement by Ms. Jenner than anything) she makes the mistake to assume that view is shared by the many women who have transitioned or are transitioning.
And in reality, nothing could be farther from the truth, which shows either she knows very little about the transgender people, except from the mainstream media and community, or didn't readily show her knowledge of it beyond the mainstream media and community.
In short, she made false assumptions to make a case, and that's the issue I have beside the other issue where she makes women a very complex construct of physicality, mental characteristics, experience and cultural/society events, she puts men in a large box, including male to female (MTF) transgender people.
Many MTF people don't transition because they're men wanting to be or live as women, and most recognize and acknowledge they can't have what female women have with their body. They transition because of an innate sense of who they are and put themselves into the limits society gives them.
She makes the case that you can't tell a male from a female brain. Not entirely true as neurobiologist have researched and published there are some general physical difference but insufficient to distinguish with any great accuracy.
What she doesn't addressed is that neurobiologist have researched and published that MTF people have brains more similar to female brains than males brains, something she either failed to mentioned or doesn't know. It's not the body that matters, it's the individual's brain that does.
The view of binary gender norms are changing as younger generations reject the male-female binary to be who they want over the whole spectrum, and while some older people also live in that mode, most assume a role they're comfortable with that also fits into what society expects and allows them to live.
As she noted, the majority of transgender people, especially children and young adults, face discrimination and often violence, more than women face in many aspects of society, especially in work and acceptance in public. This is something she neglects to acknowledge.
In addition, many women don't accept the standards of what society expects as women, but often live by it to get through life and work with the least hassles and problems. This is no different that MTF people who transition into a similar role, but women don't have the obviousness of transitioning in public.
She also assumes that all men have male privilege by some gift of society forgetting many men don't have it and don't live with it, and some don't want it. Some of the last find themselves recognizing more as women than men, not in the way Caitlyn expressed but simply as themselves by their personality, character, temperament and identity.
In the end, she has a point about the transgender community as expressed in the mainstream media and many transgender activists and celebrities, but she mistakenly assumes it respresents the whole of the community and all transgender people.
On that note she should talk to more women who have transitioned or are transitioning outside the mainstream media. She will find acceptance of her view about women because they're equally women, just with a different histories and experiences.
While I agree with her assessment of the "mainstream" view of transgender activists and celebrities, using Caitlyn Jenner's recent photo shoot and interview (which I disliked for it's obvious self aggrandizement by Ms. Jenner than anything) she makes the mistake to assume that view is shared by the many women who have transitioned or are transitioning.
And in reality, nothing could be farther from the truth, which shows either she knows very little about the transgender people, except from the mainstream media and community, or didn't readily show her knowledge of it beyond the mainstream media and community.
In short, she made false assumptions to make a case, and that's the issue I have beside the other issue where she makes women a very complex construct of physicality, mental characteristics, experience and cultural/society events, she puts men in a large box, including male to female (MTF) transgender people.
Many MTF people don't transition because they're men wanting to be or live as women, and most recognize and acknowledge they can't have what female women have with their body. They transition because of an innate sense of who they are and put themselves into the limits society gives them.
She makes the case that you can't tell a male from a female brain. Not entirely true as neurobiologist have researched and published there are some general physical difference but insufficient to distinguish with any great accuracy.
What she doesn't addressed is that neurobiologist have researched and published that MTF people have brains more similar to female brains than males brains, something she either failed to mentioned or doesn't know. It's not the body that matters, it's the individual's brain that does.
The view of binary gender norms are changing as younger generations reject the male-female binary to be who they want over the whole spectrum, and while some older people also live in that mode, most assume a role they're comfortable with that also fits into what society expects and allows them to live.
As she noted, the majority of transgender people, especially children and young adults, face discrimination and often violence, more than women face in many aspects of society, especially in work and acceptance in public. This is something she neglects to acknowledge.
In addition, many women don't accept the standards of what society expects as women, but often live by it to get through life and work with the least hassles and problems. This is no different that MTF people who transition into a similar role, but women don't have the obviousness of transitioning in public.
She also assumes that all men have male privilege by some gift of society forgetting many men don't have it and don't live with it, and some don't want it. Some of the last find themselves recognizing more as women than men, not in the way Caitlyn expressed but simply as themselves by their personality, character, temperament and identity.
In the end, she has a point about the transgender community as expressed in the mainstream media and many transgender activists and celebrities, but she mistakenly assumes it respresents the whole of the community and all transgender people.
On that note she should talk to more women who have transitioned or are transitioning outside the mainstream media. She will find acceptance of her view about women because they're equally women, just with a different histories and experiences.
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