Ok, a little late to the show with this, but sometimes thoughts take a long time to get from the mind to the consciousness, but here it is, more an after thought than anything.
Let me see if I understand it. Jared Leto gets the opportunity to play a drug addict, HIV-positive, pre-op transsexual in the movie Dallas Buyers Club. He is coached by a former draq queen who transitioned, and who was one of the characters in a movie about her boyfriend who was murdered.
After the movie he goes back to living as himself and his work as an actor/director and with his rock band. He wins an oscar for his performance for best supporting actor. He thanks the people who coached him and the transgender community for the opportunity to "represent" them.
And he wonders why many in the transgender community are not only not impressed, but don't like the role he played, which clearly was intended to be an exaggerated characterization of a transwoman, the fact he won the oscar, and then fakes being thankful.
For what? Really. He never was a transgender person. He studied them for a while, played a role and then forgot all about it, even made sure to tell people it was just a role. And he thinks the transgender community should be grateful to him?
The guy has balls, literally and figuratively. If he understood he could have asked for a more realistic role, found better coaches, talk to more real (trans)women, etc., but then it wouldn't even be enough because he just played a role.
He never really understood what transwomen think and feel and how they live, so why should they thank him for his character in the movie? But then he's not unlike many who like to pat themselves on the back not matter what they do, only because they did it, to thank everyone for appreciating his effort.
Sorry, I agree with the many in the view he set back transgender people more in the public mind than he helped them, and next time don't volunteer to help. You've done enough damage.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Can We Stop
Can we stop putting RuPaul in the transgender catagory and stop letting him talk about transgender issues or transgender people? The guy is a gay female impersonator, who has never changed that perception and description of himself.
It's time the media but more importantly the transgender community stop catering to this guy as someone who "knows" transgender people or knows what it's like to be a transgender person. He's a gay man who like to dress up.
He has worked hard on that image and nothing more than that, especially not ever calling himself a transgender woman. And he's called in-transition and even post-transition women "trannies" and then defended it as just the normal word gay men and female impersonators use.
That's crap and nothing more or better. So drop him for what he is, someone who hates transgender women and lumps them into being just "trannies" like him. He deserved to be called out and the transgender community shouldn't give him a pass or allow him an apology.
He won't change, so leave him with the gay community like all the other gay men (I'd use a worse word but that would be stooping to RuPaul's level he calls transgender women).
It's time the media but more importantly the transgender community stop catering to this guy as someone who "knows" transgender people or knows what it's like to be a transgender person. He's a gay man who like to dress up.
He has worked hard on that image and nothing more than that, especially not ever calling himself a transgender woman. And he's called in-transition and even post-transition women "trannies" and then defended it as just the normal word gay men and female impersonators use.
That's crap and nothing more or better. So drop him for what he is, someone who hates transgender women and lumps them into being just "trannies" like him. He deserved to be called out and the transgender community shouldn't give him a pass or allow him an apology.
He won't change, so leave him with the gay community like all the other gay men (I'd use a worse word but that would be stooping to RuPaul's level he calls transgender women).
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Others
I was reading a thread on a forum where some in the transgender community were openly criticizing celebrities for their public words, decisions, actions or behavior, and the transgender community was criticizing each other for their expressed opinions.
This thread is one of those arguments that remind me of people in a cafe all chatting with each other through their computers and each of them angrily pounding their keyboards mad about what everyone else was saying.
You can't win because people want to put the entire weight of the transcommunity on anyone they think deserves it, but we have to remember all of us have the right to our opinion and the right to express it whether anyone else like it or not, so no matter what anyone thinks, they need to go outside for a moment, take a few deep breaths and remember there's a whole big world outside whatever opinion they had, and in reality the rest of the world doesn't give on care about what people in the transcommunity says about each other.
It's why many (trans)people don't get involved or identify with the transcommunity, but go through their transition and get on with their life, which pretty much leaves only those in the cafe angrily pounding their keyboards. My point being is to let folks speak, argue the issues and never attack a person, otherwise, we're only beating each other up for nothing.
This thread is one of those arguments that remind me of people in a cafe all chatting with each other through their computers and each of them angrily pounding their keyboards mad about what everyone else was saying.
You can't win because people want to put the entire weight of the transcommunity on anyone they think deserves it, but we have to remember all of us have the right to our opinion and the right to express it whether anyone else like it or not, so no matter what anyone thinks, they need to go outside for a moment, take a few deep breaths and remember there's a whole big world outside whatever opinion they had, and in reality the rest of the world doesn't give on care about what people in the transcommunity says about each other.
It's why many (trans)people don't get involved or identify with the transcommunity, but go through their transition and get on with their life, which pretty much leaves only those in the cafe angrily pounding their keyboards. My point being is to let folks speak, argue the issues and never attack a person, otherwise, we're only beating each other up for nothing.
Some People
Some people don't fit into the binary sex or gender boxes most people like to put everyone into because it fits their idea of sex and gender norms. These people don't fit because while many don't have an internal conflict with their birth sex and their gender roles, they like to express themselves as the other sex or gender.
These people fit a variety of labels, some they identify with and some others put on them for their personal reason whether they fit or the person wants or likes it, and often it's a disparaging label, meant to either ridicule or demean them.
But there are some people who may appear to fit into that group of people who fit in between there is one big distinction which is often lost by others, and that's the fact that these people would rather be the other sex and gender and express the birth sex as a choice than as a life.
This means those born male would rather be women when and where they can present themselves as men or not, or just live in the clothes because it's convenient or the clothes are comfortable to wear on some occasions.
And that's what's lost in the difference because people assume they are just one of those who are men or women and like on occasion to be the other sex or gender because it fits their idea of them than trying to understand and accept some people don't fit their binary boxes.
Some people defy the norms of others, who in turn forget their norms aren't everyone's norm, and there are some people who would themselves not as the other sex but in the body of the other sex to feel whole as a person and themselves.
Some people, but then we're all just people, some in our own ways different than everyone else, lest we forget and be called out for the ways we don't fit into other people's binary boxes. Some people are really all people, all the same in the fact we're all different in some ways.
These people fit a variety of labels, some they identify with and some others put on them for their personal reason whether they fit or the person wants or likes it, and often it's a disparaging label, meant to either ridicule or demean them.
But there are some people who may appear to fit into that group of people who fit in between there is one big distinction which is often lost by others, and that's the fact that these people would rather be the other sex and gender and express the birth sex as a choice than as a life.
This means those born male would rather be women when and where they can present themselves as men or not, or just live in the clothes because it's convenient or the clothes are comfortable to wear on some occasions.
And that's what's lost in the difference because people assume they are just one of those who are men or women and like on occasion to be the other sex or gender because it fits their idea of them than trying to understand and accept some people don't fit their binary boxes.
Some people defy the norms of others, who in turn forget their norms aren't everyone's norm, and there are some people who would themselves not as the other sex but in the body of the other sex to feel whole as a person and themselves.
Some people, but then we're all just people, some in our own ways different than everyone else, lest we forget and be called out for the ways we don't fit into other people's binary boxes. Some people are really all people, all the same in the fact we're all different in some ways.
Friday, April 4, 2014
If You Notice
If you notice while the Gay, meaning mostly gay men but they occasionally include lesbian as a courtesy, are pushing for new rights through laws or challenging existing laws, they don't use the word "transgender" let alone include transgender people in their efforts.
Why is that? Wait, we already know, they don't like transpeople as we saw with the fight for ENDA and we've seen in the fight for marriage equality. There is no mention or explanation of what these efforts do for transpeople.
The transgender community is the one doing the work to advance laws and changes in regulations for transgender people. They've effectively left the gay, again meaning men, community out of the work and out of the conversation.
This is a position long advocating by some transgender people which I thought made sense being as gay, yes men again, only allowed transpeople if they sat quietly in the back of the bus and were invisible. And there are reasons for this.
First, they've always thought transgender women were just gay men who like to live as women and they hated that fact and reality that it wasn't true, that transwomen were women, that pesky proven issue of biology that the gay men cite as they're being gay.
Second, they've always looked at transwomen as "trannies" blatantly using the demeaning term in a degoratory way to dismiss transwomen. Gay men only consider drag queens to be the only reason men dress as women, something Ru Paul is keenly aware and defends.
Third, they've always asked the transgender community to fight for their cause and issues and promise to help them "later" but never do, as we saw over the fight in Congress with ENDA where the then HRC executive director promised inclusion until Representative Franks said no way there would be inclusion.
And now with the wins for marriage equality becoming the normal as federal judges rule against laws or state constitutional provision against same-sex marriage, the gay community is totally forgetting transgender people.
Even noted and respected journalists like Rachel Maddow ignore transgender people while talking about LGBT rights to simply use the word but never discuss the people. On MSNBC only Melissa Harris-Perry devoted a part of her weekend show to transgender people.
The point? Well, there isn't one except history is showing the transgender community do best by themselves and transgender people, and more so legally recognized women (post-transition) do even better without the transgender community.
It's about women. Where it should be. Sorry (trans)men, you're just another form of men.
Why is that? Wait, we already know, they don't like transpeople as we saw with the fight for ENDA and we've seen in the fight for marriage equality. There is no mention or explanation of what these efforts do for transpeople.
The transgender community is the one doing the work to advance laws and changes in regulations for transgender people. They've effectively left the gay, again meaning men, community out of the work and out of the conversation.
This is a position long advocating by some transgender people which I thought made sense being as gay, yes men again, only allowed transpeople if they sat quietly in the back of the bus and were invisible. And there are reasons for this.
First, they've always thought transgender women were just gay men who like to live as women and they hated that fact and reality that it wasn't true, that transwomen were women, that pesky proven issue of biology that the gay men cite as they're being gay.
Second, they've always looked at transwomen as "trannies" blatantly using the demeaning term in a degoratory way to dismiss transwomen. Gay men only consider drag queens to be the only reason men dress as women, something Ru Paul is keenly aware and defends.
Third, they've always asked the transgender community to fight for their cause and issues and promise to help them "later" but never do, as we saw over the fight in Congress with ENDA where the then HRC executive director promised inclusion until Representative Franks said no way there would be inclusion.
And now with the wins for marriage equality becoming the normal as federal judges rule against laws or state constitutional provision against same-sex marriage, the gay community is totally forgetting transgender people.
Even noted and respected journalists like Rachel Maddow ignore transgender people while talking about LGBT rights to simply use the word but never discuss the people. On MSNBC only Melissa Harris-Perry devoted a part of her weekend show to transgender people.
The point? Well, there isn't one except history is showing the transgender community do best by themselves and transgender people, and more so legally recognized women (post-transition) do even better without the transgender community.
It's about women. Where it should be. Sorry (trans)men, you're just another form of men.
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