turtles

This is just a reminder to my fellow trans* guys that the t-word is not ours to reclaim. A slur, at its most basic roots, is a reminder along the lines of 'I could kill you right now, and nobody would care'. Almost all (think 9 in 10 or more) trans* people killed in hate crimes are trans* women, and murderers of trans* men are much more likely to be brought to justice or at the very least acknowledged in the wider LGBT community. Murders of trans* women, especially WoC, often barely make local news.

Yes, there are people who use the t word towards trans* men. But it doesn't mean the same thing. It doesn't mean 'society would validate me for an act of violence towards you'. It is a comparison to trans* women. It generally (generally, not always) doesn't indicate that they're about to punish you for your existence through violence.

Yes, trans* men do suffer. Yes, we are sometimes the victims of hate crimes and more often the victims of discrimination due to our trans* status. And no, we do not have the same privileges as a cis man. But please remember that we do have male privilege, especially compared to trans* women, because they need all the support they can get. We cannot turn our backs on them. It is not acceptable to leave behind trans* women simply because society has deemed us more acceptable.


IDK if this really fits in here, but it's come up before when I've tried to have this conversation with certain guys I really respect but strongly disagree with on this issue. No, trans* men are not targeted less because of our invisibility. Perhaps a few decades ago that argument could have been made...but it is obvious, now, that we are being accorded some amount of male privilege. We are no longer invisible, and only a decade or so off the mark, we're being portrayed more sensitively in the media than trans* women are. If you're looking for some blatant evidence of this...trans* men in comedy movies are portrayed as sensitive and rounded characters, as well as Hollywood can do those things. Chaz Bono has been elected the 'trans* spokesperson' by cis people, despite the many trans* women who have been more than qualified to achieve fame in their own right - some of whom have, but nobody is asking them about their experiences, struggles, or views. We are not invisible, and we are gaining power while trans* women are being killed and nobody talks about it, and that isn't okay.


...I actually hadn't been planning to write that all up like, right now, but apparently it all wanted to come out. I had been planning on like. Links and stuff. Maybe I'll come back and add some. Er.

I had a post I was going to write about the sex/gender divide but then I decided to...not. Sorry. Actually, here, I'll sum it up:

The enforced sex binary is bullshit and based on cultural norms rather than anything actually medically useful, don't call me female-bodied because I am not.


Sorry for the swearing, I am angry because (warning: transphobia) Urban Outfitters and casual transphobia yay

Also, a relevant thing, from sunisup:

"Sometimes I hear people say that racism/sexism/etc in culture isn’t important or worth criticizing. ”Oh it’s just a book,” they say. ”It’s just a crappy TV show.” ”It’s just a commercial.”

This argument always baffles me. It’s like if you put poison into a fish-tank and then say “Oh well I didn’t poison the fish, I just poisoned the water.” The fish lives in the water, dumbass; it’s completely submerged in and surrounded by the water. I’m pretty sure that poisoned water is going to affect the fish."

Rest here.


...Did I even connect those things coherently? Oh well, this is what you're getting. I'm going to go write porn rather than strangle the next cis person I see. Because that would probably be dakfire and I think I like her better alive.

So you may have heard of Bobby Montoya, a young transgender girl that recently joined the Girl Scouts, predictably resulting in controversy. Well, the decision has apparently led to three troop leaders (not the ones leading Ms Montoya's troops - these three are in Louisiana, not Colorado) resigning, and dissolving their troops. The article; warning for Bobby's mom saying some somewhat ignorant things in the article, and I have managed to keep out of the comments but assume there is nothing good down there.

Here's the thing that struck me (emphasis mine):

Susan Bryant-Snure, one of the leaders who resigned, told The Baptist Press that the Girl Scouts' action is "extremely confusing" and an "almost dangerous situation" for children.

I continue to be at a loss regarding what about us is so dangerous. Apparently even children among us are 'almost' dangerous - that phrasing in and of itself is confusing to me. At what point does it become actually dangerous? When Bobby gets older? Or when the Girl Scouts begin allowing transgender troop leaders? Or is it something else?

Really though, what are they afraid of? I know some people (many people?) still think we're all sexual predators...is this just the extent of it, and some are just hesitant to say it in as many words, so they use vague references instead? Or is it that their fear is as nebulous as the words they use?

And no, it does not put me at ease that bigots fear us. Fear is, generally, what leads to hate, so it is not a surprise to me. Fear makes people do irrational and sometimes dangerous things.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO FORGOT, Paige was Puck in the school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream this year. Well, the lead Puck; there was also a freshman playing Puck alongside her.

I got to see the play tonight and IT WAS AAAAWESOOOOOOME Paige was amazing and so was everyone else omggg I will put up a photo or two later of Puck!Paige.


RANT TIME NOW

I find myself growing progressively more and more tired of people who don't understand ANY of the jokes in Shakespeare. Or rather, people who declare his "tragedies" boring and only like the "comedies" and argue with me on whether or not all of his plays were comedies when they freely admit they haven't tried to understand the plays.

I don't know. I mean, I know Shakespeare is easier for me to understand than it is for many people, but...surely it can't be that hard. Surely. When the actors help you by making obscene gestures at the jokes, HOW IS NOBODY IN THE AUDIENCE AT LEAST GIGGLING. The physical humor the kids add is genius, but it makes me sad that if they didn't go so extreme with it people might not realize they were watching a comedy. Also, they put a synopsis of the play in the program now and mom still asked Paige when we got home what, exactly, the plot was...

SHAKESPEARE ISN'T BORING. GO APPRECIATE SOME SHAKESPEARE. YOUR HOMEWORK IS TO HIGHLIGHT AT LEAST TEN SEX JOKES IN HAMLET.

A thing that makes me angry: the attitude I have heard from some people (primarily the irritated privileged, but also IRL activists) that online activists/social justice bloggers/etc. etc. are 'just complaining' and 'should go do something' about whatever particular injustice they're talking about.

First of all, and I don't understand why this even needs to be said, but blogging is not actually an activity that takes forever. One person is actually perfectly capable of both blogging about social justice and actually doing activist activities IRL. Most SJ bloggers/online activists and so on that I know ARE activists IRL, to various extents.

Of course, I consider my willingness to talk at every opportunity about issues I'm concerned about, as well as answer pretty much any rude question about my trans status to be a variety of solo social activism, so maybe I've got some sort of bias going on here. At what point am I considered to be 'doing something' and am therefor allowed to blog about my opinions? Would somebody lay out the rules for me, please?

Oh right, IDGAF about the privilegebutt rules for activists, never mind 6 u 9

Okay, back on track. My second point issss...

Blogging and online activism IS 'doing something'. It's actually really fucking important, from where I'm sitting. The concept that the internet is in no way connected to the real world, and has no impact on it, is really fucking outdated.

Yeah, that last link is to a 'freedom of speech' article. Communication is, and always has been, one of the most powerful weapons of the oppressed against the oppressors. Since I know many of you are in the USA, I'll just throw this out: we have freedom of speech in our constitution because communication was what allowed us to unite and revolt in the first place.

There is a reason China restricts freedom of speech within their country, including blocking social networking sites. It isn't because they're afraid of people writing fanfic and blogging about sports.

Voicing opinions and thoughts is an important, empowering thing, especially for disenfranchised people. Having a place to go and discuss things and know a privileged person can't find a way to take that away from you is important. Being able to find people like yourself, knowing you are not ALONE, is VERY important, and can be SO difficult for many minorities, especially GLBTQ people, disabled people and other minorities who aren't often born automatically into an accepting community or family, and may not even be able to find any support in their physical area. Just the opportunity to connect, discuss, and rant with people who share experiences is invaluable.

Even more important, maybe, is just getting information out there. Providing resources for people - others in your group looking for information about who they are, what they can do for themselves; that it's okay to need what they need and to feel the way they feel. Resources for allies who want to help, but don't know where to start. Resources for people who didn't know they were allies until they came across a blog that helped them understand concepts like privilege, and made them want to help.

In conclusion: Your words have power. I dare you to use them. Come on, I'll race you to equality. Ready, set...!


ETA: adding a quick shoutout to ocelotofdoom for offering me examples and vetting my vocab words on demand, even if I never did use any of those examples, more the fool me for it. This post was so much more of a struggle than it should have been, guys, look how tiny it is.

This is one of the main reasons I hate 'lolol Justin Beiber is a gurl' jokes.

People may not literally make the trans* joke often, but the implications there are more than enough. He doesn't look or sound manly enough...ergo, he is not a boy; he must be a girl. Better yet, a girl pretending to be a boy!

It is not okay to use 'you're a girl' as an insult. That's mysogyny.

It is not okay to attack someone's gender identity. That's transphobic. EVEN IF THE PERSON IS, OR PRESUMABLY IS, CIS.

Because if a cis person's gender identity isn't safe from attack just because some people don't like his music, how is there any hope of my gender identity ever being safe.


And of course I'm sure there are plenty of people who parrot this joke without really thinking about it. Because it's the internet, and it's a meme. But ffs that's not an excuse. Think about what you're saying, don't just repeat it because other people are laughing.

Which reminds me of the year my high school German class became obsessed with the mudkips meme...without actually knowing the story behind the phrase. Everybody using it got in trouble when the teacher actually looked it up. They had no idea the origin of the meme was sexual, and were perpetually confused. It was honestly pretty hilarious.