Cedar over at Taking Up Too Much Space just weighed in on the whole cis debate, and summed things up pretty well:
I think it’s high time we admitted it: “Cis” IS an insult.
That’s right. Because by calling you cis, we’re calling you no better than a fucking tranny*, and THAT, my friends, is one of the worst insults we’ve got in US culture. We’re calling you no more real than us, and we’re not real. We’re calling you no more a woman than us, that you deserve no more respect than us, and in your eyes, that means tranny-alert.com, that means Ann Coulter jokes, that means it’s fine for the general public to post videos of your genitals all over the internet with big purple arrows and random fetishizing speculations, and fire you unless you show us photos of your genitals. It’s saying you can’t apply makeup. It’s insulting your penis size and your manhood. It’s saying that the only difference between us is that you think you’re better than us.
Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to have a conversation with Carolyn Ann at CaroLINES about the same topic. (Edit: Carolyn Ann told me to use masculine pronouns, so that’s been changed.)
Continue reading 'InCISting on labels'»
I’m heading to bed after a costume party* and there’s a much-too-fucking-loud-to-be-going-on-outside-my-room dance party happening. I’d be pro-dancing if A) it wasn’t 2AM, since I have to get up at 9:30, and B) if I didn’t feel uncomfortable dancing with strangers in my apartment.
It’s really unfortunate, because I think dancing could be good for me, but I still assume (probably unfairly) that my friends’ friends and friends’ friends’ friends look at me as “that trans chick,” and the idea of dancing with people I don’t know particularly well is creeping me out. Or not even dancing with them, but dancing in their immediate vicinity. Because dancing in my living room next to effective strangers feels way different than dancing in a club, surrounded by friends, next to total strangers.
*The theme was 7 Deadly Sins. I almost didn’t go, and just stayed in my room and sulked, but discussing said sulking with a friend online lead to me joking about going as Cranky, which let me to actually going as Wrath’s little sister, Cranky. Pictures are forthcoming.
Lots of links that have been building up! But first, an obligatory link to the source of this post’s title. Watch it, and feel a little bit better about the world.
I have a huge backlog of links I’ve been meaning to post about, so I think I’m only going to do about half right now. I’ll get to the other half when…well, probably when I’ve built up another similarly-sized backlog.
- Some Thoughts On Queer Liberation, Feminism, And Pornography « Dear Diaspora – Daisy’s take on why porn isn’t inherently misogynist (with which I agree)
- Objectivity & Authenticity: “(Fe)male bodied” / “(Fe)male identified” (Language Politics) « Taking Up Too Much Space – Cedar has, as usual, an interesting take on the language of trans experiences
- Teach What You Learn: The Straight Guy’s Primer on Gender Identity | The Bilerico Project – A pretty good Trans 101 post written from the perspective of someone who is not trans. I didn’t read all 200+ comments, but the discussion I did read seemed polite and well-informed. As usual, you should also check with other resources, but it’s as interesting for the author’s cis take on how to explain things as it is for the actual explanations.
- The Bechdel Test: Movie List – The Bechdel Test applies to movies and consists of A) whether the movie has two or more women B) whether they talk to each other at any point of the movie C) about something other than a man.
- Feministe » Operation Beautiful – An awesome idea about putting little notes about beauty and appearance in bathrooms and other public places
- Feministe » They don’t really like you, you know…- A sex worker responds to the idea that sex workers can’t possibly actually like their job
- Critiquing Genderqueer Transsexualphobia « Questioning Transphobia – Lisa takes on a genderqueer blogger who objects to the idea of “brain sex”
- ‘Still Black’ DVD On Sale « Think Pink Radio – This movie was produced by one of the artists I worked with in Charged Bodies! You should check it out – I saw it last year and it’s awesome.
- I thought you were a girl, ma’am – Feministing – A trans person’s experience with the ridiculousness of perceived gender
- How A Feminist Found Her Sexism | The Bilerico Project – Helen Boyd, of My Husband Betty fame, has an interesting post on how Betty’s transition has changed her (Helen’s) expectations of her (Betty)
- Why “Sex Change” Surgery is Medically Necessary « Dented Blue Mercedes – Should be ‘duh,’ but all-too-often is not
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