“Transgender Dog” on NBC LA
Not the actual dog, I presume...
I don’t expect the mainstream media to get queer topics right, particularly when it comes to anything about gender or trans issues. Take, for example, this recent article at NBC LA:
A Pomeranian puppy who has the unusual distinction of having undergone a sex change will be given a home next week.
The puppy, named Red, is recovering after gender-reassignment surgery saved the dog from euthanasia. The dog was born with partially formed male and female reproductive organs and required surgery to prevent infection and reduce the risk of cancer.
Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Transgender-Dog-To-Be-Given-a-Home-100304599.html
Lets go through this one by one…
1. The dog isn’t trans. I have yet to see evidence that dogs have any sort of gender identity. Rather, it sounds as if the dog is intersex, having “intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male.” Transgender != intersex.
2. “Sex change” is not considered appropriate terminology for any surgery. The article goes on to use a more appropriate term, “gender-reassignment surgery,” in the very next paragraph.
3. The dog wasn’t undergoing gender-reassignment surgery anyway. Rather, the dog appears to have undergone corrective surgery to repair dangerously unhealthy “partially formed male and female reproductive organs.”
I think it’s awesome that Red, now considered an “altered male,” was adopted and great that the seemingly necessary surgery was performed to keep him healthy. But it pisses me off to see headlines like this in my news reader (actually, the News and Weather app on Android) and think, “That can’t be right.” Of course, when I go to check the actual article (thinking I must have misunderstood) to find out that, no, the headline was just stupid.
Themocracy
The term “sex change” always makes me think of “oil change”. “I guess I’ve put enough miles on my body now that it’s time for my next sex change”
I love it! And the doctor puts a sticker on your tummy with the millage/months till your next sex change.
I wonder if this is a case of an informed writer and a clueless editor?
Could be, could be.