so i downloaded beautiful daughters from itunes, a logo documentary from the real momentum series of documentaries covering all thing lgbt. i enjoyed it. it was an opportunity for me to see videos of many of our role models - calpernia addams, andrea james, lynn conway, and many more; people with whom i’ve interacted online, but never have had the opportunity to meet. this documentary provided a little more insight into who they are. heh, it made me want to go audition for the vagina monologues. too bad it’s over already.
You’ll see me in “Fat, Ugly Step-Daughters.”
Comment by Marti Abernathey — August 8, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
it’s interesting you say that, though i realize you meant it as a joke. the transwomen featured were all slim and quite pretty, with one exception: the transwoman of color, who was heavier than the others. i noticed too that gwen smith was in some of the shots, buried in the background, but had no speaking part in the video. i guess they’re saving her too for the “fat, ugly step-daughters” version.
Comment by nexyjo — August 9, 2007 @ 9:46 am
I wasn’t going to bring that up… but yes. And her time in the video itself was edited down to nothing… because she wasn’t a Barbie doll. They interviewed her quite extensively, but ended up editing her out.
But that being said, I really don’t like the shit that Andrea and Calpernia are selling. First of all, they’re no different from Vogue or Cosmo. They make their money selling a look that can only be attained by a small percentage of the transcommunity as a whole. Also, Calpernia has suggested via her web forum that pumping is something that should be a personal choice. This KILLS people and makes a lot of people sick, yet she’s unwilling to come out against it.
Also, it’s a trans version of “straight acting, straight looking.” I hardly consider any of the people you mentioned as role models. My trans-sister role models are more like Vanessa Edwards Foster, Donna Rose, and Gwen Smith than Calpernia Addams or Andrea James.
Comment by Marti Abernathey — August 9, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
yeah, welcome to the world of marketing. a movie chock full of slim, pretty women is going to sell better than one full of fat, ugly women. unless, of course, it’s a comedy, cause everyone knows fat people are jolly. and even if the target audience is the trans community. most of us teethed on the boom of television, and they taught us well. trans women covet perhaps even more deeply, the patriarchal view of female beauty, because that was something we were never allowed to be.
on the one hand, a movie like this depicts trans women as “normal” looking - the antithesis of the dreaded “man in a dress”, that causes regular people to ban us from their bathrooms and workplaces. so perhaps “regular” people (if they happen to see this movie) will realize that we’re just like them.
on the other hand, it further erases transwomen who do not fit the patriarchal female norms. then again, so does almost every movie ever made, as they erase cisgender women who don’t fit those norms. again, unless they’re “jolly”.
frankly, as a movie that could possibly be seen by the masses, i’d support it (though admittedly, conservative people are hardly going to be watching “the vagina monologues”, no less “the making of the vagina monologues”). i think it could work toward making the idea of transwomen less threatening. unless you’re a guy who happens to hit on one of the few of us who pass, and end up screaming, running away, and vomiting in the bathroom :\
as far as role models are concerned, as individuals, we get to pick them. as a community, well, in many cases they are chosen for us. like it or not, calpernia and andrea are out there, admired by many people, trans and even otherwise. though i’ll be honest, i never purchased any of their goods or services, with one exception - i own a dvd of soldiers girl. i loved it, and was in tears for most of it.
Comment by nexyjo — August 10, 2007 @ 10:30 am
“on the one hand, a movie like this depicts trans women as “normal” looking - the antithesis of the dreaded “man in a dress”, that causes regular people to ban us from their bathrooms and workplaces. so perhaps “regular” people (if they happen to see this movie) will realize that we’re just like them.”
Nexy, this is where you and I part company. People need to see both as human beings, passing and nonpassing transsexuals. I don’t give two fucking shits what “regular” people think of me. You seem to have an assumption that education will cure these people of their hate. I disagree. I’ll stand with Bayard Rustin on this one.
“Our job is not to get those people who dislike us to love us. Nor was our aim in the civil rights movement to get prejudiced white people to love us. Our aim was to try to create the kind of America, legislatively, morally, and psychologically, such that even though some whites continued to hate us, they could not openly manifest that hate. That’s our job today: to control the extent to which people can publicly manifest anti gay sentiment.”
“as far as role models are concerned, as individuals, we get to pick them. as a community, well, in many cases they are chosen for us.”
Not I. I will not pander, I will not be a sheep, I will be a shepherd. If people want to follow someone who advocates unsafe and unhealthy practices, so be it, but I will not follow.
Comment by Marti Abernathey — August 10, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
well, the problem is, in part, that people will openly manifest hate not only to trans women, but also fat people, and people of color, and people of faith, and in essence, anyone who is different from the beautiful white anglo saxon christian. and some would argue they hate even wasp women. you know, african americans have been fighting this battle for years, and lots of people still hate them, and openly manifest that hate. in spite of what’s legal or not.
i’d argue that people need to see *all* people as human beings. and frankly, that’s an uphill battle. not one i’m willing to opt out of, but i do get tired of fighting now and again. and unlike you, i have to give a shit what regular people think of me, since i have to work with them, and for them, and they determine if and when i’ll get a raise, and whether or not i get to keep my job.
as far as legislation and illegal open hatred go, well, tell that to the company who i worked for 14 years, and who had my position “eliminated due to a corporate restructure” soon after i transitioned. illegal or no, they fired my tranny ass faster than you can say “sex change”.
i’m not sure about the unhealthy practices you speak of - i don’t remember cali saying anything about that, though admittedly, i don’t read and/or hear everything she says. but i have posted on her message boards, and read her blog. i’d be interested to see any links that you might have. i will say that many people on her boards love and admire her, and pay her money for the goods and services she offers.
Comment by nexy — August 10, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
“i’m not sure about the unhealthy practices you speak of - i don’t remember cali saying anything about that, though admittedly, i don’t read and/or hear everything she says. but i have posted on her message boards, and read her blog. i’d be interested to see any links that you might have. i will say that many people on her boards love and admire her, and pay her money for the goods and services she offers.”
Pumping. She’s admitted to having it done, and doesn’t advocate against it. If you search her forums, you’ll find it.
As far as being fired, it doesn’t matter how thin, or pretty your tranny ass is. Pretty transwomen get fired too. And you think Andrea James or Calpernia Addams are doing anything to further trans legislation? They were at the Presidential Forum. Check out Deep Stealth’s blog to see how they covered it….
I’ll save you two seconds…
LOOK AT ME, LOOK WHO I’M HANGING OUT WITH.
“i will say that many people on her boards love and admire her, and pay her money for the goods and services she offers.”
You could say the same about Kate Moss too. *insert cosmetic shill model here* I left her board after I realized most people on it had a Stepford wife view of what being a transwoman is. That’s something I’ll never be, no matter how many surgeries I have, or how thin I become.
Ya know all those lesbian separatists that bitch about transwomen riding the patriarchal wave of what a woman should be? AJ and CA are two good examples of people that hawk that shit. Personally, I want no part of it.
Comment by Marti Abernathey — August 11, 2007 @ 1:54 am
“And you think Andrea James or Calpernia Addams are doing anything to further trans legislation?”
i didn’t realize it was their responsibility to further trans legislation.
“Ya know all those lesbian separatists that bitch about transwomen riding the patriarchal wave of what a woman should be? AJ and CA are two good examples of people that hawk that shit.”
right. as if even many of these lesbian separatists don’t ride that same wave. ever see a picture of heart? long blonde hair. just like teh menz like it. ever see her shoes? heels. every time. no, lesbian separatists bitch about trans women because they believe us to be men, and they hate us just like they hate men. funny i never hear them bitch about regular women riding the patriarchal wave of what a woman should be. apparently, only trans women are responsible for that. apparently, just like we’re all responsible to further trans legislation :\
Comment by nexy — August 11, 2007 @ 9:28 am
When you get invited to visible O8 Presidential forum (that only invited 200 people total)? I’d say you have a responsibility to further trans legislation, instead of do the whole, “look at me” shit.
Regardless, the Stepford Wife stereotype AC and AJ sell and espouse (to the exclusion and condescention of others… do a search of gender queer in her forums) isn’t something I feel the need to attain. Your mileage my vary.
As far as Heart goes, she ain’t typical.
Comment by Marti Abernathey — August 11, 2007 @ 10:15 am
well, i’ll agree that the stepford wives stereotypes cause harm to *all* women. yet i’d never condemn anyone who strives for that. we all must do what we must to survive under the patriarchy.
and regarding the invite, i wasn’t aware that they had been invited. shame on me - i’m not up on all things politic as i probably should. so yeah, in that case, i’d say they do have a responsibility.
Comment by nexy — August 11, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
“well, i’ll agree that the stepford wives stereotypes cause harm to *all* women. yet i’d never condemn anyone who strives for that. we all must do what we must to survive under the patriarchy.”
It’s diving head first, WILLINGLY…verifying the rad fems argument. That isn’t surviving it, it’s sucking the patriarchy’s cock.
Comment by Marti Abernathey — August 11, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
that’s pretty harsh. perhaps i see it that because i’ve been known to suck the cock of the partiarchy. before i was married, of course
Comment by nexy — August 11, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
Marti…
I will agree that every woman, trans or not, should be encouraged to look at how they are fitting in with or giving into patriarchy.
But, saying…
“It’s diving head first, WILLINGLY…verifying the rad fems argument. That isn’t surviving it, it’s sucking the patriarchy’s cock.”
sounds almost like what I’ve heard coming from the mouths of radfems. One of the things that drives me crazy about many radfems - even the ones who claim not to be transphobic - is that they blame women for the choices that they make to get by in a patriarchal society. I’ve heard the old “women who wear lipstick are willing slaves to the patriarchy and therefore are our enemies” schtick enough to make me throw up. Their statements come very close to those made by right-wing extremists, who blame women for their own rapes because they dared to wear short skirts.
Please, let’s critique the positions that Calpernia Addams and others take, but your statement comes very close to slut-shaming, which is something I cannot tolerate.
Comment by RachelPhilPa — August 13, 2007 @ 10:40 am