little light speaks, and apparently, trans people are responsible for the financial meltdown, hurricane katrina, body snatching, and maybe even the apocalypse. oh, and who can forget we also destroyed the rainforests! who knew that trans people were so powerful?

this is classic, as it perfectly illustrates how trans people are simply not understood. to wit:

When transgendered folks get through the final stage of transitioning and reach “the end”, all that gender fluidity goes right out the window and solidifies into the crusty crud on the bottom of my boots. They have merely succeeded in upholding the gender binary — the very same binary which has held women down for the last 10,000 years.
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there is also no corresponding need to switch out body parts in order to express what is basically described as internal character, unless the purpose is merely to commodify one’s personality as a dainty girl might wear pink or a goth craves black. The genitalia have been reduced to the status of wardrobe accessory.

i guess the majority of trans people who never reach “the end”, and never “switch out body parts” don’t actually exist. and the majority of trans people that i know, who are in fact “gender fluid”, don’t exist either.

see, this version of “feminism” uses a few examples of individuals, and applies the characteristics of those few individuals to an entire class of people. i seem to remember there being a word that describes that type of stereotyping.

h/t belledame222

the cartoon over on alas, a blog has resulted in some responses, and some blog posts across the blogosphere. in heart’s blog post, she states:

Mary Daly did not “compare transsexuals with Frankenstein.” This is a lie.

i quoted the now infamous passage from mary daly’s book in the comments to that thread in an attempt to understand how that passage could be interpreted differently. much of my comment was edited out as “snark”. perhaps in the future, when i post comments to blogs whose moderators are known to edit the comments, i should keep a copy of those comments.

in any event, here’s the passage in GYN/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism, Chapter One: Deadly Deception: Mystification Through Myth, pg 70 – 71 found here:

“Today the Frankenstein phenomenon is omnipresent not only in religious myth, but in its offspring, phallocratic technology. The insane desire for power, the madness of boundary violation, is the mark of necrophiliacs who sense the lack of soul/spirit/life-loving principle with themselves and therefore try to invade and kill off all spirit, substituting conglomerates of corpses. This necrophillic invasion/elimination takes a variety of forms. Transsexualism is an example of male surgical siring which invades the female world with substitutes.”

at first, my comment is dismissed as evidence of “male privilege”, because i sought clarification of how that passage might be interpreted differently. after, it was pointed out that “patriarchy/male heterosupremacy, in its mythology, religion, technology, institutions is possessed of what she calls the “Frankenstein phenomenon.” There is a *big difference*.” but doesn’t go on to review the difference.

people certainly have the right to express their thoughts and interpretations. i believe that if one makes an assertion however, one should be prepared to be called upon to qualify that assertion with more than just “read this other thread”, which may or may not actually answer with any qualifications. to call a different interpretation a “lie” is simply wrong, especially if one does not offer some kind of qualification. to me, that’s propaganda at best.

that said, there are some bloggers who have embraced the monstrous. and it’s been said about frankenstein’s monster:

As depicted by Shelley, the creature is a sensitive, emotional creature whose only aim is to share his life with another sentient being like himself. The novel portrays him as innately intelligent and literate…

i don’t know that i can count the number of times sensitive, emotional, intellegent people have been called monstrous, whether or not they’ve been stitched up and constructed by our culture.

edited to add:
yes, when we talk about “frankenstein”, we realize that there’s a “dr. frankenstein”, who was the doctor who created the “monster”, and the monster himself, who remains unnamed in the story. in the vernacular, the term “frankenstein” has come to be known as both entities, the doctor and the monster. a “frankenstein phenomenon” could be taken as meaning someone who creates some kind of artificial life, *or* the artificial life itself.

i came across this post on feminist which links to this post on lawyers, guns, and money which links to this post on blogs for bush. it’s amazing where one can find oneself by following the bouncing links.

the post on the blogs for bush site raise the subtext to the surface for me:

Because they are always, say, campaigning over our transgendered citizens, it would seem:…

[and via kahn:] I actually don’t care about gays, transexuals, transgendered,or whatever the code word of the day is. They are a tiny minority. They can live as they please as far as I’m concerned. Note, the same applies to bigamists and animal lovers as far as I’m concerned.

so, what does this say to me? to insult gays, because calling them “gay” or “fag” doesn’t have the same impact as using the word against, you know, “normal” straight guys, one calls them “transgendered”. who, as kahn so lovingly suggests, are on par with “bigamists and animal lovers”.

well, i’m glad we straightened that out.

via mombian, a new jersey high school gay couple’s photo was blacked out of their high school year book because newark school officials decided it was inappropriate. of course, kissing heterosexual couple’s photos were not “blacked out”. and you thought new jersey was progressive.

i have to wonder if the picture would still have been blacked out had the couple not been people of color.   i haven’t seen the other pictures of heterosexual couples kissing, so i could be mistaken.

there’s been a few blog posts over the past week or so that got me to thinking about stereotypes, how they develop, how they play out in the world, and how each stereotyped group uses them against one another.

amananta of screaming into the void, posted several entries recently which i found to be excellent examininations of the stereotypes women endure and battle. at work all women are secretaries covers some of the attitudes she faces personally at her job, and i found myself in total agreement. read it – it’s a great post.

she says of the incident, when a group of her male co-workers laugh at her in earshot:

…they all had a good laugh at my expense because I’m such a difficult person and it is laughable how I expect other people to do their own shit work when I’m NOT THEIR FUCKING SECRETARY. Even though I ended up doing it for him. All because I didn’t acquiesce in a sweet little voice right away when he asked, selflessly interrupting my own work to make things easier on him.

He wants to see some fucking hostility? He’s going to get a face full of hostility now. How can you have a loud laugh at my expense in a room not 15 feet away and think I can’t hear it? Answer – of course they know I can, they just don’t care.

i disagree with one thing – they very much do care. see, having lived and functioned within the world of men, as a man, i can tell you, from what i’ve observed over the years, that some men very much do care about laughing out loud to other peoples’ faces. that type of hatred binds these types of people together, in the same way that the nazis’ hatred of the jews and queers bound a country together in such a way that it enabled them to come close to taking over the fucking world.

this is the patriarchy at it heart, male bonding through the common hatred, intimidation, and public humiliation of their objects. a behavior that is not only common, accepted, and expected, but used as a weapon against any other male who would not participate actively. even other males who do not show enough enthusiam in their participation are suspect, and subject to judgment as “fags”, the worst judgement a man could endure – worse than even being called a woman.

in this case, a woman rejected the stereotype of the compliant office worker, selflessly willing, and even at her own expense, to help any man who should ask. and she’ll be made to pay for that transgression, as i’ve seen so many other women made to pay. as i paid, for being that “fag”, indeed, that “fag who took it too far”.

and that brings me to another one of her posts in her series on on-line gaming, entitled male gamer sexism of the day. this too, (in fact, the entire series) is a must read. in it, she deconstructs a post made by one of her male co-gamers, completely and exquisitely. she also makes a great observation on another stereotypical female attribute – that there are only two kinds:

4. There are only two kinds of women, nice girls and bitches (who can be whores, insane, or lesbians – the word is blotted out because Blizzard Entertainment will not allow you to type in the word “lesbian” on its forums.)

ah yes, the binary stereotype, because some men can only process the world around them when they reduce it into a binary. binaries are so much easier to comprehend – black or white with no gray – because they eliminate that troublesome thinking that is required when seeing and describing the truth of the world’s diversity. why worry about people who don’t fall into the gray area of sex and gender when you can insist that there are only two kinds of people – men and women. or really, men and “not-men”. because gays and transwomen are no longer men – they’re “not-men”, which is the same as “women”.

the binary, which even our president enforces – one is either with him or against him.

and of course, the infamous trans binary that julia serano points out – the rich, white late transitioner who we love to see transforming from a man to a woman, and the poor transwoman of color sex-worker that we love to read about in the evening news.

the first somewhat healthy relationship i had after i started transition was with a man i met at a club, who i took home with me that one fateful evening (as i had done so many other times during that period of my life). incredibly, he stayed the night after we had our fun, and then went on to stay the weekend. even more amazing, he called a few days later, and came to visit the following weekend, and the next. and this went on for several months.

see, he lived in an area where all of the trans women were what he called “showgirls”. they all worked in the entertainment and/or escort industry. and while he dated a few, none of the relationships lasted. he found me so interesting, because he had never met a trans woman who had a regular job, paid her bills on time, kept an apartment without the help of a pimp, and enjoyed the types of activities that required a little thought, in addition to those that didn’t.

i broke the stereotype he held of transwomen, a stereotype that’s been built within my lifetime.

and that brings me to my last point for this post. see, the patriarchy is not the only group to develop and use stereotypes against smaller, marginalized minorities. i blogged about the post on women’s space/the margins entitled the colonizing of lesbian and women’s community: bitch performance at boston dyke march canceled by transgender activists in a previous post of mine. the thrust of the post is a strong objection against a lesbian musical performer, bitch, who whose performance was cancelled because she has also performed at the michigan womyn’s music festival. of course, the commenters in that post can’t help but to continue building and perpetuating the stereotypes that harm transwomen, while at the same time, accusing trans people of harming them.

“transsexuals seem to be focused on cultural gender roles and “feeling” like a woman;gender roles and standards which are particularly harmful to women and that a lot of the time are not embraced by feminists, especially not radical feminists. I’m sorry but in my Dworkinized opinion they are still very much men…”

“There is something about this transgender thing that seems fraudulent or if that is too strong of a word, temporary. Not temporary as in waiting to transition, but temporary in the sense that when the play acting no longer thrills them, or makes them hip or allows them to play with the cool kids they can and will revert back to the gender that their sex born them with under a patriarchy. I wonder if there is a common age range for people who identify with transgender. Something that may pinpoint a time when someone is refusing to grow up. Like if I wanted to play like a man and reap the benefits of being a man but then come home to a husband and pretend to get along in the patriarchy as a heterosexual in order to benefit however that may benefit me. It seems opportunistic. Let me be whatever I can be within whatever situation that will thrill me the most at any given time.”

“…is that [transperson's] ‘desire’ for, or no, what they feel is ‘attractive’ about being a woman, is actually the very thing that is the source of oppression of womyn…”

in all fairness, heart does point out on several occasions that the transactivists who are responsible for the cancellation of bitch’s performance and the showing of the gendercator are not *all* trans people, and that some of the transactivists may in fact not even be trans. and goes on to say that she, and all her michfest friends treat trans people as individuals and are “unfailingly accepting and supportive of her transgender friends and allies”. and in all honesty, that’s been my experience with heart and other michfest women in general, with few exceptions.

on the other hand, you would think that women who gather under a common banner of oppression since birth based on harmful stereotypes, who work together to destroy those stereotypes, who speak out against stereotyping, would be especially sensitive to stereotyping others.

apparently, if you thought that, you’d be wrong.

apparently, in the minds of at least some of the commenters on that thread, trans women are thrill-seeking children who are focused on cultural gender roles and “feeling” like a woman, fraudulent, opportunistic men.

i’ve come across several references online that have confirmed that bitch’s performance has been cancelled at the boston dyke march. apparently, this was initiated by some trans activists who did not approve of a musical artist who also performs at the michigan womyn’s music festival.

so, do we also stop buying indigo girls cd’s because they record on the sony music label, whose management engages in offensive and highly questionable behavior?

apparently, lgbt artists are also being silenced in the world of movies, as the gendicator was cancelled from showing at the san francisco lgbt film festival.

i am going on record here and now in saying that this type of silencing and censureship must stop. if we are to survive as human beings, we must allow everyone their voice.

i own and enjoy several indigo girls cd’s. i own and enjoy a bitch cd. and frankly, if gendercator comes to phoenix, i will buy a ticket and see it. or if it becomes available on itunes, i will buy it, download it, and watch it. then, and only then, will i offer an opinion about it.

and speaking on opinions, there are some comments on heart’s post like:

transsexuals seem to be focused on cultural gender roles and “feeling” like a woman…

which i totally disagree with, and i believe also perpetuate stereotypes about trans people. no kiuku, i am not focused on cultural gender roles, and i don’t “feel” like a woman. unless of course, you’d like to describe exactly what a woman feels like, and i’d be able to tell you whether or not i feel like one.

for the time being, i’m content in saying i feel only like me, because that’s the only experience i’ve had, and therefore, the only experience i’m qualified to speak to. and for the record, i feel like a trans person.

so while the commenters on that thread are complaining about silencing, please, stop silencing me and mine, and perhaps we’ll be able to work together in building a community dedicated to our survival. you know, if a man decides to rape me, he’s not going to initiate a chromosome test to make sure i was born a woman. he’s just going to rape me, same as you. just like my employer will impose that glass ceiling, without same chromosome test. just like people will dismiss my opinions, without said test.

i may be trans, but i move through the world as a woman, just like you. like it or not, we are in this together, even if i set off some people’s manometers. the people i encounter in the world, see and treat me as a woman, just like you.