17-11-2017, 05:41 AM
Please don't ban me. I'm not trying to fan flames - just blowing off some steam. I'd also like to hear others' experiences in transgender communities.
Edit: This community has been great so far. I haven't really spent much time here and mostly trying to learn about HRT which has been stressing me out a lot.
My first (recent) experience of a transgender community was a large Reddit sub. I found myself at odds with many people there for a lot of different reasons that I won't get into. I'll just give one example though of how the "passable" trans women were at the top of the hierarchy. Compare the upvotes of the OP (151/89% positive) to the downvotes of someone (not me) who responded to them: https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/...o/dey34kk/
I'm not condoning "stealth shaming", but this person was just pointing out that non-passing transwomen have things much harder.
Another example is of a trans blogger who was harassed for being a "transtrender" https://letsqueerthingsup.com/2015/03/28...-for-good/
The main impetus for me starting this thread was due to an article by famous trans activist Jen Richards: https://www.advocate.com/print-issue/cur...s-movement
My first experience with her was on Bailey Jay's podcast where she responded to an older transwoman who was having problems by saying that late transitioners were too busy enjoying "male privilege". First of all, just 20 years ago "transgender" and "transition" weren't even words known by people in the public. It's not like we had a choice back then.
So this pissed me off quite a bit. If I was an emotionally healthy individual (I think it's obvious by now I'm not) I would have just forgotten about, but I looked for further evidence to confirm my anger and found the Advocate article I linked to above. There's a lot of crap in there which there isn't time to address, but I did find some rather scathing critiques directed at "queer trans women" (straight males ----> trans lesbians).
She talks about how privileged they are and how easy they have it:
And then later somehow says the opposite of them:
Of course she had the same privilege as those she's criticizing, but somehow she's absolved because she befriended people of color and involved in activism. (Full disclosure: I am white and don't mean to offend anyone by talking about POC, but it seems kind of condescending of her to use them to prop herself up and absolve her of the same guilt she casts on others)
And yet she again blasts "queer [trans] women" for doing the exact things she says she did
Going on her website paints a different picture with virtually no mention of activism. Just a seamless transition from privileged white male to successful trans woman with a promising career in the entertainment business.
Not to mention her attending Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world and Shimer College which
Edit: This community has been great so far. I haven't really spent much time here and mostly trying to learn about HRT which has been stressing me out a lot.
My first (recent) experience of a transgender community was a large Reddit sub. I found myself at odds with many people there for a lot of different reasons that I won't get into. I'll just give one example though of how the "passable" trans women were at the top of the hierarchy. Compare the upvotes of the OP (151/89% positive) to the downvotes of someone (not me) who responded to them: https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/...o/dey34kk/
I'm not condoning "stealth shaming", but this person was just pointing out that non-passing transwomen have things much harder.
Another example is of a trans blogger who was harassed for being a "transtrender" https://letsqueerthingsup.com/2015/03/28...-for-good/
The main impetus for me starting this thread was due to an article by famous trans activist Jen Richards: https://www.advocate.com/print-issue/cur...s-movement
My first experience with her was on Bailey Jay's podcast where she responded to an older transwoman who was having problems by saying that late transitioners were too busy enjoying "male privilege". First of all, just 20 years ago "transgender" and "transition" weren't even words known by people in the public. It's not like we had a choice back then.
So this pissed me off quite a bit. If I was an emotionally healthy individual (I think it's obvious by now I'm not) I would have just forgotten about, but I looked for further evidence to confirm my anger and found the Advocate article I linked to above. There's a lot of crap in there which there isn't time to address, but I did find some rather scathing critiques directed at "queer trans women" (straight males ----> trans lesbians).
She talks about how privileged they are and how easy they have it:
Quote:straight white man, often in a masculine career, married with children, who reveals herself as trans at a later age...often have years of private cross-dressing, and they meet one another through local support groups or weekend-long conventions where they can be en femme together without risking public exposure. Shared concerns include comportment, learning how to dress like women, makeup and hair, vocal training, the difficulty of finding or maintaining relationships with women, and surgeries.
And then later somehow says the opposite of them:
Quote:Going through transition, in middle age, while living in a city and taking public transportation daily, was a crash course in otherness. I had to suddenly become aware of my surroundings, tuned in to every look and mocking laugh, always on the lookout for the one who might turn violent. As my appearance changed, I learned that my talents and skills mattered less than my attractiveness to men. The world was no longer for me.
If I had stopped there, if I had made community with only other trans people who had experienced things similarly, I could perhaps have stewed in bitterness, resentment, and victimhood.
Of course she had the same privilege as those she's criticizing, but somehow she's absolved because she befriended people of color and involved in activism. (Full disclosure: I am white and don't mean to offend anyone by talking about POC, but it seems kind of condescending of her to use them to prop herself up and absolve her of the same guilt she casts on others)
Quote:I could have easily seen the world in terms of what it took away from me, and my indignation would have been righteous. Instead, I became friends with trans people of color and sex workers. My engagement in activism brought me into touch with survivors of violence, people living with HIV, addicts and young people turned away from their families and churches, kids bullied right out of school and onto the streets, and the elders working to help them.
And yet she again blasts "queer [trans] women" for doing the exact things she says she did
Quote:While there is still a very real external struggle with people who fundamentally deny the legitimacy of trans rights...Who are the loudest and most aggressive voices? Unsurprisingly, it’s those who have been taught to believe their voices matter. In the case of trans people, that means queer white women.
Moreover, any implication that the behavior is related to maleness is considered transphobic. I’ve repeatedly seen queer white trans women trot out statistics about anti-trans discrimination and violence to prove that they are victims of hate and systemic oppression without ever mentioning that it is almost exclusively black and Latina trans women represented in those numbers.
Going on her website paints a different picture with virtually no mention of activism. Just a seamless transition from privileged white male to successful trans woman with a promising career in the entertainment business.
Quote:Jen Richards is a writer & actress, as well as a consultant & advocate. From 2008 through 2013 she was the Managing Director of the multiple Grammy Award-winning contemporary classical music ensemble eighth blackbird, and served as President of New Music Chicago.
She is the Co-Writer/Star/Producer of the series Her Story, which was nominated for an Emmy and won Gotham and Peabody awards; Co-Producer of the documentary More Than T (Showtime) and Writer of its accompanying Trans 102 series (Refinery 29); a 2016 Outfest Screenwriting Fellow for her feature script Any Given Week; and can be seen in CBS’s Doubt, CMT’s Nashville, FX’s Better Things, Seeso’s Take My Wife, the film Easy Living, and Two Sentence Horror Stories (Stage 13). Jen was a series regular on E!’s I Am Cait, featured in Logo’s Beautiful As I Want To Be and AOL’s True Trans with Laura Jane Grace, covered live events for Logo, has appeared in several videos for BuzzFeed, OWN, and After Ellen, and countless podcasts and YouTube shows.
Not to mention her attending Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world and Shimer College which
Quote:In 2014 full-time tuition was $27,491, and the total cost of attendance (including room, board and fees) was $41,615. All students received financial aid, with the average aid package $13,956. As of 2017, tuition and fees for the Shimer School will be identical to those of North Central College.
don`t let Looks alone change anything!