CAPTAIN'S BLOG
This one is making the rounds, so I thought I'd add my two cents: I don't know the context of what he said, so I can't really speak to whether or not what he said was offensive to me. I can say that I, personally, consider the term tranny offensive. I would not want to be referred to using that word. That being said, I am not entirely against its usage. I do believe it is possible to use the term in a non-derogatory way, but since the article does not contain his quote at all, or in part, I am unable to ascertain if the usage was directly offensive to me or not. It could perhaps just make me uncomfortable - but it is plausible to say it in a positive way. I do know people who openly use the term, and welcome it's usage, so we cannot say that our community, monolithically, finds the term offensive. No one can really say that about anything. People can be called what they want. That's what we stand for, in a way. What matters is the context. If he's painting us in a negative light, that is not acceptable and he deserves the ridicule he has gotten, plus more. If he's painted us in a positive light, or is using the term to evoke an uncomfortable response to make a point (like Louis CK might do with a rape joke) - and that point being, hey normal people, I am going to illustrate for you in uncomfortable detail how awful this word is. You won't even need to imagine how it must make you feel, normal people - because I am going to describe, humorously, and in uncomfortable detail - and that's the important part - their experiences. I don't know anything about this man. I have never seen him on television. I don't know if he maybe has a trans friend or group of friends who genuinely doesn't mind - or maybe even appreciates - being called "tranny". Indeed, I, personally, know such a person. So they /are/ out there. So there you have it. Based on this article, one cannot say if this man said wrong or not. Based on my cultural upbringing and personal feelings about the word shemale, I personally, think he shouldn't say it. I don't think it means he isn't a "trans ally" - whatever that means. I don't care if he's an ally. It doesn't matter if he thinks he is, or even if trans people thinks he is. What matters are his beliefs, and his beliefs are not elucidated by this article, and I cannot find a clip of his comments, so I cannot review their context. I figured out I was transgender when I was 27 years old. Before that, I was an honest, but uneducated and confused, young man who might have said such a word merely due to a lack of knowing any other word. Context matters. Intentions matter. Historical context is important - it's the voice that explains to people that a faggot is a bundle of twigs, a nigger is the piece of wood that runs horizontal string in the cotton gin, and a retard is a medical term for a neurological state denoted by low IQ. These are not inherently offensive terms. We assign these terms meanings, and historically, people have done some notable harm with words. And contrary to some Conservatives out there, words can kill too. I suppose I just think that there is a line that too often gets missed between the genuine need to ridicule people who intentionally say hateful things out of malice and to hurt people, and the need to protect the people who are so often the victims of those people who say hurtful things. Because we do need to be worried about freedom of speech. We should worry about what we might doing to people's lives when we call them awful things because we hate them for no reason, or because we are missing those 5 seconds of video or audio that comes beforehand to suddenly click everything into place. This reminds me of the rape joke thing. First things first: rape jokes that paint the victim in a negative light, that blame the victim, that insinuate that the victim may have enjoyed it, and so on, are just as baseless, crass, and disgusting as any of your other hateful anti-LGBT joke. But then I ask you to consider this:
2 Comments
Jocelyn
8/2/2015 02:37:13 am
Is there a link to this article you read?
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Christina
8/2/2015 08:12:34 am
Oh yes! Looks like it got wiped on accident. Here's the link:
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AuthorChristina Hitchens is a trans female writer living in BC, Canada. She loves computers, animals, and a good argument. Archives
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