Destroying the Myths of Gender

[Natasha]

Destroying the Myths of Gender

http://www.ts-si.org/guest-columns/30812-destroying-the-myths-of-gender
7/26/11
Maggie Fox

THE PERFECT PROOF

Remember though that the ultimate "passing" proof is nudity — something a ->-bleeped-<- can't do — and remind other women of that simple fact.

Other women constitute our guarantee of destruction of the myths of gender and the proof that you are one of them. Women are generally polite and tolerant to ->-bleeped-<-s when believing them to be gay men, whilst naturally suspicious of lesbian type arguments of transgender. Women rightly fear forced penetrative sex and women with history are no different so again remind them.

[Princess of Hearts]

"They think they are all powerful and above the law and do this in the belief that they gain more lesbian, gay and bisexual votes than they lose from women who object to men (defined as those with external genitalia) demanding unrestricted access to women only spaces." (emphasis mine)

This person has just alienated all the FTMs, way to go girl.   

[VeryGnawty]

"Supporting the Myths of Sexism" would have been a more apt name for the article.

[tekla]

It reads like "The Tea Party Guide to Transition."

[MarinaM]

I want my 5 minutes or so back.

[Pinkfluff]

Am I missing something? Is that piece intended to be satire? It is so chock full of wrong information that I don't know what to make of it.

[LordKAT]

It's just gibberish, contradictory in itself.

[AbraCadabra]

Good golly, is that a spoof?

The person sounds in need to get their head read. Seems like someone pretending to be post-op and isn't.

It is vile bull->-bleeped-<-.

Axelle

[cynthialee]

It is ok to disagree with the premiss, but to engage in ad hominem (sp?) attacks against the writter only serves to give amunition to the other side of the debate.

I do not agree with what she has written in whole but she does make 2 good points. (I am not about to get into an argument a debate on them so I will refrain from identifying which ones...)

This us vrs them fight that is going on in our comunity is not wining us any rights or acceptance.

I say, so what. So what if there is some fetishistic freak whos main objective is to wank all over themselves after a long day of living full time?
So what if there is some man in the next stall who is getting a jolly out of his big ruse'.
So what if some guy is wearing a 'woman disguis' to have a big lark on the world?
So what? Did it really cause an issue for anyone?

Is there a great crissis going on I am unaware of? Are men constantly being arested for being a predator in the womens toilets wearing dresses?
No, every time I see an issue involving a TS or TG and a womens spaces, it is the TS/TG getting her butt stomped for ussing the toilet. Or arested for being in the 'wrong' facility. Which is just bogus and we all know it.
The only time I have heard of issues with the toilet and a T person, it involved a bigot. Not the T person being an ass.

So I am left wondering what dragon these women in the HBS camp are slaying.

[cynthialee]

I seem to have wandered a bit...

It seems to me the main point of contention that the HBS crowd have is they want the right to label the T comunity into the catagories that they percieve us as and not the catagories that we percieve ourselves as.

That is the crux of it. They want the right to label some of us as men and some as women.
Why I have no idea. It gains no real power in the world , wins no rights and it puts butter on no bread.

[AbraCadabra]

Well there were Nazis, then Neo-Nazis, now I just learned of Word-Nazis, and now we have Body-Nazis. What next?

What I get from it, is something not even the German State would find appropriate to demand from it's subjects (I'm one) for a documented SEXCHANGE / Gender-change. It is..... at a loss of words.

Also I do have my doubts this "load" has been actually written by a woman. You can stick a store bought vagina on a melon that doesn't make it a woman!
It just fails my imagination. But somebody really managed to stir it up, even with me. Hey!

Axelle
PS: Gotta check my E. Why am I so jumped up, eish.

[Dawn D.]

"Remember though that the ultimate "passing" proof is nudity — something a ->-bleeped-<- can't do — and remind other women of that simple fact"

Well, at long last! We finally know who the bathroom police are!


Dawn

[cynthialee]

who is asking that laws change that we allow men in the womens bathroom?

[Princess of Hearts]

I don't play any sort of sport so the chances of me being in the Ladies' changing room is very slight indeed.*   What annoys me is the writer's insistence that if you have 'eternal genitalia' then you are a man.   That alienates quite a few of us in the transsexual/transgender community.  This belief reduces us to body parts,having a penis makes you a man, no penis makes you a woman regardless of how you identify yourself.   In some ways we in the T/T community have brought this woman's Taliban like view of us upon ourselves.   It is our fixation, fascination with breasts and vaginas(i.e. body parts), FFS, tracheal shaves etc and our oft stated determination to possess/undergo these things that allows the writer to say in so many words that the possession of male genitals makes you a man and their absence makes you a woman.   We have been hoisted by our own petard!


*   Julia Serano writes that the belief in the power and potency of the phallus is deeply embedded within Western culture.    It would seem that a large percentage of women believe that even a little feminised nubbin of a penis is still a potent symbol of maleness and male power, and that mere possession of a penis however small and inadequate is something to fear.   Perhaps it doesn't help that a large percentage of mtfs are gay?   My sister has said that while she has no problems with having a lesbian as a friend.  She has admitted to feeling just a little uncomfortable with the idea of dressing and undressing before a gay woman.

[Princess of Hearts]

An FTM could very easily pass in the men's changing room.    No heterosexual man looks at another man's penis, it simply isn't done.   Even an MTF who still had his breasts could pass more often than not.   The only real problem would be the showers, but it is fairly acceptable in male circles not to take a shower after playing sport.    An mtf who never showered with the other women would definitely attract unwanted attention towards herself.

[cynthialee]

So if genitalia makes the person what about those of us who get part of that anatomy removed?

Maybe I should just claim I am a eunuc and go to the mens bathrooms. Wonder how long it would take before I was raped, beaten or murdered?

[Vicky]

The two most common reasons for a male to be in the women's rest rooom --

1) He's there to fix the plumbing of the restroom!!  (Sorry Josephine!)

2) He's out of his mind intoxicated

(The third most common reason is that the male is under 6 years old and is being potty trained!!)

How do those facts fit a mythology?  Or why bother??

[VeryGnawty]

So I am left wondering what dragon these women in the HBS camp are slaying.

A Komodo Dragon.  A juvenile one, on an island by itself, with no chance to reproduce.  That is exactly the dragon they are fighting.

[LordKAT]

   An mtf who never showered with the other women would definitely attract unwanted attention towards herself.

Most definitely not true!

[Lisbeth]

"They think they are all powerful and above the law and do this in the belief that they gain more lesbian, gay and bisexual votes than they lose from women who object to men (defined as those with external genitalia) demanding unrestricted access to women only spaces." (emphasis mine)

This person has just alienated all the FTMs, way to go girl.   

That's because people with the author's views believe FtMs are women. Case in point, FtMs are welcomed into the Michigan Women's Music Festival as women.