You ever have a moment when you're thinking something, and unsure of if saying it is a good idea or not because you just know you're going to anger some people by saying it?
...
I apologize in advance.
I watched both interviews and like everyone else, I feel it was inappropriate for Katie Couric to ask the question about genitalia to both Carman and Laverne. But at the same time ... I'm not sure she was going for shock value or sensationalism and that we may be being too tough on her.
I think that people who don't know a whole lot about trans people just don't get that there are some questions that aren't appropriate to ask someone. A lot of people who meet a transgender person, especially if that trans person happens to be the first one they've ever met have questions.
Me personally, I'm willing to educate people. But even then ... that doesn't mean I'm willing to answer questions about what's between my legs, what surgeries I plan to have, and other very personal information. So I think what happens is a lot of cisgender people who are just genuinely curious cross a few lines without really realizing it.
I think we need to have people in the media ask us this question very publicly so that we can very publicly tell them "We're still typical people and think about it a second: there are just some questions you do not ask anyone."
Our biggest problem is that people just don't know a lot about us. So as a result, they don't know what's acceptable. They don't realize when they're being rude or done a social faux pause or snafu. They don't understand the vocabulary when we talk.
I mean ... show of hands: How many people have seen someone get insulted when you use the term "Cisgender" because they think it's an insult or slang term we made up like "Muggle" in Harry Potter and they don't realize that the word is just the opposite of transgender?
How are we supposed to expect a talk show host to know what questions are inappropriate to ask us ... when they don't even know the most basic information? I didn't pick up on her asking the same question twice. I got the feeling she was asking the second time, "Why is this something she doesn't want to discuss? Is it just her, or did I cross a line"
And the answer she got was a very frank "Yeah... yeah Katie, yah crossed a line ... step back, and think." And hopefully a lot of people watching that show heard and understood that, because it may be the first time they ever thought about just how rude questions like that really are, and that in the grand scheme of things, there are far larger issues to discuss.
