Susan's Place Transgender Resources

RuPaul Believes Trans People Should F***-Off If We Object To Being Called Tr***ies
By: Autumn Sandeen Tuesday January 17, 2012 2:27 pm    

http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2012/01/17/rupaul-believes-trans-people-should-f-off-if-we-object-to-being-called-tries/ (http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2012/01/17/rupaul-believes-trans-people-should-f-off-if-we-object-to-being-called-tries/)

I'm not happy at all with RuPaul and his recent statements regarding use of the word "->-bleeped-<-" (which for the rest of this article I'm going to write as tr***y because so many trans people — including me — find the term to often be a pejorative). He wants those of us trans people who object to use of the term as a demeaning pejorative to define ourselves by the demeaning pejorative. He apparently wants all of us to cooperate with being humiliated with deriding, dehumanizing, humiliating words — whether that word be the n-word, the c-word, the antigay f-word epithet, and antitrans terms such as ->-bleeped-<-, shim, ->-bleeped-<-, it, and thing because those terms are just words.

I'm not exaggerating. For those who haven't read the Huffington Post: Gay Voices interview of RuPaul by Michelangelo Signorile, here's an excerpt of the interview:

Hm, it sounds like saying: Women should ->-bleeped-<--off if they don't want to called girlie.

But seriously, is this prick in the ->-bleeped-<- world the new label-expert?

Must be, because he's been called a ->-bleeped-<- most of his life, so he came to think everyone else needs to feel like him.

Grrrr,
Axélle
PS: funny enough pre-op I didn't mind so much, post-op I really do mind... go figure.

sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. just sayin'.

Quote from: MeghanAndrews on January 17, 2012, 11:08:58 PM
sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.

I hate this saying. My childhood was hell because other kids were constantly harassing me. Many LGBT-kids commit suicide. We really should once and for all drop the idea that name calling doesn't hurt and isn't harmful.

I wounder if she considers it acceptable to to be refered to as a ->-bleeped-<-?

Afterall sticks and stones!

If you want to be seen as a crass abusive ->-bleeped-<- who nobody likes, Then yeah I guess it's fine to use language that pepole find offensive.

Quote from: MeghanAndrews on January 17, 2012, 11:08:58 PM
sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. just sayin'.

Sorry Megan, as much as I admire you, I'm completely against you on this one.

The point is, if names don't hurt, then why do people use them?

In my experience, if you ignore name calling long enough, you often end up with a hiding anyway. I'm sure, like many others, once I realised someone was building up to give me a beating, I tried to take the few seconds to make things as easy as possible then hopefully survive it.

Name calling is just a threat to your existance. Few of us would use a term we know to be offensive, simply because we know the likely result will be a violent response.

That is what these people want. The name calling does hurt. It humiliates. It demeans. It eats your soul. It causes fear of being beaten. It makes you want to die.

Here's RuPual plugging his book in 2010

RuPaul - NBC TODAY - 2/1/2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnU0KsdHYYQ#)

Okay, so in Hollywood you have a crew of professional make up artists to make you look good and in real life you're on your own for the most part  ::)

What I'm saying is that RuPaul has become too disconnected with the reality of daily life to be a viable source of advise

Good thing I will probably never meet him or he'd cop a right serve.

I hope he knows there's a difference between cross dressers, drag queens, and transsexuals. A VERY big difference.

Quote from: toxicblue on January 18, 2012, 08:09:44 AM
I hope he knows there's a difference between cross dressers, drag queens, and transsexuals. A VERY big difference.

True.

Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning that there are Transgenders that proudly call themselves Trannies". In fact, some Moderators on this very site believe in reclaiming the word "->-bleeped-<-", and the member "Torn(Something)" also prodly call herself "->-bleeped-<-".
So, everyone is different and also have different concepts and ideas on the power of words and terms.
If the word "Queer" could be reclaimed(Yes, I do know the original meaning of the word before it was used as an insult towards gay people), then so can "->-bleeped-<-".
I wholeheartedly believe in the power of Pride and Reclamation.

That being said, I also fully understand why many Trans-people do not want to refer to themselves as such, as they simply do not identify as anything else than ordinary males or females but with a birth defect.

I don't care what people call themselves. You love "->-bleeped-<-"? Awesome, use it for you.

Quote from: MeghanAndrews on January 17, 2012, 11:08:58 PM
sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. just sayin'.

Right. Perhaps you'd like to parachute back in time and explain that to 10-year-old me?

Being at a zero-tolerance for bullying school was fun. Kids come up with the most incredibly creative ways to hurt you when they aren't allowed to hit you.

RuPaul makes their living by being noticed.  They like the controversy, it sells books, it get television appearances, it makes money for them.

That doesn't mean that I (or so many others) need to agree, support or like RePaul's opinions.

Quote from: MeghanAndrews on January 17, 2012, 11:08:58 PM
sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. just sayin'.

...sarcasm. If anyone read the article, you would know what I'm talking about. That's what RuPaul said in the article and I was quoting for sarcasm. Dang y'all.

Quote from: MeghanAndrews on January 19, 2012, 09:25:44 PM
...sarcasm. If anyone read the article, you would know what I'm talking about. That's what RuPaul said in the article and I was quoting for sarcasm. Dang y'all.

Oops! Sorry, Meghan. :(

Quote from: Sarah7 on January 19, 2012, 09:34:01 PM
Oops! Sorry, Meghan. :(

You know what though, I went back and read my comment, I shouldn't have put that. This is a sensitive issues for a lot of people in the community. I should have probably had a longer post explaining that 'sticks and stones' is a saying a lot of people HATE and grew up with and how dare RuPaul say it but I figured people would get it. It was a stretch though. Anyway, I'm with you all, I don't like it either.

I have no time for that man, never have. I've never been impressed by him in anything I've seen him in. If the media is coming to him for label advice, then that just show's that their combined IQ equals that of a dumpster. I've seen a trend in these so-called 'experts'. They may be in the the right profession but they nearly always seem to be in the wrong field that they are being asked about.