GenderTalk
I happened across this while hunting for interesting podcasts for my ipod the other night. GenderTalk is a weekly radio show discussing "global transgender issues". Not really my cup of tea, but I thought I'd give it a try and added it to my feeds in iPodder.
I'd forgotten all about it until last night when I was hunting for stuff to listen to in the sun-shower. It's all very "tranny activism" oriented and has a quite American flavour and slant, but it's quite amusing, and particularly revealing of problems that t*folk are still suffering around the world. For a show by transgender activists it seemed overly conservative in attitude, but I wonder if that's just a reflection of the over-arching attitudes in the US these days.
One news story was a real eye-opener to me. A college kid (male) had been suspended from school for turning up at a dance in a prom dress. The news-reader added that the police report had citied that he was "dancing in a lewd manner", at least I think those were the words. The presenter then seemed to suggest that if you were going to dress out for the first time, maybe you shouldn't act in a way that draws attention to yourself.
Two things. Firstly, a guy turns up at a party in a dress and the police get involved? Is that such a huge crime in the US these days?
And, secondly, why the hell shouldn't you go out and dance a bit provocatively at a college dance? The idea of "Transgender Activism" has always been something I've shied away from, particularly as I'm a died in the wool TV who's never really had (or going to have) issues with "workplace acceptance" and "equal rights" etc.
But if in the US a guy can't put on a frock and shake his/her funky thang at party... maybe there's more need for activism than I realised.
I'd forgotten all about it until last night when I was hunting for stuff to listen to in the sun-shower. It's all very "tranny activism" oriented and has a quite American flavour and slant, but it's quite amusing, and particularly revealing of problems that t*folk are still suffering around the world. For a show by transgender activists it seemed overly conservative in attitude, but I wonder if that's just a reflection of the over-arching attitudes in the US these days.
One news story was a real eye-opener to me. A college kid (male) had been suspended from school for turning up at a dance in a prom dress. The news-reader added that the police report had citied that he was "dancing in a lewd manner", at least I think those were the words. The presenter then seemed to suggest that if you were going to dress out for the first time, maybe you shouldn't act in a way that draws attention to yourself.
Two things. Firstly, a guy turns up at a party in a dress and the police get involved? Is that such a huge crime in the US these days?
And, secondly, why the hell shouldn't you go out and dance a bit provocatively at a college dance? The idea of "Transgender Activism" has always been something I've shied away from, particularly as I'm a died in the wool TV who's never really had (or going to have) issues with "workplace acceptance" and "equal rights" etc.
But if in the US a guy can't put on a frock and shake his/her funky thang at party... maybe there's more need for activism than I realised.
It is truly bizarre that the police get called in response to a guy wearing a dress. It makes you wonder exactly what happeed in the lead-up to that. Was it just "Hey! Brad's wearing a frock! Call the cops!", or did other stuff happen?
But I think, in regards to "activisim", that there's a lot of well-meaning stuff going on - but the majority of it is misplaced. A lot of the 'TG Rights' stuff is about three decades too late, and it fails to take into account the change in attitudes and politics that has happened since the sixties.
I ranted myself to sleep on the very same subject last night, and I'm going to try and expand on it at some point, but basically, I think it comes down to:
The World = Postmodern, Trannies = Modernist
They got arrested on the way, not for speeding but for wearing trousers.In Victorian England too, and even in the first half of the 20th century, a woman wearing trousers would have been ostracised. All we want is quid-pro-quo I guess. Like many other things, expectations of dress are a mobile part of the public consciousness.
Susan 2
Post a CommentPermalink Subscribe to comments: this post | all posts
<< T*Blog Home