When I say “weird”, I don’t mean it in a bad or flippant way. I mean “non-normative”. I’m not trying at all to imply an equivalence between trans struggles and this dude. But one of the cool things about queer theory to me is that it generalized the idea of non-normativity beyond sexuality and helped us to conceive of this social meta-struggle between “the normative” and those oppressed by it, showing how pretty much all of us have a stake in opposing normativity. This is a powerful idea, and I think that’s why trollies are so fixated on fucking with it.
Yeah, it’s very likely he is. But the cleverness of the trolley is that a cornerstone of trans/queer philosophy is that you are the authority on your own identity: it’s not for other people to impose an identity on you based on what they perceive your goals or motivations to be. So it’s a double bind. He forces queer advocates to either
a) argue against our own theory (or at least undermine it by emphasizing exceptions, either in the form of “identity claim doesn’t count 'cause he’s just an asshole” or “identity claim doesn’t count because detailed nuance”), giving him and his friends more rhetorical ammo for doing the same thing in other contexts.
or
b) Apply our theory to his stunt and say “sure, if it’s really that important to you, fine”, allowing him to LOL with his friends about how SJWs are so crazy that they think you can change your age.
Since I see no way out of the bind, I think b is the stronger and more progressive of the available choices, and sets up the battle lines that we actually want to fight on: is being weird ok or not?
That is really not at all what this guy is doing. It’s blatantly obvious that he doesn’t actually feel younger than he is. He’s a fucking trolley who is seeking to show how ridiculous the trans position is.
And that is precisely what he’s attempting to do. The entire point of him doing this is to further contribute to the dehumanization of trans people.
Except it’s not like we’re living in a world where Transfolks are just considered quirky or weird. They are generally speaking entirely denied exactly the things you are advocating for, freedom and independence to have their identity conform with their gender. This is a cisgendered white man, who literally just wants to fuck younger women. By acting in a such a manner he does real damage to people who are regularly denied basic human rights. This sort of thing isn’t some fucking joke. It has REAL world consequences for real people.
Being weird is great. But people are under threat and just saying that they are “weird” isn’t helping. Most trans folks probably just want to be able to be themselves without having to worry about possible threats to their lives. It’s not about being weird, it’s about being safe and being able to live a life free from prejudice
Good point! Please point out if I get anything wrong here. I don’t want to talk over you or other trans people, just help to try and tear down as much of the transphobia in our society as possible.
Queer theory has never been “Anything means everything”. Saying society should give the benefit of the doubt to someone who says they’re gay, does not mean you should give the same benefit to someone who says they’re a chair.
It’s that people should be considered better judges in matters of their own gender and sexual preferences, at the least because there’s millions of extant examples of how actual people are.
That’s not the same as giving identical weight to every “I identify as an attack helicopter” or “If those two guys have sex does that mean bestiality is okay?”
It’s a false equivalence, most usually given as a single anecdotal (or functionally abstract and non-occurring) instance, by people seeking to strip context from the millions of people we actually know about, and the actual social context we live in.
Right. Because that way lies identity-policing. Once you start telling people “you aren’t sincere enough” or “you didn’t suffer enough oppression” or whatever you regard as a pre-requisite for guild approval, you are identity -policing, which imo is a cure worse than the disease. In the case of Dutch dude, there are purely pragmatic reasons to be skeptical of his demands for legal change; but as to whether he is really sincere about feeling/identifying as 49, I don’t think that’s my place to police, on principle.
Ok, let’s try this again, without my rhetorical cheap-shot. The context for 'physically appealing" in this discussion was whether 20 year olds want to have sex with a 69 year old…ie a synonym for “sexually attractive”. In a different context, it could mean “aesthetic appreciation”, sure…but that’s a different context.
You may well be correct. Is there any evidence for that other than this one event? Has he written transphobic articles, expressed transphobic sentiments? My impression was that he was doing it for publicity and lulz (he is a life coach and “positivity guru”, whatever that is…not the typical profile for a transphobe) rather than as a conscious anti-trans action. He’s a Tony Robbins acolyte /neurolinguistic programmer. These people are cult-like; they think if you believe hard enough, you can manifest yourself into whatever your heart desires…and in this case, his heart desires to be young(er) again and bang hot girls.
Let me tell you, when People (finally) named Idris Elba as “sexiest man alive”, at least 5 straight men of my acquaintance were like “HE’S SO DREAMY!!!”
