There’s contexts beyond the mere statement of fact. It’s not the statement of fact that is troubling, it’s the pointing out of privilege as a dodge that’s troubling. Pointing out my privilege doesn’t mean you’re automatically right and I’m automatically wrong, it doesn’t invalidate everything I say because it comes from that place, and it doesn’t absolve you from a) having to answer legit arguments I am making and b) being well-mannered while you do it.
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James alludes to drag queens breaking taboos, and I think it’s worth mentioning that RuPaul comes from a specific Southern drag subculture which involves particularly outrageous and provocative performances. Drag is about being transgressive, and Southern drag queens take it to (and sometimes beyond) the limit. If you go to a drag show around here (I’m in Atlanta), you are going to see some crazy shit. You can see how growing up in a conservative and repressive environment would produce an appreciation for this. When you’re a young gay man from a small town in Georgia, going to a gay bar and seeing an over-the-top drag show can be very liberating.
None of this is to excuse anyone; there are some lines that should not be crossed. I didn’t care for “Female or She-Male” at all.
(Edited for clarification.)
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So Andrea James is offended that people are offended by things RuPaul and Steven Colbert have said, so she gets to dismiss their feelings? Even if the offended party isn’t made up of likeable people, they still have a right to be upset at the use of words and phrases that have been used against them.
And are people seriously Ok with James lumping together Dennis Rodman, RuPaul and trans people as one whole gender identity?! What am I missing here?
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A “she-male” is a fetish, a mask, a caricature. A person who identifies as transgender is most importantly, still a person.
And yet, you seem concerned about what we should think and whether it’s appropriate ("OK’) for other people to think in certain ways, and how this great mass of individuals should think and act in order to send the appropriate messages, and whether it’s appropriate for individuals to express offense according to the dictates of some absurdly formalized code of etiquette.
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Before this shitstorm I happened to listen to a podcast where RuPaul chatted to Jesse Thorn about his childhood. I think it’s quite revealing. RuPaul identified at a young age with Monty Python, and that’s a group of performers who were never scared to offend people and go way beyond the bounds of good taste.
Forgetting about the words for a moment, I’d like to ask this: Supposing a random member of the public happens to watch an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Do you think that person will be more hateful towards transsexuals afterwards, or more positive?
(That’s a genuine question, since I’m not trans and haven’t watched the show.)
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Thank you for expressing the concerns and salient points of discourse needed at this time. You may have well been listening in to many recent conversations within the gay community. Thank you.
Good question. I don’t watch the show enough to have a sense of that.
I posted this on Facebook, but thought I’d throw it here too.
I’m a cisgendered white gay male, I tried drag one time and it was disastrous. I felt so completely uncomfortable that I almost immediately had to get out of the wig and clothes. What I learned wasn’t hate for Transgender people, but a huge amount of respect and admiration. Anyone that has to constantly run against their internally perceived gender just to live and work in the world is an amazing person.
I don’t have to hide my sexuality because no one thinks I’m gay until I mention my husband. I don’t hate or hide that part of my life, it just rarely comes up in my public life. I feel something akin to ‘white guilt.’ those who fall outside standard gender dynamics have it rough and it sucks.
So when it comes to members of the Trans community attacking each other because someone isn’t ‘doing it right,’ I’m generally chagrined. Internal fights rarely advance a communities goals.
As how this applies to journalism. There’s a difference between reporting and opinion pieces. None of this feels like reporting, it feels like a bunch of yelling about who’s a bigger Dbag. Rupaul does use insensitive language. Molloy trades in decisive commentary. Both aren’t particularly helpful.
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Strike 1: “beta male” used unironically.
Strike 2: “The only difference between a heckler and a critic is manners.”
Strike 3: “the anti-heckler movement,” exemplified by…wait for it…4Chan and Reddit.
Done reading. I could be picking my toes more profitably.
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I was pretty sure I was reading Boing Boing. I double-checked even. How did this article end up here instead of on The Blaze? Not every social justice tactic is admirable or even effective but spare me the “oversensitive PC liberals” trope.
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Hateful might be the wrong term. Misinformed is perhaps more accurate.
RuPaul has used language which most Trans* people (outside of the drag community) find offensive and worse, result in gross misunderstandings about what it means to be Trans*. Terms like “She-Male” live in the realm of porn fantasy, not the real, everyday lives of Trans* people in general. Using them essentially fetishizes the community. (Google the term She-Male, and you will find lots of porn, and not much about Trans* people.
Hardly a what one could call a desirable outcome.
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I don’t see the point of coming down so hard on some one like Parker. Who has more power, her or RuPaul? Who has the bigger audience?
This article is pretty confused, and when you are taking down some one for a twitter comment being unprofessional it seems like the argument should be at least a bit more articulate.
And for some one who is accusing trans people of sounding like TERFs this article sure sounds a lot like the kinds of things said to black or other minority feminists by white feminists should they take issue with something. Basically, if other people are just special snowflakes who need to STFU about how they feel… then what are YOU?
There are always going to be schisms and disagreements in any movement, but when you have to say things like “The internet allows these shut-ins to spend their waking lives online, agreeing with like-minded victim cultists who share their views” it makes me wonder why you have nothing but ad hom attacks to prove whatever confused point you seem to be making.
By the way, at the end, you seem to basically be saying “I love everyone” so why say all this blather before? Why say anything? You pretty much ended this little tirade with “and I don’t actually HAVE a point.”
So that’s my cis-het long time poster opinion here.
I guess a lot more people will know who Parker Molloy is now!
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This covers everything I wanted to say. I’m a trans lesbian. There was a time where I sought to distance myself and other transsexuals from drag. I didn’t hate drag performers, it was more that I felt embarrassed by the association. Like a child embarrassed by an eccentric relative.
It’s very confusing trying to define one’s identity, especially without being educated on different kinds of gender variance. Parker just needs empathy and education, not more judgment.
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I haven’t watched the show either, but the impression I get is that RuPaul doesn’t encourage hate per se, but shows trans people as a sort of specialized clown or circus freak. That’s better than murderous bigotry, but it’s not a lot better.
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To be fair, the dates are only from the changes to the commenting system last year. Some of us have been kicking around here before they started this commenting format… Mine says 2013, and I’ve been commenting on BB for quite a few years. I don’t know about @rider, though.
But yeah, there is no reason why new people can’t come in and comment on stories that effect them. It’s just seems to be a dismissive attempt to declare legitimacy on what some probably see as their “home turf”…
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“post disruption journalism.” i love that. no one understands it, but it obviously means something very, very important. because these are very, very important journalists. listen to what they say.
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It’s important to strike while the iron is hot.
I don’t know. Do you think that person will understand trans folks better, or worse, afterwards? I think that can be an issue even when trans folks are talking, because of the diversity of experience and the fact that no one person can represent , but it can be worse when other folks are talking over trans folks.
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That’s the impression I’m getting, too, and it’s odd to see all those sentiments in an article written by someone who’s actually transgender.
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