"Some transmen want to be seen as men — they want to be accepted as born men. I want to be accepted as a transman — my brain is not gendered. There’s this crazy gender binary that’s built into all of life, that there are just two genders that are acceptable. I don’t want to have to fit into that."
March 15, 2008
"Feminist theory offers students a way to think about gender as performance."
In college, performing gender.
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21 comments:
A manly case not covered by Goffman!
His classic merry-go-round essay
Psychobabble. I can't relate -- my brain must be too gendered.
Transformer man, transformer man
You run the show
Remote control
Direct the action with the push of a button
You're a transformer man
Power in your hand
Transformer man, transformer man.
Transformer man, transformer man
Sooner or later you'll have to see
The cause and effect
So many things still left to do
But we haven't made it yet
Every morning when I look in your eyes
I feel electrified by you. Oh yes.
Transformer man, transformer man
Transformer man
Still in command
Your eyes are shining on a beam
Through the galaxy of love
Transformer man, transformer man
Unlock the secrets
Let us throw off the chains that
Hold you down.
(Neil Young)
The really great thing about business, science and engineering is that gender is not a substitute for performance.
When the Chinese finally take over the world, western feminists will be wondering why.
In honesty, I read the first page of the article, but no further when I noticed that there were at least six more to read. Up to that point, I'm not sure what the point of the article was, but with the post title's inclusion of "gender as performance" it sounds like a twist on the luggie (lesbian until graduation) trend of late.
People seem to be ratcheting up the shock factor in order to be noticed. Claiming that you were born the wrong sex is unarguable. To engage in any discussion with someone making that claim is a waste of time. To do so would reward the person who is making such ludicrous assertion with the attention he so desperately is soliciting.
It's about time people stop indulging such nonsense. What if I began telling everyone that, contrary to the genetic code contained within every cell of my body, I was really supposed to be 6'8" tall, instead of my average height? People would rightfully question my sanity or ignore me. It's doubtful I'd get many articles written about my Napoleanic performance in a world of Goliaths.
Being genderqueer is nothing new...
I met her in a club down in old Soho
where you drink champagne and it tastes just like Cherry Cola
C-O-L-A Cola.
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance.
I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said, "Lola"
L-O-L-A Lola, lo lo lo Lola
Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy,
but when she squeesed me tight she nearly broke my spine
Oh my Lola, lo lo lo Lola, lo lo lo Lola
Well, I'm not dumb but I can't understand
why she walks like a woman and talks like a man
Oh my Lola, lo lo lo Lola, lo lo lo Lola
...
Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls.
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world,
except for Lola. Lo lo lo Lola. Lo lo lo Lola.
Well I left home just a week ago,
and I never ever kissed a woman before,
Lola smiled and took me by the hand,
she said, "Little boy, gonna make you a man."
Well I'm not the world's most masculine man,
but I know what I am and that I'm a man,
so is Lola.
Lo lo lo Lola. Lo lo lo Lola.
Are they not men? They are Devo!
Is there a presentation on how to make the perfect omellette at that thing your at?
Any pictures of this angry mob?
you finally got rid of the ugly blue profile pic.. you do look a bit surly in the new one.. it's not quite as flattering as some of the cleavage pics you have up on flickr..
now if we could only get you to give up that annoying wide angle lens
What do the trannies look like?
How transformed are they?
Did they go for the entire procedure?
Do we really have to hear from trannies?
I think gays and all the other deviants should keep their business in their bedroom.
I don't want to hear about anything about their lives. The need to be invisible.
Are their participants there wearing buttons with a giant penis and a X over it?
How transformed are the trannies? More than meets the eye!
Separated at Birth:
Slate's Emily Yoffe & Keanu Reeves?
"Gender as performance" wins my award for humanities nonsense phrase of the week.
I believe it will be a strong contender for humanities nonsense phrase of the year, but the Race and Feminism conference is not yet complete.
Great Neil Young quote Trooper, no wonder we get along.
And finally, please do not misconstrue my criticism of the supercilious verbage coming out of said conference with disrespect to people who have gender dysphoria or gender oriented birth defects.
Trey
Trey
I worked in an area of Chicago called Boy’s Town for awhile. It is the second largest gay mecca in the country. Several gay police officers of both sexes worked there. There was one police officer who was transgender. He was born a woman, came on the police department as a woman, and then had all the therapy and the final operation to turn him into a man. He never made a big deal out of his situation. We all knew what he was. The gay male cops gave him more heat than the straights. He just sloughed it off.
His girlfriend was a drop dead gorgeous cover girl model type. That is not the point. Every time I or any other cop called for help, he was one of the first to respond. His partner was an avowed hard core diesel dyke. He was also one of the first, to put it mildly, mix it up. So was his partner. As far as I am concerned, I care not about any of this nonsense. As long as someone can do their job without making others feel uncomfortable, who gives a flying phuque.
We worked together, drank together, partied together. We even joked about each others proclivities. The gays gave as good as they got.
Once, some mutt tried to insult his partner, the diesel dyke, while we were in a bar. Guy and his friends were begging for their lives by the time we got through with them.
The bottom line is as long as you do the things expected of you, no one should care who or what you are, as long as the quid pro quo is that you do not make a big deal out of it.
middle class guy:
I rarely, rarely ever agree with anything you say, but your last post is a great one.
Too bad you aren't the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There are gay soldiers right now putting their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan for a country that would kick them out of the military if they ever admitted they are who they are.
Eli,
Thanks. You do realize I was talking about extreme police brutality. It was not a pretty sight. EMTs and the whole nine yards. We do take care of our own. Mess with one, mess with all of us. Marques of Queensbury was a fruit.
Eli, you might be surprised about the freinds and assosicates some of your more conservative commenters have in real life. Those of us who live in the real world have a much more diverse spectrum than your liberal college professor. We drink, eat and fight with our freinds who come in all shapes and sizes and sexual preferances. If you pull your weight you are on the team. One for all and all for one. We aren't assholes, we just play them on the internet.
And, Eli, many gay soldiers are "out" in the services despite the Congressional mandate (passed during the Clinton Admin, incidentally) DADT.
The same thing as MCG related regarding policemen is true with servicemen and women. Most service folks, officers,non-coms and enlisted, don't give a rat's butt so long as they do their job.
Transmen now is it? Ha ha ha ha. Spellcheck says, "no thank you." This is going to get funny. The Mad Hatter who claimed words meant whatever he intended them to mean was mad because of the chemicals used in curing felt, mercury specifically. Now his place is taken by the Maaco auto painter who neglects his face mask, and academics apparently.
Humpty Dumpty, Chip. Kinda shoots your rationale.
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