Friday, January 7, 2011

Anti-Defamation And The Sting Of Truth



Original article we are responding to:
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18349/part-one-ashley-love-and-antidefamation

Of course, the communities of gender have to be especially vigilant about the derision of others of differeing opinons, backgrounds, life circumstances, birth and "life styles" - "calling the kettle black" as it were.
But and that is a big 'but', if any leakage of truth is felt by a common collection of sub communities shoved under a larger political "umbrella" created on paper, without the actual consent of affected people within them, that honest truth will sting.

As such, this is what is happening here, writer and activist Autumn Sandeen and several denizens of the LGB(t) "toe the line club", are feeling that sting in real time; One can tell this in her recent post in a work to derail the views of Ashley Love, also an activist, artist, writer and one of the lead founders of MAGNET (Media Advocates Giving National Equality to Transsexuals & Transgenders) an anti-defamation in the media organization, as well other dissident voices in the newest publishing of "Pam's House Blend" news and editorial magazine online - near baseless mud slinging in the media as a tool of expression as it turns out, is quite accepted these days. Of course, everyone has an absolute right to blog, to write, to express their views, however much based in reality, or however deluded. After reading, nay... after analylzing what has been written in Ashley Love's blogs and stated in other media from several other writers about the near erasure of fair representation of transsexual and intersex people, there are very sharp shreds of truth just screaming to be heard, understood and considered. The forced appropriation and political absorbtion of the diverse, collective voices of transsexual, transgender, intersex, gender variant individuals by a masculine driven side of the gender collective, suspiciously supported by a "subtly" misogynist, affluent white gay male clique is beginning to be pretty hard to overlook - as we are told to do.

One example is, is when we are told to just contribute hard earned cash to drag show events (such as the traveling tripe of a "show" known as: "Shirly Q. Liquor")that are really designed to invalidate, trivialize the female identities of transsexual(and transgender womyn); We are then told to just laugh it off when a larger society picks up the cues that trans womyn, their lives as well as their attempt to live genuine lives according to their inherent internal sex/gender and plights are not to be taken seriously. We are then beaten down like redheaded ignorant stepchildren, when complaints about the afforementioned, are put forth.

How then, is the effort to gain human rights for trans and intersex peoples as a whole, going to be perceived and not treated like just another "Jerry Springer" media stunt??

5 comments:

  1. Can I borrow this quote?

    "We are then told to just laugh it off when a larger society picks up the cues that trans womyn, their lives, attempt to live genuine lives according to their inherent internal sex/gender and plights are not to be taken seriously...How then, is the effort to gain human rights for trans and intersex peoples as a whole, going to be perceived and not treated like just another "Jerry Springer" media stunt??"

    You have articulated a deep groaning I have felt for years. Thanks for saying it.

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  2. @lisainbc
    You certainly may.

    ~The Empowered Kitty

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  3. Since part of the thrust of Ashley Love's pieces is to demand a divorce between gemder binary identified transexual women and a more broadly conceived transgender community - and she largely erases even queer-identified binary women from her model, along with trans guys - I think you are letting her have far too soft a ride here.

    And the idea that including transexuals as one group within a broader spectrum of trans identity is a suppression is wrong-headed. Back in the 1990s when we first stood a chance of eg passing actual laws in our favour, various of us realized that any law which breaks down a wide group into smaller groups is going to be exploited against all of us. It is all very well defining yourself and pursuing rights for your particular group, but if you succeed, hostile people in authority will simply deny you belong to that group and deny you your rights. The umbrealla term is pragmatically useful - some would say essential - to pursuing our rights.

    And the idea that 'transgender' is part of some conspiracy against the pure essence of transexuality by people who want to sell us out to that kind of gay man who dislikes us all equally is pernicious twaddle. Whenever people start talking about conspiracies and stabs in the back, let alone about group purity, it is right to be worried.

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  4. Stop Catherine Brennan, aka "bugbrennan" from Cyberbullying and Exploiting Minors

    Petition:
    http://www.change.org/petitions/catherine-brennan-aka-bugbrennan-http-pretendbian-wordpress-com-and-http-bugbrennon-com-remove-both-sites-completely

    ReplyDelete