Posted by:
anybody
(
)
Date: March 20, 2022 04:47PM
Kathleen Wrote:
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> A man who is smaller than me is still stronger
> than me.
This is a good example of a seemingly innocuous statement which could or could not be regarded as biased or bigoted depending on context, so I've decided to respond to it.
Caitlyn Jenner has her own political agenda and makes self-deprecating statements. No need to go into that further.
Now back to Kathleen's statement.
In this context, her statement *could* be regarded as either ignorant or bigoted. Why would I say this?
This entire trans issue -- and it's only an issue in the minds of some cisgendered people -- is an issue of perception. It's very similar to race in America and other places.
Until just a few decades ago, many people viewed race as a binary concept via the hypodescent rule -- something Mormons should be very familiar with. You were regarded as "black" if you had any African ancestry -- no matter what you looked like. Being regarded as black (or Asian or Native for that matter) had so much social stigma that no thought was ever given about white people ever living as black (you might think that I'm talking about Rachel Doelzal, but I'm not -- many recorded cases long before hers in history). In the old South Africa, they actually tried to have legally binding "tests" to find a clear line between African and white European racial characteristics. Even with all that, there are well known examples of white parents giving birth to black children and vice-versa.
Most of the above comments in this thread are ignorant and based on the idea of people playing dress-up like Klinger from the old "MASH" TV show or fetish transvestitism. The reality is very different.
There's a good chance that many of you reading this have either sat next to or been with a trans person in a bathroom or locker room, etc. without knowing. When I say things like this, especially to older people, their first reaction is "impossible, you can always 'tell.'" Well, no, you can't -- not with today's medical treatment -- and there are tall women (I'm really tall, over six feet two) and there are short men (I dated a guy who was five feet four) so you can't just go by that either. It reminds me of stories from the days of segregation, when black girls used to "look" for perceived signs of African ancestry in all-white beauty pageants to see if any of the contestants might have "black" blood in them. You can't just tell, and the body changes enough after two or more years of treatment so you can't.
This is Janet Mock, a prominent author, director, and actress who just so happens to be trans:
https://pagesix.com/2019/02/21/pose-director-janet-mock-divorcing-husband-of-3-years/How would you know her background if I hadn't mentioned it?
Here's a picture of Mack Beggs, a young trans man who was forced to wrestle girls because he was assigned female at birth and for no other reason:
https://www.outsports.com/2018/2/23/17042524/mack-beggs-wrestling-texas-trans-high-schoolHe doesn't look or act like a girl, so why would you force him to?
The conflict is in your mind and your perceptions of the world.
Trans girls and women are *female* and trans men and boys are *male* for all social and legal purposes. There are almost none, if not zero, cases on record of cisgendered women being attacked by trans women in intimate settings. It just doesn't happen. It is trans women who are much more likely to be killed or raped by cisgendered men. No hormonally-driven teen boy is going to go through months of psychological evaluation and medical treatment just to go in the girl's locker room. They are much more likely to get a small hidden camera and sneak it in so they can watch on their mobile phones if they wanted to do something like that.
Most people my age and younger don't have a problem with this, and for kids born in the 21st Century, gender fluidity is something they live with as part of their daily lives.
By the time I get to be retirement age, people will look back on this type of discrimination and wonder how could people have made such a big deal about what kind of parts someone was born with.
I'll close with this: You've probably seen or had an older relative call someone "coloured," tried to correct them, tell them that's not acceptable any longer, and they didn't understand why. That's why I'm saying a seemingly benign statement could be construed as offensive depending on the context.
Times change, so either you change with them or get left behind in the past.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2022 04:55PM by anybody.