Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Some of you may know that I have a child with Down syndrome and that the casual use of the words “retard” and “retarded” as pejorative substitutes for “dumb” and “uncoordinated” kind of get my goat. (Apologies in advance to all you goats out there—no offense intended.)
In fact, I can get quite worked up about it, as when America’s "sweetheart," Jennifer Aniston, called herself a retard on the Regis and Kelly Show earlier this year. There was a tiny uptick in media attention over this, but Aniston refused to apologize. Well, she didn’t apologize, let’s put it that way. Her refusal was of the tacit variety. Suffice to say that she didn’t think she offended anyone, or at least she hadn’t offended anyone that she minded offending.
So I couldn’t help but notice this little item. It seems that MTV, that bastion of cultural sensitivity, has “sincerely apologized” to transsexuals who may have been offended by the use of the word “tranny” on the Jersey Shore program. Not long ago, this same network broadcast an award show in which the host—hairsprayed British lothario Russell Brand—referred to then-President George W. Bush as a “retarded cowboy.” I clicked around a few places, but I can find no record of an official apology from the network formerly known for playing music videos.
Some of you, I know, will say that the answer to all this political correctness is not to outlaw more words, but to stop getting hung up on perceived offenses. Well, I disagree. I think that some—especially the defenseless—deserve more consideration than others. I think “trannies” can probably fend for themselves. My daughter, and her friends, need protectors. They need me and my husband and my friends and my relatives to stick up for them, to call out casual insensitivity when it masquerades as humor. To stand up to dopes like Russell Brand, MTV, and anyone else who condones use of that word.
Trannies. Seriously?
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
but to choose our words more wisely and compassionately.
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
You're right, Ursula--and I'd never have thought of your argument here if you hadn't articulated it yourself. Indicating--no, proving--that I'm as insensitive on this point as anyone.
You're fighting a good and important fight, and fight it with determination and tact. Keep swinging.
Jul '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Okay, I'm confused.
Where is there an insult when referring to the component of an automobile the converts the direct torque from the engine into graduated motion in the diferential housing?
On the other hand, Ursula, I think that defensless drug users everywhere are going to take offense at your use of the term Dope in the prejoritive.
My point?
One standard. I'm sorry, but anything else and you have the Minefield we're currently walking in every day.
There is a word that describes people who are consistantly afraid of saying the wrong thing, even innocently, because the consequences of using that as yet uncategorized offensive word, will be devestating to their livelyhood.
That word is Oppressed!
Jun '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
"Tranny" is an especially rich and appropriate word if you're a car guy, or gal. On a car, the transmission is a centrally located unit of the drive train that's often swapped out for a higher-performance model, as part of performance enhancement.
May '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
I must confess that when I saw the headline "Transphobia," I thought it was the fear of TSA agents. But then I read it and realized that that's a different kind of junk for a different kind of trashman.
May '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
What is a transsexual anyway? Near as I can tell, it's a guy who likes guys but refuses the ancient and honourable name of Gay by pretending he's really a woman. Which he is manifestly not. Were I capable of being offended, and gay, these guys would offend me.
I have never used the word "tranny" for the simple reason that it isn't a real category. They probably just tacked it on to the signs because it achieves a nifty BLT acronym.
Jul '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
I'm not a tranny--and while the gay community is small, I've only ever known a few--but...it's a word that pretty much everyone involved is fine with. I neglected to comment on your post last Friday about political correctness, Ursula, but I'd like you to know that you have full permission to use the word "gay" to refer to homosexuals. The word "homosexual" has become something of a buzz-word (the way "intellectual curiosity" automatically means "I have a deep and irrational loathing for Sarah Palin"), and generally indicates to us that the person speaking isn't really going to be very nice. I don't know why that is, but...it *is* nonetheless. If anybody ever gives you grief about calling them gay, let me know and I'll take care of them.
Aug '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
There's been a running gag about "trannies" on Redeye for over a week. I'm sure they'll apologize soon.
Not.
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Ursula, I think one thing that has given the word "retarded" a certain currency is the continued use of the term "mentally retarded" in state and federal mental health programs. But apparently, that's finally changing -- did you see the piece in the WSJ? So that's one thing government can do: stop giving the term its official imprimatur. Over time that might lead to a decrease in the informal use of the word.
May '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Strictly speaking, it is exactly what the name implies, one who is between sexes. They can be either men or women who are undergoing the hormonal and psychological transformation but have yet to have gender reassignment surgery. See Bono, Chaz.
May '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Paul DeRocco: There's been a running gag about "trannies" on Redeye for over a week. I'm sure they'll apologize soon.
Not. · Nov 22 at 12:25pm
Over a week is technically accurate. Over about 150 weeks is even more so. There will always be gay jokes, centuries from now, millenia past. Sex is inherently funny.
Edited on Nov 22, 2010 at 1:31pmRe: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Kennedy Smith: What is a transsexual anyway? Near as I can tell, it's a guy who likes guys but refuses the ancient and honourable name of Gay by pretending he's really a woman. Which he is manifestly not. Were I capable of being offended, and gay, these guys would offend me.
I have never used the word "tranny" for the simple reason that it isn't a real category. They probably just tacked it on to the signs because it achieves a nifty BLT acronym. · Nov 22 at 12:18pm
Kennedy, this is a pretty bold statement in its level of insensitivity. Of course the lines between non-heteronormative labels can get pretty confusing, but to categorically reject these distinctions strikes me as an inclination towards willful ignorance.
Aug '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
I suspected as much.
It would've seemed strange to me if a community so into camp, irony -- and just messing with people's preconceptions generally -- had a problem with a nickname like that.
I'm reserving "transphobia" for fear of trans-fats. That way, when people offer me margarine, I can say, "No. Butter instead please. I've got transphobia."
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
I suspected as much.
It would've seemed strange to me if a community so into camp, irony -- and just messing with people's preconceptions generally -- had a problem with a nickname like that.
I agree, MFR, which is why it seems so odd for MTV to apologize for that but not "retarded" which, whether you agree or not, almost universally pains anyone who has a relative with a mental disability.
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Interesting, Adam. I had never thought that using the term in medical/education settings was giving tacit approval to the use of the term as mockery. Perhaps you are correct. However, I am *not* one of those people who cares about using "mentally retarded" or not in medical/education settings. If no one is making fun of my child, whether obvious or subtle, then I really don't care. If it helps people (professionals) to understand what we are talking about -- that my child has cognitive delays -- then I'm fine with it.
May '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Does anyone REALLY want to move to a kinder, gentler society? I actually doubt that premise. Because the first requirement to accomplish that ideal, is to grow a thicker skin, give up the joys of victimhood, refuse to take offense unless offense is intended, recognize that people don't always communicate at their best level of courtesy, and cut them the slack that you'd like to have people cut you. IOW, The Golden Rule.
It isn't, "Take offense when others fail to treat you as you usually treat them." That is, if you will, the LIBERAL approach to social problems. The conservative approach is to take the personal initiative, "Do unto others...." Do you want to have others cut you some slack? Then it starts with you.
A tempest in a teapot. Full of sound and fury but signifying nothing.
Aug '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
I spent the evening in the company of a couple of male-to-female transsexuals recently. Made the mistake of using the word "tranny" and was gently reprimanded. Turns out this is, indeed, a word that offends at least some people in that category.
Yes, my first inclination was to roll my inward eyes. But I understand that being a transsexual is very much about being hyper-vigilant about how one is perceived. Paying close attention to pronouns.
On a related topic: I'm told that when "Glee" did their "Rocky Horror"-themed episode, they bowdlerized Frankenfurter's signature song thus: "I'm just a sweet transvestite...from SENSATIONAL...Transylvania."
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
Thanks, Jonathan. This is actually very helpful. I guess my hesitation at "gay" is that as a child, it was, unfortunately, the over-used and umbrella term for "stupid." As in, "That's gay" "You're so gay" etc. were the default insults. Because of that unfortunate word history, and because I prefer to start with the most respect possible, I go with homosexual. Glad to have learned something.
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
I never proposed that.
Trust me, I take no joy in the fact that certain people find my daughter's disability funny, nor that they view it as a convenient shorthand for their own lack of judgment or coordination. As to your notion that no one should take offense unless it is intended, let me remind you that ignorance of the law is no defense. I do go out of my way to communicate with courtesy, so your line about the Golden Rule is similarly misdirected.
But it's not me. I am a most forgiving person. I can handle slights directed at me just fine. My daughter and others like her need defending.
May '10
Re: Add "Transphobia" to Our List of Ills
I suppose I could cut you some slack and assume that this is an obtuse, if disparaging, comment about the quality or relevance of Ursula's post. Fine enough. It would be, as you suggest, thin skinned to take offense at honest criticism of work like this in a public forum.
But, since I read Faulkner in AP English, I can't help but inquire: Are you trying to be cute?
Surely you must realize that the full quote from Macbeth is: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (my emphasis). And furthermore, you must realize that Faulkner's novel, The Sound and the Fury, which borrows the line from Shakespeare, is told from the point of view of a mentally disabled man (i.e. an idiot).
So, let me take the personal initiative to let you know that I'm not the kind of person that goes looking for offense, but I'm not so stupid as to ignore it when I see it.