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an interesting insight into privilege ( and passing?)
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6 Replies
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Thanks Christina for sharing that video.
I was biting my tongue when all the Trans world seemed to be gushing with Caitlyn Jenner admiration. I don’t understand what is so great about transgender role models who use the privilege of fame and/or fortune to impose a standard of femininity that we all must aspire to and be judged against. Caitlyn isn’t the only one to hit the media spotlight like that in the last few years. So it is great to hear this self-centered insensitivity being called out in the media. Nice that someone has the guts to say what I think.
Oh – and by the way – am I the only one who looks at Caitlyn and recognises her maleness. Or am I just transphobic!
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My personal opinion is good luck to her. She has obviously been struggling with her identity for a lifetime and has made a courageous move to be herself in an atmosphere of keen media attention. She has on the negative side, been at least partly responsible for creating the Kardashians ( as the father figure for all those years)!!!! She also comes from an unusually privileged position.
She is a bit deluded in her desire to work for Ted Cruz ( for Christ’s sake, that IS loony ) but , like you AA , I find the buzz around her to be over the top and another sign of how the concept of ” Passing” is used against the run – of – the- mill transwoman in our Society. To the extent that many of our sisters also subscribe to it as an essential goal.
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Agree with both of you. It is hard not to associate the whole crapdashian world with the perfectly timed release of Caitlyn to the world after the million dollar surgery fashion fix and blah blah blah …….
A part of me says great as it bulldozes the way for trans to be viewed as part of life but another part of me thinks that I wish I had a K funded entourage to make me look OK and be in the spotlight and able to live my life out job free with all that femininity crashing into me. Back to reality …..
Caitlyn is stupid but no more than the rest of the crapdashian clan.Juliette
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Hi all, I think this is a very interesting discussion because it picks away at the notion of identity politics to expose the pervasive influence of class. The gap between transgender people who have access to significant resources and those who don’t is, like the gaps that exist with respect to education, income, health etc., increasing year by year. In this respect, the furor over Ms Jenner’s sometimes amazing statements (not just the one’s quoted but also her musings over the decisions a woman has to make before stepping out each morning) are confusing the symptom with the cause. It’s precisely the brand of politics that Jenner supports (small government, trickle down economics etc) that has led to this growing disparity. Frankly her support of right wing policies and politicians should not surprise us any more than Malcolm Turnbull’s support for the same policies; they are policies that will keep the “less presentable” firmly in their place. V x x
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Good points by everyone. I would be happy just to admire Caitlyn for her achievements and journey rather than dissect her views etc – and I do feel that overall her transitioning has been a step for good for many others. She does have some odd views and connections however and doesn’t always seem too humble about presenting them! From a spiritual as well as political perspective, it does appear odd to me that a declared Christian and transgender person should be so concerned to connect certain cultural ‘norms’ of gender presentation with ‘authenticity’. I’ve also never quite understood why going out of our way not to make others ‘uncomfortable’ is so often regarded as self-evidently a good thing – that just seems to me to be pretty futile and self-destructive as a determining factor in any person’s development, as well as an obvious barrier to enabling social and spiritual evolution in society.
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Adrian wrote:Oh – and by the way – am I the only one who looks at Caitlyn and recognises her maleness. Or am I just transphobic!Hi Adrian,
Short answer, NO.
