Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A Gender Fascist Goes a Bit Soft

I recently came across a rather convoluted article on the blog site Pam's House Blend by self-described new media journalist Autumn Sandeen, who I have written about before. The article is apparently an attempt by Sandeen to lay down the law about how people should be referred to in articles on that site, and perhaps elsewhere.



Apparently the whole thing actually started over the use of the term "tranny," which some in the so-called LGBT media have adopted. Then Sandeen wrote an article on what the styleguides have to say about the use of terms like trangender and transsexual, and how people should be referred to.

But of even more interest is the assertion that "...there are some folk who could fall under the term transgender when it's used as an umbrella term, or could be identified simply as transsexuals, but they don't identify as transgender or transsexual."

Sandeen goes on to assert that "Some of the self-identification terms many of these folk use are classic (or classical) transsexuals, women-born-transsexual (sometimes written as womyn-born-transsexual or womyn-born-transexual), women of transsexual history, and as people with Harry Benjamin Syndrome."

Sandeen promises to explain in a later article how "I'll explain how I'm going to use the alternative self-identification terms listed above for folks who could fall under the transgender umbrella, but choose not too."

Now, the bold face and italics are exactly as they are in Sandeen's article, which should give some indication of how he views those who "choose" to not identify as transgender.

Now, I suppose some might see this as a small victory for those who do not wish to be referred to as transgender, or who prefer more accurate terms to describe themselves. But after giving this some thought, I realized that it is both a bit of a back-handed slap by Sandeen, as well as something of wash overall. Simply put, it changes little, and ultimately means nothing.

Like most who are among the gender fascists, Sandeen tends to see the world as this giant muddled gray blur. It is all relative, and it is all subjective. For Sandeen to refer to someone as a "woman born transsexual," or a "person with Harry Benjamin Syndrome" is meaningless. Sandeen is still going to assert that such a person could, and perhaps should, be simply identified as "transgender." Sandeen is simply saying that he will accomodate that person's "preferences." This is not really unlike someone saying, "Well, even though this person is obviously a male, I will be 'polite' and use female pronouns."

I mean, it is not as though Sandeen were actually conceeding the validity of the terms, or actually acknowledging that some a person actually has an absolute right to not identify as transgender. And worse, I would be very surprised if it does not lead to an attempt by Sandeen and other gender facists to quietly assimilate terms like Harry Benjamin Syndrome" under the "transgender" umbrella.

What is lost on people like Sandeen is that "transgender" is a totally subjective term that refers only to an identity. It has no objective meaning, and should never be applied to anyone, except where it is a part of their self-identity. It refers to something that has become far more akin to a poltical and social movement than to anything that resembles an "umbrella term." Of course, the fact that it is a social and political movement creates a need to force people under the umbrella in order to build numbers and present what appears to be a solid front.

No, Sandeen can call me whatever he wishes. I consider his opinion of little actual value, and his writings to only be excellent examples of more of what is wrong with the entire transgender paradigm.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sandeen will never seriously and honestly concede that many of us want nothing to do with the tranny Kool-Aid drinkers.

They don't want us to have our own identity. They insist that they are like us when there is no comparison between TG and those of us of surgical history. They want to keep their male privilege and invade our spaces.

We will fight them and never give in to their wish to claim us as part of them.

S

Skye.Blue said...

"I'll explain how I'm going to..."- That's rich. Well it certainly is generous of Autumn to allow us to self-identify. Oh wait, we still aren't allowed to be women are we? So in essence it's just another way to label us as "angry transgender in denial", trying to deny us the very thing that Autumn demands from other people.

The whole idea of "identify as" is really just another word for "let's pretend". We all see it, and you have to believe they know that too. What they don't get is that we aren't "identifying" as anything. We just are.

Just Jennifer said...

Sue, I have no doubt that you are totally correct about that.

Just Jennifer said...

Skye.Blue, you hit the nail on the head. I am still waiting to read the promised "next article" where Sandeen will explain this change of heart. But, given the way the first one was worded, I doubt it will actually mean much of anything.

And yes, that is what "transgender" is all about. Nothing is real, it is all pretend. I mean, deep down, they know they are pretending, so they expect us to be doing the same. And when we object to that, they become quite angry.

PhyllisMs said...

Hi Jennifer,
My name is "phyllisms",and I was banned from Pam's by the one and only, Autumn, for the same reason as you were, seperating myself from transgenders, CD's, and self described "fetish freaks" and "gender benders". Using these terms was my big "infraction" on Pam's, who is the same as Autumn because Pam supports her and her censororing of the many, many voices like ours. The "Big Umbrella", I posted on Pam's, is the "Transgender Merry-Go-Round", where anyone can get on or off at will, unlike being transsexual, HBS or intersexed, where you live with it all your life. I've linked many times the HBS website on Pam's with the same results as you, only at times I didn't present arguments as sweet as you. I dished out the same as I received but they never see nor acknowledge their own fire-brand. Their all so wonderfully "politically correct", and that's their whole movement, except a "glory road" and a feather in their cap. They don't really care about the next transsexual to die or who gets fired, all they care about is themselves, unfortunately. The "Transgender Umbrella" has already derailed us on ENDA and no one will carry us because of all the inclusions behind that "all inclusive" terminology "transgender", the "Transgender Merry-Go-Round.
Sorry you got banned, but you did great exposing the falicy of Autumn's argument and made her very, very insecure. She knew she was losing credibility by your civil manners and logical rebuttals.
My wife was banned in the same thread as you defending me from an unprovoked attack by Priya Lynn, whoever that is, a set up, to get at me, Autumn's old nemesis. Personally, I've never known the person nor exchanged comments with her. It was all lies just to hurt me, by getting at my sweet wife. My wife stands neutral in all of this by the way and merely spoke in my defense in a venue where I was not allowed to speak for myself. By the way, my wife lost family to the holocaust and was grateful that you called Autumn on the "Godwin's Law" crap.
I'll stop by here more. It's nice to have ally.

Love,
PhyllisMs

Just Jennifer said...

Hi PhyllisMs. Yes, Autumn is quite a character. I especially got a laugh out of the piece about him wearing a woman's Navy uniform. He seems quite proud of the fact that he is retired from military service. Now, that means that he spent at least 20 years serving, quite successfully, as a man in the Navy. That alone is enough to make his claims of being "transsexual" highly suspect. For me, my life was a complete nightmare until I transitioned. Prior to that, there is no way I could have done anything successfully for 20 years.

And Godwin's Law is a very hot button for me. I never use the term "Nazi" unless I am referring to someone who is an actual Nazi. Anything else trivializes the term. And now, Sandeen seems to want to trivialize Godwin's Law.