Invincible Ignorance

When one is dealing with the transgender community, one of the most important things to remember is that you are dealing with people who have no real grasp on reality.  They live in an imaginary world where women have penises, men have vaginas, and such.  This was especially brought home to me by a post from "Cristan" Williams, who, at least at times, seems to have no grasp on reality, and a response from "Autumn" Sandeen, who is perhaps one person with even less of a grasp on reality than Willams.

Williams is engaged in one of his favorite activities, taunting Dana Lane Taylor, who Williams has an obsession with, over a response Taylor made on Facebook.  What did Taylor say that has Williams in such a rage?  Why she had the audacity to point out to Williams that she does not completely disagree with certain actions taken by the government that Williams decided to strut and crow about like a Banty Rooster.  This, of course, pretty much puts the lie to Williams claims, but naturally, he cannot have that.  After all, he is never wrong...at least in his imagination.

Amazingly clueless as ever, Williams drags out an argument that shows that both he, and apparently certain forces within the Obama administration, have their heads so far up their....well, lets say that where they have their heads stuck, the sun never shines (unless, of course, your doctor is using a solar powered proctoscope, and the smell is not very pleasant...at least not for those who are remotely normal) that they are completely oblivious to the fact that they are exceedingly misogynistic.

The example that Williams uses, and one which it is implied is taken from a government presentation, involves a man showing up at a shelter in women's clothing, sporting a full beard, and asking to be admitted.   Now, the government slide does not specify exactly what is, and is not permissible.  The obvious implication is that such a person cannot be denied shelter.  Williams tries to imply that such a person would have to be housed with women, irregardless of how much discomfort this might cause.  In fact, one senses that Williams is delighting in the very idea that such a person would make the women extremely uncomfortable.

This is an extremely misogynistic position, implying that the rights of women are not as important as those of men who engage in crossdressing.  Let's be honest, such a person does not have a female gender identity.  Period, end of discussion.  This person is engaged in the behavior know as "gender queer."  They are mocking societal norms, almost certainly with a desire to upset other people.  I cannot remotely see why such a person should be allowed to do such a thing to women who are already in an extremely unpleasant situation.  But hey, Williams is not a woman, has no sense of what women feel, and I suspect, probably has some innate hatred of women.

The bottom line is, Williams hates Dana Taylor because Taylor has effectively refuted William's silly attempts to force women to accept men in women's restrooms.  Williams supports a law that provides no restrictions on men invading women's spaces.  All one has to do is say that one's "gender identity" is female, even if only temporarily, and one has no restrictions on entering the women's room.

But this lack of reality does not stop with Williams.  Sandeen gets in on the fun as well.  He decided to comment on Dana Taylor in one of his more bizarre rants in some time.  He starts off by complaining that Taylor has "functionally defined" him as a male because of his "surgery," which of course, consisted of being castrated.  Sandeen has a penis, wishes to keep his penis, and is, therefore, functionally a male.  That is pretty obvious to anyone with a shred of intelligence.  Then Sandeen goes on to make the complaint that Taylor has "implicitly defined me as a 'eunuch' in the comment thread for my recent column"  Actually, if you read the column, you will find that Sandeen is the one who cites Matthew 19:12 in a rather bizarre attempt to claim that the Bible mentions transgender people.  This passage refers to eunuchs, so it is not Dana Taylor who has defined Sandeen as a eunuch.  Of course, Sandeen, being a eunuch, might be a bit sensitive about this.  

Sandeen goes on to attack Dana Taylor through a series of bizarre non sequiturs.  The first is Sandeen's objection to a very reasonable statement by Taylor that any transsexual who identifies as transgender is fighting against our rights as women.  Of course, this logic is lost on a man like Sandeen.  He does not identify as a woman.  He identifies as a transgender.  This means he wishes to hang on to his penis (literally in his case), though some transgender people who actually have surgery do so figuratively.  Identifying as transgender implies a lack of desire to move on and become fully a woman.

The next is a statement that simply shows that Sandeen is not remotely a transsexual.  He takes offense at Dana Taylor's response to his bizarre post that claims that "transgender people are the cool kids."  That was a post where Sandeen appeared, flouncing about like a horrible misogynistic caricature of a woman in a costume that was not remotely something a real woman would would wear, particularly one of Sandeen's age.  It was amusing in a very creepy sort of way.  Taylor makes the statement:

I don’t find being transsexual cool one bit. It is a horrible condition. It is a crime against humanity. How can that be celebrated as being cool?

Sandeen tries to claim that this indicates that Taylor "loathes" being a transsexual.  I don't think I have ever met anyone who would have chosen to actually be a transsexual.  Many people choose to be "transgender," often deciding to claim to be transsexual, but no one who is actually transsexual would remotely think it is cool.  This just proves what I have said about Sandeen for a long time.  He has no actual history as a transsexual.  He was clearly a transvestite who decided, in his later years, to take his hobby full time.  Keep in mind, this is someone who loves to brag about his 20 years of service in the Navy.  Twenty years of being a man in a very masculine environment.  This is not a transsexual.  

And then Sandeen, goes on to claim that Dana Taylor will not answer the question, "Do you consider non-op transsexuals to be women?"  Now, given how Sandeen chooses to spin this, the use of "non-op" seems odd.  Perhaps Sandeen actually meant "pre-op," or perhaps Sandeen is just trying to scam people.

For me, the answer is simple.  Anyone who claims to be a "non-op transsexual" is delusional. There is no such thing.  It is an oxymoron.  That is someone, like Sandeen, who is saying "I have a penis, I want to keep my penis, but I am a woman."  No, such a person is not a woman.  And Dana Taylor is not a "non-op," so why Sandeen would claim, "If she answers that question with a yes, then she denies that she’s a woman at this point in your life. If she answers it with a no, then she’s forced to embrace that she isn’t a woman until she has a vaginoplasty — a vaginoplasty we know she needs to be comfortable in her own skin and to fully be complete as the woman we know she is."  It means nothing of the sort.  A pre-op transsexual is working to correct their birth defect, unlike Sandeen, who is nothing but a man with a fetish for pretending to be a "woman with a penis."

Sandeen actually saying something even more incredibly ignorant to the realities of transsexualism, adding, "To answer the question means she has to acknowledge the loathing she has for a body part that she was born with one that separates her from the rest of the community of women — in a sense she has to fully embrace that she’s one of the transsexual people she loathes being. I believe the term for what she’s feeling is referred to as 'internalized transphobia.' "

Simply put, and I realize this would be completely lost on Sandeen, part of being a transsexual is having a loathing for one's male genitalia.  Again, Sandeen's statement prove he is not remotely a transsexual.  He has no understanding of what transsexuals feel.  He cannot comprehend that one would choose to be a transsexual if such a thing were possible, and that wishing one had not suffered through what transsexuals suffer through is not "internalized transphobia."  What Sandeen actually means is that the fact that Dana Taylor is a true transsexual, who has felt things that Sandeen has never felt, threatens Sandeen's delusions and fantasies, and must be attacked.

Ironically, Sandeen is deep in the closet.  He is hiding from the fact that he is a transvestite, who will never be more than a transvestite, and he actually believes he must "advance" up the imaginary transgender hierarchy, even though he really doesn't want to.  He has sacrificed his testicles to this goal, even as he is terrified at the idea of losing his precious penis.

Rather than embrace what he really is, he lies and tries to be what he is not.

Sandeen, and Williams are deeply mired in "Invincible ignorance."  They simply refuse to learn, even as they demand to teach everyone and further that ignorance.

Update:  I have to admit, I was really taken in by Taylor.  This person was a self-deceiving fraud who has decided, after some soul-searching, that his is really "transgender" and is now Mr. Cristan Williams latest BFF...  And a full-fledged transgender kook to boot.