Missing the Point...

In what seems like a blast from the past, there is a new controversy over an attack on "transwomen" by a "radical feminist/lesbian separatist."  The controversy started with an article at a site called the "Magazine Project.  That article, entitled "Transwomen" are Merely Castrated Men was attacked by ultra bigot Monica Roberts.  Roberts' rant became fodder for an article by transgender activist Suzan Cooke.


Now, on the one hand, the original article is pretty nasty, and the author, as is typical of extremists, paints with a very broad brush.  But that does not mean that she is completely wrong.  The sad thing is, there is a lot of truth in the article.


For one thing, some transgender people cannot understand why many, if not most, women are put off by them.  They simply cannot grasp that they really are acting like men, and have no real female essence.  But they want to call themselves "lesbians," and they cannot understand why real lesbians are not lining up to enjoy their, well, as Roberts would put, neoclits.  Well, duh....


Of course, these same kooks can't quite seem to grasp that some men are going to lose it when they find that their new girlfriend is physically a male.  Now, I don't excuse the violence that results, but I also think people need to use some simple common sense.  I mean, really, women learn to avoid certain situations, but men think they have some sort of privilege.


The problem with the original article is that the author ignores science and relies on feminist myth.  Yes, there are a lot of "transwomen" of the sort she describes.  But they are not representative of transsexuals.  Of course, the author, as a I said, paints with a broad brush.  I suspect, like some men, she fears having sex with someone who was once physically a male.  But, this person, like Roberts, and Cooke, is an extremist.  For her, the world is simple, and well, she is completely right, and everyone she disagrees with is completely wrong.


Likewise, Cooke and Roberts are so insecure that the very idea that there is someone out there who just might seem them differently than the way they see themselves sends them into fits of outrage.  Does it bother me if someone attacks my identity?  Of course.  But I also consider the source.  I could care less what some radical feminist/lesbian feminist, who has never met me, thinks about me.  Trust me, there are far more reasons for her to dislike me than my history.  There is little in her narrow minded philosophy that I would not find reprehensible.  There is little of my world view that would not send her into fits of outrage.  So why should I care if she is even more bigoted?


I tend to ignore people like her.  She is not even worth addressing, except that she does make some good points, that are lost on the other kooks.  They only focus on the hatred, to avoid the truth.  It's sad.  They all have something to learn, but none what to see it.