Bits o randomness
Baren ended up sleeping with us, after all. I opened the bedroom door after shutting down the laptop and brushing my teeth, and there he was, standing right on the other side of the door. Cindy had a feeling he would start whining if we shut him out completely, so I left it open enough for him to be able to nudge the door open, himself.
I've been reading posts on my community journals lately--unusual for me. I had to give all the t-related stuff a break for a long time b/c of all the conflict within the community. There's still a lot of conflict, but some of the topics I find really interesting. For example, the topic about one person's observation that there are more genderqueer identified people on the ftm spectrum than on the mtf side broke off into several different directions, one of which was the idea that we really should group ourselves together so that we can discuss issues as a group, whereas some guys wanted to put separate labels on every different kind of transman out there. I personally think we should be focusing on our common threads and fighting for equality together, but some guys really get caught up in the idea that someone who isn't exactly like them can't possibly discuss topics that affect the community as a whole simply because that "other" person isn't actually part of the community! I think labelling divisiveness has weaked the community, and in this regard I wish we would learn from the gl community. I'm not trying to say that the gay-lesbian community is perfect, but they at least have a notion that those who differ from the norm can come together to talk about their experiences. I think they do a better job of youth outreach (here I am including undergraduate college-aged folks) and making "outsiders" feel a sense of community. This is something I have never felt from the t-community. I hear the experience is different if you actually make it out to one of the regional or national conferences, but I haven't been exposed to that yet. I know I've stated this opinion before, and I still stand by it now.
I like the free speech community lj because it really gets my mind going in new directions. I find some arguments compelling enough to change my initial opinions. I find that the longer I'm around, the more tolerant I am of others. When I first realized I was trans, I remember wondering which group would be next in the line of persecution-- from blacks to gays to transgender to ___? Now it's clear to me that the genderqueer are next. It makes me wonder how transfolk can be such an intolerant bunch. The only explanation I have been able to come up with is that a lot of t-folk have fragile egos and think that the existence of GQ-folk somehow cheapens their identities. I can kind of understand this viewpoint b/c I remember how fragile I was when I first started coming to terms. I started out trying to disprove my identity because I wasn't exactly like the guys whose websites I found online. As someone who once had such a limited criteria as to exclude myself from a category, I could see how someone else from said category could have such a limited criteria as to exclude others. I could also see how they would devalue other new categories using the Downward Comparison model.
I was also going to write a little bit about how Cind and I discussed universal healthcare coverage in relation to trans-healthcare provisions, and how our hour-long discussion was being played out in the comments to one specific post in the fsftm lj, but that is a rather complex topic that would take forever to write down. If anyone cares to discuss the issue further, we can start up our own string of back-and-forth comments here.
Randomness of a less serious nature: I have recently become addicted to the show, 24, which Ryan could've easily gotten me hooked on while I was living w/ her, but alas, I had to limit how many tv shows she got me addicted to b/c we already had a regular weekly line-up as it was.
I've been reading posts on my community journals lately--unusual for me. I had to give all the t-related stuff a break for a long time b/c of all the conflict within the community. There's still a lot of conflict, but some of the topics I find really interesting. For example, the topic about one person's observation that there are more genderqueer identified people on the ftm spectrum than on the mtf side broke off into several different directions, one of which was the idea that we really should group ourselves together so that we can discuss issues as a group, whereas some guys wanted to put separate labels on every different kind of transman out there. I personally think we should be focusing on our common threads and fighting for equality together, but some guys really get caught up in the idea that someone who isn't exactly like them can't possibly discuss topics that affect the community as a whole simply because that "other" person isn't actually part of the community! I think labelling divisiveness has weaked the community, and in this regard I wish we would learn from the gl community. I'm not trying to say that the gay-lesbian community is perfect, but they at least have a notion that those who differ from the norm can come together to talk about their experiences. I think they do a better job of youth outreach (here I am including undergraduate college-aged folks) and making "outsiders" feel a sense of community. This is something I have never felt from the t-community. I hear the experience is different if you actually make it out to one of the regional or national conferences, but I haven't been exposed to that yet. I know I've stated this opinion before, and I still stand by it now.
I like the free speech community lj because it really gets my mind going in new directions. I find some arguments compelling enough to change my initial opinions. I find that the longer I'm around, the more tolerant I am of others. When I first realized I was trans, I remember wondering which group would be next in the line of persecution-- from blacks to gays to transgender to ___? Now it's clear to me that the genderqueer are next. It makes me wonder how transfolk can be such an intolerant bunch. The only explanation I have been able to come up with is that a lot of t-folk have fragile egos and think that the existence of GQ-folk somehow cheapens their identities. I can kind of understand this viewpoint b/c I remember how fragile I was when I first started coming to terms. I started out trying to disprove my identity because I wasn't exactly like the guys whose websites I found online. As someone who once had such a limited criteria as to exclude myself from a category, I could see how someone else from said category could have such a limited criteria as to exclude others. I could also see how they would devalue other new categories using the Downward Comparison model.
I was also going to write a little bit about how Cind and I discussed universal healthcare coverage in relation to trans-healthcare provisions, and how our hour-long discussion was being played out in the comments to one specific post in the fsftm lj, but that is a rather complex topic that would take forever to write down. If anyone cares to discuss the issue further, we can start up our own string of back-and-forth comments here.
Randomness of a less serious nature: I have recently become addicted to the show, 24, which Ryan could've easily gotten me hooked on while I was living w/ her, but alas, I had to limit how many tv shows she got me addicted to b/c we already had a regular weekly line-up as it was.