(Untitled)

[pozorvlak]

Last night I was re-watching The IT Crowd S3E4. It was one of my favourite episodes, and I still think it's beautifully constructed, but I found it a bit... squirmier this time round. For those who haven't seen it, one of the main characters meets a woman, invites her to dinner, then asks her to go to bed with him. She tells him that she's trans ("

Comments

[wormwood_pearl]

>they wimped out and changed it to one about partners who'd committed serious crimes in the past

dude wtf

[pozorvlak]

I know! I mean, it's a valid question, and it gets at some of the same "big part of their life they didn't trust you with" ideas, but either (a) whoever wrote the question does, on some level, equate trans status with having a criminal past, or (b) they somehow didn't realise that everyone else would draw that implication. In either case, wtf?

[wholepint]

Eugh. Glad I missed that one. I saw something similarly offensive in one of those 'Writers' block' posts a few months ago, but luckily I've wiped it from my memory.

[bronxelf_ag001]

Would it be okay if I directed some of my friends to this post?

[pozorvlak]

Please do!

[dwerenat]

I tend to be more direct than some folks, trans or not. It a real time saver for me, and at my age I've become rather impatient. I tend to tell them right off the bat on the rare occasion I let anyone get that close. I just don't have patience for it. If someone likes me I make sure they know immediately. If they don't like it no harm no foul.

[pozorvlak]

Thanks!

[johnckirk]

Echoing your tag, I also know very little about this subject. However, here are a couple of other fictional examples I've come across on TV:

* Ally McBeal. I'd stopped watching the series regularly by this point, but I saw the last few minutes of an episode while I was waiting for the following program to start. Basically, a male character had been dating a female character, who then revealed that she was trans. Paraphrasing from memory, he said: "I've given this a lot of thought, and I just can't see you ... as anything other than a woman."

* South Park: Mr Garrison's Fancy New Vagina. One of the male characters had a sex change; meanwhile, other characters had "negroplasty" (to become black) and "dolphinoplasty" (to become a dolphin). The basic message of the episode was that all these operations are purely cosmetic, and don't really change anything about you. As I understand it, the main argument for having a sex change operation is that you're already male/female on the inside, and you want your outside to match; is it

[pozorvlak]

is it disrespectful to compare them to Otherkin?

Question 1.3 of that FAQ makes the comparison explicitly, so the Otherkin at least don't mind... it would be very interesting to hear a trans perspective on this. AIUI, there's some evidence that trans people are neurologically more similar to their identified gender than their birth gender; it's hard to see how you'd get a similar result for (say) dragon-kin.

[I must say, though, I get a strong WTFWTFWTF reaction to that FAQ.]

[andustar]

'is it disrespectful to compare them to Otherkin?'

That comparison usually goes the other way around - trying to legitimise otherkin experiences by comparing them to trans experiences. I for one wouldn't do it the other way around, for reasons that I hope are pretty obvious.

Also, that FAQ is a bit no. 'Transgendered people feel they were born into a body of the wrong gender' is a huge oversimplification/overgeneralisation of what being trans means, to the point of being harmful.

[pozorvlak]

You know you're in trouble when trans people have better press than you do...

[pozorvlak]

Thank you! Out of interest, what does your daughter call you?

[pozorvlak]

has let it generally be known that her dad is dead.

Ow - hurtful! I'm glad you're friends again now, though.