Watch what you say!
In today's show I talk about how we define ourselves and how it affects the way the rest of the world sees us.
Labels: definitions, lgbt, transgender, transsexual
posted by Jessica @ 2:37 AM
5 Comments
The Pragmatic Heretic Show
Pragmatic - (prag·mat·ic), adjective. Of or pertaining to a practical point of view or practical considerations. Heretic - (her·e·tic), noun. Anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Previous Posts
- Rockin' it old skool
- Am I evil?
- Bonus: a conversation with Susan
- Quick update on my life
- WTF?!?
- iTunes
- More ENDA
- Transition questions from a friend
- ENDA
- Insecurities
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
5 Comments:
I'm totally with you on queer! What first convinced me on this was this blog post on The Bilerico Project by Alex Blaze. (You already read this of course, but for the benefit of other readers...) There is also this excellent post on "[...] the words, transsexual, transgender and queer" by Julia Serrano.
Well, here I am four days after my surgery and have just listened in. Cool blog cast...thinking about Julia Serrano's comments that Karen posted the link to, the whole terminology issue in my view, is symptomatic of a deep seated human issue, all around. We as humans, it seems, have a tendency to complicate matters with endless arguements about wordings and terminologies, and realy overly complicate ourselves, burdensomly so, to the enth degree, when simpifying and just settling on an already established term would suffice. And the opposite semms to happen when issues that do indeed require varying degrees of complex understanding are pigeon-holed with overly simplyfing bouderies that just creat friction which can ultimately end up creating a great harm. Interestingly, I just pulled out my driver's license and it says "Sex" not "Gender". Why are we so hung-up on this shit? I've seen at least one of the HBS people say that women don't talk like that. Funny, after I came out at work two years ago several of the women have dropped their guards many times and I've heard many a 'shit', 'fuck', pissed-off, etc. etc. coming out of their mouths. ((laughing)) -Sandra
I cringe whenever I hear someone say "Women don't talk/think/act like that!" Unfortunately, people in the trans community sometimes get caught up in all of that instead of just being whoever they are.
As for the identity thing...I think you're right to the extent that we have a deeply ingrained need to identify with people like us and to come up with terms and definitions that help people understand who we are. I also think that's why the terminology we use is constantly evolving.
At one time, African-Americans were identified as Negro. As time went on, that evolved to colored, then black, then African-American. There are many reasons for this evolution but I think much of it has to do with changes that happen when a group of people stops going by labels that were imposed by people outside that group and starts having its own voice and is able to self-identify (and have those identities stick).
Not to put myself out there as any kind of expert on the evolution of African-American identity, but I'd guess that one of the reasons it has evolved the way it has is that perhaps once the community had its own voice, it was more important that their identity reflect their African heritage more so than the color of their skin.
I think group identities go through similar evolutions that reflect certain understandings, definitions, and alliances. LGBT has been useful for a while but I think is becoming outdated due to the emerging identities that also intersect with this group such as queer, questioning, intersex, etc. who all see a common basis for discrimination and activism. As our "tent" gets bigger, I think it's important for us to re-examine our definitions to include as diverse a group as possible.
Creating a group identity such as transgender does not undermine or diminish the identities it includes such as transsexual, it just includes more people under a broader definition describing all people who are gender variant.
That's the way I'm feeling about queer...it's not so much a replacement for any current identity rather than creating a more inclusive umbrella under which we can engage other segments of society without arguing about who is or isn't included. There will still be trans activists, lesbian activists, etc. who focus on the particular issues those individual communities face.
I see them as layers which engage other communities on different levels. As humans, we have an identity that differentiates itself from other animals. As Americans, we have an identity that differentiates itself from people of other nationalities. As women, we have an identity that differentiates itself from other sexes. I am still all of those things, but how I choose to define my identity at any particular time will change depending on the context.
Yes, and the degrees to which you are speaking are exactly the complexities that require a greater degree of comlex understanding. Almost all of the Black people I have known self desrcibe as "Black" and it is meant to be more of an exclusionary label as opposed to inclusive with the greater part of America, as Afro-American is meant to be more inclusive. That is, to bring their culural milieu more in line with the status quo. Those who identify as Black are interested in no such thing and really want to keep the identity of their own seperate urban culture intact without having to compromise it in any way. But this is exacly what "political correctness" is all about. Compromises. Of course the arguement will be given that it is not menat to be too compromising but that leads into yet another endless arguement and in the end like you were saying it's all about self-expression and how one wants to be identified.
As another example, and in a different context altogether, I will use the term "enlightenment" as it has crept into Buddhist translated writings and is such a misnomer and originates from a group that wholey misinterpretted Buddhist philosophy and practices altogether back in the early part of the 20th Century but it has become so entrenched in Buddhist translations of original texts that is it obvious that the term is here to stay and so my own personal feeling about it is to just give up trying to go agianst the tide of that happening and just re-invent the word within a Buddhist context by complex definition and much needed explaination.
I tend to think that political correctness as a "compromise" only really appears that way from the perspective of privilege. It is the assumption that the only valid way of being is the majority way of being.
As a member of a minority demanding acknowledgment of the validity of my life and experiences, I'm not giving up anything in the "compromise".
I apologize if that seemed like a rant against your comment...I'm not sure if that was even what you were trying to say. :)
It's just a pet peeve of mine when I hear someone complain about political correctness (not that that's what you were doing). I think half the problem lies in the term itself - it's basically a pejorative used whenever someone wants to complain about their assumptions being challenged. I usually see it as a way to deflect conversation off of the original topic so that the "politically incorrect" viewpoint is no longer the subject.
I agree about the evolution of definitions. The current example for me is the term transgender and some people's resistance to the word because it was originally coined to exclude transsexuals. That was originally the case but the word has taken on a whole new meaning that is pretty well established. Maybe a better term will eventually come along but it's the best one we have right now.
Post a Comment
<< Home