In a comment regarding Agnes: angela said, “I do think though that these days there are unnecessary divisions between people that need not be there.”
Last night I watched a 1988 film with Keifer Sutherland, Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder titled “1969”… Keifer’s father Donald Sutherland was part of the GI Coffee House, anti war in Vietnam Movement. He was closely involved with Jane Fonda in the FTA Tour.
22 years ago after 8 years of Reagan we were still making movies that showed the anti-war movements of the 1960s in a positive light.
Now it seems like the majority of movies require hyper unrealistic violence porn or require the men in them to be stupid dickwads.
We have had this Ayn Rand bullshit pushed on us so long many people started to believe it, the cult of the rugged libertarian individual. Once upon a time there was and innocent little pop song with the lyric, “I think it’s so groovey now that people are finally getting together.”
That idea of people getting together and working to make the world a better place is part of the 1960s ethos that the ultra right wing Randites have had to attack. Because if people do get together they might decide that fair trade is better than free trade. NAFTA/CAFTA and a lot of these trade agreements that have turned the American economy into a two class structure are equally unpopular with both left wingers and tea baggers.
I know this isn’t what Angela is talking about but, really… In a culture of divisiveness why would we be less subject to the influences of divisiveness than others?
That said the idea of “Transgender as Umbrella” has always been a forced social construct. Transsexuals and queens might have been friends while we were in transition (circa late 1960s early 1970s) but often those friendships faded after we got SRS and the queens stayed in the same place. Some of us who come out as lesbians have transgender lovers (original usage of transgender) but transgender in that sense means staying permanently in a sub-culture.
Too often these calls for unity under this socially constructed umbrella have required post-op women and men to give up status they gained through surgery and stay in the transgender ghetto. Often times we are equally abusive in our language towards each other. Over a year ago I decided to dial back some of the name calling and made an announcement that it wasn’t going to be the main feature of this blog.
Recognize differences/ work together in improving life when we have shared causes. It seems like a simple principle but now people on both sides talk trash about me.
“Oh Suzy is so transgender identified because she says good things about Autumn Sandeen and other transgender activists who are working hard on issues that matter. And she says negative things about those of us who hide behind aliases and create sock puppets to go out and pick fights.”
I’m still not transgender, hell I transsexual is a matter of history for me right up there with the rest of my 1960s history.
If you want to end the divisiveness stop the name calling. Stop using right wing talking points. Quit the Ayn Rand bullshit. Stop acting like a bunch of queens in a sleazy drag bar.
Then we might just wake up one morning with the lyric stuck in our head, “I think it’s so groovy now that people are finally getting together…..”
Women Born Transsexual 