Yesterday I was glad to see a new issue of Bitch Magazine on the shelves at my work and happy to get to read it on my break. However, I wasn't so happy with everything inside as it turned out. I don't know, its just one small article, but it really got to me. I now forget what its called, "Dudes in dresses" or something to that effect, but it was about how stylish being queer was becoming and while mentioning male celebrities in dresses it also offered as evidence the use of trans women in fashion in 2008. There was a big full body picture of Isis next to the text as well as smaller shots of guys in drag and another transsexual, again under the heading of "Dudes in dresses" or whatever it was. I remember that “dudes” was definitely there.
I guess there are two things that annoy me the most about this article, the first being that it did not distinguish between the differences of a trans woman's own identity and those who use trans people and their identities as a fashionable accessories. Should the presence of a trans woman on a reality show about female models be seen as inclusion and acceptance of a trans woman's identity or a fashion statement? Both answers might be true, but I think it's the phrasing in the piece that really gets me.
This brings me to my second problem, which is that the author only referred to the trans women as m2f's. This a phrase that is none to popular with me, but its the lack of female pronouns or even words like women in reference to those mentioned in an article with the word "dudes" in the title that just makes me a wee bit suspicious of the author's feelings about trans women and a little annoyed that Bitch Magazine would put something like this out, either in not realizing its implication or not caring.
Okay, maybe I read it wrong. Has anybody else seen this and had similar thoughts/different thoughts/little thought? Was I right about the pronoun thing (maybe I didn’t look closely enough)? I didn't buy it and instead waited to further inspect the piece on my next shift, but if anyone can back me up or set me straight I'd really appreciate it.
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well, i didn't read it yet (my copy hasn't arrived), but i DEFINITELY think you should write a letter to the editor! they're pretty good about self-critique. (hopefully they'll publish it)
I have read the article. It did bother me how they were using trans gendered people as "fashion accessories," as you said. The whole America's Next Top Model thing bothered me (not directly from the article, just in general) because I feel like they used Iris as a token, do you know what I mean?
But I would DEFINITELY write to Bitch... they are the type of magazine that will actually listen to and care about what you say.
I... was about to get up on my high horse when I remembered I haven't read the article yet.
I will state that as a rule, there is a shocking lack of understanding about trans issues in every circle. It is possible that the writer did not know this, but it is and always will be unacceptable to refer to trans women as "Dudes in dresses". A dude in a dress who identifies as such is a transvestite, not a trans woman.
This guy seems to be against hate crime legislation not because he genuinely is concerned about free speech issues, but because he wants people to go kill people he doesn't agree with. The trouble with hate crime legislation is that while many people have real bedroom furniture concerns about it, they are drowned out by idiots like this who are afraid that if there is hate crime legislation people might be discouraged from killing single mothers, homosexuals, or the homeless.