Or, how the majority claims ownership of the Other.
And let's face it, folks. We who suffer from the transsexual condition are the Other. Just as non-majority races are the Other just as gays or socialists are the Other.
We are the frightening unknown that can be propped up from time to time when They need something to look at to feel better about themselves.
"Well, I've got a lot of problems, but at least I'm not one of Them."
Oops. There goes our humanity.
For this diary, I'm going to speak from my oh-so-privileged position as a TS woman. While I could also speak to it as a Jew or any number of other things that could Other me, being trans probably tops the list.
We become a thing. They want to see pictures. Before and After. They want to use general terms. They want to point and spot us in a crowd. Make sure everyone knows that They know because They need some power in their otherwise powerless lives.
They want to know about our bodies. What have we done to ourselves. Put us on display on the freakshows like Springer and Maury or some TLC documentary show. It is always about the body and never about the why (or when there is something about the why, it is given little emphasis...our pain doesn't make for good television).
Sometimes it is about the collateral damage of what we do. How it affects Them. Because these shows are rarely about the transsexual. They are about the Other and how They relate to it. They want to seem objective and fair. And, heck, sometimes they come close. But that's rare. More often than not, these are cautionary tales meant to send those of us who might be thinking about curing our condition a message that this path is not a proper one. They dissect our souls in public to see where we lost our morals.
For some reason, the fearful require the Other in their lives in some form. They need an enemy or an oppositional figure to point to and make themselves feel better about themselves in some manner. Rather than just accept difference, they ostracize it so as not to be confronted by it. And when they are confronted by it, they express their fear as hate.
They've had so many Others before and we transfolk are not alone with that status. It is a sad, vestigial element human nature, after all, to fear the Other. I just wonder if we'll ever evolve beyond that need.
Life shouldn't be a team sport.
Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. We shouldn't need such days. I hope that there comes a time where we can evolve beyond them.Updated by MercuryX23 at Tue May 17, 2011 at 11:16 AM PDT
Since I never watch Fox news, I never get to see jerkasses like the piece of shit who wrote this piece of filth for the FNS webzone. And if you want to see the level of bile and nastiness and fear and hate, read the comments following it. I got through a few of them before I had to turn the hate off.