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transDoes anyone here take Scientific American Mind? They have an issue on gender at the moment, including an article on transsexuality by one Jesse Bering called "The Third Gender" (already some deep fail there). The second half of the article isn't so bad, but that's by comparison with the opening (all I can get on a free preview). Which reads thusly:
The reigning queen of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the “Baroness” Titti Von Tramp, a deeply bronzed, thoroughly waxed and statuesque figure approaching seven feet tall in stiletto heels, wearing tinted couture glasses and crowned with a perfect platinum mane. On any given night, you can find the bosomy Von Tramp at one of the local nightclubs, pursing her strawberry-colored lips in a photo-op for one of her many fans or perhaps making an Ulster businessman turn bright red by deviously running one long, manly finger down the man’s cheek and judging, “That’s a good year.”
For many people, the term “transvestite” is synonymous with such larger-than-life characters, an entertaining coterie of mostly gay men and their oversexed female alter egos. But as with any human demographic, transvestites are a very diverse bunch, and it is only a select few who can turn their minority status into such a lucrative career in drag theatrics. For more modest individuals, the limelight is hardly a desirable place to be. Furthermore, the psychological motivation to dress or act as the opposite sex varies widely—transvestism is but one of the many manifestations of cross-gender behavior in the human species.
So, this is the way to introduce transsexuality to a lay audience? By talking for two paragraphs about someone who isn't a transsexual, or even a "typical" transvestite? No wonder we get crap like Ticked Off Trannies is this is how a scientific magazine broaches the subject.
I saw the magazine at a friend's house, and haven't been able to get hold of it for myself yet, but when I do a letter will follow. Any suggestions as to what might go in it?
ETA: Oh, and one of the three bullet points they put in their "taster" on the web site reads:
Culture also influences who becomes a transsexual—and not always in expected ways. In traditional cultures, for example, people may turn to transsexuality as a way to conform to social norms.
Clearly, one of the essential points to get into your head is that people say they're transsexual when they're actually gay. So much fail in so few words.
The reigning queen of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the “Baroness” Titti Von Tramp, a deeply bronzed, thoroughly waxed and statuesque figure approaching seven feet tall in stiletto heels, wearing tinted couture glasses and crowned with a perfect platinum mane. On any given night, you can find the bosomy Von Tramp at one of the local nightclubs, pursing her strawberry-colored lips in a photo-op for one of her many fans or perhaps making an Ulster businessman turn bright red by deviously running one long, manly finger down the man’s cheek and judging, “That’s a good year.”
For many people, the term “transvestite” is synonymous with such larger-than-life characters, an entertaining coterie of mostly gay men and their oversexed female alter egos. But as with any human demographic, transvestites are a very diverse bunch, and it is only a select few who can turn their minority status into such a lucrative career in drag theatrics. For more modest individuals, the limelight is hardly a desirable place to be. Furthermore, the psychological motivation to dress or act as the opposite sex varies widely—transvestism is but one of the many manifestations of cross-gender behavior in the human species.
So, this is the way to introduce transsexuality to a lay audience? By talking for two paragraphs about someone who isn't a transsexual, or even a "typical" transvestite? No wonder we get crap like Ticked Off Trannies is this is how a scientific magazine broaches the subject.
I saw the magazine at a friend's house, and haven't been able to get hold of it for myself yet, but when I do a letter will follow. Any suggestions as to what might go in it?
ETA: Oh, and one of the three bullet points they put in their "taster" on the web site reads:
Culture also influences who becomes a transsexual—and not always in expected ways. In traditional cultures, for example, people may turn to transsexuality as a way to conform to social norms.
Clearly, one of the essential points to get into your head is that people say they're transsexual when they're actually gay. So much fail in so few words.