When thinking of a male to female transsexual or transgendered person, it’s easy or easier to think of that boy that never fit in, or that girly boy that everybody wondered about whether he was gay, than it is to think of “manly men” actually identifying as female… but so it is, and apparently not so rare.
I never studied this subject nor do I currently intend to, so I simply go by my own perceptions here, but I noticed that especially in the world of Punk or Metal quite a few transgendered persons can be found, me included. Why?
Since I’m a rather lone ranger and am only beginning to enter the wider world of my kind I can only speculate, but I will speculate based on myself, and I have the suspicion that it does apply much broader than my own little existence.
Being transgendered is a very awkward feeling. Without a point of reference it seems to make no sense. You’re a guy… but you’re not. So what are you? It’s very weird, especially if you grew up in a little town without the internet.
Art offers a very wide and open door, and so do certain types of music, such as Metal, and especially Punk. Anything goes. No questions asked. Just be.
Being different is not strange when it comes to art; it is wanted. Being unique is what makes a piece special. Conformity is frowned upon. Conformity is plainly the worst there can be.
Trying to “wipe off” or “wipe away” these feelings is done best with hyper-masculinity, hence the military component, or the biker one, or the trashy punk one. Destroy!
And underneath those safety pins and ripped pants and tatoos and painted hair there’s not a rebel against the system but a rebel against herself, and with it a fucked up system unable to absorb diversity by being stuck in the mode of gray. Gray trousers, gray ties, gray shoes, gray offices… gray lives, gray pasts and gray futures… a simply gray existence, namely, waiting to die and leave behind gray kids. No colors anywhere, and so we slowly waste away, happy to have avoided suffering.
Many people, public figures, have come out as transgendered by now. I’m rather grateful for such backup. Athletes, celebrities, artists, even military. Is that so because our society has become “too lenient”, too lost when it comes to “family values”, … is that the “moral decline” the religious warn of? - Well, I wouldn’t come out when my entire life would be at stake because of it. Way back then literally. - Humanity is a funny bunch of awkward individuals, each one terribly hilarious and worth spending time with. What all this conformity does and did is make for an awfully boring world in which death and eternal life really is all to be hoped for.
… being guided by the sounds of Bowie right now, I wish you all a great evening and weekend…
Peace, my brothers and sisters,
Michelle
Not to mention that the binary gender structure is built into pretty much every language in the world. Which implies that if the concept is universal, it’s built into the brain as well, at least in some sense.
Earlier this year, I read through “The Stuff Of Thought” by Steven Pinker, with is a pop-sciencey book about using linguistics to derive how the brain organizes information. I greatly enjoyed it, although it’s a dense read. There is some stuff in there about how languages use gender assignment, but I don’t remember any details right off hand. It might be something you’d be interested in checking out.
Speaking of listening to Bowie:
Here’s what I think is some of the finest music ever written, by a gay man, no less:
The performers look pretty young, but Northwestern has one of the top music universities in the world. They’re solid.
Not to mention that the binary gender structure is built into pretty much every language in the world. Which implies that if the concept is universal, it's built into the brain as well, at least in some sense. Earlier this year, I read through "The Stuff Of Thought" by Steven Pinker, with is a pop-sciencey book about using linguistics to derive how the brain organizes information. I greatly enjoyed it, although it's a dense read. There is some stuff in there about how languages use gender assignment, but I don't remember any details right off hand. It might be something you'd be interested in checking out.Hi Andrew, ... thank you. Language is an interesting component in this for sure. Is it true that all languages are binary structured? I have no idea. I mean, it would make sense, as there are only two human sexes, and gender variations identify with one or the other to whatever degree. I have one of Steven Pinker's books, but never got so far as the first chapter. I like him. That book you mention sounds interesting. I'll check it out. Although "dense read" makes for even slower reading than I'm engaging in anyway. At least the slow motion allows for better absorbing of the material. You can't read everything, no matter how much one would like to. Thanks & have a great weekend!
Speaking of listening to Bowie: Here's what I think is some of the finest music ever written, by a gay man, no less: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXz1jR_WphA The performers look pretty young, but Northwestern has one of the top music universities in the world. They're solid.Awesome! Thank you. I love symphonic orchestras! ... "written by a gay man" reminds me of a comment in a lecture I once listened to. Went like this: "Wasn't Tchaikovsky gay?" ... "Well, yes, but that's not why we enjoy his music." :-)
Awesome! Thank you. I love symphonic orchestras! ... "written by a gay man" reminds me of a comment in a lecture I once listened to. Went like this: "Wasn't Tchaikovsky gay?" ... "Well, yes, but that's not why we enjoy his music." :-)Yup. We enjoy because it's damn good music. Nothing else. :-)
Hi Andrew, ... thank you. Language is an interesting component in this for sure. Is it true that all languages are binary structured? I have no idea. I mean, it would make sense, as there are only two human sexes, and gender variations identify with one or the other to whatever degree.No, I don't think that every one is strictly binary, but there is a very strong bias. In English, we have "he", "she", and "it" for personal pronouns, but "it" is not really considered to be a polite way to refer to someone. There are smatterings of other personal pronouns which acknowledge non-binary sexuality, but they're not common and never seem to really stick. For example, one nice detail about the movie "Gangs Of New York" was that they included a use of the word "heshe" to refer to transvestites, which I believe was an accurate historical word use in New York City in the mid-19th century.
Hi Andrew, ... thank you. Language is an interesting component in this for sure. Is it true that all languages are binary structured? I have no idea. I mean, it would make sense, as there are only two human sexes, and gender variations identify with one or the other to whatever degree.No, I don't think that every one is strictly binary, but there is a very strong bias. In English, we have "he", "she", and "it" for personal pronouns, but "it" is not really considered to be a polite way to refer to someone. There are smatterings of other personal pronouns which acknowledge non-binary sexuality, but they're not common and never seem to really stick. For example, one nice detail about the movie "Gangs Of New York" was that they included a use of the word "heshe" to refer to transvestites, which I believe was an accurate historical word use in New York City in the mid-19th century. Interesting.... I read on WikiPedia that "shemale" once referred to manly women. Well, needless to say it's pretty much a porn term today, which I actually find pretty dumb, being a porn term I mean. It does pretty accurately refer to and identify certain individuals, and they might not be porn-inclined in any way. Words change meaning. They evolve just as society does. But grammar concerning gender (and God) possibly evolves more slowly, as the ideas connected are much more "eternal" than the mundane surroundings one usually gets into contact with. Can't remember the HeShe thing in Gangs of New York, but whatever term they used, transgendered people always existed; to ignore that is fine, to talk it away as simply a sort of "confusion" is simply not true. I have a good and very religious friend who is very skeptical about my decisions, but although he tells me that, he nonetheless accepts me. That's very different from the pastors I encountered, continually trying to explain to me that I'm confused. I'm not confused. They are confused. - Sorry, didn't mean to bring that up. I'm not into arguing with people. But it does keep bugging me deep inside, that the people I once really relied on think that bad of me. I'm not trying to screw up anybody's theology, but unfortunately many theologies have left people no choice but to disassociate with me. Very sad. I'm not happy about it. - On the other hand, I did not reach out yet either to possibly repair this. Maybe I should. I like peace, you know. Can't stand being on bad terms with people Peace. Michelle
...I have a good and very religious friend who is very skeptical about my decisions, but although he tells me that, he nonetheless accepts me. That's very different from the pastors I encountered, continually trying to explain to me that I'm confused. I'm not confused. They are confused... Peace. MichelleA hardcore identification with certain theologies gives people blinders with regard to some social issues. So I would agree that it is their problem, not yours, except to the extent that you need or want to interact with them.
Interesting.... I read on WikiPedia that "shemale" once referred to manly women. Well, needless to say it's pretty much a porn term today, which I actually find pretty dumb, being a porn term I mean. It does pretty accurately refer to and identify certain individuals, and they might not be porn-inclined in any way.Sure enough. But those words, while containing pronouns in them as compound words, (at least as far as I've seen) are used as adjectives, not pronouns. We see "he walked out" and "she walked out" but not "shemale walked out".
Interesting.... I read on WikiPedia that "shemale" once referred to manly women. Well, needless to say it's pretty much a porn term today, which I actually find pretty dumb, being a porn term I mean. It does pretty accurately refer to and identify certain individuals, and they might not be porn-inclined in any way.Sure enough. But those words, while containing pronouns in them as compound words, (at least as far as I've seen) are used as adjectives, not pronouns. We see "he walked out" and "she walked out" but not "shemale walked out". Shemale is, primarily, a noun, but your point is correct in that it is not a pronoun. A pronoun is used in place of a noun in reference to the primary noun that has already been mentioned. Have you noticed that all of our pronouns have 1 syllable? Perhaps we need a single syllable pronoun to refer to (according to gender), a person who is transgender. I wonder how this topic plays out in Spanish, a language in which (I think) every noun is assigned a gender. (El) hombre (masculine); la mujer (feminine); (el) sol (masculine); (la) luna (feminine); etc.. I wonder whether the Spanish word for shemale has an "el" or a "la" assigned.