Occasionally forget.
Someone wrote…
There’s something cis, trans and genderqueer people occasionally forget: gender can be an identity or a game, but it should never be a competition.
What’s your experience?
Posted by julian on June 8th, 2010 at 08:00 am
Category: your voice 17 comments »
June 8th, 2010 at 8:07 am |
I totally agree. Some people have picked on me, because I’m not quite comfortable dressing how I want to, because of the stupid small town I live in. Others have picked on me because my gender-epiphany came only recently, and until then, I’d been a cis female, then a transman. It was only when I discovered the word ‘genderqueer’ that I realised who I actually was.
We are who we are. Gender is a personal experience, and a personal identity.
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June 8th, 2010 at 10:17 am |
Goodness, yes. I’ve seen too many “trannier than thou”-type arguments.
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June 8th, 2010 at 4:01 pm |
I love the “trannier than thou” it’s right up with “Dykier than thou.”
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June 8th, 2010 at 5:34 pm |
I’m going to throw out “cissier than thou” just because it sounds funny, and because it’s a fun way to describe insecure cismen who overcompensate around queer people.
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June 9th, 2010 at 2:27 am |
LOL. yeah, ‘cissier than thou’ sounds funny.
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June 9th, 2010 at 8:56 am |
It is funny, but you have to make sure not to say it like “sissier”, which is the opposite of what cismen want to be. Lol.
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June 9th, 2010 at 9:00 am |
Naomi, the homophone is what makes it funnier, because you get to call them out on being obsessively machismo WHILE calling them sissies just to raz ’em! :D And it’s a HOMO-phone. It’s like a trifecta of language play.
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June 9th, 2010 at 9:05 am |
True, true.
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June 9th, 2010 at 10:12 am |
@J & Naomi – people after my own heart.
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June 9th, 2010 at 3:17 pm |
The movie Queerer Than Thou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_F3iev3Nlc
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June 10th, 2010 at 9:39 am |
y’all are hilarious.
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June 10th, 2010 at 7:29 pm |
I don’t know about you guys, but I am soo trannier than thou. ;)
It is the same thing with people that first come out, and feel like they must embody the male or female stereotype. The trans guy who is super macho. The trans chick who looks like a June Cleaver wanna-be. I want to hug them and give them a feather boa, or a pair of jeans. I can’t say I didn’t go through it, because that would be a lie, but I made it out the other side. Now, instead of defining myself based upon that one thing (trans guy), I can just be.
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June 11th, 2010 at 1:31 am |
One thing to remember: just like ‘queerer than thou’ is a bad tactic, so is ‘moe mainstream gay than thou’. Maybe some people seeem over-the-top to you, but are just really being themselves? Maybe radical is their style?
Gender should not be a competition because a competition has judges. The only one that can judge your gender, is you.
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June 12th, 2010 at 12:07 am |
Well said, Nick.
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June 12th, 2010 at 7:25 am |
I agree with Nick!
Even though I’m pretty high up on the Queer Scale*. It’s just how I roll :P
*it’s basically a 4-dimensional Kinsey scale.
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June 12th, 2010 at 10:09 am |
we should each love our own identities enough not to police their borders.
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June 15th, 2010 at 1:15 am |
Anonymous (the post right above this one) : perfectly said! You’re going in my little book of awesome quotes.
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