“Samuel Cartweight [a mid 19th century physician] decided any slave that ran away obviously had a mental illness. So he came up with a word called drapetomania” (Weiss White Privilege). This quote from Tim Weiss was one in a series of examples of him describing how white privilege in the 1850’s, 1890’s, 1930’s, 1963, and 2007 has consistently been oblivious to racial oppression. After watching Beautiful Daughters, and reading the article Trans Woman Manifesto, I’m realizing this is not only true for race, but also for the individuals who define themselves as LGBT (I really don’t know if that’s PC).
When watching Queer Street, I was frustrated to see the misconceived perception our society gives toward people that don’t fit in with the White, male, heterosexual category. That a gay man needs to take drugs for being diagnosed with, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyper activity disorder, bipolar disorder. How many more disorders does a man need to feel like society is beating down on him saying “your life sucks?”
Another misconception our society makes is hyper sexualizing transgender women by “creating the impression that most trans women are sex worker or sexual deceivers. And by asserting that the transition is for primarily sexual reasons” (Serano 443). But it is hard to find that one person that will come out and say “this is not right.”
This is why watching Beautiful Daughters was such a relief. It literally swung a bat at those stereotypes and said “God is into the heart not the body part.” I felt like I had a V.I.P pass into a community of women who have their ups and downs dealing with a society that normally gives weird looks toward those who are transgendered. However, despite those trials and tribulations, they all appeared to come off as very level headed people.
Recognizing the privileged or the oppressed that buy into the stereotypes, that practice the oppositional and traditional sexism, and telling them I don’t agree can help reduce the problem. Also, realizing that there are success stories of people who are transgender that come out and still live healthy lives. It’s not a dramatic, public speaking approach, but it’s something.
I loved the comment "God is in the hear, not the body part." This was in a nutshell what transgender men and women should let the world know and all people should be able to respect these people.
ReplyDeleteI can relate with you when you said that watching Beautiful Daughters was like having a V.I.P. pass. I really felt like I knew what they were going through and I was able to identify them as more than just transgenders women, but human beings trying to find understanding.
ReplyDeleteYes, I really loved the scene with Valerie Spence in her very accepting LGBT church with the Archbishop Carl Bean--it is very powerful. Another saying I like is: gender is between the ears, not between the legs. But it is very hard to get society to understand this, which likes this simple and clear cut. Films like Beautiful Daughters go a long ways to help clear up myths and stereotypes about Transgender Women.
ReplyDeleteI loved the film Beautiful Daughters, I wish people would look more into these issues and form their own educated opinions instead of just listening off other's ideas.
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