Sports reporter to undergo sex change

Well, in this case they might perceive us as "having "a sense of dignity" when it involves one of our own, but throwing that out the window when it's anyone else.

 

No, I would have been more of one because it only further illustrates how my point.

How hard would one sentence -- an insightful one that would have added much without "getting into the bedroom" -- that read something like (and in the interest of full disclosure "The disclosure has not come without some personal sacrifices as it appears he-she and her-his wife of xx years, so-and-so, who also is a reporter here, are divorcing...."


And it is appropriate to refer to him-her as a he-she because he-she wrote in his-her own column that he-she was in the midst of the transition and it won't be complete until he-she comes back from vacation....

 

From afar they might. I believe LAT readers are accustomed to decorum and the paper taking the high road.

 

One of the best posts on here. Was there a reply? If so, I missed it in a tumultuous sea of reasoned posts and scatter-shot bigotry and ignorance.

What constitutes the whole story? 2,500 words? 5,000? Details of the couple's intimate life together? Clothing size? Switch from cologne to perfume? Every thought, feeling, awkward moment and personal relationship affected? Where does it stop? What is "the whole story?" Others have dealt with this non-issue better than I have on this thread, but come on ...

I'll give you this, it can all be a little confusing.

zagoshe
zagoshe

My head's spinning.

 

Today's folllow-up. Note the "love" SportsJournalists.com gets in the story.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-daniels27apr27,0,1174048,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines.

 

J D,

Quit picking on zagohe/she

 

The former is about who you see yourself as, the latter is about who you're attracted to.

To be honest, the terms "hetrosexual" and "homosexual" break down when it comes to trans people. I know transwomen who are attracted to women and transman who are attracted to men. Both were "hetrosexual" prior to transitioning, now they're "homosexual." I also know transwomen who are attracted to men and transmen who are attracted to women, who were "homosexual" prior to transition and now are seen as "hetrosexual." But in all cases who they were attracted didn't change (although that sometimes does happen during transition).

Consequently, it's often more useful to think in terms of androphilic, i.e. attracted to men, and gynophilic, i.e. attracted to women. (Thinking this way is also a useful exercise in other ways, since it points out the commonalities between hetro men and lesbians, and hetro women and gays.)

There is unfortunately, a bit of homophobia in some trans circles, especially among crossdressers, the vast majority of whom are hetro-ish. Part of it is frustration at being perceived as gay even though we are -- a sort of "I'm not one of them...why you lumping me in with them" reaction. But also I think some of it stems from a desire to feel "normal" by putting someone else down. Similar to how certain parts of the gay communities can be misogynistic.

FYI, my experience is that the gay and lesbian communities, while often more accepting to fellow "outsiders," don't grok trans issues any better than hetros do. Some of them can be far more intolerant than the population at large. I know a gay crossdresser and the only time she's ever been harassed in San Francisco was walking down Castro Street (by a group of gay men). And certain segments of lesbian feminism have had some nasty transphobia against MTFs (although oddly not against FTMs), arguably (rather ironically) that in the case of MTFs, biology is destiny, that since they were born male, they can never be women (or should I say womyn).

In addition, as Dyssonance talked about, there's been some bad blood are politics. The joke is that the LBGT community is really LBG-silent-T, since often gay and lesbian activists have been quick to sacrifice trans issues when it's come to seeking anti-discrimation protections.

 

You're right, Ace. I don't know what came over me. I'll stop. My apologies to all for my embarrassing display of insensitivity.

 

It's interesting. If most of the people on here worked for the tabloids, zagoshe's points would be given a lot more credence. Can anyone allow the possibility that this is a question you, as "legitimate" journalists, just are not used to asking?

 

Some crossdressers do, some crossdressers don't.

Crossdressers generally don't have body dissonance, but a good number do feel like they've got a non-physical gender identity that doesn't fit the gender role they've been assigned based their bodies. Likewise, they may feel a desire to do things/behave in ways that are perceived as belonging to the opposite gender role. That's one reason CDs are almost exclusive men, since women are given far more latitude to wear "men's" clothing and to act "masculine." (Historically, it's actually women posing as men who were far more common, and often this was tacitly accepted.)

Unlike transsexuals, doing this part-time is enough to satisfy that need. (For what it's worth, I find many TSs have just as hard a time understanding us as non-trans people do, since they can't grok why we are happy with a foot in both worlds.) Crossdressing is just a sexual kink for some, although I think that for a number of these folks it's easier for them to think of themselves as having a kink rather than admitting to themselves that they've got gender issues.

As far as the social aspects, yes it would be great if one didn't need to don a dress to act in certain ways. Unfortunately, there's little social acceptance for "feminine" men. (It's actually a sign of the extent of ingrained sexism that this is pretty much across the board. Not only do hetro men and women usually look down on this, but "nelly" men don't get a lot of respect in the gay communities, nor do "femmes" in the lesbian communities.)

 

What is the question, shotglass? To me, the target keeps moving a bit every time someone makes an excellent point about a columnist's write to limit the scope of a column to whatever he or she deems appropriate.