Things that piss me off, part 2039384.

[shawnaree]

So I'm reading up on LGBT experiences in public secondary schools right now, and I found this article about Trans teachers, which I thought would be very interesting, but so far it's not really been all that interesting

Comments

[reyl]

Someone missed the memo that correlation is not causation. And it's exactly this kind of idea that leaves all the man-loving ftms stumbling around confused

[shawnaree]

That's what I don't get either. You'd think that when the author said the line about conflation, that she'd realise that she was doing the EXACT same thing.

[shawnaree]

You know, I'm going to tell you this... When I was healing up, I totally used an ACE bandage to bind while the binder went through the wash. Otherwise I was afraid my whole chest was going to just fall off, exposing my entire ribcage to the world.

But then, I also had interoperative photos taken so... I have a little bit more imagery than any human should.

[shawnaree]

Once I stopped being scabby, it was all over. Seriously. No more goop, and I could actually rub on my incisions without being all like, "please don't bleed"... then I was much better. It took like three weeks to a month for that though (mostly because I was sensitive to the sutures, so I was very irritated).

[david_feuer]

I must be missing something, but I don't see what's so wrong about that statement.

[raventhistle]

*shuffles over to david* I don't get it either. I think it's got something to do with the context. To me, it makes sense that some ftms would identify as lesbians for a time because "lesbian" is something that isn't uncommon. Transgender is coming out of it's own closet, but I don't think it's as out there as it should be. So people try to find something that makes sense, and use lesbianism, until they find something that makes more sense for them.

the writer said
"sexual orientation identities are more 'available'"

I don't think they meant that they're the reason, just that they're a convenient explanation for something that's confusing and very, very personal to the person going through it.

*ducks back down behind her rock*
just my humble opinion

[shawnaree]

<3 you, Charley!

[bgmurph]

For the sake of covering all possibilities: it doesn't sound as if the author is saying that *all* transmen first identify as lesbian (or are attracted to women), but rather for the "many" FTMs and trasmen who previously identified as lesbian, the lesbian identity came first because sexual orientation is a more available concept than gender identity. Many female-oriented transmen that I know only knew of "gay" and not "trans" so that is precisely the journey that they took. I also know some gay trans folk who mistakenly thought they were attracted to members of their assigned gender, again because "gay" was available while "trans" was not. Once they discovered their trans identity, they realized that they *were* gay, just not in the way that they originally thought. Of course, not every experience follows this pattern, but recognizing that the discussion of gender identity is not as widespread as the (still lacking) discussion of sexual orientation is critical for the acceptance, sanity, and safety, of queer people.

[bgmurph]

Whoops, left out my last sentence:

You make a good point though, the author should have clarified her last sentence with "many" "some" or whatever term is appropriate based upon the research. Perhaps she thought it was already established that she was talking about only a portion of the population?

[shawnaree]

The issue is, the author says, "is a stepping stone" and not "can be a stepping stone". I know it's a subtle difference, but it's a glaring one to me, since that "is" erases the legitimacy of my experience.

I do hear what you're saying though.

[david_feuer]

I suspect that was an error in composition, rather than in thought, but I guess you'd have to ask the author to be sure.

[peaceofpie]

I don't hear Cromwell saying that this is true for every person who fits any of the labels used in that statement. The statement I hear is a statement that does resonate for some people. Many FTMs/transmen DO live as lesbians before identifying as trans, and for (many of) them that statement IS accurate.

[shawnaree]

I'm not arguing with Cromwell. I'm arguing with the statement that identifying as a lesbian is (always) a stepping stone to a transmasculine identity, which wasn't in the Cromwell study; it was the article's author's words that bothered me.