Dear friends,
Jan. 17th, 2013 08:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aumentouI don't write much on here. Mostly that's because of depression, illness, etc etc. I don't do a lot that's worth writing about, and the stuff I do do would probably qualify as "too much information" in most cases. Even when I do write, I don't usually put it up on here because frankly it's pretty miserable reading and I don't want to bring you all down. Mardy people complaining all the time about personal issues are not good company, and I do try to be good company.
But now I feel I have to write, because something bad is happening and you ought to know. This one is and isn't personal - it's a media event which happens to impact more on me than most of you.
On the 8th of January a journalist by the name of Suzanne Moore was writing about women's anger. Good topic! Can't fault it. The rest of her article was somewhat overshadowed when she included the sentence "We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual." Now, there's a language issue there (transsexual is an adjective, not a noun), there's transphobia in the part where a "Brazilian transsexual" apparently cannot possibly be a woman, and there's also the rather serious point that Brazil has a horrible record for transphobic hate crimes.
This last point was underlined on the 11th, when a Brazilian trans woman was murdered. Apparently the body shape of a "Brazilian transsexual" is not considered ideal in Brazil, where it gets you shot.
So, some people pointed out to Ms Moore that her phrasing had some problems. Her responses were impolite. There was an argument, on the internet! So far, so unsurprising. Then she flounced off twitter, screaming about how she'd been "hounded" off.
I've left and indeed flounced out of internet environments before. However I've never claimed to be hounded off. Reading is after all a voluntary thing. So her response was an immature strop, but that's an aside.
It should have ended there, but no, this one is still running. Suzanne's good mate Julie Burchill, the semi-famous troll-for-hire, then wrote a piece I'm not going to link to. It was basically a page of second-rate hate speech. I say second rate because she didn't manage a single original insult, despite putting a lot of effort in. Nonetheless, it was quite unpleasant in intent, even if the intended targets are like me quite inured to such things. The Observer published it, then retracted it with an apology. The Guardian published it on the internet (and similarly retracted, though without an apology), and it's now hosted in various places. You can go and look, if you want a taste of trans living.
So far so stupid. Journalist has troll friend, who cares? Well, since the Observer pulled the piece, there has been more commentary on that. Apparently "freedom of speech" is an important thing, and it is crucial for the preservation of "freedom of speech" not only for Julie Burchill to be allowed to write pages of crude insults but for said insults to be printed in national newspapers. This is very important, for the good of the nation! Especially when said insults are about trans women! If national newspapers stop printing pages of crude insults about trans women just because it causes intolerance and encourages hate crimes towards us, then apparently civilisation will fall. Nick Clegg apologised last year because an unused draft of a speech called some people bigots (despite it being literally true), but when it's trans women being referred to as men with their dicks cut off apparently it's all just fine.
So far we have hostile pieces in the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, the Independent, the Spectator, and probably more by the time you see this because I don't like to read newspapers any more and so I won't have noticed. There have been a few articles supporting trans people, mostly on feminist or LGBT websites.
So what's the conclusion? Well, I'm going to ask you to do something. Please, if you consider transphobia a serious problem in the world, take a few minutes to compose a letter or email to these papers. Write to them and ask them to stop doing it. Tell them you aren't going to buy their papers because of it.
Because really, "freedom of speech" is a different thing from "being allowed to bully people who are already being bullied".
But now I feel I have to write, because something bad is happening and you ought to know. This one is and isn't personal - it's a media event which happens to impact more on me than most of you.
On the 8th of January a journalist by the name of Suzanne Moore was writing about women's anger. Good topic! Can't fault it. The rest of her article was somewhat overshadowed when she included the sentence "We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual." Now, there's a language issue there (transsexual is an adjective, not a noun), there's transphobia in the part where a "Brazilian transsexual" apparently cannot possibly be a woman, and there's also the rather serious point that Brazil has a horrible record for transphobic hate crimes.
This last point was underlined on the 11th, when a Brazilian trans woman was murdered. Apparently the body shape of a "Brazilian transsexual" is not considered ideal in Brazil, where it gets you shot.
So, some people pointed out to Ms Moore that her phrasing had some problems. Her responses were impolite. There was an argument, on the internet! So far, so unsurprising. Then she flounced off twitter, screaming about how she'd been "hounded" off.
I've left and indeed flounced out of internet environments before. However I've never claimed to be hounded off. Reading is after all a voluntary thing. So her response was an immature strop, but that's an aside.
It should have ended there, but no, this one is still running. Suzanne's good mate Julie Burchill, the semi-famous troll-for-hire, then wrote a piece I'm not going to link to. It was basically a page of second-rate hate speech. I say second rate because she didn't manage a single original insult, despite putting a lot of effort in. Nonetheless, it was quite unpleasant in intent, even if the intended targets are like me quite inured to such things. The Observer published it, then retracted it with an apology. The Guardian published it on the internet (and similarly retracted, though without an apology), and it's now hosted in various places. You can go and look, if you want a taste of trans living.
So far so stupid. Journalist has troll friend, who cares? Well, since the Observer pulled the piece, there has been more commentary on that. Apparently "freedom of speech" is an important thing, and it is crucial for the preservation of "freedom of speech" not only for Julie Burchill to be allowed to write pages of crude insults but for said insults to be printed in national newspapers. This is very important, for the good of the nation! Especially when said insults are about trans women! If national newspapers stop printing pages of crude insults about trans women just because it causes intolerance and encourages hate crimes towards us, then apparently civilisation will fall. Nick Clegg apologised last year because an unused draft of a speech called some people bigots (despite it being literally true), but when it's trans women being referred to as men with their dicks cut off apparently it's all just fine.
So far we have hostile pieces in the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, the Independent, the Spectator, and probably more by the time you see this because I don't like to read newspapers any more and so I won't have noticed. There have been a few articles supporting trans people, mostly on feminist or LGBT websites.
So what's the conclusion? Well, I'm going to ask you to do something. Please, if you consider transphobia a serious problem in the world, take a few minutes to compose a letter or email to these papers. Write to them and ask them to stop doing it. Tell them you aren't going to buy their papers because of it.
Because really, "freedom of speech" is a different thing from "being allowed to bully people who are already being bullied".
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no subject
Date: 2013-01-17 08:42 pm (UTC)As to your post.
I must admit I've been keeping half an eye on the issue since I know a number of trans people. I saw the two specific articles you mentioned and agree they were utterly disgusting. However the response I've seen has been different - even the Mail (probably just to have a go at the Guardian) attacked it and most other papers have too. Yes they've quoted the article but that seemed to me to be so they could explain to their readers what they were arguing against.
Maybe I've missed something. If I have I'm sorry, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how united the opposition to these articles was. Oh there were a few ------ out there, there always are. Do you have links to the articles you mention? I ask because I seem to recall the Torygraph article was fairly balanced - though I'm willing to stand corrected.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-17 08:48 pm (UTC)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/9800041/We-dont-need-Suzanne-Moore-and-Julie-Burchill-to-police-the-borders-of-womanhood.html
There are elements I disagree with but I dont think you can disagree with most of what she is saying
no subject
Date: 2013-01-17 09:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-20 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-17 11:51 pm (UTC)I'm sure you've seen Roz Kaveney's article in The Guardian, but you might not have seen Dean Burnett's, also in The Guardian. There's also Dr Brooke Magnanti in The Telegraph and Louise McCudden in The Independent. All outspoken against transphobia and some very good writing. There's also a poll in The Independent which won't do a great deal but takes seconds - http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iv-drip/poll-did-julie-burchill-go-too-far-in-her-transphobic-defence-of-suzanne-moore-8449529.html
Also, there is protest and it does seem to be being taken seriously - http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/jan/17/transgender-protest-observer-offices-burchill
This whole thing has been horrible. I've wanted to punch the screen several times. There does seem to be some good coming of it, though.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-19 09:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-19 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-28 12:23 am (UTC)I think the general backlash may have actually been a good result out of a Bad Thing.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-18 04:00 pm (UTC)