MSNBC:The Great Transgender Dilemna
I watch MSNBC a lot and Friday afternoon, July 25, 2009 Texas Oreo Deluxe:News actress Tamron Hall and MSNBC news male spokes-model: David Schuster had a huge laugh at the expense of Oregon's Transgender Mayor Stu Rasmussen. Brenda Sturdevent filed a complaint against the nation's only TG mayor for her choice of clothing as risque and inappropriate. Well Tamron laughed her ass off with Schuster. She mis-identified Mayor Rasmussen, a transgender "man" who's now a woman and as "he" while the fellow MSNBC douchebag: Schuster misidentified Mayor Rasmussen as a transvestite. Oreo-Tamron giggled:"Oh no, he's a woman now and he's transgender" she kept referring to Rasmussen in the wrong pronoun as "he". While the pregnant transgender man was appropriate terminology, Mayor Rasmussen is no longer a man or a he!
Obviously for Tamron coming from Texas, being a very backward state, her reaction is typical as was Schuster's frat boy stupidity. As a dyke activist, I find their unprofessional behavior appalling. However this is what happens when a station gives shows to news actresses and male spokes-models who lack education. Is MSNBC turning into the Howard Stern show or Maury, another mega douche-bag?
I want Every last GBLT person to bitch slap down Tamron Hall and David Schuster, get these bitches educational training. Research shows that the brains of transgender people are wired to identify their internally designated gender as being the opposite gender of their physical bodies. Mayor Rasmussen does not appear the most feminine looking woman, however she's credible enough to have been elected as mayor, let's give this lady some respect! People, we need some education, enlightenment and compassion here. Sister Tamron would not be all too happy if she were mocked with a racially degrading charicature, the way she charicatured Mayor Stu Rasmussen.
While I am at it, the media at large is at fault, this also includes fellow gays in the media! They now have some clout but many could care less about the T groups in the GBLT family. Many gays see transwomen as their court jesters and mascots. The media needs an eye adjustment as to the way that they portray particularly the T group.
The Village Voice's Gay Pride issue was shameful! It had no good coverage of educated transgender issues, it did have a huge whore display in their classifieds. The Voice survives largely on the transgender prostitutes who buy up thousands of dollars in The Village Voice's weekly advertising. If you don't believe me just look at all the tranny prostitutes in their back pages. Figure that each ad must cost about 200.00 bucks, $200.00 here, $200.00 there, it all ads up! It serves such rags to maintain the status quote, it certainly pays them well. Perhaps featuring educated, politically aware transgender women would humanize them beyond being entertaining, funny and easier to exploit?
So the Village Voice portrays 1970's nostalgic style queer-camp as served by antiquated, snarky queen with a typewriter: Musty Michael. Michael Musto is also a semi-regular on MSNBC's Countdown. Musty covers bitchy celebrity periodical shit while tossing in backhanded compliments about silicone tragic, trannys and tranny prostitutes. Musty is highly overrated and gets paid to reinforce antiquated queer stereotypes. Unlike Dan Savage who is actually brilliant, Musty is a safe if not stale choice. Tabloid "journalism" keeps queers permanently lampooned as camp and comical tragedians. And this system of mockery keeps trannys the new bottom rung on the queer ladder with us dykes being on top, sorry boys your second most accepted in the most credible department! Media is afraid of masculine, everyday gay men, though it's beginning to inch some in.
Depicting transgender women as pathetic cartoons is typical. The media loves to confuse all transwomen with drag queens and crossdressers. In fact the least educated transwomen are confused how to identify themselves, even when they are completely female identified. Though transexuals, drag queens, crossdressers and gender ambivalent people are all considered transgender: (a political umbrella term). But with sea creatures: sponges, sharks and jelly fish, all are separate sea life forms. Politically convenient as one unifying term is, many lay-people cannot distinguish these variations within the transgender realm.
There's a much different life situation happening between a transexual, a drag queen and a straight crossdresser. All transgender women are not workin it for a laugh, but apparently the media is fond of this notion. Professor Jennifer Linney Boylan and Dr. Marci Bowers are no Amanda Lepore though Amanda makes for lurid tabloid fodder, it's time for a change of focus!
The media had better get its collective shit together and show some Respect. Until then Razoretta says "Let's give those media bitches hell!" Email, call and tell MSNBC to have Tamron Hall and David Schuster apologize for how they mocked Mayor Rasmussen. Go to www.msnbc.com Also contact all GBLT organizations about sensitivity training to get Tamron, David and MSNBC educated.
Peace,
Rae
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I am really sick and tired fo everyone blaming others for their stupid comments. Because of my short stature other kids tried to call me names to embarass me all the time or at least untill they found out it did'nt bother me. Pointing, name calling and other insensitive acts like that are simply insecurities of the person or persons that are doing the acts and by not reacting to their jeers and taunts, it made THEM look like the fools to them and their friends.
ReplyDeleteI resent Texas being called a "backwards state" as I lived in Dallas for 14 years and I found most of the people there just like any other state to be kind, understanding and well adjusted. You have IDIOTS in every single state there is and in fact I belive that Texas has one of the largest gay and transgendered communities there is next to California.
I find it sad and disgusting to also make the comment that everyone should "bith slap" these people that made these comments as that in iteself shows just how unintelligent and juvenile this writer is to throw back insults.
Insults vs insults results in hatred and non-understanding while insults vs ignoring results in confusion for the person throwing the insults and the problem usually dies right there . By the way, I am a well know transgendered woman although I technically am a true hamaphrodite having been born with parts of both sexes but I dislike that term. I prefer to call myself transgendered simply because although I am probably more Woman than most transgenered I will never be a 100% born woman and I am sorry but even those with a sex change are still NOT a 100% woman but rather are transgendered but I don't care either what they prefer to call themselves as that is their right.
If we would all stop worrying about WHAT we are and start focusing on WHO we are, this would be a mich nicer world.
Because I always presnt myself with class and dignity, I have NEVER EVER once had anyone in my adult life laugh, snicker or call me a name that was distasteful, but rather I have always been treated with the utmost respect and as the woman that I appear to be!!!
My comment on this situation is simply this.......although I would fight for the right of this person to live the way he or she prefers and I applaud the community in which this mayor lives for electing her as she prefers to be called to office, I must agree that a miniskirt is not proper attire for a mayor especially in a setting with children. With that said, yes there are going to be those that call names because they are idiots that possibly are not secure with their own gender or simply because they have never been exposed to this sort of gender and do not understand because they have never sat down and talked with someone that has grown up like this. I also don't know who did the research on transgendered but I also dislike the comment that our brains are "wired" differently as I hate to clue you in but EVERYONES brain is "wired differently" from everyone elses brain....duh. There are women that love other women and men that love other men and women that have mustaches and men that hate facial hair but that does not make them transgendered or any other term...........it simply makes them a little different from what our society calls normal when in truth I have yet to find the person that has lived their entire life as what EVERYONE would call Normal...smile.
I applaud Stu Rasmusson for the courage to live his/her life as he/she sees fit but there are standards that even if she was a stunning busty blonde she would still have to abide by especially as the mayor and untill the law is changed he/she should live by that law especially as a government official and currently the law of that town says "no miniskirt".
As to those that laugh.........if we ignore them and don't print stupid articles like this and don't make a federal case of it.......they WILL go away.