Quote:
Originally Posted by YouForgotTheSpoon
As for the article... Well, I'm quite mixed about it. One the one hand, a government job seems better than being a beggar or sex worker. On the other hand, it's sad that they could only come up with that. There are many more jobs that trans people could do.
But social change is usually gradual. Who knows. Today they're being paid for this, and it's better than nothing.
Knowing that in my town there's a trans woman who lives in the streets, I would rather she had this job than nothing. I'm sure those women in the article feel the same.
Some of us are really lucky, and might never be able to understand or go through those situations.
|
While I certainly agree a job is better than no job, the state of trans people in the east and southeast Asia has been something I've been thinking quite a bit about. Yes, social change is gradual, but I wonder if the nature of the job isn't in itself just playing off cis people's dislike/distrust of transfolks. In a way it makes me think about the late middle ages and early modern period when, for religious reasons, Jews were more frequently bankers than Christians. This gave them the reputation of being "money-hungry" and "greedy" and yet it had nothing to do with any kind of "inherently" Jewish characteristic, but rather the fabric of contemporary society.
The same thing worries me when trans people are given jobs specifically as tax collectors because of their "special skills." If people aren't paying taxes or are paying them grudgingly, and if they begrudge their government for whatever reason, and additionally see members of an already marginalized group acting out that government's work, then they might very well begin to perceive trans people as an inherent extension of the state. As the "enemy" or as "greedy" the way Jews were perceived in the past.
Also, if the method of getting them to pay taxes is "making a spectacle" on their front doorstep, I still get the feeling that the gov't might be using social stereotypes and phobias to their own advantage instead of dispelling them.
Example:
Quote:
It specifically recommended they be appointed as tax collectors to utilise their "special skills".
Those special skills are already on display in Clifton one of Karachi's most affluent neighbourhoods.
There Shehzadi joins a group of theatrically dressed, heavily made-up transgenders can be seen sometimes strutting down the wide, quiet, tree-lined streets.
"We knock on the doors of people who haven't paid their taxes," she says.
"We tell them to pay up, but there are some who don't, so we stand on their doorstep and give them trouble and make a spectacle. Then to stop us attracting attention, they pay. I love the job, life's going well!"
The experiment has been judged something of a success by the local authority, too, with Shehzadi's team collecting large amounts of unpaid dues.
|
Again, of course I think it's great that they are trying to give transfolks better jobs. Because as you said it's better than what they typically end up in the east. But I also wonder how society there is changing, or if it's moreso exploitation than really trying to help matters. Like that Thai airline who hired a bunch of transwomen, which is great and all...but then they make them wear nametags that broadcast that they are trans and seem to be doing it for the publicity, given that Thailand is known for its "girly boys." Now their society has created different "types" according to what surgeries they've had and of course they typically only hold certain jobs (same is most places: entertainment, sex industry etc.) I still look at these steps forward with suspicion.
I guess to me, "transitioning" or just living as your true sex/gender for most people I've met is about being yourself rather than what society thinks you should be according to chromosomes and genitals. But then how can you be free and yourself in a society that only allows you to fulfill certain roles or work certain jobs because of your gender identity or expression? I dunno, like I said, I still hold it all with a bit of suspicion.