Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by John Shaft

I absolutely agree with you. Chaz is not a good representative for the trans community yet he has stepped into the role. I read the blogs Stephen Ira wrote and do agree with him, not only that Stephen Ira is obviously more educated and his blogs are very well written. I also heard Chaz on Howard Stern this week. I don't know what it is, the dude just expresses things so poorly, doesn't seem to get it. I don't agree with anything much he says at all.

I really don't think he does "get it." I think that for him being a trans activist solely consists of getting the world to "accept" trans people as the same as cis people but born defectively, in much the same way that society once thought that there was only one sex and that women were just defective men rather than an entirely different sex. It seems like trans activism as embracing diversity and new ways of thinking about sex/gender aren't even on the radar for him. He essentially wants the world to pity trans people instead of hate trans people.

Not to mention his treatment of women. It seems his version of "missing out on all the things little boys got to do" consists of treating women like crap. I'm not sure he sees his own hypocrisy as a self-proclaimed LGBT activist. He seems caught in between wanting to be socially conscious and wanting to be a stereotypical guy so that American males will accept him as "normal guy." Through some of his interviews it seems he's made perfectly clear that he doesn't want to be associated with women, anyway.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by John Shaft

I absolutely agree with you. Chaz is not a good representative for the trans community yet he has stepped into the role. I read the blogs Stephen Ira wrote and do agree with him, not only that Stephen Ira is obviously more educated and his blogs are very well written. I also heard Chaz on Howard Stern this week. I don't know what it is, the dude just expresses things so poorly, doesn't seem to get it. I don't agree with anything much he says at all.

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

I really don't think he does "get it." I think that for him being a trans activist solely consists of getting the world to "accept" trans people as the same as cis people but born defectively, in much the same way that society once thought that there was only one sex and that women were just defective men rather than an entirely different sex. It seems like trans activism as embracing diversity and new ways of thinking about sex/gender aren't even on the radar for him. He essentially wants the world to pity trans people instead of hate trans people.

Not to mention his treatment of women. It seems his version of "missing out on all the things little boys got to do" consists of treating women like crap. I'm not sure he sees his own hypocrisy as a self-proclaimed LGBT activist. He seems caught in between wanting to be socially conscious and wanting to be a stereotypical guy so that American males will accept him as "normal guy." Through some of his interviews it seems he's made perfectly clear that he doesn't want to be associated with women, anyway.

I agree with you guys. As I said in another thread, I saw him speak at a trans conference soon after "Becoming Chaz" came out. Several transguys confronted him pretty harshly about presenting as a representative of the trans community and his misogynistic statements.

Chaz truly seemed to not really "get" how his statements came across and genuinely seemed to not want the media to think that he was speaking for anyone but himself when talking about being trans. No disrespect to Chaz, but in watching the dialogue with the audience I deduced that maybe the guy just doesn't have the critical thinking skills necessary to really get it. Again, truly no disrespect to him, that is just my assessment.

P.S. I have not read/seen Chaz in any venue since the above, so I do not know what he may have said since that time (May 2011?).