Why it's Offensive / Is it Offensive

[Nat]

Originally Posted by Corkey

All of them. What is offensive to you may not be offensive to another, and visa versa. If someone tells me it's offensive, I tend to believe them, because I don't presume to know what offense is going trigger someone.

That makes sense. I guess what I don't understand is which bit(s) to understand as offensive and which bits are not. It seems very unclear to me.

I hate feeling stupid. :/

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Nat

That makes sense. I guess what I don't understand is which bit(s) to understand as offensive and which bits are not. It seems very unclear to me.

I hate feeling stupid. :/

Ok, Nat, you aren't stupid, and there is nothing wrong in asking questions.
I tend to agree with what aishah said.

I don't think Anderson was out to be offensive, but his speaking for other people is, you guessed it, offensive.

[aishah]

blah, i'm talking a lot, sorry. i'm trying to pick apart exactly what makes me feel icky about this, too.

i don't think it's necessarily bad to represent a multiplicity of ways of embodying an identity. i do think with this there is definitely an element of invalidation - that he's saying this person's experience isn't real. i mean, cooper even brought in a doctor to weigh in (wtf). and that - combined with the apparent "look at this bizarre person!" factor - is what's sensationalist and upsetting.

i don't necessarily think cooper set out to be offensive (he succeeded either way), but he wasn't doing this with totally altruistic motives in mind either.

[Nat]

Originally Posted by aishah

blah, i'm talking a lot, sorry. i'm trying to pick apart exactly what makes me feel icky about this, too.

i don't think it's necessarily bad to represent a multiplicity of ways of embodying an identity. i do think with this there is definitely an element of invalidation - that he's saying this person's experience isn't real. i mean, cooper even brought in a doctor to weigh in (wtf). and that - combined with the apparent "look at this bizarre person!" factor - is what's sensationalist and upsetting.

i don't necessarily think cooper set out to be offensive (he succeeded either way), but he wasn't doing this with totally altruistic motives in mind either.

Okay - the "look at this bizarre person' thing didn't exactly occur to me, but if that was the intent or effect then that isn't at all respectful. I didn't pick up on that element.

[Martina]

Am I wrong, or are they upset that he interviewed her at all? The point was that he allowed this bogus theory air time, right?

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Martina

Am I wrong, or are they upset that he interviewed her at all? The point was that he allowed this bogus theory air time, right?

Personally the whole thing is a cluster f* but I'm still not going to judge her gender.

[Nat]

Originally Posted by Martina

Am I wrong, or are they upset that he interviewed her at all? The point was that he allowed this bogus theory air time, right?

Maybe that's it?

[Linus]

If anything, I personally, am not offended and actually impressed with Anderson's response. He's right in that trans individuals aren't something that comes out of a bottle or the result of a bottle. I'd be more worried that Mandi would make the average person think that it's strictly taking drugs (over the counter or otherwise) that makes a person want to transition -- and that's wrong.

Is it possible it may have heighten her awareness of her own femininity or perhaps because of the side-effects may have made her question herself more than she had previously? Perhaps. I suspect that perhaps the depression that Mandi experienced may have had her question a whole variety of things so it's not the drug per say but rather the depression restarted a thought process that had be left behind.

I sometimes think we overly knee-jerk sensitivities and believe that when people question something that there is a malicious or evil intent behind it when, in fact, it's an honest attempt to understand and clarify. The one thing that Anderson did well is that he said things like "From what I understand..". He used *I* rather than a generalization so that identifies things from his experience, which may or may not be wide.

But that's my thinking...

[Dude]

I know I'm veering from the thread intentions here and
thought to myself only transpeople should likely come in
here to answer.
Then I watched the clips and I think this person plans
on suing the drug manufacturer.
I would be very interested in hearing opinions from Mtfs.
I think Mandi is trying to build a case or be different?

Notice how she says there is no cure , no treatments , she has researched
the company , suffered a divorce , panic attacks , detrimental side effects , etc.etc.
Key lawsuit words and lots of them.
I feel suspicion instead of compassion.
That's not normal for me >ever< when listening to a transpersons story.
Maybe Anderson felt the same thing.

I apologize ahead of time if my gut feelings are wrong
or if voicing my doubts about her motives offends anyone.
My benefit of the doubt thought is that maybe she feels better somehow about transitioning if she can somehow blame it on a drug?
That would then take away her having any choice in the matter?
Did she find a way to be unique just to get her 15 minutes of fame?
She did not seem very concerned about it happening to others or
did I miss that part?

I watched both clips ten times.
I keep getting the same feeling.
Something just feels odd and I think her reference to the
big happy ending of transpeople was weird and dismissive.
You come out and poof, it's all suddenly over with or something?
I also apologize for not having better words to explain myself.
Maybe she was on anti anxiety meds and that made the interview
weird?
I really want to know who else interviewed her and how those went.

[Corkey]

My thought was 15 minutes of fame as well, but I don't know for a fact thats her situation. Hence cluster f*. It's unsettling for sure.

[Mike]

I have to agree with Linus on most of what he said,

I found a couple of more articles on Mandi and her blog.

found here: http://mandimckee.com/2012/07/30/fin...ender-therapy/


and this article:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...ccvWIMacwRlkqO

whether or not shes trans, I think shes looking for money to live off of. I think there are more problems than just this going on.

[Corkey]

After reading the NYPost article, it does seem there may be a hoax being fostered off as some thing as a side effect, which has not been associated with the drug. So now I'mma thinking she (and I'll leave it at that) may be looking for fame.

[Nat]

Originally Posted by Corkey

I don't think Anderson was out to be offensive, but his speaking for other people is, you guessed it, offensive.

Okay - this I can see at least. Thanks Corkey.

(And thanks Aishah too)