May 2012
“
[In 1994] Romney was preparing to leave the [homeless shelter for veterans], so he pulled Smith aside, in front of the media, to ask him his biggest problem at the shelter.
Smith replied “milk.”
Smith explained that the State of Massachusetts allocated $2.37 per day twice a day for each homeless veteran’s meal. Since the amount was so meager, the shelter had trouble providing each veteran with a carton of milk at each meal.
Romney responded “well Ken, maybe you can teach the vets to milk cows.” Romney then walked out the door.
” —Buzzfeed and the Boston Globe. (via dangerfieldnewby)May 26, 2012
Hello, human diary. It is I again, Mitt Romney.
It is good to be back in my beachfront California home. It is a nice little house; I cannot wait to tear it down and build one that is a more appropriate height.
“Mitt Romney is right-wing, right? So that’s like, evil, and with bad morals and stuff?”
—I love my little sister (via yellow-dress)
An Encouragement to Check your Binary Privilege
I was scrolling my dash and came across this post. I decided to read the post because I might need these websites in the future (college is going to suck my wallet dry) and I could possibly show these websites to friends in need of help getting the things they need.
I went to the first website: http://www.thetransitionalmale.com. Yep, that’s right, folks. The website for the Big Brother Binder Program. I read the first page of the site which explicitly states that the program only offers binders to “Transmen/ FTM TS/TG and Intersexed Men only!” I was curious as to why they would exclude people from the program, so I went to the Program Criteria page.
Essentially, the program’s goal is to offer binders to people who truly need them and not to those who simply want to flatten their chest or appear male. This is understandable, as they’re limited to donations and have to properly sort out their priorities to make sure those who are in the most need of a binder can have access to one. However, I found it alarming and rather disturbing as to why they will not offer binders to genderqueer/non-binary identified individuals.
Their reason?
You might want to brace yourselves:
“Genderqueer and TG butch means to Transcend Gender lines, blurring these lines for purposes of mostly self gratification rather than to make mind and body whole. It is rare to find a Genderqueer female who is not a lesbian. That’s not a bad thing - calling oneself Genderqueer is a personal label preference, a conscious choice. But do not identify as a man, do not wish to live as a man, do not wish to die as a man, do not wish to work as a man, do not wish to chemically transition to male, have surgery, ect..
There may be some comfort for TG Butch and Genderqueer females to dress as men and using a male name but this is not what being a Transman is.”
Excuse me, what’s this about genderqueer people “Transcend[ing] Gender lines, blurring these lines for purposes of mostly self gratification rather than to make mind and body whole” ?
“Self-gratification”?
So you don’t think we want to make our bodies and minds whole? You think we chose to be neither male nor female, both, in between, all genders, etc?
This is the same kind of shit the trans* community has heard from cis people for the longest time. I absolutely cannot believe that a website that’s supposed to be trans-friendly would say bullshit like this.
Genderqueer people are just as legitimately trans* as FTMs and MTFs.
We have the same struggles as binary trans people do, if not more. We have the disconnect between sex and gender just like FTMs and MTFs. We experience dysphoria just like MTFs and FTMs. Just because society doesn’t recognize us as legitimate identities, doesn’t mean you should.
You’re sitting on your cloud of binary privilege. You can at least be perceived as your true gender without having to explain what it is. You can change your gender markers on legal documents, titles, etc. You can legally be recognized as your true gender.
Genderqueer/non-binary people such as myself, however, cannot do any of that.
Just because I don’t identify as a man, it doesn’t mean I don’t get as much chest dysphoria as one. Ask any trans man to describe their chest dysphoria and I guarantee you, at least one of those stories will be congruent to my experiences with chest dysphoria.
It should be about helping people with chest dysphoria in general, not just about helping trans men.
Another things that disturbed me from the site’s explanation of why they won’t help genderqueer people is that they referred to some genderqueer people as “genderqueer females.” Now, why would you call a genderqueer person, someone who OBVIOUSLY doesn’t identify as male nor female, a female? What does it take for people to learn that male and female aren’t the only legitimate gender identities in existence?
When will people stop being so damn ignorant?
And why, Big Brother Binder Program, would you EVER say this:
“calling oneself Genderqueer is a personal label preference, a conscious choice”
Why would you feed us the same bullshit we constantly hear from ignorant people who don’t understand that being trans* is in no way a choice? Why Would anyone ever choose to be something that puts us into a marginalized group, subject to all kinds of hatred and bigotry?
And why would you say that not identifying as male nor female is a choice, when that puts some people under the trans category, and you’ve actually said that being trans is not a choice? I just don’t understand why you would allow yourselves to partake in such hypocrisy.
For example:
“Being a Transman is not a choice and it is not a lifestyle. It is not a wake up one day and decide to dress like a guy. It is not about trying to act like one just because one feels more butch than feminine”
Ahem, being genderqueer does not mean “wake up one day and decide to identify as nether male nor female.”
I speak from personal experiences when I say that I DID NOT choose to identify as neither male nor female. I very much do want to transition, but not because I feel more “butch than feminine.” I do not wish to be perceived as a man. I do, however, want top surgery and to go on T for a while so I can make my body and mind whole.
So I implore you, lovely followers, and people in general, the next time someone attempts to invalidate non-binary/genderqueer identities, CALL THEM OUT ON THEIR SHIT.
There’s no excuse for being an asshole.
ITT: Why I hate the Big Brother Binder Program.
Why is it that when you say something, you sound like an idiot?
Location: Australia
SOUNDS RACIST TO ME.
Any sentence which starts with the phrase “I’m not a racist, but…” should end with the speaker dunking their face in kerosene and lighting a match.
Or any other -ists for that matter. “Not racist but …” does seem to attract the worst of it, though.
Ugh, I hate the ‘I’m not a racist, BUT…’ because it’s inevitably followed by something massively racist. Like, ‘I’m not racist, BUT THOSE CHINESE/MEXICANS/INDIANS/ASYLUM-SEEKERS/TURKS/NORTH AFRICANS/WHOEVER ARE TAKING OVERRRRR.’
