Yeah, I have to admit, I don't understand why Biden staffers would think it's a good idea for him to be interviewed by the transgender guy (comedian?) whose Tik Tok act is to parody "girl" behaviour. Biden's comments in the interview were not unreasonable, but I think you still have to be careful about who you are seen with when buying into the trans culture wars. I mean, the American Right take this very seriously - and while they are wrong in much of their response, it doesn't help move them into any more reasonable takes if those on the activist side are so hard to understand. (To take an Australian example - I have read mad old Cassie at Catallaxy say she has no great problem with Cate McGregor - who transitioned as a mature adult and whose behaviour and appearance could not be said to resemble a parody of feminine behaviour. Same with that trans former golf pro, whose name I forget. Conservatives don't have that big a problem with trans who transition later in life and act conservative and respectful of "traditional" feminity.)
As for the other big trans news item in recent days: I am reluctant to spend too much time on the matter of Jordan Gray (first time I'd heard of him*) doing a live strip to display his breast/penis combination on Channel 4 in England. His song performance reminded me very much of Tim Minchin, with its intense crudity overlaying an obvious talent - but the intention behind the appallingly bad taste lyrics remains unclear to me. Was it meant to be satirical of transgender self promotion as being "better than normal"? I think so - but if you then strip to show off your trans body on national TV, it seems a case of "sorry, not sorry", doesn't it?
It did get me thinking of the ways in which male nudity can be seen to be funny - it's often just the unexpectedness of it, especially if its from a character you would never think of in the undressed state. (I am thinking of some TV show, a long time ago, in which that JJJ Sandman character suddenly appeared nude on stage.) But this Gray incident had an obvious political and advocacy motive, taking the "just innocent fun" aspect out of it, at least to those of us who have a lot of trouble understanding this issue and who feel there is an extreme element that has set up a cultural divide that's becoming harder and harder to find common ground with.
It also reconfirmed to my mind - England has become a very strange place. [Here I am, in 2010, complaining about the decline in British media culture.]
* I didn't even realise I wrote "him" - perhaps it was under the influence of assuming a body which has just been displayed on TV with a penis is indeed a "him".
1 comment:
Bad move by Biden. It is not just the Right that he might upset. There are plenty of people on the Left who while tolerant of gender differences also prefer that the issue be in the background of culture rather than front and centre. That's a reasonable position because there are other minority groups that are not shouting in our faces.
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