A reader writes: “I have been reading your blog and unless I missed it, you didn’t comment on Chaz Bono. I was wondering what you think of all of the media coverage surrounding him and some of the sexist commentary he has made? He seems to have really essentialist ideas when it comes to gender.”
I haven’t yet commented on the media hoopla surrounding the release of Chaz Bono’s book and film, and I have not yet seen the film or read the book. I’m looking forward to both, so will probably have more to say after that.
Chaz’s parents were my idols when I was a teenager and young adult, and I “knew” Chaz – in reality, knew of him – since his first appearance on The Sonny & Cher Show when he was a toddler and went by Chastity. As I got older, I lost track of him media-wise, but was aware that he had come out as a lesbian.
When he came out as trans, I was actually pretty excited – finally, the world would know that trans guys actually existed. Although there are many prominent trans guys within particular communities, trans men have pretty much been dismissed by the mainstream media and the mainstream public, who seem to be far more interested in what they consider to be the more sensationalistic aspects of male-to-female transition.
I’m still happy that Chaz is out. I’m still happy that people finally realize that there is such a thing as female-to-male transition. I’m happy that the mainstream public realizes that we exist. Although I’ve seen and read recent interviews with Chaz, I no doubt have missed something. I’m going to respond based on what I have read and seen, and I also want to mention a couple of other criticisms/comments I have heard or seen online.
“Chaz Bono doesn’t represent all trans men”: Of course he doesn’t. Chaz has been thrust into the limelight based on his transition, and it’s true that he has embraced this. If not, he wouldn’t have written a book and agreed to be the subject of a film. But the fact that Chaz is in the limelight has caused people to believe that he should represent trans men in a certain way. And he can’t do that. He can only represent himself.
In the clips that I’ve seen, he has said this – things like “Well, for myself, this happened” or “This is what happened to me.” It’s true that the mainstream public is going to generalize Chaz’s experience to all other trans men, and possibly to all other trans people. But if the first thing that came out of Chaz’s mouth every time he opened it was “I speak only for myself,” they would still do that. It’s human nature.
There’s nothing we can do to prevent it, other than provide as much diverse public representation as possible, and Chaz will represent all trans men in the public’s mind until someone else with even more notoriety comes along, and then that person’s experience will be the one remembered.
“Chaz isn’t presenting an accurate portrayal of trans men or trans people”: Chaz is presenting an accurate portrayal of one trans person. He’s not being paid by the community to represent us. He couldn’t represent all of us if he wanted to. We are too diverse a group. Should none of us speak out because our experience isn’t everyone’s? Then none of us would ever speak out.
When I speak and write, I try to be very clear that I am representing only myself. I think Chaz has attempted this as well. But unlike me, Chaz is a celebrity and a media sensation, and the media is creating the version they want.
As someone who has been misquoted, whose quotes have been taken out of context, and who has refused to cooperate with certain media that wanted me to portray my situation in a specific (and inaccurate) way in order to generate interest, publicity, and sales, I have a very limited, but general, idea of what the media does for its own purposes – and that would be increased a hundredfold when it comes to Chaz.
“Chaz is sexist, essentialist, and reinforces the binary gender system”: This is the reader’s question, and I know that Chaz has received criticism for this on several fronts. But the truth is that Chaz is a straight white guy. He has been raised in a binary gender system. He reflects his culture, as we all, in some way, reflect our culture.
One of the assumptions that I think both trans and non-trans people make is that trans people are supposed to tear down the binary gender system – that we are supposed to be on the front line in the war against restrictive gender roles and expectations. And while I and many other trans people advocate for this, it’s not our mandate to do this. I know quite a few trans people who embrace the gender binary as much as, and sometimes even more than, non-trans people.
Many trans people, both men and women, have been waiting all their lives to fit into the gender roles and expectations of their culture – and our Western culture definitely has specific, and very different, gender assignments for men and women. I can’t speak for Chaz, but I do know that certain roles and behaviors that are designated by our culture as “masculine” come very naturally to a lot of trans guys, and fitting into the binary system as it is right now is exactly what they want.
In addition, testosterone does have some incredible effects. Not every guy responds in the same way, but I can say that testosterone changed me in some ways. My basic personality is the same, but my sex drive increased dramatically, the focus of it changed, my ability to interpret things visually changed, and my ability to express myself, particularly in writing, improved (I attribute the last to transition more than to testosterone).
I don’t know if I became more angry or aggressive – I was pretty angry, and sometimes aggressive, on estrogen. But Chaz says that he has become more assertive and confident, and his girlfriend says that he has changed – in some cases, in ways that she doesn’t like. This could be the testosterone. This could be Chaz expressing the authentic self that has been locked away for half a lifetime.
Some people may not like that authentic self. And because Chaz is a media personality, he becomes open to both public praise and public criticism. Even I wouldn’t dream of commenting so extensively on another person’s individual transition, but this is what we are inclined to do with those in the public eye, and Chaz is no different.
I’m not defending Chaz, nor am I criticizing him. I’m just making observations on what I see going on. But more than ever, I’m looking forward to hearing what other people think about all this. So, readers, let’s hear it.
(More Ask Matt next week – I still have a ton of questions to be answered!)
(I have read various reviews of the documentary, and interviews with Chaz, but not read the book nor seen the documentary.)
On one hand, no one has a responsibility to tell someone else’s story, or take on the mantle of representing an entire community. On the other hand, if one is going to be profiting off the experience (book sales) and accepting high-profile interviews, I do not think it is unreasonable for a community like ours – which has so few voices heard – to ask of our “reluctant” spokesman that he make some acknowledgement of the diversity of our experience.
Minor point on “not representing all trans men” – while he may regularly be excusing himself with “Just my experience”, etc, I’m really not convinced that’s worth much, because that’s a verbal tick that gets used in a lot of circumstances and is not something that trans-ignorant audiences are likely to pick up on. I would love to hear “Not all trans people experience things this way” or even a counter-example like “Some people transition and never go on hormones”.
And on the last bit: of the three things you mention, Matt – sexist, essentialist, and reinforces the binary gender system – you only address the last (and I definitely agree with you on that last – trans people should not be uniquely burdened with critiquing the gender binary). Chaz has made a couple (that I’ve seen) remarks of “Well, men are just [XX]“, “Women just gossip all the time and now that I’m on T I can’t be bothered to actually listen to them”, etc. Sexism is bullshit, gender essentialism is bullshit, and I think Chaz totally deserves the call-outs he’s received on those points.
Thanks for writing this Matt.
My two cents about the trans community criticizing Chaz and his comments…
One comment he made about tolerance and lack of about women: Something like he never really understood women and now has little to no tolerance for them (to paraphrase)..
How many of us have said the former? I know that I have. I was never a woman. They confused me all of my life. They’ve confused published authors as well (Men are from Mars…..).
I’ve also said the latter when I first transitioned, and when in the company of close friends where it could not be sensationalized, I was not alone. Women are so much more….everything, and in my experience (MINE) they tend to suck the life out of me.
If this is upsetting you, please remember that I am talking about MY experience.
I am not lumping all women in the world together.
What mainstream has seen of us (ftm) so far…. a porn star and a pregnant man-neither of which I could even remotely identify with. Then along came Chaz and although there are of course differences, I can at least identify with him more so than the other two.
I also find it ironic that the same people who are criticizing Chaz are the same ones who hit him up for money on a daily basis. Get a job!
Those of you who bitch about people that stand up….instead of bitching-stand up. I’m sick of the haters who hate and do nothing to make a difference. There’s a ton of you-be unique and make your own path or stfu.
I actually wrote about the personal story/community spokesperson issue last night, so if you don’t mind I’ll link to it:
http://thirteenbrains.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/trans-rrrepresent-telling-your-story-beyond/
I agree with you Matt. He has said numerous times, “this is my story”. Let us not forget that it is a spectrum between feminine and masculine. He just happens to fall on a far more masculine end of the spectrum. That is who he is. He has no need to apologize for that. I fall pretty far on that end as well and I am not going to apologize for it either. I relate quite a bit with Chaz because of our closeness in age and time frame in life that we have transition. To me it our generational transition. Younger transgender have a different story due to social differences and medical advances and so own. I over all am glad he transitioned in the public eye. He opened a door for the general populous to know us
My problem is that society will ignore all trans people who AREN’T straight macho guys like Chaz. If there were a spectrum of us who actually were presented to the public, I’d have no problem with his comments. Personally, I don’t get macho straight guys–cis or trans–and never have (I also don’t get feminine straight women, so I can’t really relate to either extreme). But one question I always want to ask them, including Chaz, is, if you find women so annoying, why don’t you have sex with men? Why would you want to partner up with someone you find so irritating? I’ve identified as a gay guy my whole life, transitioned really young (teenagerhood), so maybe the era I came of age is showing, but whatever; contempt is just not an aphrodesiac for me.
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but we trans people NEVER benefit from gender essentialism, even if some trans men have waited their whole lives to be tough guys (which unfortunately can translate into looking down on little faggots like me) while some trans women have waited their whole lives to be housewives. That’s fine, but I feel that our culture, which IS gender essentialist, has a vested interest in only presenting the trans men and women who FIT the ultimate cliches in the gender in which they presently identify. And this is dangerous. If I saw Chaz as the only trans man when I was fourteen and contemplating transition, I would have thought, “Even though I spend every second of my life despising living in this body, I can’t really do what he’s doing. I like boys, not girls, and I’m not tough and macho. I don’t know what to do now. Guess I’ll be miserable forever.”
Also, misogyny is more chic than ever nowadays. It’s cool for women to look down on women, cool for men to look down on women. Chaz is just echoing a common trend.
I would do anything to see a representation of trans men and women who aren’t straight and gender-normative, but I’m not holding my breath. And, frankly, the whole thing makes me a little angry. Imagine instead of saying that Chaz “can’t bother with women” nowadays, he said “blacks” or “fags”, people’s reaction would be VERY different.
In my opinion, it’s fine to say you can’t relate to certain people. Hell, I said in this post that I can’t relate to macho men or girly girls, no matter what equiptment with which they were born. But to act like fifty percent of the world is automatically beneath you? I think Chaz has more issues about having been born female than he does WITH females, and is overcompensating in a way that is tiresome and yet presently adored by the world. I wish he’d realize that many of the same people who hate women would hate him too. He seems a textbook case of what trans woman Julia Serrano calls “femiphobia”.
I have not watched the documentary or read the book.
I was frustrated when I read the NY Times article/feature/interview, because it did seem to contain more misinformation, misleading impressions about trans people, and some of Chaz’s personal misogyny.
Realistically speaking though, I think *most* people in our society, no matter what gender they are, hold some form of sexism or sexist beliefs, even if they are personally uncomfortable with the fact that they do. And it is easy for this to come out in a way you may not like, based on the agenda or biases of the source material or interviewer.
I watched the segment of Chaz on Letterman, and I thought he did a great job of handling Letterman’s obsession and/or confusion with conflating gender and sexual orientation. I also saw either a more nuanced version of the sexism of the Times article – or Chaz learning on the go about how to more carefully speak to how hormones and transition have changed him. He self-corrected “aggressive” into “assertive” and vaguely mentioned and deflected some of his “guy issues” with his girlfriend in a way that both relied on people holding trope-y “Men are from Mars….” beliefs without resorting to overt stereotypes or misogyny. All in all, I was impressed, and I had a much more favorable attitude than I did before about even wanting to watch the tv or read the book.
I also give more leeway to people who have forced celebrity in proportion to the lack of control or consent they have about being famous or known. At the top of my scale is a hate crime victim, where I tend to be very sympathetic to the difficulties of being spokesperson. At the bottom of my scale is someone whose entire purpose or goal is commercial or for-profit oriented. If the goal is to be self-serving, then, of course, I have zero patience for misinformation, misogyny, or someone who is appropriating “my” identity for their own gain. In the middle, I’d put advocates, educators and activitists (including some named plaintiffs). Choosing to be a spokesperson IS a choice, even if the trans community NEEDS advocates, educators, and activists.
I suspect that how people feel about Chaz may not just be a function of how “wrong” or “problematic” some of his comments may be, but rather where he falls on the scale of “forced celebrity.” I can see evidence that Chaz is all over the map in terms of this. On the one hand, he is seeking commercial success and personal media attention. Looks like a for-profit personal choice. On the other hand, he seems motivated to be an educator and an activist for the trans community. And last, he was forced to be public and known as an accident of his birth, long before he was the age of consent. Sure, an adult, he could have done more to be “forgotten.” But even those tran people who are not stealth (even if by choice) at SOME point have likely dreamed or fantasized about just disappearing to where no one knew you “before.” It is realistic for Chaz to believe that this was never really in his realm of possibility, certainly not without costs or risks that some, non-famous, trans people never have to grapple with. I think some of his detractors simply don’t realize the magnitude of Chaz’s original celebrity, and as a result, view him more as someone capitalizing on his transition, rather than someone whose transition was never going to be a fully private matter anyway.
“One of the assumptions that I think both trans and non-trans people make is that trans people are supposed to tear down the binary gender system – that we are supposed to be on the front line in the war against restrictive gender roles and expectations. And while I and many other trans people advocate for this, it’s not our mandate to do this.”
Yes, this. Don’t expect other people to explain your life the way you would… it ain’t gonna happen.
And that trans people are people and some will make sexist, racist, ablest or classist statements because they are people, not “special, ultra-sensitive, unicorn people who understand every else’s pain.” And I also want to say that some of the same quarters who are ragging on Chaz for his sexist statements are the same people who’ve repeatedly minimized the oppression that trans women go through… in other words, transmisogyny. Wanna call people on their shit, well, peeps, that will include you.
I haven’t watched anything, and have read like 3 articles on the subject. Matt, I like your analysis of the issue, not defensive and not critical, just observant.
Here’s another observation: what if all this didn’t really matter? I came to this by imagining if it were me (or you) up there, in a film, writing a book, dispelling all myths, giving out the right information, explaining everything properly, disentangling the terms to elucidated perfection. Would people really come out of this better informed? Would the world suddenly comprehend everything and true acceptance would be the norm? Probably not.
Maybe the point is just visibility, that’s all we can hope or will achieve right now with this. Just to let others know that we exist – that transgender people are a reality. It’s a pretty big step and let’s not forget its importance.
Take it as you will, it’s just a thought exercise. For me that’s even a positive spin.
As a transwomen I have found that many transguys are more misogynist than most straight guys. This is just my experience. I have even had one threaten me with a beating because I argued with him about him throwing out his ex partners clothing because she left him. I have been homeless and know how hard it is to be with out clothing. You can’t get a job. I have also met some trans guys who are great cool guys who know our history.
Kelly
I watched the documentary and plan to read the book. I think some people are forgetting how few trans guys have been in the mainstream media. I know that my parents haven’t seen many at all. They have seen Thomas Beatie (though I know they don’t know his name) and now they have seen Chaz Bono. Neither of these is a perfect representation of my transition that will help my parents make sense of this whole thing… and why should they be?? They aren’t me. The more exposure people have to trans people the better. And then I wonder why minorities are always expected to be of some superior moral and ethical sphere. Obviously it would be nice if our experiences always made us perfect, but they don’t. I guess it’s a good thing to keep a watchful eye on anyone who may be seen as our representation, but within reason. I think Chaz has handled this pretty well.
First let me say upfront that I am a straight cis woman. I have read Chaz’s interviews and I watched when he went on Oprah. Chaz’s misogyny is no small thing. He actually said that women talk to much and gossip. Really? I know that there are not many representations of Trans men in the media but to me that makes it all the more important that those that are speaking for your community do not engage in this sort of shit.
Think about Dan Savage for instance. He seems to be the go to guy for the media when it comes to gay issues and yet he is disableist, fat phobic, sexist, racist etc., He has done tons of harm in the name of gay rights and Chaz is on this path with his sexist commentary. I don’t think you can fight one ism by engaging in another one.
Thank you Matt for outlining the fact that not all trans people want to break the gender binary system. I’m a transman myself and I like the traditional ways of gender expression, and like you have stated I have waited a fair amount of time to fit in to that system. I guess you could say I’m just an old fashioned guy, whether it’s because of how I was raised, or because it’s just who I am. It’s nice to see this generalization about transfolk examined by somewhere that is reputable.
Really? Seriously? It’s not enough that Chaz gets trashed outside the trans community (like the transphobic bullshit that quack, Keith Ablow, wrote about Chaz being delusional and psychotic), but WE have to pick at him too? I haven’t read the book yet – I will at some point – but I’ve seen the documentary and various interviews, and I am impressed by Chaz’s frankness, the easy way he corrects people and the patience with which he handles the same questions over and over. He makes it look easy, but I know I couldn’t do it so well.
Personally, I’m glad he’s put a face on the transmale community. We’re finally getting some positive attention, and I know that’s true because so many non-trans people have told me how impressed they are with the movie – they’ve been enlightened and are now more understanding. That’s a good thing, people. So I thank Chaz for putting himself out there on his terms, rather than let the media run with the usual misinformation and sensationalism.
As for his own personal views on women or anything else – they’re HIS personal views, right or wrong, and he’s entitled to them. He doesn’t presume to speak for me, he speaks for himself the same way that Renee Richards speaks only for herself when she comments against marriage equality.
I hope we, as a community, can give Chaz the space to be whatever kind of man he is and not try to make him conform to some sort of trans ideal representative.
I HAVE read Chaz’s book. I HAVE seen the documentary, “Becoming Chaz”. And I HAVE seen Chaz on both Oprah and The View.
I was a big fan of Sonny and Cher since 1965 when they came out with their huge hit, “I’ve Got You Babe” and I watched the Sonny and cher Show with little Chasitity.
That said, I feel chaz to be a genuine person who has had a life of pain – not only as a gender variant person but as a child who had to learn to take care of all her emotional needs on her own. Something no child should have to do! And deal with being shuttled between his divorced parents. All this occurring in the public eye because of who Chaz’s parents are and were.
Then his triple whammy of losing Joan (lesbian lover) to cancer, Chaz’s loss of his father just weeks later and the guilt associated with not having spoken to his father for a year because of conflicting politics. And dealing with his escalating turmoil and pain over the issue of being trans – IN PUBLIC. As we all know, these three things are HUGE each by themselves. It is a wonder that Chaz has not only survived the pain and susequent drug addition and has come out the other end of the horrendous tunnel with his head screwed on right.
I have not seen any of the newspaper articles about chaz – only saw segments on TMZ and Inside Edition and both of those reports were fairly positive. I urge folks to READ the book and SEE the documentary!!!
About the sexism and binary gender stuff, each transperson is different and can express themselves on the whole spectum of gender or on the binary ends. Our society is so permeated in sexism it’s like getting all the oil out of the Gulf after that huge oil spill last year – it ain’t gonna happen. Chaz’s sexism may be part of his own self hatred over his own femaleness that he carried with him for many years and transitioning won’t resolve that all at once. I’m sure Chaz will have many issues to deal with as he grows older.
Chaz will have lots to learn as he is in the limelight and he needs the support of the LGBT community – support that includes education of himself on issues of sexism.
Some of the transguys here have told me that, after being transitioned for quite a few years, they can only now embrace their female pasts and not be afraid of their feminine sides as human beings. Perhaps Chaz hasn’t reached this point yet. Maybe age has gotten me to that point as I don’t feel the need to express my own maleness by strictly adhering to the stereotyped male gender roles for our society.
Chaz seems to be a good “spokesperson” on anything trans in the regular media warts and all. Get us out so everyone can see him and his message can be fine tuned. People now see that transmen do exist!! I know that if I saw Chaz transition say 10 years ago, maybe I would have known what transgender was and that I was trans myself and maybe have done something about it before now. But, on the other hand, maybe society is more ready for Chaz now and my time was now as well.
As a trans man, I feel like it’s my job to hold other trans men to account for their misogyny, because if we don’t, who will? That includes misogyny directed at trans women, though Chaz hasn’t shown any of that (yet).
When Chaz said that testosterone makes him not want to gossip, that is harmful, because it’s not a statement about his experience. It’s an objective statement about what hormones do to *everyone*. It’s also a statement with no scientific basis. But he has the power to persuade people of it anyway. And that’s not good. It cheapens and trivializes the very real effects that hormones do have on us.
I haven’t heard all of the comments Chaz has made that have offended people and obviously he has to answer for those and perhaps think a bit before speaking, but I just don’t think that saying that women gossip is all that harmful a statement. Sure, it’s a stupid generalization… but it’s not the worst thing in the world.
just saying.
We, all of us, have to work to earn money. Most of us, anyway. All receipt of money involves self-exploitation in some capacity or other.
Chaz’s mother might be rich, but he is not. He had to have his friend loan him money for the top surgery.
When I first found out that he was going to publicize his transition with a book and a movie, my first thought is that he needs the money. From listening to him, he does seem to care about being an educator, but it might just be that trading his privacy for money was the best decision for him to make in order to provide for himself.
I was a bit disappointed in some of the “Testosterone makes women insufferable” sentiment. Also agree with Lyn G’s comment that perhaps he is not confident in *not* maintaining as traditionally masculine an identity as he can right now, and maybe in the future he will feel more able to relax about it. I noticed in the movie he was afraid to wear a purple shirt. Then…Dr Drew I think it was? There he was, a few nights after the documentary aired, wearing a purple shirt. It pale blue-violet…but progress toward embracing purple!
I’m sorry (not really), but Chaz doesn’t have to answer to anyone for anything. His views, opinions, isms etc are HIS. If you (generally speaking) do not like what he has to say, then turn the channel, don’t read the book or watch the documentary etc and so on.
People really need to put on their big boy and girl pants. The trans community and every other community needs to realize that we are not all the same and get over it.
He is telling HIS story in HIS way and he has every right to do that.
Rather than trying to hold others accountable for their words and actions, it would be so much easier if the “community” (used very loosely) just lived their own lives and let everyone else live theirs.
If you don’t like what Chaz says or anything else about him then make your own documentary and write your own book and give society another face, view, isms etc.
I live with another ftm who continually bashes Chaz and I’ve had it up to my eyeballs. It is noteworthy that my flatmate is yet another person who hit Chaz up for money, like he’s a bank or that he owes us anything.
You want to be angry and/or offended? Get a thicker skin, turn those emotions into something productive and start a revolution.
What, the only people who have the right to have their voices heard are the ones who make it onto TV?
Guess what? We’re here and we have voices. Just because we choose to use them does not mean that, by extension, we are trying to silence Chaz’ voice. Heck, contrary to what you seem to think, he doesn’t even have to answer us! He can ignore what we have to say if that’s his prerogative. Goodness knows he’ll go on making money and increasing visibility whether he gets criticized or not.
Many of us do not have the kind of privilege that would allow us to make a documentary or write a book (which you seem to think is a pretty easy undertaking). The open forum of the Internet is all we have. Yet when we do as you suggested and try to “give society another face, view, isms, etc.” you come into our space and tell us to shut up and go away. Well, tough butt. Chaz’ rights do not negate ours.
These are our emotions, our production, our revolution. Stop denying that we have the right to speak because we don’t get to appear in “mainstream” news sources.
Wow, this has been a great discussion with a lot of opinions. Thanks for all of it.
Interesting – I had no idea people were hitting Chaz up for money. As someone who has written a couple books and been the subject of a film, I can attest to the fact that you don’t make any money that way. Chaz will probably do okay with his book because he’s a public figure, so sales will be good, but it’s not going to make him rich. His mom definitely has money, but he’s a grown man, so he may not have access to any of that – it’s not his money.
As far as the sexist remarks – again, some of the most sexist people I know are trans guys, and some of the strongest feminists I know are trans guys. Oppressed people can also be oppressors. I’m not defending sexist remarks. I don’t think public figures should make them (I don’t think anyone should make them, really). People should be held accountable. But I don’t think trans people can be held more accountable or be held to a higher standard than anyone else.
Larry Summers said that women could not excel in math and science when he was president of Harvard – a very dangerous and damaging sentiment for a college president. What did it get him? A position in the Obama administration.
Sexism, racism, ableism, ageism – they are all destructive and we need to recognize them and call them out. But they are institutionalized, and it’s the institutions and the culture that need to be changed. Until we stop rewarding people like Larry Summers and punishing people like Debrahlee Lorenzana, we won’t make much headway at the individual level.
Thanks again for all the great discussion.
Some people disagree with Chaz’s beliefs because they find they are unacceptable, inappropriate, and/or contradict their own beliefs (which is fine, they are allowed to feel this way) the problem is that people are scrutinizing him for it. He is allowed to express his opinions as he wishes. The problem people have with him expressing his comments lies in the way they believe the general public and the media will take his statements (besides the fact they just don’t agree). Yes he can say what he wants, but that doesn’t mean it won’t come without a cost, and people seem to be worried about that cost. No-one here is saying he can’t say what he wants to say, from what I can tell the majority of people have a problem with how what he says will be generalized to the rest of the transmale community and misconstrued. Being in the position that he is in, he should be more careful with what he is saying simply because what he says WILL BE GENERALIZED. Because he is one of the few well known transmen, and is at the forefront of the media right now people will generalize and twist his statements. He doesn’t have a choice about this it’s just how people are, because of this he needs to be more sensitive about what he says. Yes this isn’t right, yes no single person SHOULD have to deal with this, but it’s not possible to avoid. I don’t know why people are arguing about this.
You know, Chaz has said some sexist essentialist things. But I think there’s one thing everyone’s who’s ragging on him has convienantly forgotten: spokesman or not, Chaz is still extremely young in transition years. It takes people time to grow and change during their process. It’s puberty, much like any other teenager. Despite being in his 40s, Chaz is now going through another maturing process, and he’s not there yet. He said as much during the documentary, saying that he feels like he’s still in the oven.
Chaz is good at handling the interview and teaching end of things partly because he seems to have that sort of personality, but also because players from major trans and LGBT organizations worked with him to help him get on message.
Perhaps they need to spend some refining time with him now on issues of sexism, etc.
But a large part of it will just be growing into himself and understanding that he doesn’t have to buy into everything this culture teaches about maleness to be read as male. Even as a strictly binary one.
I agree with this – I saw this as well. I saw the basic goodness in Chaz’s charactor. It will take him a long time to leave all his past pain and its effects behind.
As far as being a spokeman and having to watch what he says, does for fear of people generalizing it, I know where this is at! As a blind person, people tend to judge ALL blind people by my individual actions. People will judge my guide dog school by how my dog works and how I act as a guide dog handler. It seems that ALL minorities are judged by the actions or words of ONE member of that minority. It sucks but it is a reality of life as a minority or marginalized person. I have no control over how others act or react to how I see things or behave. I am only responsible for my own actions and I hope I provide a good example of a blind, guide dog using trans man! I treat others as I want myself treated. I live my truth and don’t worry about what other people do.