Happened to see this in an office today, it's the cover story from the May 21st, 2007 Newsweek:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18618970/site/newsweek/
I'd say this shows a serious cultural change (I'd say improvement, some conservative fundamentalists might disagree) from 30 years ago when the term transgender didn’t even exist – much less have a place on the front of Newsweek. I was wondering, though, why they refer to Hayes, the first example, as “he” even after having the surgery to become physically female? I thought that might point to a flaw in the article, but later on they referred to people, like 6-year-old Jona (who hasn't even had surgery), using pronouns fitted to their internal gender rather than biological anatomy. Probably to avoid confusing people from the beginning and leading them into a better understanding the plasticity of gender.
I really liked the quote, "Gender is a way of making the world secure," from feminist scholar Judith Butler. That's especially visible when you look at the way males tend to interract competitively - attacking each other's masculinity using feminine terms like, "you throw like a girl, pussy." The fact that such behavior is so prevalent could highlight undercurrents of insecurity - attacking a man's gender makes his world seem less secure. Of course, part of it comes from how ingrained that type of bantering is in our culture. Question to ponder: are actions like laughing at a guy who does something considered feminine, or telling sexist jokes done more for creating a community through labelling of an "other", or a way of re-affirming one's gender to oneself and to others? And, do those jokes generally have the effect of reinforcing existent stereotypes and power dynamics, or deflating tension caused by those power dynamics? Or none of the above?
The fact that they're letting transgendered people compete in the Olympics is pretty interresting as well.
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I don't know how legitimate it would be to let trans-gendered people compete in the Olympics. I personally don't mind if they opened the Olympics to co-ed sports. For example, if women played with men in soccer, that would be A-ok. In fact, I think it would be interesting and make for a great match. I greatly support the fact that the women have entered into the PGA to compete against the men. However, allowing a transgender male to compete as a woman in running for example, might give the male an unfair advantage. If we set this precedent, how many years does she have to take estrogen? How many years does this person have to publicly claim to be transgendered? Take for example, Juwanna Mann. In this movie, Jamal Jefferies is one of the best NBA players kicked out for his violent temper. Since he is banned from playing in the NBA, he goes to the WNBA, dressed as a woman and competes. He basically kills all competition (although, he learns how to be a team player, by the end.). In other words, I think that a transgendered person would have an unfair advantage in some sports.
I found this article to be very interesting! Although there were some issues that irked me quite a bit. First was the fact that Hayes felt he needed to protect his reputation. The fact that there is a stigma associated with transgender Americans to such a degree that it frightened Hayes to be who she really wanted to be is very disconcerting.
Second, I think it is absurd that States have to enact antidiscrimination laws to protect transgender people! By passing such legislation, it almost has a counter-intuitive effect because the government is putting transgender Americans into a specific group, and perpetuating the hate-crimes for gender-identity issues. It’s no different than the discrimination against the Jews during the Holocaust. In the simplest form, Jews are people, and by making them wear a yellow-star, they were targeted as a specific group. The same idea applies with the transgender issue.
It’s like passing a law that doesn’t allow people to discriminate against individuals with curly hair. First of all, just because someone has curly hair doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated like people or even placed into a category warranting protection! That is just absurd. I was born with curly hair. It’s a part of me. A part of my identity. The same concept applies with individuals like Hayes. Being Jewish or having curly hair shouldn’t warrant the government to make a legislation to protect certain groups. There’s no point. These characteristics are what make every individual unique and diverse.
Jay pointed out the Judith Butler quote, which I think is very important to recognize. Judith Butler, the rhetoric professor at UC Berkeley and feminist scholar was quoted in the article: “Gender is a way of making the world secure.” I totally agree with her. It helps people organize individuals into 2 boxes, as they said in the article: His and Hers. Although, it is not always that simple because when you are dealing with gender, you are also dealing with personality traits and how the individual decides to perform. Peoples’ performances do not necessarily coincide with their given biology.
I also think Jay makes a great point by pointing out the fact that the article transitions from referring to Hayes as “he” to “she” as it progresses. The article is conscious of Hayes transformation and respects it.
One last point I which I’d like to quickly address is the Olympics issue. I’d have to say that I think it’s interesting that the Olympic Committee ditched the lab-based screening to determine if the athletes were male or female. I would have to disagree with their efforts, since there has to be a biological line drawn between male/female when competing in individual sports, as no individual should be allowed an advantage by having different anatomy, including musculature or strength. The same goes with taking hormones or any types of drugs to enhance performance. If an athlete is now able to have a sex-reassignment surgery to give them the competitive edge over their competitors, well that just doesn’t seem ethical, does it?
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