idaho invisible t day

Today is IDAHO(T), the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia! But the T is invisible. Because the T is always invisible. Which is cool, you know, because the T can totally afford to be invisible. Because transphobia is one of those issues that everyone knows about and that everyone totally understands and nobody ever dies because of it.

There is allegedly a flashmob going on in the Melbourne CBD this evening for IDAHO(T), which I hope is cool.

This seems like an excellent time to remind you of the two WA trans men heading to the high court and that you can help fund them (do it!).

Some links (mostly older):
Bob Jensen, Lierre Keith et al. : The Rabid, Transphobic Hate-Mongering of the Anti-Pornography Movement by Joelle
Push(back) at the Intersections: I Think You Dropped Your 'T' by s.e. smith at bitch magazine, on depictions of trans folk in pop culture
Intent! It's Fucking Magic! by Genderbitch, at Questioning Transphobia; a great post on intent.
On tumblr, Some politics around supporting trans women’s access to surgery, mostly on transphobia around surgery.
Who’s allowed to reclaim the night? by 3P published at The Scavenger, on transmisogyny at Melbourne's 2010 event.
Also at the Scavenger, Mercedes Allen writes on Advocating for trans people if you’re not trans (I have a few issues with appropriation in this article but overall it's an okay illustration).

reading the internets

I'll write an actual post again one day, honest.

Genderbitch has an awesome post up: Feminist Disavowal of Cissexism, taking down three common arguments that are used when Genderbitch tries to talk about Feminism's problems. This post is totally awesome, but it's also relevant across the board - it's not just a problem when talking about cissexism in Feminism, but also racism and ableism (to my experience). Go read it!

Following on from that, CL Minou writes at TigerBeatdown an ALSO very excellent post, Left Behind: About the Failures of Feminism. Highly recommended!

NY: 17-month-old baby killed by man 'trying to make him act like a boy instead of a girl'. What it says. :o(

Cara writes about Emergency Room Allegedly Denied Treatment to Woman Because She is Trans. Ugghhh people suck. Filled with good links for reading.

Israel to expel 400 children ISRAEL will expel 400 native-born children of non-Jewish foreign workers to help safeguard the country's Jewish identity.

Tom Cho writes I’m Chinese-Australian but...

What I want to ask is: why is it really so astonishing that a young Vietnamese-Australian can write convincingly and intensely about this Colombian scenario? Which is to really ask: Is it me or is there something faintly patronising about this compliment, as well-intentioned as it is?

Population debate hides an ugly racism

The day after the election announcement, several newspapers featured front-page photos of the Prime Minister, garbed all in white, and her (male) deputy - each bearing an exceptionally robust looking, if slightly bemused, white infant in their arms. If the central issue of the election is population, these images of the - reconstructed and thoroughly contemporary - white heterosexual family underscore that the lowering of the birth rate is off the agenda.

Totally romanticised but: The melting pot that is modern Australia

The final six MasterChef Australia contestants emerged this week, two of them gay, three of Asian heritage. Two were lawyers who would rather be cooks. And all were crowned national heroes by decree of the viewing public: about 2 million a night and perhaps twice as many for tomorrow's grand finale.

These wannabe chefs are a snapshot of modern Australia, an ark among nations. They also represent a shift in social trends that were evident before MasterChef but which have been ''crystallised by the show and perhaps accelerated by it'', says Rebecca Huntley, director of the market research firm Ipsos Australia, which has tracked the impact of the program.

Islanders plead for help as homes sink

tuesday morning link town

Disclosure, Trans Panic, and Ciscentric Narratives of Honesty at Questioning Transphobia.

But I think this story touches on somewhat larger, more encompassing issues that trans people have to deal with. Thomas’ mother, for example, insists that her son didn’t know that Nikki was trans and separated from her shortly before his death, and that Nikki herself married Thomas for the money – that she’s a gold digger. Nikki, on the other hand, says that Thomas knew all along and was fine with it.
I believe Nikki’s telling the truth. I believe Thomas’ mother, Simona Longoria, is appealing to the narrative that will ultimately purchase cis sympathy for her plight. Simona’s claim makes Nikki out to be an opportunistic predator, a stealthy deceiver, a liar who wormed her way into Thomas’ life in order to not only feast on his assets while alive, but to cackle merrily on the way to the bank after his death. It is dependent upon (in addition to the Littleton precedent), painting Nikki as someone who deceived Thomas in order to not only get into his bed, but also into his life.
This is how many cis people love to paint trans women.

And also at QT; New York Times says Trans People are Ethically Required to Out Themselves on Dates.

Givenchy's Transgender Fall Campaign Model Posed Nude for French Vogue [NSFW] at NYMag. I can't decide (based on what I have been able to find out) if this shoot is all 'ooh, a trans woman!' or 'oh cool, a trans woman.' I link to it anyway. And the article, if you can read French.

Here's What White Privilege Sounds Like

Here’s what white privilege sounds like: I’m sitting in my University of Texas office, talking to a very bright and very conservative white student about affirmative action in college admissions, which he opposes and I support. The student says he wants a level playing field with no unearned advantages for anyone. I ask him whether he thinks that being white has advantages in the United States. Have either of us, I ask, ever benefited from being white in a world run mostly by white people? Yes, he concedes, there is something real and tangible we could call white privilege.

So, if we live in a world of white privilege – unearned white privilege - how does that affect your notion of a level playing field? I asked. He paused for a moment and said, “That really doesn’t matter.” That statement, I suggested to him, reveals the ultimate white privilege: The privilege to acknowledge that you have unearned privilege but to ignore what it means.

Free Advice: A Bargain at Double the Price

Too often Nice White People are far more interested in being perceived as non-racist than they are in actually working to do something that might address the structural inequities racist beliefs and assumptions are built from and reinforce.
I know because I’ve been that Nice White Person. I still have my moments of it.
The only way to stop being that Nice White Person — if you’re interested in actually stopping — is to start with acknowledging two things:

Geek feminism as opposed to mainstream feminism, at geekfeminism, on the differences and conflicts between "mainstream" feminism and geek feminism.

FacePainting, on white-washing in movies.

Doctor Treating Pregnant Women with Experimental Drug to Prevent Lesbianism. ?!?!

On Dismissing Sexual Violence Against Some Women as 'Cultural' at the Curvature.

Why are social inequalities reproduced online?

When creating online avatars, people reproduce the racist, sexist and ableist structures of real life, writes Dr Eve Shapiro.

Many early utopian theories of computer-mediated communication asserted that as people “moved online” they would cast off gender, race, class, and body limitations to exist as undifferentiated equals.

But the suggestion that race, gender, class, and nation or any other embodied characteristics will cease to matter online ignores the fact that biases such as racism, sexism, and ‘ableism’ are not only individual prejudices but also structural inequalities.

beginning of the week linkies

This is a bit of a haphazard linkery, since it's been a little while (three weeks!) and I know if I don't post them I never will.

Some Apple things: I promise not to kill myself: Apple factory workers 'asked to sign pledge.' I am sceptical that signing a pledge not to commit suicide is really solving the issues that lead to this being a problem for Foxconn (but interestingly, an update as I write this post: foxconn are raising pay for workers). And Cleaning iPhone screens, 62 Chinese workers poisoned.

At Skip the Makeup, Marriage in Malawi a Gay Issue?, about the transphobic reporting of the case of Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, who were engaged to be married. Also update: Malawi: Breaking news - Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga pardoned.

Educating Rosie.

However this is not the picture of the vast new contingent of female factory workers that was being presented through the media at the time. First of all, the women on the posters and in the newsreels – and who became collectively known as Rosie the Riveter from one of the songs that celebrated them – were unfailingly white. Secondly, and no less importantly, they hailed from the middle class.

I love Muslimah Media Watch so much: How Western journalists reported the ban on burqa

These women are visible and have an opinion worth considering. Yet they are virtually ignored by the media. These women simply don’t exist when lawmakers consider punitive laws affecting them and the cultural traditions they hold close to their heart.
The nature of journalism is to tell a story of conflict. No better example can be served than the burqa ban. Yet journalists can serve the international community better if it employed just a few of the goals of Search for Common Ground by seeking collaborative solutions to issues, and at the same time hold lawmakers and the Taliban accountable for the oppressive measures they force on Muslim women.

Also on this topic, at the Cast Iron Balcony: We must arrest this woman in order to save her.

Nation's first handicapped drivers licensed in Chengdul parking spots stir debate

Cosplay, race, ability and gender; or, who gets to dress up as whom?

some indigenous australian stuff:

Stereotypes ignore lot of hard work, on stereotypes of Indigenous Australians as naturals on the footy field.

5 young white men "of good character" beat Aboriginal man to death; and An example of systemic racism is Jo Tamar's take on it.

Just a quick summary: "Reject the Names Invaders Gave Us": Second New Way Aboriginal Summit

some language stuff:

A Quick Guide to Referring to People Who Aren't White, by Chally

A concern on appropriate language vs ESL speakers

Offensive Identities: immigrant, migrant, refugee

idaho(t) (the t is silent)

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, known in its abbreviated form as 'IDAHO.' You may notice that the 'T' is invisible, which is why I write it as 'IDAHO(T)'. Also often people write 'and transphobia' in very small letters, and on Saturday at the rally for Same-Sex Marriage they said the 'and transphobia' really really quietly, away from the microphone.* Because silence isn't dangerous or invisblising or anything.

Silence isn't awesome, not even a little bit, not even if 'IDAHO' is a cooler acronym than 'IDAHOT' (it's not - IDAHOT is an awesome acronym). There's a bit of me that's kind of like - if you're going to make the 'T' silent, then just make it fucking silent and stop pretending like it's an inclusive event! The 'T' was clearly an ad hoc addition that is ignored more often than not, and the preponderance of #IDAHO on my twitter is making me pretty angry.

This is the IDAHO(T) website, where the 't' is allegedly silent (as you can see from the web link), but I can't get it to load so I cannot confirm that.

In related news, Danni has a link and a discussion of an article about a trans model that's a bit enragening.


Here are some links about transphobia, and how it impacts trans women and men, that I have been meaning to link to for a while and in the blog-switch failed to link:

Transgender women in Singapore launch campaign to end discrimination

Indigenous Trans Woman’s Death in Custody in Australia Last Year

video: Yahoo! SEA: Why did you choose to become a woman? on Yahoo! Video

I sometimes bookmark things! I have a tag! (It is a bit all over the place) You can check it out here.





*by which I mean, not at all