Dec 28, 2021, 00:38 am
Wow. THIS again!
Well, I'm a transwoman & have written on just this very topic here at the community before. A year ago? 2? I'm truly happy to see the notice from Bill! I've addressed the really shocking transphobic material in the MKB riff of "The Wicker Man" in this forum before as well. It literally "features" a "joke" regarding a transwoman sexually assaulting someone.
Ok. So fair warning! This is a long essay on the flow of history & personal maturing, as it pertains to transphobic "jokes" (read: ridicule). Not "cancel culture". Not "Why is it ok if they make fun of White folks?!". Just: History & Maturing. These happen, yes? There just can't be anyone who's not laughed at something at some point in the past, that they would now feel ashamed to do so. It could be as simple as being 6 years old & making fun of a fellow child for something you now fully accept they couldn't help. We mature. We learn. We develop our empathy. We develop our intellects. We may have laughed at (say) a homophobic or transphobic joke, back in the day. I have. We may now regret that. I do.
This could be due to personal maturing; but it may be more personal. Maybe someone we now love is queer or trans (or both). Or maybe we even discovered later in life (in the flow of history & personal maturing) that WE OURSELVES we're actually queer or trans (or both). I did. Maybe even, that we had no idea whatsoever of this until MUCH later in life. Like I did.
This can be tough for heterosexual people and/or cisgender people to fathom. They may ask: "How would you NOT know? Why would it take so long to figure out? I knew I was heterosexual & cisgender from WAY back when I was young." There are many reasons for why it can take the flow of history & personal maturing in order to even begin to question sexual orientation &/or gender identity. Family baggage, period of history, religious upbringing, &/or overwhelming psychological & emotional problems that keep one so busy with just trying to get through the day without suicidal ideation that you never get a chance to stop & ask yourself: "Who would I be, if I were free of this brutal daily struggle? Why don't I EVER wonder what my life COULD be like?" There are many reasons but the bottom line is: You just become a genius of coping; miserable, sure; so bereft of joy & spontaneity that you never notice their absence, doubtless. But a genius of coping, nonetheless.
But of the many reasons one may not know of one's queer sexual orientation &/or transgender gender identity, the one that is pertinent to our conversation here (in my view) is the Cultural Power of Ridicule. Let me be clear: I believe & support the 1st amendment fully, as well as believing & supporting the dire necessity for its widely known exceptions (e.g., violent threats). But there appears to me to be so much CONFLATION between the cultural & the legal, in conversations like ours.
For example, when Nirvana dropped their "In Utero" album, it is widely known now that Walmart pressured the band (via their label & management) to change the printing of the track title "Rape Me". Nirvana conceded this point, with Cobain deftly choosing "Waif Me". The official title was doubtlessly NOT changed. Nor were the lyrics. Nor was the track itself censored or removed. This was NOT a legal situation. It was a cultural one. [So (please!) no comparisons to Pol Pot.]
Similarly (in my view) with Dave Chappelle's recent controversy of his transphobic material. No law was broken by him, nor (to my knowledge) did anyone alleging him of transphobia accuse him of doing so. They accused him of ridicule, or punching down, upon a people who have a suicide rate several times that of cisgender people, upon a people 25% of whom lose their jobs when they come out at work. Just in 2021, 36 state legislatures tried to pass 170 bills targeting trans youth [source: Washington Post "States are still trying to ban trans youths from sports. Here’s what you need to know"]. But Chappelle just had to punch down on a people that are around 0.5% of the population. Chappelle's ridicule does wonders for increasing the Cultural Power that tells transgender people we are, fundamentally, here to be laughed at. And that, in turn, does wonders for keeping our already robust suicide rate, exorbitantly so. Ridicule is protected by the 1st amendment, sure. As it should be, sure. But what we are questioning is the MORALITY OF RIDICULE. NOT ITS LEGALITY.
The cultural power of this ridicule is as easy to experience for we transgender people as it is hard for scholars to quantify. But it is real. It aids greatly in cultivating a cultural understanding that transgender people are Literal Jokes to be laughed, instead of fellow human beings living and working among the rest of society, doing our part, pulling our weight, paying our taxes. When we are not being seen as Jokes, we are seen instead (& paradoxically) as Threats, who may at any time try to attack you or sexually assault you. Transwomen are seen as either sextoys or rapists at worst; or we're said to be just gay men who are just confused & like to crossdress, at best. Transmen, meanwhile, are seen as just butch lesbians who are not so much confused but just going along with a trend in order to get ahead in a Patriarchial World where putatively everyone born with a penis has won the lottery of life. And trans kids?
Also victims of a trend, we are told; pressured & deluded by their friends, in a overwhelming desire to be hip: although this BS never addresses the fact that trans kids are much more likely to be bullied (sometimes by teachers; sometimes by their own parents) than their cisgender peers; much higher rates of self-harm, substance abuse, & social isolation. If trans kids can be fortunate enough to have supportive parents & access to puberty blockers (so they can wait to make the best decision regarding transitioning), we now have many state legislatures trying to restrict that as well, even though research has shown time & again the enormous benefits puberty blockers can have for trans kids, emotionally and psychologically, as they don't have to suffer the true body horror of going through the wrong puberty. KNOWINGLY. [At least when I went through it, I was "lucky" enough to have no idea I was transgender.]
So, as it pertains to transgender people? We, all of society (cis & trans), are living at an amazing & strange time. It seems as if transgender people never existed, right? A Jerry Springer episode from the 1990s, maybe. Or a "kinky" porno. Or maybe "The Crying Game" or "Silence of the Lambs" ['Buffalo Bill' wasn't a transwoman, for what that's worth, btw]. But still, where did they all come from? Now? Transgender people are seemingly everywhere! (No wonder we keep hearing: "It must be a trend!!") In 2008, the transphilosopher Susan Stryker published the 1st edition of her classic text "Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Evolution" (now in a 2nd edition, 2017). That year 2007 she Googled "transgender" & there were 7.3 Million results [pp. 41-42, of the 2nd edition]. Just now? I did the same. 2.03 Billion results. That's an increase of 278 times. In just 14 years!!
But we have always been here, just on the margins, or maybe even unaware of who we really were. Note the parallels with queer history? Queers were also seen as a trend, as threats, as jokes, as confused. But instead of every queer person supporting transgender people, we now have groups like LGB Alliance who vomit transphobic vitriol upon transgender people, pushing the same tired, stale BS of transwomen are "actually" gay men; and transmen are (you guessed it!) secretly confused as well, and are really butch lesbians in denial! But, luckily, the vast majority of queer people are steadfast in their support of transgender people.
Still, I can't help but wonder if any queers who are transphobic can recall the comedy of Eddie Murphy in the 1980s. His humor in this area wasn't humor really but ridicule: cruelty covered in a thin veneer of comedy. Murphy's "jokes" were virulent and vile, and even invoked fearing gay men as dangerous for anyone to be around due to HIV/AIDS. However, with the passing of history and personal maturing, Murphy has moved on from this ridicule, disavowed it, and asked for forgiveness. This happened, yes? It does, really. In everyone's life you realize you made mistakes. Sometimes you reach this realization on your own, sure. But other times, others may indeed help you realize the err of your ways. It happened with Murphy. It's happening with RiffTrax. I couldn't be happier about this!
But it happened with me also. I used to laugh at the various "jokes" I heard that were homophobic, biphobic, & transphobic. But then I (finally!!!) realized the err of my ways. No, not by being offended at the ridicule; at least, not at first. No. I learned that I was bisexual; several years later, I realized I was a transwoman & always had been. I confess: it was only then that I began finding old episodes of MST3K & RiffTrax and their transphobic ridicule offensive. [It truly is different when the "joke" (actually: ridicule) is on you.] And as my medical transition of over 2 years now has continued, I find myself still offended, sure; but lately my hurt feelings are mixed with a new sense of TOTAL BEWILDERMENT as to why we are seen as such a threat, when statistically transgender people are far more likely to be the victims of crime than the victimizers.
In my view? 1] every joke isn't ridicule 2] and MUCH depends upon whether or not the person joking is PART of the group being joked about or not. And while the first point is indeed SUBJECTIVE, yes; the second point? ISN'T. When you're NOT part of the group, your joke will be examined much more closely. In my view: this is only fair. Appeals to Humanism (i.e., the Humanism Card: "Hey, we're all humans, right? And so I'm a human joking about a fellow human!") fail. When you're not queer, and you're convinced you're not homophobic or biphobic, but you're STILL making jokes about queers? Tread Lightly. Which means: Tread Respectfully. Acknowledge that you're not IN the group. To dismiss this point, in my view, is precisely what True Bigots do in their ridicule.
They know perfectly well they're NOT telling jokes, they're ridiculing. So, playing the Humanism Card? Is something that (very suspiciously) is nearly only ever played by (wait for it) cisgender heterosexual white men. This conceptual move I call the Humanism Card does 3 things: 1] MINIMIZES the brutal & disproportionate suffering both in the past & in the present of nonwhites, of queers, of transgender people; 2] EQUIVOCATES via appealing to the Humanistic ties that bind us all in our shared humanity, then 3] DISMISSES any & all legitimate criticism of the Humanist Card. To illustrate, imagine this admittedly absurd analogy: Minimizing, Equivocating, & Dismissing a genocide by playing the...Carbon Card! "Hey, it sucks about the genocide of your people! But, y'know, every living thing is just carbon really, so... Didn't you know that? And carbon-based lifeforms are being genocided all the time, right? And you don't lose any sleep about that, right?" The person whose people had suffered genocide would rightly be offended at the 1] Minimization 2] Equivocation 3] Dismissal, of this horrifying tragedy.
There is SOME truth in both the Humanist Card & the Carbon Card. I.e., yes we're all Humans; and, yes, carbon is everywhere in everything alive or dead. But the PREPONDERANCE of the TRUTH isn't. The preponderance of the truth is to be found in the mature understanding that SOME SUFFER MORE THAN OTHERS. And some? A LOT MORE. For A MUCH LONGER TIME. And? Very often, AT THE HANDS OF OTHERS as well. All of which can be realized & understood & accepted & expressed with the flow of history and personal maturing.
Because the Culture of Ridicule doesn't just hurt transgender people who know their truth & live it proudly. No. It hurts transgender people who still have NO idea that they ARE transgender. It insidiously helps keep them in the dark unaware of who they truly are. It feels better to laugh, yes? Better to laugh than to cry!!! Better to laugh than to question WHY IT FEELS SO GOOD TO RIDICULE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T HURT YOU OR DONE ANYTHING TO YOU, yes? I understand. I do. Cos it felt good for me too. All the ridicule truly helped me to continue on in the unquestioned assumption that I was precisely what my body & my culture had insisted I was. But it wasn't the culture's fault. It was mine. And it isn't the culture that gets the praise for showing me the light of my true self. I do. I get ALL of it. I had the courage (eventually!) to begin looking for that light. And it was scary & I felt stupid more than anything else. But I did it & I'm now living my best life, out to my family & friends who have been unwavering in their love & support of me in my new life, being & developing my true self. (Did I mention I'm gorgeous, too?!)
In closing, [& if you're still reading? Bless You!] If you look at my avatar & you've a sharp eye & great memory, you may recall what MST3K episode it comes from. My fave (& I know it is for many of you also): "The Final Sacrifice". It's from a tracking shot of a sleeping Troy. The riff? "Now THAT is a DARLING maxi-skirt!" I LOVE IT!!!! This kid is SO GENDER POLICED in the episode! I couldn't laugh harder. Then & now. I find these riffs to be JOKES, it is true: Not Ridicule. Many years ago, before I knew I was a transwoman & always had been, I convinced my friend to watch it with me. I laughed at this scene, repeating it annoyingly to her from time-to-time afterwards. Once, though, I asked her almost angrily "Isn't that funny?!" cos it was like she wasn't laughing at all! And she shrugged & said "It's ok. I just think it's A LOT MORE FUNNY how funny YOU think it is..." Hmm.
I reflect on that moment everytime I watch TFS, naturally. There are many things that helped keep some of us in the dark for so, so long. The Cultural Power of Ridicule is one of these. We can choose to make it stronger. I'm just glad RiffTrax has made their choice to make it weaker. It is ALSO their 1st amendment right to choose to do so, yes? And, into the bargain? They get to be FUNNY too!
Happy New Year! -knowMATTER
Well, I'm a transwoman & have written on just this very topic here at the community before. A year ago? 2? I'm truly happy to see the notice from Bill! I've addressed the really shocking transphobic material in the MKB riff of "The Wicker Man" in this forum before as well. It literally "features" a "joke" regarding a transwoman sexually assaulting someone.
Ok. So fair warning! This is a long essay on the flow of history & personal maturing, as it pertains to transphobic "jokes" (read: ridicule). Not "cancel culture". Not "Why is it ok if they make fun of White folks?!". Just: History & Maturing. These happen, yes? There just can't be anyone who's not laughed at something at some point in the past, that they would now feel ashamed to do so. It could be as simple as being 6 years old & making fun of a fellow child for something you now fully accept they couldn't help. We mature. We learn. We develop our empathy. We develop our intellects. We may have laughed at (say) a homophobic or transphobic joke, back in the day. I have. We may now regret that. I do.
This could be due to personal maturing; but it may be more personal. Maybe someone we now love is queer or trans (or both). Or maybe we even discovered later in life (in the flow of history & personal maturing) that WE OURSELVES we're actually queer or trans (or both). I did. Maybe even, that we had no idea whatsoever of this until MUCH later in life. Like I did.
This can be tough for heterosexual people and/or cisgender people to fathom. They may ask: "How would you NOT know? Why would it take so long to figure out? I knew I was heterosexual & cisgender from WAY back when I was young." There are many reasons for why it can take the flow of history & personal maturing in order to even begin to question sexual orientation &/or gender identity. Family baggage, period of history, religious upbringing, &/or overwhelming psychological & emotional problems that keep one so busy with just trying to get through the day without suicidal ideation that you never get a chance to stop & ask yourself: "Who would I be, if I were free of this brutal daily struggle? Why don't I EVER wonder what my life COULD be like?" There are many reasons but the bottom line is: You just become a genius of coping; miserable, sure; so bereft of joy & spontaneity that you never notice their absence, doubtless. But a genius of coping, nonetheless.
But of the many reasons one may not know of one's queer sexual orientation &/or transgender gender identity, the one that is pertinent to our conversation here (in my view) is the Cultural Power of Ridicule. Let me be clear: I believe & support the 1st amendment fully, as well as believing & supporting the dire necessity for its widely known exceptions (e.g., violent threats). But there appears to me to be so much CONFLATION between the cultural & the legal, in conversations like ours.
For example, when Nirvana dropped their "In Utero" album, it is widely known now that Walmart pressured the band (via their label & management) to change the printing of the track title "Rape Me". Nirvana conceded this point, with Cobain deftly choosing "Waif Me". The official title was doubtlessly NOT changed. Nor were the lyrics. Nor was the track itself censored or removed. This was NOT a legal situation. It was a cultural one. [So (please!) no comparisons to Pol Pot.]
Similarly (in my view) with Dave Chappelle's recent controversy of his transphobic material. No law was broken by him, nor (to my knowledge) did anyone alleging him of transphobia accuse him of doing so. They accused him of ridicule, or punching down, upon a people who have a suicide rate several times that of cisgender people, upon a people 25% of whom lose their jobs when they come out at work. Just in 2021, 36 state legislatures tried to pass 170 bills targeting trans youth [source: Washington Post "States are still trying to ban trans youths from sports. Here’s what you need to know"]. But Chappelle just had to punch down on a people that are around 0.5% of the population. Chappelle's ridicule does wonders for increasing the Cultural Power that tells transgender people we are, fundamentally, here to be laughed at. And that, in turn, does wonders for keeping our already robust suicide rate, exorbitantly so. Ridicule is protected by the 1st amendment, sure. As it should be, sure. But what we are questioning is the MORALITY OF RIDICULE. NOT ITS LEGALITY.
The cultural power of this ridicule is as easy to experience for we transgender people as it is hard for scholars to quantify. But it is real. It aids greatly in cultivating a cultural understanding that transgender people are Literal Jokes to be laughed, instead of fellow human beings living and working among the rest of society, doing our part, pulling our weight, paying our taxes. When we are not being seen as Jokes, we are seen instead (& paradoxically) as Threats, who may at any time try to attack you or sexually assault you. Transwomen are seen as either sextoys or rapists at worst; or we're said to be just gay men who are just confused & like to crossdress, at best. Transmen, meanwhile, are seen as just butch lesbians who are not so much confused but just going along with a trend in order to get ahead in a Patriarchial World where putatively everyone born with a penis has won the lottery of life. And trans kids?
Also victims of a trend, we are told; pressured & deluded by their friends, in a overwhelming desire to be hip: although this BS never addresses the fact that trans kids are much more likely to be bullied (sometimes by teachers; sometimes by their own parents) than their cisgender peers; much higher rates of self-harm, substance abuse, & social isolation. If trans kids can be fortunate enough to have supportive parents & access to puberty blockers (so they can wait to make the best decision regarding transitioning), we now have many state legislatures trying to restrict that as well, even though research has shown time & again the enormous benefits puberty blockers can have for trans kids, emotionally and psychologically, as they don't have to suffer the true body horror of going through the wrong puberty. KNOWINGLY. [At least when I went through it, I was "lucky" enough to have no idea I was transgender.]
So, as it pertains to transgender people? We, all of society (cis & trans), are living at an amazing & strange time. It seems as if transgender people never existed, right? A Jerry Springer episode from the 1990s, maybe. Or a "kinky" porno. Or maybe "The Crying Game" or "Silence of the Lambs" ['Buffalo Bill' wasn't a transwoman, for what that's worth, btw]. But still, where did they all come from? Now? Transgender people are seemingly everywhere! (No wonder we keep hearing: "It must be a trend!!") In 2008, the transphilosopher Susan Stryker published the 1st edition of her classic text "Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Evolution" (now in a 2nd edition, 2017). That year 2007 she Googled "transgender" & there were 7.3 Million results [pp. 41-42, of the 2nd edition]. Just now? I did the same. 2.03 Billion results. That's an increase of 278 times. In just 14 years!!
But we have always been here, just on the margins, or maybe even unaware of who we really were. Note the parallels with queer history? Queers were also seen as a trend, as threats, as jokes, as confused. But instead of every queer person supporting transgender people, we now have groups like LGB Alliance who vomit transphobic vitriol upon transgender people, pushing the same tired, stale BS of transwomen are "actually" gay men; and transmen are (you guessed it!) secretly confused as well, and are really butch lesbians in denial! But, luckily, the vast majority of queer people are steadfast in their support of transgender people.
Still, I can't help but wonder if any queers who are transphobic can recall the comedy of Eddie Murphy in the 1980s. His humor in this area wasn't humor really but ridicule: cruelty covered in a thin veneer of comedy. Murphy's "jokes" were virulent and vile, and even invoked fearing gay men as dangerous for anyone to be around due to HIV/AIDS. However, with the passing of history and personal maturing, Murphy has moved on from this ridicule, disavowed it, and asked for forgiveness. This happened, yes? It does, really. In everyone's life you realize you made mistakes. Sometimes you reach this realization on your own, sure. But other times, others may indeed help you realize the err of your ways. It happened with Murphy. It's happening with RiffTrax. I couldn't be happier about this!
But it happened with me also. I used to laugh at the various "jokes" I heard that were homophobic, biphobic, & transphobic. But then I (finally!!!) realized the err of my ways. No, not by being offended at the ridicule; at least, not at first. No. I learned that I was bisexual; several years later, I realized I was a transwoman & always had been. I confess: it was only then that I began finding old episodes of MST3K & RiffTrax and their transphobic ridicule offensive. [It truly is different when the "joke" (actually: ridicule) is on you.] And as my medical transition of over 2 years now has continued, I find myself still offended, sure; but lately my hurt feelings are mixed with a new sense of TOTAL BEWILDERMENT as to why we are seen as such a threat, when statistically transgender people are far more likely to be the victims of crime than the victimizers.
In my view? 1] every joke isn't ridicule 2] and MUCH depends upon whether or not the person joking is PART of the group being joked about or not. And while the first point is indeed SUBJECTIVE, yes; the second point? ISN'T. When you're NOT part of the group, your joke will be examined much more closely. In my view: this is only fair. Appeals to Humanism (i.e., the Humanism Card: "Hey, we're all humans, right? And so I'm a human joking about a fellow human!") fail. When you're not queer, and you're convinced you're not homophobic or biphobic, but you're STILL making jokes about queers? Tread Lightly. Which means: Tread Respectfully. Acknowledge that you're not IN the group. To dismiss this point, in my view, is precisely what True Bigots do in their ridicule.
They know perfectly well they're NOT telling jokes, they're ridiculing. So, playing the Humanism Card? Is something that (very suspiciously) is nearly only ever played by (wait for it) cisgender heterosexual white men. This conceptual move I call the Humanism Card does 3 things: 1] MINIMIZES the brutal & disproportionate suffering both in the past & in the present of nonwhites, of queers, of transgender people; 2] EQUIVOCATES via appealing to the Humanistic ties that bind us all in our shared humanity, then 3] DISMISSES any & all legitimate criticism of the Humanist Card. To illustrate, imagine this admittedly absurd analogy: Minimizing, Equivocating, & Dismissing a genocide by playing the...Carbon Card! "Hey, it sucks about the genocide of your people! But, y'know, every living thing is just carbon really, so... Didn't you know that? And carbon-based lifeforms are being genocided all the time, right? And you don't lose any sleep about that, right?" The person whose people had suffered genocide would rightly be offended at the 1] Minimization 2] Equivocation 3] Dismissal, of this horrifying tragedy.
There is SOME truth in both the Humanist Card & the Carbon Card. I.e., yes we're all Humans; and, yes, carbon is everywhere in everything alive or dead. But the PREPONDERANCE of the TRUTH isn't. The preponderance of the truth is to be found in the mature understanding that SOME SUFFER MORE THAN OTHERS. And some? A LOT MORE. For A MUCH LONGER TIME. And? Very often, AT THE HANDS OF OTHERS as well. All of which can be realized & understood & accepted & expressed with the flow of history and personal maturing.
Because the Culture of Ridicule doesn't just hurt transgender people who know their truth & live it proudly. No. It hurts transgender people who still have NO idea that they ARE transgender. It insidiously helps keep them in the dark unaware of who they truly are. It feels better to laugh, yes? Better to laugh than to cry!!! Better to laugh than to question WHY IT FEELS SO GOOD TO RIDICULE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T HURT YOU OR DONE ANYTHING TO YOU, yes? I understand. I do. Cos it felt good for me too. All the ridicule truly helped me to continue on in the unquestioned assumption that I was precisely what my body & my culture had insisted I was. But it wasn't the culture's fault. It was mine. And it isn't the culture that gets the praise for showing me the light of my true self. I do. I get ALL of it. I had the courage (eventually!) to begin looking for that light. And it was scary & I felt stupid more than anything else. But I did it & I'm now living my best life, out to my family & friends who have been unwavering in their love & support of me in my new life, being & developing my true self. (Did I mention I'm gorgeous, too?!)
In closing, [& if you're still reading? Bless You!] If you look at my avatar & you've a sharp eye & great memory, you may recall what MST3K episode it comes from. My fave (& I know it is for many of you also): "The Final Sacrifice". It's from a tracking shot of a sleeping Troy. The riff? "Now THAT is a DARLING maxi-skirt!" I LOVE IT!!!! This kid is SO GENDER POLICED in the episode! I couldn't laugh harder. Then & now. I find these riffs to be JOKES, it is true: Not Ridicule. Many years ago, before I knew I was a transwoman & always had been, I convinced my friend to watch it with me. I laughed at this scene, repeating it annoyingly to her from time-to-time afterwards. Once, though, I asked her almost angrily "Isn't that funny?!" cos it was like she wasn't laughing at all! And she shrugged & said "It's ok. I just think it's A LOT MORE FUNNY how funny YOU think it is..." Hmm.
I reflect on that moment everytime I watch TFS, naturally. There are many things that helped keep some of us in the dark for so, so long. The Cultural Power of Ridicule is one of these. We can choose to make it stronger. I'm just glad RiffTrax has made their choice to make it weaker. It is ALSO their 1st amendment right to choose to do so, yes? And, into the bargain? They get to be FUNNY too!
Happy New Year! -knowMATTER
![[Image: toC9ALq.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/toC9ALq.jpg)
