There was a time when most of us neither knew nor cared about matters to do with transgender, save in the nature of not quite being able to look away from the blessedly infrequent spectacle of someone in the public eye deciding to medically readjust their body to the appearance of the opposite sex and to change their name to conform. Christine Jorgenson was, as I recall as a teenager, seen as a freakish anomaly – an entertaining one, to be sure, but pretty much a one-off. Travel writer Jan Morris (formerly James) and musician Wendy (formerly Walter) Carlos came along a decade or two later. Their transition to a sex other than the one they had been born with at a point where both were mature adults was viewed as kind of a private eccentricity, not affecting much beyond their families and personal circle. Curious, but … whatever floats your boat. I also suspect that there was a scattering of other individuals who made such a transition, and chose to live quietly and modestly in their new identity; happy enough to live and be accepted in the identity that they felt was truly a reflection of who they were. Constantly blaring out the specifics of their previous life and their new one was most definitely not a means to achieving privacy.
There was certainly no rush on the part of activists and the popular media urging anyone else to follow along the trans-brick road and screaming at us to extensively tolerate and enable them. Indeed, for a good few decades there were men who put on women’s cloth for a lark, a laugh, and entertainment; to escape the mob (Some Like It Hot), get out of the Army (M*A*S*H), rent an apartment (Bosum Buddies), or just have good comic romp (Monty Python’s Flying Circus). Late in the 19th Century and early 20th it was a convention for local groups to stage ‘womanless weddings’, elaborately lampooning formal marriage ceremonies as a good, rowdy fundraising event. (One of my Tiny Bidness Publishing clients wrote an insightful monograph about this once-widely-spread custom, which is how I first heard about it.)
But that was then, and this is now, and it’s ‘trans’ and demands for toleration, acceptance and something called ‘allyship’ everywhere you look, as well as any number of fading celebrities wearing their trans children as a kind of trendy accessory. The rage of trans activists against women who object to having private female spaces – bathrooms, spas, locker rooms – invaded by intact men claiming to be trans is as disconcerting as it is frightening. (I wonder now if the establishment feminists wouldn’t have firmer ground to stand on presently, insisting on female-only spaces, if they hadn’t been so bloody-mindedly insistent on invading men-only spaces back in the day.) There have been just too many incidents of male sex offenders with intact male genitals claiming to be female in order to be admitted to places where they can continue harassing females. (No, I was not surprised in the least when I read that the Wii spa tranny turned out to be a registered sex offender who invaded the no-clothing area of the spa for jollies and gratification.) The frantic enthusiasm among trans activists and allies to rush children and vulnerable teens into chemically and surgically mutilating their genitalia is even more horrifying to contemplate, let alone to wonder why they are so determined to do it, or see it done. One might very well conclude that the sexually misfit/deeply confused want to ensure a continuing supply of younger sexually-misfit/confused into their ranks on the grounds that sexual misery loves company, and that medical professions pushing trans treatment for teenagers and children are merely ensuring a nice income stream for themselves.
It’s also concerning that male athletes claiming to be female for competition purposes are steamrollering over from-birth females, and in some cases, causing life-affecting injuries. This is so prodigiously unfair. The last time that I was able physically to hold my own in rough housing with my brother’s friends, I was twelve or thirteen. There is no arguing around the fact that a male who has gone through puberty will be physically stronger than a female of the same size, age bracket and general state of fitness. I don’t care if he has been mainlining female hormones, growing out his hair, sprouting breasts and calling himself Loretta – he will still be faster, stronger, and able to lift more than original-issue XX females. Allowing manufactured XY-females to physically go up against original-issue XX women in most sports competition is not just unfair, it also carries the risk of permanent injuries to a smaller and comparatively weaker party. Refusal to play may be about the only option at this point. And that is likewise unfair to women who have honed their talent in a sport, only to see the prize, awards and scholarships go to a pseudo-woman.
I hope that this progressive enthusiasm for transexuals will just turn out to be a transient and overhyped concern/fad, to diminish as swiftly as did ‘daycare satanic abuse!’ and ‘recovered memory’ once the madness of crowds has sobered up a little. I do take mild comfort in knowing that the trans-fad isn’t nearly as pervasive among the normals as the media would have us believe. My daughter and I have spotted only one very obvious hulking-guy-inna-dress in the course of our lives, although I will accept that there may have been others who were a wee bit more successful in presenting as a delicate flower of fair femininity. How much longer will this particular mania last? Discuss as you wish.
I remember as a child attending the comedy productions used as a PTA funding, or such, event. I saw it as men using the occasion to make fun of the women who liked to run things in their social circles. I seriously doubt any of the men who participated ever had a “trans sexual” thought. The men were dressed to a matronly look, meaning they were never slender young girl looking brides. That would have been in the 1940-50’s.
By the time I was in high school I did hear the words queer and lesbian used, but if there were a word for trans, I never heard it.
I have come to the conclusion that this phenomenon is caused by people not having anything important to worry about, or not being willing to.
It shows up in a lot of things.
My take is that the progs will always find a cause to harp on. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Don’t think that they will stop if they convert others to their current cause. They will immediately find another cause. It’s the cause de jour, which is not yesterday’s cause, nor will it be tomorrow’s cause.
Which is why I generally don’t listen to them any more.
The progs are ten times worse than my beloved grandmother, who wanted convert her family back into the one true church– in this case, the Church of Christ. At least my grandmother, when told to stifle it, would do so and converse about other matters. And she was quite the conversationalist. She was able to maintain cordial relations with us, even though we declined her efforts at converting us.
Whereas the progs believe that if you do not agree with them about their cause de jour, you are the devil incarnate. At least an atheist’s version thereof.
As you both know and are fond of Goliad, you might find this of interest. A ‘Loco Gringo’ Takes On the Mexican Cartels.
Speaking of Loco Gringo, here is Ray Wiley Hubbard. Ray Wiley Hubbard: Loco Gringo’s Lament.
The song mentions Hank in the back of that big old Cadillac, where he died. Which reminds me of Austin Lounge Lizards: The Car Hank Died In,
I don’t particularly like the Austin Lounge Lizards, whose output generally consists of snarky, preachy librul narratives set to song. Nonetheless, I like this song. Parody and satire work best when applied to something you love. I get the impression that the Austin Lounge Lizards love Hank William’s music.
It was once the vogue in psychiatry to “treat” schizophrenics with lobotomy, to mitigate against violent behavior.
Apparently, some segment of the psych world won’t give up the ghost. Gender dysphoria is a mental illness. Not sure why anyone would honestly believe chopping off penises or breasts would “cure” it
Ray Wiley Hubbard, for his contribution to the world of “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mothers”, can be forgiven for anything else he does in life. Still alive at age 78, when virtually all the crazy outlaw singers of that age are gone. Not Willie Nelson somehow. The age of miracles is not yet over.
Had a patient once who “was” female, not withstanding a six foot height and a commendable military service as a paratrooper. This was in small town America. Nobody cared or made any kind of deal about it. Hey, if you are a grown adult who jumped out of airplanes for your country you are quite capable of making decisions.
@Gringo –
My take is that the progs will always find a cause to harp on. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Don’t think that they will stop if they convert others to their current cause. They will immediately find another cause. It’s the cause de jour, which is not yesterday’s cause, nor will it be tomorrow’s cause.
“An SDS radical once wrote, ‘The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.’ In other words the cause – whether inner city blacks or women – is never the real cause, but only an occasion to advance the real cause which is the accumulation of power to make the revolution.”
– David Horowitz
I believe there were “hairy-leg reviews” in the Harvard houses and elsewhere back in the day.
The whole trans thing became a huge thing because SCOTUS took away their virtue-signaling cause (same sex marriage), and they needed another, STAT!
That’s it. They are sneetches (see Dr Suess). It’s luxury beliefs for the sake of virtue-signaling, nothing more – what the luxury belief actually IS is irrelevant to them.
Sgt. Mom, did you catch my reference to Goliad in my previous comment?
I did, Gringo – and in the next Luna City installment, there is a reference to a chase of migrant smugglers being chased on a nearby road. (Sigh) One just can’t escape certain grim realities. in South Texas – and cartel smuggling of anything illegal is one of them.
Agree with the above.
It won’t be just a fad because the issue is always the revolution and needing a new oppressed cause to champion. Currently they are stuck with trannies until some new victim group can be found.
You might be a liberal if you think Burning Man would make a cool vacation. You might be a leftist if you think Burning Man serves as a blueprint for civilization. Transgender activism regards gender as performance art. This is an outgrowth of the modern leftist view that artistic expression is humanity’s greatest achievement, that everything else below that rung of Maslow’s hierarchy is merely its servant.
Transgenderism attracts a variety of different mindsets. There are the alienated youth who see gender reassignment as the ticket to the pinnacle of society, prepubescent girls seeking to escape the trauma of puberty, moms afflicted by Munchausen by proxy (it seems to be mostly moms and not dads), prisoners who know how to game the system to gain access to female prisoners. One group I don’t quite understand is one J. K. Rowling wrote about. “Parents online were describing a very unusual pattern of transgender-identification where multiple friends and even entire friend groups became transgender-identified at the same time.”
https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/
“… a very unusual pattern of transgender-identification where multiple friends and even entire friend groups became transgender-identified at the same time.”
Does not sound so unusual, especially among teenagers. Ever heard of Peer Pressure?
Alan K. Henderson quotes J.K. Rowling
Gavin Longmuir
Peer pressure at Brown? DuckDuckGo: 40% of brown students lgbt