The RuPaul Drag T*Word Controversy

[Medusa]

So I was wondering if anyone else has been following the controvery surrounding the use of the word "Tr*nny" by the RuPaul Drag Race show, Rupaul, and many of its contestants?

I have seen countless op-eds and several write-ups all over Queerty, Facebook, and even the Logo website about this issue. There was an article today from a Trans Activist calling out the "fringe people" (word used by Rupaul and several others) for "trifling bullshit". (trying to quote as best I can).

From the outside, it looks like there are two distinct sides. Folks who think that the word "Tr*nny* is not offensive and should be used by anyone who wants it as a part of reclamation of oppressive language. And folks who say that the word is akin to the word "F*ggot" and should never be used by anyone.

Just wondering what your take is on this issue?

[anaisninja]

My personal opinion is that if the person using the word is a member of that group, then they get to decide whether or not it's appropriate to use it. Especially if the group has been historically oppressed or marginalized. Tim Wise gave a good statement about a similar word below. I will never use the T-word, but I would never begrudge RuPaul her right to use it.

However, as an overweight Canadian female of Irish descent, I reserve the right to call myself a "fat Canuck Mick bitch" whenever it seems appropriate. :D

2MnmmDiQSdA

[Martina]

I think "tranny" is universally understood as a pejorative. If some trans folks want to use it among themselves, then fine, who are cis folk to say? But I don't think cisgender folks ought to use it.

RuPaul did make the argument that tranny has been used to refer to a drag queens as well, and she is that. So if she is claiming it in that way, it does add a wrinkle.

I think the she-mail thing is kind of funny. It's a pun. A joke. It's not like a person was called a she-male. But I like humor that skirts the offensive.

Unrelated to this kerfluffle, I do think that the controversy about using the word transgender instead of transgendered is a joke. Sorry if I offended. But seriously? I get the argument, but some well-intentioned slob got badly publicly attacked for it a while ago. I think the person who reamed him quit some organization in protest and just had a major fit about it. I can't recall the details. But my response is OK, whatever.

I am old. I find gender studies unbelievably boring. Hence, I don't read a lot about it. I am surely more educated than 99% of Americans because of where I live and the communities I have belonged to, but if I accidentally say transgendered and some child angrily corrects me, we are going to have words.

[Martina]

My personal opinion is that if the person using the word is a member of that group, then they get to decide whether or not it's appropriate to use it. Especially if the group has been historically oppressed or marginalized. Tim Wise gave a good statement about a similar word below. I will never use the T-word, but I would never begrudge RuPaul her right to use it.


RuPaul is a drag queen, not a trans person.

http://www.advocate.com/sites/advocate.com/files/imagecache/stories/RUPAUL_DONTTRYITX400.jpg

[Aryon]

I feel this way ... Tr**ny may be a word many hear used with distaste and in a derogatory manner ... but I seem to remember back in the days before and after I came out in 1969 that Dyke was used in a way to upset, antagonize, belittle, berate ... I could go on and on, really.

I see nothing wrong with the use of a noun/adjective by people who mean it justly, rather than condescending or derogatorily. I frequently use the word Dyke in place of Lesbian to describe myself and take no offence (even if it is meant) when called one.

My two pennies worth ...

Regards,

Aryon

[DapperButch]

I think "tranny" is universally understood as a pejorative. If some trans folks want to use it among themselves, then fine, who are cis folk to say? But I don't think cisgender folks ought to use it.

<CLIP>



Ditto.

RuPaul's use of this word is not new and there has been discussion in the trans* community about this for the last couple of years.

I do see the difference between a transsexual/transgender person (one who sees their identity as part of the opposite sex in some way) using the term "tranny", and someone who identifies as their assigned birth sex, but enjoys wearing clothes of the opposite gender (drag queens or transvestites...they may use the umbrella term transgender, but that is not less common), using the term.

I haven't read all the details, but my understanding is that RuPaul does not identify as a female. He identifies as a drag queen (and maybe with the term transgender as an umbrella term?). I assume he uses a male pronoun. If this is the case, and he is cissexed, than no, I do not think he should use the term "tranny". Just like the N work, the D word, etc. It really is common sense.

[Mel C.]

Interesting topic. I'm not sure why some people feel they can choose which words are acceptable for others to use and which are not. If somebody calls me "sweetie" it can be mean or nice. I think The onus is on me to determine the intent prior to reacting. I don't think I use the T-word but if I heard it or saw it somewhere, I would look for the context.

[anaisninja]

RuPaul is a drag queen, not a trans person.


In that case, *He* shouldn't have used the term.

[Martina]

In that case, *He* shouldn't have used the term.

RuPaul accepts the use of both male and female pronouns. I always refer to people in drag as the gender they are presenting. RuPaul usually presents herself to the public in drag, so I refer to her using female pronouns. As a drag queen, RuPaul is more than entitled to use female pronouns. It's part of the tradition, part of lgbtq history.

RuPaul, as far as I know, is a cisgender gay man, and I agree with you and with Dapper than she should not be using the word "tranny."

I looked up the she-male/mail thing, and I guess the show actually used the term "she-male" as well. I think that is a term no one should use. I can't even imagine transwomen using it among themselves in a friendly inoffensive way. There would always be a barb to it. I just thought it was funny when the phrase "You've got she-mail" was used. But I guess they used the regular version in another context on the show. No. Don't think they should do that.

[imperfect_cupcake]

So if someone is bigendered and not transsexual, they aren't transgendered? I thought transgendered was all kinds of rainbow. Has the meaning changed again? The "drag queens" I knew all considered themselves bigendered. Having two genders that don't display as congruent to their societal norm sex.
This is not transgendered anymore? Is transexual the only transgendered meaning in the US?

[stargazingboi]

So if someone is bigendered and not transsexual, they aren't transgendered? I thought transgendered was all kinds of rainbow. Has the meaning changed again? The "drag queens" I knew all considered themselves bigendered. Having two genders that don't display as congruent to their societal norm sex.
This is not transgendered anymore? Is transexual the only transgendered meaning in the US?

No Honeybarbara, I'm here in the US and tend to follow the medical definition of the word. I do this mainly because of my vocational back ground and the fact I, myself, happen to be TG. That being said...and as we have witnessed on this site, there are many interpretations of words.


Webster Dictionary - Medical terminology

Transgender - of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth

Transexual - A person who strongly identifies with the opposite gender and who chooses to live as a member of the opposite gender or to become one by surgery.


So, when I think about it a transexual fall under both terms, but a person who is TG does not always fall under the term transexual. Now, when looking at the definition of Drag Queen ...it does not fall under either term listed above. A Drag Queen or Drag King is a person that dresses as the opposite sex for entertainment


Now regarding the actual subject at hand...I am still unsure how I want to word my feelings about the subject and will return to express it later.

[imperfect_cupcake]

I know people in the uk who both ID as a drag queen and a drag king and it it part of their bigenderism. And although some of them perform, they'd be pretty suprised to find out that one of their genders is only for entertainment value.

I don't agree with that, even slightly. But I don't understand a lot of labeling in the US...

To me tg is not ts. Two different things. But they seem to have both become tg in mainstream press.

And even that definition from Miriam Webster screws up sex and gender.

[Martina]

they aren't transgendered? I thought transgendered was all kinds of rainbow.

Duck! She used the word "transgendered."

Pet peeve of mine -- the meaningless debate over what is wrong with transgenderED and why transgender is better.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-herman/transgender-or-transgende_b_492922.html

[stargazingboi]

And even that definition from Miriam Webster screws up sex and gender.

very true the Webster Dictionary is not fool proof because it is written by humans, but its a guideline.

[Martina]

I know people in the uk who both ID as a drag queen and a drag king and it it part of their bigenderism. And although some of them perform, they'd be pretty suprised to find out that one of their genders is only for entertainment value.

I don't agree with that, even slightly. But I don't understand a lot of labeling in the US...

To me tg is not ts. Two different things. But they seem to have both become tg in mainstream press.

And even that definition from Miriam Webster screws up sex and gender.

That's ironic. This may be one way in which the UK is more gender-struck than we are. Usually, it goes the other way.

I have known a lot of gay male drag queens who never questioned their (cis)gender. I don't think that makes their drag persona just for entertainment value. They may identify strongly with it and still feel like cismen. Think of all the men over the decades who strongly identified with opera divas. Some may have been transgender. But most, I imagine, were not. There are many ways to be a man. I don't know. Maybe it's my age. But I have known very few gay men (not trans gay men) who ever ID'd as transgender.

Even if you look at all gender as a performance, even if you look at a drag queen and a transwoman standing side by side and see little difference in their outward presentation, they are different, very different. (I know that some transwomen DO do drag.) But drag is, well, different. I am sure you have seen as much drag as I have. But it's nothing like the way a transwoman presents in her daily life, IMO.

Some drag queens will have a moment in their performance when they drop their voice or do some physical gesture that reveals their masculine identity (sometimes a gesture toward the crotch to remind you there is a little something extra there). I guess it's to remind you that it IS drag. It's usually a delightful moment. Drag is so different from cross-dressing -- not a fetish -- and from being trans. There is a lot of hostility for drag queens from some transwomen. The "I am NOT a drag queen" thing. And they aren't. They aren't in drag.

I love drag. I think most drag queens are proud of being drag queens and also proud of being men.

There are clearly a lot more trans and transgender folk among drag kings.

[candy_coated_bitch]

I have known a lot of drag queens that DO identify as gender variant in some way. I think it's presumptuous to say that most drag queens are really just cis men in women's clothing and completely unrelated to trans women. (Not that anyone used those exact words, it's just my reaction.) I am not trying to say that the two are the SAME--but why do trans women have more of a right to name themselves tranny than a drag queen? I consider that historically drag queens have been pioneers in the LGBTQ rights movement from Stonewall on--and a huge part of that has been BECAUSE of blurring the lines of gender. Yes, there is a performance aspect of it--but not always.

I think trans________, however you may or may not end that word, is a wide and diverse group of people. Tranny has long been used before the word and concept of transgender as we know it now even existed. In my opinion, it has as much history and importance of reclamation as queer, dyke, faggot (and no I also do not agree that that is an off limits word as well), bitch, cunt, nigger, and so on and so forth. I think the reclaiming of language is important and powerful. It can be a liberating and powerful experience.

Also--how the fuck do we know how Ru Paul feels about his/her gender and what pronouns he/she may or may not use? To put the label of cis man on him BECAUSE he is a drag queen seems questionable to me. Ru Paul hasn't said much on the issue, but what I did read when he finally came out and addressed the issue was "fuck anybody who wants to police my language". Amen to that, I say. Just because a person spends SOME time living and identifying as a man I don't think it negates the time they spend living, identifying, performing, and embodying another gender if that is meaningful to them. I don't know specifically what Ru Paul's gendered experiences are but I am not going to make a judgment about what words are appropriate for him to use. I think drag queens absolutely can fall into the trans* and gender variant experience.

I use the word tranny. Not always, not with all people--but I do have trans friends I use it with. Just like I have gay friends I use the word fag with. On trans pride day we wish each other "Happy tranny day!"

I have been following the discussion online and I find it extremely ironic that the loudest voices in opposition to the use of the word tranny are cis folks. Not folks from the drag community, not trans women--CIS FOLKS. Things that make you go hmmm.

This is one really good viedo I liked on the pro tranny side, or at least one that allows for that view:

E3ZACug7dPU

[candy_coated_bitch]

God damn my inability to post a YouTube video, if someone wants to PM me and help, I will post it.

[Martina]

I have known a lot of drag queens that DO identify as gender variant in some way. I think it's presumptuous to say that most drag queens are really just cis men in women's clothing and completely unrelated to trans women. (Not that anyone used those exact words, it's just my reaction.)

I didn't use those words, but I did say something like that. I did qualify it by the people *I* have known. I do think there are a lot of drag queens who are pretty uncomplicatedly cis. It's been my experience. I am not sure what's presumptuous about saying that.

[Liam]

I don't use the term, and I would not like it, if someone called me that.

[Martina]

Also--how the fuck do we know . . . what pronouns he/she may or may not use?

Ru has specifically said that she is fine with either pronoun. I don't know that that means a thing, but that's what she has said.

[candy_coated_bitch]

I didn't use those words, but I did say something like that. I did qualify it by the people *I* have known. I do think there are a lot of drag queens who are pretty uncomplicatedly cis. It's been my experience. I am not sure what's presumptuous about saying that.

I know you didn't exactly say that, which is why I clarified it was just my reaction. I think what *IS* presumptuous is assuming how any drag queen may or may not identify without knowing. And it doesn't seem as though that is what you are saying. But really--just my sense on a larger level is we are all having a discussion about someone's gender identity or lack thereof without full knowledge of how they feel about themselves--and by extension what right they have to use a particular word. That feels icky to me.

[Corkey]

I am Transgender, I do not use the word, nor do I think it is an acceptable word to use. RuPaul's gender aside it is offensive because Transgender people say it is. If one wants to reclaim the word for themselves that is the prerogative of the person who claims Transgender.
I do think it was done to other people, and so far I have not heard an apology from either the network or RuPaul. If said apology has happened and I missed it, well I missed it.

[Martina]

I totally go by what other people tell me they ID as.

People often think about gender in one of two ways. They either see a spectrum with lots of little points along it, and each of these is a gender, almost separate from the others. (I am wildly oversimplifying.) But basically, they understand that once someone has struggled with gender a certain amount, they are probably tg or genderqueer or gender variant or something like that.

OR, people can understand that there may be just a few genders, each rather elastic, each able to manifest in many different forms.

Either approach is liberating, and I respect any individual's conclusions about gender. (Of course.) BUT, I am more in the second camp. I do not love the list-of-qualifiers way of naming gender. I prefer expanding a few categories. I personally find that a lot more liberating than the string of qualifiers approach. I am not sure that the lived reality is much different for most non-trans folk. I know the string of qualifiers works for some, but I groove on subverting the big categories and stretching them till they scream.

So that may pre-dispose me to not assuming TG. It does not pre-dispose me to making normative assumptions.

[Corkey]

I look at the spectrum as a circle, not a line. It suits me.

[imperfect_cupcake]

I have no idea. All I know is the bigendered drag queens I know consider half their gender categories is trans. I also know unigendered straight cis drag queens. I also know uni-gendered lesbian drag queens. I could keep going with this. Drag does not auto connote gender. So I can't state all people who X are X genders and thus can't claim nuthin.

I'm a dyke. I also call myself a lezzo, a carpet muncher, a lezbean and a few other things. Why? Because I don't think there is anything intrinsically wrong with me at all. If someone calls me a lezzo, I honestly don't find it insulting. Cause its not an insult.

Some dykes feel differently. They hate it. That's fine. But they sincerely can't control what I don't find offesive and what I don't find offensive.

I'm going to assume that everyone in every corner of LGTBQ kinda feels the same way. Some people find something offensive and some don't.

[The JD]

Whether or not Ru Paul and the contestants are "entitled" by their own personal identification to use the word (that's how I see much of this discussion), it's taking place on a TV show, not their private lives, which creates another layer of context.

Participants on a game show/reality show tend to be incredibly self-aware of the "brand" they're trying to create, and try to market themselves in ways that will "sell." If you're hearing Ru Paul and the contestants use "tranny" and "she-mail", it's because the show's producers think that will sell ads. That seems to me to be much more problematic.

[Martina]

Real drag shows, especially ones with comedians, tend to be pretty politically incorrect. Saying "tranny" and "she-male" is pretty mild stuff compared to what some of the comedians say. Seriously, as a woman, you can get pretty offended at some of the humor. I usually love it although I have hissed a few (dozen) times.

Maybe they were trying to keep some of the flavor of that. I wonder what the audience demographic is? Largely men or women? Gay or straight?

[DapperButch]

"On Policing RuPaul's Free Speech" The TransAdvocate

http://www.transadvocate.com/on-policing-rupauls-free-speech_n_13537.htm

"​I think the freedom of speech and policing arguments that have popped up around RuPaul are entirely disingenuous. Nobody is stopping RuPaul Andre Charles from using these terms as much as he likes in his personal life. RuPaul Andre Charles is a human being; RuPaul is a brand that Logo sells. Logo does not want the brand they’re selling to be associated with terms people use while they kill trans women. Period."


"If the value of your reputation goes down because you are associated with the terms people widely use when they’re killing oppressed people, then that’s the price you’ll pay. Claiming that you’re oppressed because you think you should somehow be exempt from the rules of social currency is a bogus argument."


"Yes, there are very specific contexts in which very specific groups use tranny, shemale and fish. They will continue to do so. All of these terms have a wider context and meaning outside of those very specific in-group usages. It’s a mistake to assume or expect that those terms won’t retain their larger contexts when used outside of those very specific in-groups and a national branded cable TV show is absolutely outside the context of those very specific in-groups. RuPaul is RuPaul precisely because he has social currency outside the context of that very specific in-group and yes, there’s a price one pays for one’s brand reaching that level of popularity and that price, IMHO, is totally fair. We all pay that same price, to one extent or another."

[Medusa]

I think there is something pretty specific going on in some ways with the controversy and how it actually began.

For a little history, I have watched the show since the beginning. I've watched all the seasons, follow the show and some of my favorite performers on Facebook, etc.

Carmen Carrera (who is a Transwoman but who performs as a "drag" performer) was a contestant on the show during the 3rd season and was one of the voices coming out against the use of the "T" word after the "shemale" or "shemail" skit debacle.

From what I remember, Carmen expressed irritation about the show using that skit and said it was offensive to Transwomen. I believe Rupaul and/or the Logo channel offered a semi-apology. (or at least it was "soft")
Thus began a LOT of backlash to Carmen from other RPDR performers saying that Carmen was "biting the hand that fed her" and that she was a "crybaby" and "word police".
There was also some discussion from other performers about how Carmen should have never been allowed to be on RPDR in the first place since she is not an actual drag queen but a Transwoman.

Carmen did state in a recent interview that she feels that "most of RPDR fans are Transphobic" after hearing remarks from some of her fellow contestants and performers.

Rupaul also recently defended his right to use the T word in an interview stating that he has used the word based on Transexualism.

From the outside, it looks like there is a gap between the men who perform drag as an art and the women who live as women but still perform as art. There have been other Trans women on the show (Willem, for one, and who hasn't TMK spoken out about this issue). I know that's an oversimplification.

I'm still reading all of the articles that have come out in the past few days. Commentary from LadyBunny, Rupaul herself, and other Trans activists. I have one pulled up right now calling this entire controversy "trifling bullshit".

Anyway, I know this is all over the place but wanted to chime in.

[candy_coated_bitch]

This is the thing that keeps bugging me: Who gets to say that RuPaul isn't "trans enough" to be part of the "in group" that gets to use the word tranny? Who? Who are the keepers of that key? The ones that wave the magic wand and grant any person that right to use it?

THAT is the part of the argument that kills me. That RuPaul is merely JUST a drag queen. JUST a performer. Not REALLY trans. Not ACTUALLY a trans woman--so what right does she have to use language that has oppressed trans women? Again, I am not trying to say that RuPaul has the same experience as trans women who live their lives 24/7 as women. Yes, that's a different thing. BUT the word trans*, in my opinion, covers a wide range of experience INCLUDING those who experience their gender as being in a state of flux. Do I know everything about Ru Paul's personal identifications? Nope. But from what I see she COULD fit into that category and I am not going to make a judgment over the fact that she doesn't deserve to use that language because she's not trans*. (I did look it up after Martina pointed it out to me, and RuPaul is indeed comfortable with both pronouns.)

EDITED TO ADD: The word "tranny" has been to used to oppress drag queens for longer than our modern conception of transgender ever existed. Queens were also historically the targets of heinous violence, just like the rest of our community. I am unsure why we think of them now as some kind of privileged class....And I honestly don't feel the onus is on RuPaul to prove to me that she's TRANS ENOUGH.

I do disagree with some of the points you posted in the TransAdvocate article, Dapper.

(separation because this rant is not aimed at you personally) I do believe there are situations when a person should moderate their speech and choose their words more carefully. But this is a show about DRAG QUEENS for crying out loud. Really? A Drag competition should be sanitary and PC? For me, part of the joy of Drag Queens is the fact that they push the envelope. Who wants to see a PC drag performance? Personally, I wouldn't waste my time. I think artists SHOULD push the envelope. And yeah, I consider RuPaul a fucking artist. I don't think RuPaul owes the community anything in terms of expunging her vocabulary because she has a TV show and a "brand". I want the opposite, as a matter of fact. I want the larger-than-life, offensive, nelly queen fucking BITCH that I have come to know and love in the past over two decades. I think she's earned that right.

I think that this debate about language is a good thing. The queer community, and the trans community contained within, are never going to agree on this. I know as many people who hate the word tranny as those who love it. And that's good. I will probably ALWAYS be on the side of the argument that reclaimed language is a good thing and if a person sees fit to reclaim that language, so be it.

Also--even right at this very minute on Logo's web site they state that their intent is to provide programming that is "OUTRAGEOUS" with characters that are "UNAPOLOGETIC". And in another quote I read that they seek to provide "FIERCE" programming. Well--that's what we got. Outrageous, fierce, and unapologetic.

[imperfect_cupcake]

I see she has clarified to mean tranny = Transexual. Not transgender.
Ok, I can see a Transexual person getting irritated by a transgender person calling them tranny. I can also see a black bi gender/gender flux (most bi gender/gender flux people use two pronouns, hello?) telling another performer to get over herself already. Has anyone actually *been* behind the scenes at a performance with Queens? Theirs caustic bitchy humour and very, very, VERY thick skin is an expression of part of what they have lived through in order to be themselves and perform. One of the only ways you used to be able to get a bloody job as a queen was to be a performer.
That would be equivilant as the only way you could be open and butch and still eat was to put it on stage.

In the UK they do an all Queens show of "the weakest link" a game show where you answer trivia questions , every one having a turn until someone screws up and loses the round. Then then vote off the least knowledgable person. When they Do a Queens version, they rip holes in the host, the audience and each other with sarcastic wit. That is the weapon of choice for drag performance.

I personally would be horrified if someone cis and straight I knew called one of my Transexual friends (who ID as Transexual) as "tranny" .

Coming from a culture where you skin is supposed to be thick, and the way to answer an insult is to answer back with something wittier and more caustic, or you get made into a target? A good comeback is worth 10,000 upset demands.

And that has been made into a TV program. Has anyone ever watched Never Mind the Buzzcocks? They rip the living piss out of each other for a laugh. I watch American musicians show up on that show and they look horrified, repulsed, upset, and offended usually until about 75% of the way through the show when they start to understand that the insults and sarcasm and wit is not to be taken in an American form of offence kind of way. You see them start to "get it" smile, and laugh. queens, as far as I remember, operate from the same place.

It's overly dramatic, caustic, sarcastic, catty and sharp. I don't know the intent behind the word. The intent could have been to hurt or the intent could have been playfully piss taking. I have no idea. I bet this has brought a whole lot of attention to Ru Paul's show though.

[Loren_Q]

This is the thing that keeps bugging me: Who gets to say that RuPaul isn't "trans enough" to be part of the "in group" that gets to use the word tranny? Who? Who are the keepers of that key? The ones that wave the magic wand and grant any person that right to use it?



I agree with this. I can relate because as a petite butch cis-female I'm often told I'm not butch enough.

I'm also old enough where the 'T' word was used by transwomen, drag queens and transvestites (anyone else remember the 70s?)

Back then, I recognized it as a term they used for themselves and like 'Dyke' was a pejorative when used by someone outside of that tribe.

I still feel that way. I don't use the word, and today if a 'non-cross-dressing' cis-gendered person uses it I speak up. It's not theirs to use.

[DapperButch]

Rupaul also recently defended his right to use the T word in an interview stating that he has used the word based on Transexualism.




CCB,

My understanding is that RuPaul does not identify as a woman, but rather as a gay man/male who performs drag (which he places under the umbrella of transgender. He doesn't care of someone calls him she...well, I would suspect not since usually when drag queens are dressed they refer to themselves as she). Have you read that he identifies as transsexual? According to Medusa's post that is what he means when he uses the term "tranny".

Although it may read differently, I actually don't have a lot of passion around this, but I think that things are pretty darn clear here. He says he uses the term tranny as slang for transexuals. My understanding is that most transexuals have issue with that term.

I am really having a hard time understanding why you are ok with a person outside of a minority group (transexuals) using a term that is perjorative in nature and is seen as a slur by the majority of the group.

[candy_coated_bitch]

Quote from RuPaul's Twitter: "I’ve been a “tranny” for 32 years. The word “tranny” has never just meant transsexual. #TransvestiteHerstoryLesson"

As I said before--the word tranny has a long history and Drag Queens and transvestites have been a part of that history. THAT's why I am ok with it.

This is the article where I got the quote: http://www.salon.com/2014/05/27/rupauls_aggressive_tirade_in_defense_of_the_term_t ranny/

I have not seen what Medusa referred to as RuPaul stating that the word "tranny" means just transsexual. Actually, I've read the opposite, as the above suggests. In the above quote he says the opposite. That tranny is part of his/her LIVED EXPERIENCE. Everything I have read suggests that RuPaul identifies with the word. I don't think one has to identify as a woman to identify as gender variant or as a tranny. That word has DECADES and DECADES of history--and yes much of it is in the context of tranvestites and queens. I am absolutely ok with someone that has that lived experience to use that word. I am ok with the people I know who are NOT transsexual women using the word tranny, if they relate to that experience.

I understand the word is offensive to many, I understand it is used as a weapon against trans women all the time. But I still stand by the right of anyone who identifies with a word to reclaim it and use it all they want. The word tranny existed before trans women even existed in the way we conceive of it in queer culture today. So, no--I don't think trans women own the word. If one looks at the etymology of the word it came into use mainly around Drag Queens and transvestites.

Do you really think RuPaul has not experienced considerable backlash for being who he is? For being a Drag Queen? I imagine the word tranny has been leveled at her MANY times.

I get that words like this can be violent and used as weapons. And I am not going to sit here and defend the right of just ANYONE to use the word tranny. However, I will defend RuPaul's right to use it. I imagine many don't agree with me and that's ok.

[Medusa]

And I'll further clarify that I was paraphrasing what I read and definitely could have misquotes Rupaul. From what I remember, he has never said he was "just" Transexual or "just" anything. I do remember that Rupaul has talked extensively about drag as performance (and not necessarily in those terms but the flavor of it).

I've always read and observed Rupaul (and yes, giving homage to the packaged value of what he and his managers present) as extremely body, gender, and self positive. I've appreciated Rupaul as one of the most visible Drag Queens in the world who has always appeared to handle racist and gender-phobic comments from his detractors with class and dignity. In short, I think Rupaul is pretty fucking fabulous.

Language is a tricky thing. Like, I love to identify myself as a fatass. A Dyke. A Faggot. A Honky. A Cunt.

I know several of those words make other people really uncomfortable. I've even had other people who don't fall into any of those categories tell me that I shouldn't use those words to describe myself because it makes them uncomfortable.

So here's where I get hung up. I've also had people who DO fall into those categories with me tell me that I'm "upholding the Patriarchy by calling myself a cunt" or "supporting racism by calling myself a Honky" or "exercising Fatphobia by calling myself a fatass" or "being Lesbianphobic by calling myself a Dyke" or "being Homophobic by calling myself a faggot".

And maybe all of those things are true.

Until they're not.

Can a fat, white, queer woman really be fat phobic, racist, Lesbianphobic, and Homophobic? Sure.

But that's only until I am speaking about myself and my own experiences by reclaiming language of a category that I fall into.

My views on language have changed a lot in the last few years. Hell, my views on what marginalizes and disempowers has changed a lot in the last few years. It might change again.

Right now, today, I feel like I get to describe myself howeverthefuck I want to describe myself. (caveat, caveat, caveat)

And, in large, I feel like Rupaul does too.

Now, caveat the fuck out of all of that by adding that Rupaul clearly has a responsibility to his community and the use of the T-word. I think if he wants to be accessible to Transfolks that he needs to listen to the concerns of the folks telling him that the use of the T-word hurts them. Whether or not he actually chooses to do anything about it might be up for discussion.

I also recently read that Heklina of the Bay area show "Trannyshack" will be changing the name of the show and even that has been drawing some severe criticism on both sides. Some folks arguing that she shouldn't "give in to the bullying of the word police" (or something to that effect) and some arguing that "she's only changing it because people are breathing down her neck". So basically, she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't and hopefully, in the end, she'll do what her heart tells her is right.

Which leads me to ask folks this: Does the performance of art or the use of offensive terminology in artistic performances change your views at all about what words are allowed or not?

[candy_coated_bitch]

Now, caveat the fuck out of all of that by adding that Rupaul clearly has a responsibility to his community and the use of the T-word. I think if he wants to be accessible to Transfolks that he needs to listen to the concerns of the folks telling him that the use of the T-word hurts them. Whether or not he actually chooses to do anything about it might be up for discussion.

<snip> My response: I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a second. DOES RuPaul really have a responsibility to his community regarding whether or not he calls himself a tranny? Even if publicly? Do you feel you owe a responsibility to your community (whatever that may be) when you call yourself a dyke or a faggot or a honky or a fatass or a cunt? I feel very similarly to you when it comes to reclaimed language and my right to call myself pretty much anything I want.

I think RuPaul is being pretty in your face with his responses to this issue, and I actually think it's a good thing that he is pushing the envelope. I think he is being deliberate. RuPaul isn't an activist he's a performer, an artist, an entertainer. I'm not sure he is obligated to be ANYTHING just by virtue of being famous.

With that being said--I also don't think the other side of the argument shouldn't be heard, or that transwomen shouldn't be listened to when they talk about their feelings regarding the word tranny. That shit is real. However, should this mean someone should stop doing what they are doing because it hurts others? /end response

Which leads me to ask folks this: Does the performance of art or the use of offensive terminology in artistic performances change your views at all about what words are allowed or not?

My response: For me, yes it does. I will state up front that I am a pretty in your face kind of person, I see the value in pushing the envelope, and I believe that when something makes people uncomfortable it's an opportunity for growth an understanding. I LOVE art that challenges me, and I strive to be that sort of artist. I think if there is some purpose in using a word generally seen as offensive in a work of art, be it performance art or otherwise--I am not against that. But as in all things, there are lines. I am not the arbiter of where that line is--but I know for me what comes across as brilliant and challenging as opposed to gratuitous. It also depends on the artist, the intended audience, the situation. And generally a matter of taste.

...........

[Martina]

"On Policing RuPaul's Free Speech" The TransAdvocate

http://www.transadvocate.com/on-policing-rupauls-free-speech_n_13537.htm


"Yes, there are very specific contexts in which very specific groups use tranny, shemale and fish. They will continue to do so. All of these terms have a wider context and meaning outside of those very specific in-group usages. It’s a mistake to assume or expect that those terms won’t retain their larger contexts when used outside of those very specific in-groups and a national branded cable TV show is absolutely outside the context of those very specific in-groups. RuPaul is RuPaul precisely because he has social currency outside the context of that very specific in-group and yes, there’s a price one pays for one’s brand reaching that level of popularity and that price, IMHO, is totally fair. We all pay that same price, to one extent or another."

I agree with this argument.

[Martina]

Interesting article in Slate -- The “Tranny” Debate and Conservatism in the LGBTQ Movement (http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/05/30/is_tranny_a_slur_or_an_identity_who_decides.html) --




It’s an interesting moment, to say the least, for the T in LGBTQ. Laverne Cox, an outspoken transgender woman and star of Netflix’s acclaimed Orange Is the New Black, will command attention at newsstands and grocery store checkouts across America from the cover of the June 9 Time magazine, acting as the entry point to an in-depth article on the improving lot of transgender people and policies across the country. And Cox is not alone—other transgender figures have gained visibility and influence with heartening speed in the last year or so, including Redefining Realness author Janet Mock and outspoken activist/model Carmen Carrera.

But even as the needs—for basic respect as much as fair legal treatment—of transgender people come to be acknowledged and better understood in the mainstream, a furor is growing within the queer community around the idea that progress means abandoning words and cultural affiliations that a vocal subset of trans people deem offensive. Tranny, the highest-profile of these words, is both a slur and a term of endearment, a brand that can sting and a badge that can be worn with pride. And when some people cherish a word that others despise, who can be said to own it, to possess the authority to declare it fair or foul? It’s a vexing question, but one that we must consider, because the answer will go a long way in determining what the LGBTQ liberation movement—and liberation is the key word—looks like after gay marriage.

For outsiders, the contours of this debate are surely hazy, so here’s a rough sketch. Tranny and words like it have long been used within the queer world, among many transgender people and especially in the drag subculture, as signs of appreciation or friendship, much in the same way that some African Americans employ the word nigger. While tranny can also certainly be used as a slur (outsiders should not use it for this reason), it is the kind of term that has been claimed by many as a celebration of their own queerness, an indication of their intention to futz with our society’s deeply ingrained gender binary. Other trans people, though, have always found the term derogatory, rejecting it out of hand.

Given the growing prominence of RuPaul’s Drag Race, it’s perhaps not surprising that the recent controversy was spurred by the show’s playful use of words, as we previously covered in Outward, like she-male. (Another precipitating factor was the renaming-under-duress of the Trannyshack, a famous San Francisco queer performance space.) Under pressure from activists and many fans, Drag Race producers and broadcaster Logo TV apologized for the offending segments back in March, editing out a “Female or She-Male challenge” and removing the long-running “You’ve got she-mail” bit from later episodes. But after the finale earlier in May, RuPaul himself has begun pushing back against what he sees as censorship, responding to a question about tranny on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast that “You know, I can call myself a nigger, faggot, tranny all I want to, because I’ve fucking earned the right to do it. I’ve lived the life …”

RuPaul’s comments have joined impassioned missives from trans artist Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, trans author and artist Kate Bornstein, and drag performer Lady Bunny, all of whom in their own ways echoed RuPaul’s view that “banning” tranny was an example of a conservative minority speaking on behalf of—and doing a certain kind of violence to—those for whom the term is, in the words of Bornstein, a “valid, vibrant, and vital identity.” Bond is particularly blunt on this point:

What [critics of the word] fail to recognize is that by banishing the use of the word TRANNY they will not be getting rid of the transphobia of those who use it in a negative way. What it does do is steal a joyous and hard-won identity from those of us who are and have been perfectly comfortable, if not delighted to BE TRANNIES.

Of course, there are compelling arguments against the word—that using it encourages outsiders to sling it in hate, for example, or that it implies all trans individuals are sex workers—many of which Bornstein thoughtfully considers in her post. It’s hard to see a resolution to all this at present. Spend a few minutes in the comments sections of any of the aforementioned pieces, and you will see self-identified trannies accusing their critics of PC tyranny, while the other side accuses them of internalized transphobia.

As a non-trans gay man, I don’t feel it’s my place to declare either side of this debate “right” or “wrong,” because tranny is not an identity I would claim for myself, I am not a part of the drag community beyond fandom, and I am sensitive to the fact that too many ignorant gay men throw the word around in ways that are not welcome nor totally benign. That said, I think at least one helpful thing to emerge from this uproar is a reminder that it is possible to be physically queer and culturally conservative. Indeed, it does not seem inaccurate to me to interpret some transgender people’s insistence on transitioning seamlessly from one gender to the other—to reinforce the gender binary, in effect, by eschewing the conceptual friction that third-way terms like tranny and even she-male engender—as a conservative impulse. Bond seems to recognize this as conservatism in disguise and has little patience for it:

If you don’t wish to own [tranny] or any other word used to describe you other than “male” or “female” then I hope you are privileged enough to have been born with an appearance that will allow you to disappear into the passing world or that you or your generous, supportive family are able to afford the procedures which will make it possible for you to pass within the gender binary system you are catering your demands to. If you’re capable of doing that then GO ON AND DISAPPEAR INTO THE PASSING WORLD!

While it’s entirely possible that a person could “pass” for their chosen gender and remain queer in their approach to the concept of gender in general, I can’t help but find much of the anti-tranny rhetoric to be supported by a curiously conservative set of assumptions. That does not necessarily invalidate the anti-tranny point of view, of course, but I do think that many taking up the cause might reconsider whether they are standing as close to the cutting edge of queer civil rights as they might have imagined—dismissing the deeply felt identities, histories, and understandings of others as “offensive” somehow doesn’t exactly feel progressive.

And, as Lady Bunny suggests, we might think about whether expending this much energy on semantic infighting is distracting from more important battles elsewhere. I’m personally not sure if it’s a zero-sum game, but I am troubled by how, in our zeal to create a so-called “safe space” for ourselves, safe can so easily become code for ideologically pure. As history has borne out time and again, that’s not a space that’s safe for anyone.

[Martina]

If you don’t wish to own [tranny] or any other word used to describe you other than “male” or “female” then I hope you are privileged enough to have been born with an appearance that will allow you to disappear into the passing world or that you or your generous, supportive family are able to afford the procedures which will make it possible for you to pass within the gender binary system you are catering your demands to. If you’re capable of doing that then GO ON AND DISAPPEAR INTO THE PASSING WORLD!

I think this person as well as the articles cited by Kate Bornstein and Lady Bunny have a point. There is a lot of hostility among some transwomen toward transwomen who have not been able to or who have decided not to have surgery. And there is a lot of hostility toward those who do sex and porn work and serve the fetishes of folks who want to specifically fuck transwomen, often pre-op. I imagine that the frisson of disgust and despair that some women feel when called tranny DOES have to do with being associated with this group. And, as I mentioned earlier, there is a hostility among some transwomen toward drag queens. I gather that the word tranny elides some of these distinctions which some transwomen, perhaps the more conservative as this article suggests, would like to have reinforced.

But this doesn't explain most of the reaction to RuPaul and the show's use of the word. I am sure that most of it is that the word is a disrespectful epithet used against them by ignorant people. I completely understand folks who don't want the word to gain currency among and acceptance by the general public.

I myself have been made weary by the intensity and reactivity of some trans activists. I referenced one instance -- about the ridiculous controversy about whether the word transgendered should be used. I also have had my experiences with trans folk -- usually transmen -- who pass and who become heteronormative to a fault. So, the idea of erasing a radical or alternative identity for the comfort of the privileged and passing does rankle some.

Still, I guess I am on the conservative side of the issue. I don't think the word ought to be used on TV.

[Martina]

Language is a tricky thing. Like, I love to identify myself as a fatass. A Dyke. A Faggot. A Honky. A Cunt.


I don't get wanting to reclaim honky. The others, yes. They are used by dominant groups to oppress others. But honky was typically used by African Americans to describe the group oppressing them. One of the things it connotes is an ignorant bigot who'd like to have his foot on your neck. How is that reclaimable? Being fat can be positive. Being gay is positive. Being a sex positive, body-positive female, yes, all good.

Being an ignorant bigoted oppressor? How is that ever positive?

I get reclaiming "white trash" because that was used against poor people by a more dominant group -- more privileged classes. I like that phrase. But honky? I don't get it. It's like telling Black people, "You don't get to be mad at me anymore."

[Medusa]

I don't get wanting to reclaim honky. The others, yes. They are used by dominant groups to oppress others. But honky was typically used by African Americans to describe the group oppressing them. One of the things it connotes is an ignorant bigot who'd like to have his foot on your neck. How is that reclaimable? Being fat can be positive. Being gay is positive. Being a sex positive, body-positive female, yes, all good.

Being an ignorant bigoted oppressor? How is that ever positive?

I get reclaiming "white trash" because that was used against poor people by a more dominant group -- more privileged classes. I like that phrase. But honky? I don't get it. It's like telling Black people, "You don't get to be mad at me anymore."



Martina-


I generally don't like to engage with you because of what you just did above.

I made a statement with what I felt was a pretty large concept and all of the sudden I'm throwing White Oppression back onto Black people.

I mean, for real?????


For anyone else who may want clarification, I am not speaking of reclaiming the word "honky" in relation to Black folks using it to describe their white oppressors. I use that word in reference to the grand "All Things White and White Privileged that Are Ridiculous".

And yes, in some (and most in my case) instances, interchangeably with "white trash".

I'd seriously like this thread to NOT focus on me and my racial oppression if at all possible.

Thanks,
Angie

[imperfect_cupcake]

I guess it depends on how you see it. I had a Hawaiian mate who used to call me cracker, playfully, and It never bothered me. It made me laugh. Why? Because I come from a dominant culture of whiteness that doesn't feel the effects of being one. To me it's just a word with no systemic bite. Therefore, her playfully using it had no oppressive backup. I *could* laugh. To me, all it means is white. I know the background of it, but it doesn't have that "feeling" behind it that other words felt for her.

I also met a straight girl named "g" who was a friend of my best friend. We were sitting around the table and I mentioned an ex by "she". G turned to me and said "oh! Are you a carpet licker?"
I burst out laughing "yes" I said "I lick carpets. Indeed I do. I do."
She grinned and said "I adore you kind of gals" and winked at me and I laughed.

I did not get angry at her use because I could tell by her tone she was being playful and rough-edged. Plus words don't really hurt me all that much anymore, tbh. The more self accepting and self loving I am, the less they seem to bug me.

I was upset at being called "titsy fatarse" by a group of boys before they shoved me off my bike a couple years back, into a bush. But when I told my best friend the story she almost peed herself laughing. At that point I stopped and thought about it and thought, yeah ok I see your point, and grinned. And you know what? It feels a lot easier, a lot lighter and a lot better to laugh when she calls me titsy fatarse now on occasion. That's not to say I wouldn't punch those boys in the face, given the chance, but I don't carry what Said or did around like a sack of wet wool.

The only thing that kind of bothers me is that I'm opineing away on what I think of the word tranny. I know what I think and what my trans friends think. I know which ones are ok with it and which ones aren't. And really, taking people's preferences into account is what friends do. I don't call strangers by that word because I don't know what they think or how they feel. They may not feel I have the right to say it, they may think no one does, they may love it as a term of endearment like I do with playful jousts with who I am.

But I'm not in the public eye saying it - you can't accomidate everyone in that instance. I personally am not trans in any way shape or form. So frankly, what I think is irrelevant. But here I am. Blabbing away... Because for some reason my opinion on the matter just comes pouring out of my mouth.

I do what my friends want. That's about as far as I can go with it.

[Medusa]

....My response: I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a second. DOES RuPaul really have a responsibility to his community regarding whether or not he calls himself a tranny? Even if publicly? Do you feel you owe a responsibility to your community (whatever that may be) when you call yourself a dyke or a faggot or a honky or a fatass or a cunt? I feel very similarly to you when it comes to reclaimed language and my right to call myself pretty much anything I want.
......



CCB!

I think there is an implied responsibility with any kind of "fame" and maybe it's fair and maybe it isn't. I'd like to think that people get to be famous and still get to be themselves without society putting a bunch of bullshit expectations on them but I think more often than not people *do* have expectations of anyone with any level of visibility.

It almost seems like we (the general) hold people with visibility up to this weird standard of "You now have power so you must go forth and represent". And that can be a really good thing (Laverne Cox on the cover of Time this week!!) and a really shitty thing (Miley Cyrus is "crazy" and a "whore" because she dares do what the fuck she wants with appropriate caveats to the fact that her fame machine is driving the boat).

Today I'm wondering what the solution would be. To completely erase the use of the T-word for any and everyone or to step back and observe the people who use it and decide whether or not we agree with it for ourselves (meaning whether or not we give them our time, attention, or money)?

And I'm falling in line with Honeybarbara here as far as looking at the ridiculousness of me even having an opinion around the use of the word when I'm not Trans.

But that's the way the world works. We're always looking at what other people say and do and always having opinions on it. It's almost exhausting.

a

[Martina]

I guess it depends on how you see it. I had a Hawaiian mate who used to call me cracker, playfully, and It never bothered me. It made me laugh. Why? Because I come from a dominant culture of whiteness that doesn't feel the effects of being one. To me it's just a word with no systemic bite. Therefore, her playfully using it had no oppressive backup. I *could* laugh. To me, all it means is white. I know the background of it, but it doesn't have that "feeling" behind it that other words felt for her.


I am not talking about Medusa, but the use of words, epithets that can be used against groups of people. I think that while it might be a tangent, it is not entirely off track in this thread.

I do think this instance -- cracker -- is different than the honky example. Cracker was coined by more privileged white folks to describe poorer people. In the instance you cite, a POC used it to describe you, but the history and most common usage of the word was that of one class disparaging a less privileged group. Over time, it has been reclaimed and is used by some people with pride. It doesn't have much bite at all.

And I honestly wasn't talking about how white people feel being called honky. I was talking about the message it sends about race to even attempt to reclaim it. It is not comparable to cracker or white trash because it was used by the subaltern class to describe the dominant other. For the dominant group to make any attempt to reclaim it is to send some questionable messages, including the racist past of my people doesn't matter anymore.

To me, it is worth thinking about these cases because, as people have said, these debates about the language of naming can get complicated and overdetermined. And we are ultimately talking about the real lived relations of power among people now.

[imperfect_cupcake]

I was under the impression cracker came from "cracker back" as in whipping someone.

Honky wouldn't bother me either, it means nothing. There is nothing to reclaim. I'm in a dominant group. Same thing, to me, as cracker. You may feel differently about those words, neither of them hold any bite for me at all. I'm white and privileged and there is no systemic oppression to go with that word. So... *shrug* I don't care if someone calls me that. I personally wouldn't use either term because I'm not American so I did not grow up with those terms at all.

Bitch, slut, pervert, lezzo, titsy, etc... Sure.

It's not up to me if it's not a word that describes a group I'm not in.

[Martina]

I was under the impression cracker came from "cracker back" as in whipping someone.


I thought it had to do with bragging, kind of like the bragging contests people in America used to have. It's kind of a rural American way of talking and telling stories from the past. Now, it just means a rural white person from Florida or Georgia. Or a style of architecture.

Honky wouldn't bother me either, it means nothing. There is nothing to reclaim. I'm in a dominant group. I agree.

Same thing, to me, as cracker. For you and me, yes. For the poor white folks of the region, maybe there was. In any case, the work is done.

It's not up to me if it's not a word that describes a group I'm not in.

I don't know. I feel like I have a stake in some of it. I came up as a lesbian around gay men, a few of whom did drag. I feel connected to that culture, especially as it was back then. I feel connected to the guys who worshiped opera divas even though it wasn't something I did. I am not claiming membership in a group I don't belong to. But I do feel affected when the larger culture negotiates how to describe it. It matters (some) to me.

I guess I have an affection for drag and drag queens because I felt comfortable and safe among them. From the very beginning -- my coming out -- lesbian culture was in the throes of some extreme infighting that affected me. It was my home in a way that gay male culture couldn't be, but safe? No. Being around gay men has usually been that. Not always. There's a lot of sexism there. But it's been a place to be queer and accepted. I also just appreciate the forms it has taken. I loved the opera diva folk for caring so damned much, for being able to talk for HOURS about opera and culture. I liked that world. It's pretty much gone. AIDS. But it meant a lot to me. And what has replaced it -- well it was always there -- but what is left is so materialistic. I have some awesome gay male friends and acquaintances. But the culture and what it contributes -- it's a lot about money and the things it will buy. As is the culture at large.

So I feel kind of attached to drag culture, at least as it was.

Re the trans people who are offended, as an ally, I guess I do have a right to speak up. And, in fact, I come down on their side of the argument in spite of my regard for RuPaul and my affection for drag culture.

[imperfect_cupcake]

Ok, I just read up on the work and it has several meanings. One that you describe and one that I did. There is more than one use for it, my friend meant it in the way I described.

I don't believe I have any right to tell a trans person to be, or not to be, offended by then term tranny. I know some who use it (and other terms I won't state here because I know the offense people will take to it and frankly I don't want to be in a shit storm over words others are comfortable over) and I know some who find it offensive. I cannot tell someone who used the ID to stop it. No more than a man should tell me to stop using the term lezzo to describe myself. I can't insist on someone to accept it. I can only respect someone's wishes to use or not use it as part of their own history and ID. That's what I mean.

[candy_coated_bitch]

CCB!

I think there is an implied responsibility with any kind of "fame" and maybe it's fair and maybe it isn't. I'd like to think that people get to be famous and still get to be themselves without society putting a bunch of bullshit expectations on them but I think more often than not people *do* have expectations of anyone with any level of visibility.

It almost seems like we (the general) hold people with visibility up to this weird standard of "You now have power so you must go forth and represent". And that can be a really good thing (Laverne Cox on the cover of Time this week!!) and a really shitty thing (Miley Cyrus is "crazy" and a "whore" because she dares do what the fuck she wants with appropriate caveats to the fact that her fame machine is driving the boat).

Today I'm wondering what the solution would be. To completely erase the use of the T-word for any and everyone or to step back and observe the people who use it and decide whether or not we agree with it for ourselves (meaning whether or not we give them our time, attention, or money)?

And I'm falling in line with Honeybarbara here as far as looking at the ridiculousness of me even having an opinion around the use of the word when I'm not Trans.

But that's the way the world works. We're always looking at what other people say and do and always having opinions on it. It's almost exhausting.

a

I don't believe there is any "implied" responsibility that comes with fame. Frankly, most celebrities just act like idiots and we (as a culture) eat that shit up. We have celebrities that are pretty much famous FOR being idiots. I don't see why queer folks need to be ambassadors to the world just because they are queer and famous. I think the queer community DOES expect that sometimes because by and large there are not very many out celebrities. But just because something is expected it does not make any person obligated to deliver.

Yes, I do see the irony in a bunch of cis folks sitting around debating whether or not the word "tranny" is offensive. Let me be clear: I am not trying to say any trans person SHOULDN'T be offended by the word. That is obviously not up to me. And I would never force the word on any trans person who found it offensive or asked me to stop using it. I *DO* use it some in my personal life with select people. I wouldn't use it in conversation here on the forums because it isn't a word I feel "belongs" to me in the same way others do. I do have manners and I have a good sense of where the lines are.

However, I also feel I am not the arbiter of who gets to identify with the word tranny. If someone says they identify with a reclaimed word I will generally accept that. I've found that most people do not inappropriately reclaim language for THEMSELVES. (Which is different from using language as a weapon.) I don't hear too many cis men calling themselves dykes and cunts, for instance. I mean--just why would they? I'm sure it could happen but it's not a line I feel super compelled to police.

My first serious partner when I was growing up as a baby queer was a transvestite. And I came up among transvestites and queens. The word "tranny" was part of my queer vocabulary even before "femme" was! So, it doesn't sound weird or out of the ordinary or offensive to me at all. Honestly--I'm surprised there is as much outrage from the trans community about this as there is. I know there will always be people who are offended by certain words, and that's ok. But to me, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that it's devastatingly offensive for a drag queen to use the word tranny. I also concede that my own personal experience informs that feeling.

I am REALLY freaking cranky about reclaimed language, I will admit. I think that people have the right to call themselves what they want, use whatever labels they want, and reclaim whatever historically negative word they want and turn it into something powerful. That's also why I feel invested--because of the principle of the thing. I can't even tell you how much shit I got over my screen name when I first started posting here (and still get). OMFG--I got hateful private messages and was told I should change my screen name and that my choice of my name was offensive, stupid, thoughtless, anti-woman. I was told I should leave, that I obviously had no experience with butch/femme community. I was told I was obviously just a 22 year cis dude trying to invade sacred space. It was RIDICULOUS. And actually, this screen name is very carefully selected and very meaningful to me. So it was really fucking annoying. I know there are a lot of women who hate the word bitch, and I get that and I get why--but I will NEVER stop using it. And it's kind of just too bad for them. I do get where RuPaul is coming from. This is just one example.

Also, on a final rambling note: I appreciate both the Laverne Coxes and the Rupauls/Miley Cyruses of the world. I think we need both. Laverne Cox is beautiful and smart as hell and spunky. I am glad she is visible as a trans woman, I am happy that the trans community has her as a representative. It's wonderful and I celebrate it. But she is also visible as a trans woman BECAUSE she is beautiful and smart and spunky WITHOUT being too threatening. She's relatable. Which is not a bad thing--like I said, we need people like her. But I think we also need the people that say FUCK YOU to the entire world and do what they want and show us, even if inadvertently so, why being yourself, even if it offends hoards of people, is really the most valuable thing you can do at the end of the day. I do think Laverne Cox does that, she is just a lot more graceful at it. I just happen to admire grace and bitchy attitude in equal measure.