The Passing Reich
Wednesday, November 24th, 2004 I have been often been asked about transgender
/ transvestite lifestyles by people who are
not in the culture: "Is it like those
hairy guys who come out in dresses in talk
shows?" Ironically, the answer is Yes.
The pervasive issue that many transgender
folk tend to skirt around is the issue of
passing (to go undetected in public and get
accepted for the gender you are adopting).
If you were to inspect the discussions closely,
you would find that it’s really centered around
passing: Problems in women’s public toilets,
acceptance in lesbian bars, violence and remarks
made on the streets, welfare application problems,
on-the-job harassment.
Nobody wants to admit it, but all these topics
would NOT be an issue if someone passed 100%.
The people I have come across who have passed
100% are completely integrated into society
as a girl and have absolutely no interest
in discussing being a "transgendered"
person. So why do you only see hairy guys
come out in dresses in talk shows? Because
the fraction of the ones who have truly succeeded
in passing will never expose themselves. Their
hands are not on the prize. The prize is already
sitting on the mantle of their living room
fireplace.
But what is passing? Have you ever thought
about it? Passing, by any other name, would
be "blind sheepish conformism."
I want to be named like a girl, dress like
a girl, act like a girl, talk like a girl,
throw like a girl. If you substitute girl
with "in crowd", "cool people",
"hipsters," it gets ugly fairly
quickly.
The theme of passing is the utter desperation
to be accepted and belong. It reminds me of
newly-monied ethnic groups at the turn of
the century who exhausted themselves trying
to gain membership into the old guards country
club. Repeatedly, they were turned down and
humiliated.
Then somebody had enough sense to say, "maybe
we’ll just built our own, with all the resources
we have at our disposal."
And that’s what I’m saying now. "Why
not?"
Why follow?
When you can create.
