Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 2377-2381 (4-8 February, 2013) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread
Lubricus:
--- Quote from: Method of Madness on 09 Feb 2013, 11:12 ---
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 09 Feb 2013, 02:37 ---All these things pale in significance alongside the fact that next Tuesday is pancake day.
--- End quote ---
Wasn't that earlier this week?
--- End quote ---
EVERY day is Pancake Day! :psyduck:
Is it cold in here?:
Ms. Reed may be inhibited by a professional lifetime of carefully controlling herself so that her customers still perceive it as erotic and not injurious. Ms. Chatham seems to have no inhibitions whatever.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: Method of Madness on 09 Feb 2013, 11:12 ---
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 09 Feb 2013, 02:37 ---All these things pale in significance alongside the fact that next Tuesday is pancake day.
--- End quote ---
Wasn't that earlier this week?
--- End quote ---
No; Shrove Tuesday is 12 Feb this year.
ZoeB:
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 08 Feb 2013, 23:25 ---Our relationship with the characters is already "not polite", but you're on solid ground if you want to posit that publicly speculating about the extent of Claire's reassignment is creepy.
Jumping several moves ahead in a potential debate about fictional characters, I imagine you saying that by not speculating about Claire we are getting critically important practice in how to treat real trans* people. Would you say that in reality?
--- End quote ---
You got it in one.
It's the kind of thing you only discuss with trusted friends. And only if there's a good reason.
Example - a G/F of mine had "female issues" - prolapse after a difficult birth. I gave info regarding surgical reconstruction options based on my own experience. She needed OB/Gyn work that most doctors are clueless about, but which would be a doddle for the kind of surgeons I'm used to. She'd been advised that nothing could be done, or there were very significant risks etc etc - all horse pucky.
In the middle of transition, everyone seemed to assume that I'd already had "the op". I did look female by then after all. At that time, things were a mess (I'm Intersex remember, stuff had atrophied) and surgery was still a year away. There was no guarantee I'd ever get permission to have it. That's another thing, the hoops one must jump through, the checks of one's sanity, the verification of a social support mechanism... it seems crazy that in order to have a surgical procedure, one must prove one has a job or be in fulltime study, but it's a requirement. Heaven help you if you get assigned the wrong therapist. Some have very idiosyncratic ideas about gender, but you better conform to their views of what is appropriate for your sex, or you'll be refused treatment. They have absolute power over you.
One woman's experience...
--- Quote ---In early 2009 I was finally given my assessment for suitability to go on the waiting list for sex reassignment surgery. Yes, that’s right, I would be assessed as to whether or not I was suitable to wait in line for further assessment.
...
I wear black. I like wearing black. I was told that women do not wear black....The woman doing the assessment was wearing black. Nothing but black. She told me that women wear bright colours. Pink was the only colour she could name.
The psychologist actually assumed I had short hair – either she was blind, or stupid – and said that women have long hair. On having it pointed out to her that I have long hair, and was wearing it tied back due to the wind, she said that women never wear their hair like that. She certainly didn’t, since her hair was about an inch long...
I was wearing a skirt. It’s hard to miss this on anyone, more so when someone is sitting cross-legged. She assumed I was wearing trousers. In her strange view of the world, women never wear trousers: they only wear skirts – and not long skirts, not even when it’s cold out. They wear short skirts. Knee length is still a long skirt. Mid-thigh is apparently the universal dress code for women. Unless they wear dresses, of course. No woman ever wears trousers. I’m sure the astute reader will see where this is going… Yes, she was wearing trousers.
The ever more ridiculous and outdated stereotypes continued: Women all wear make-up. But not subtle make-up. They trowel it on, so that it is clearly visible. It must be noticeable, or they’re not wearing make-up. No, she wasn’t wearing make-up either. I personally don’t. I’m very poor and could not afford any make-up if I wanted to wear it. Since I was raised by parents who were both feminist enough to think that make-up is something that women are not required or expected to do, I certainly don’t feel any pressure to bother. But the notion that maybe it’s sexist to require women to wear make-up was flatly disavowed by the psychologist. She said that all women wear the stuff, all the time. Except her, of course.
Then there was my lack of high heels. You see, all women wear high heels (except for certain psychologists)....I was told I should wear high heels. Even though I often cannot find any that actually fit.
On hearing that I’m attracted exclusively to women (there was a flat demand to know my sexual orientation) she said that only men are attracted to women. I asked her if she had not heard the term lesbian. She repeated what she said, so I think the answer was “no”. I guess lesbians are just too cutting edge.
--- End quote ---
Most Transsexual (and Intersex) women don't feel the need to have surgery. There are risks after all. It's expensive - as much as a new car. The SPL in the brain may not be set up for female genitalia, in which case surgery is the LAST thing they should have. There may also be medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes that effectively preclude it.
For others, like myself, while I could have lived without it, I could also have lived with both legs cut off. If there was any possibility of having surgery without doing something morally repugnant, I'd take it. To give you an idea, due to some transphobia in high places, at one stage I was unable to get a passport, only a travel document good to leave the country, but not re-enter. The only surgeons qualified to work on my condition were overseas. I was seriously working out how to re-enter the country illegally (probably by going as supercargo on a freighter from Singapore, jumping ship on arrival). Once in, as a citizen I'd be OK.
"Desperation" describes it pretty well.
DrBear:
writes down the word "doddle" for my next game of Words With Friends.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version