My cousin was married to a woman for a number of years, they had two kids together. Then she came out, they divorced, she moved across the country, and is now in a new relationship with her partner. She had her own journey, just as we all do. I s’pose I could stress about whether she lied to my cousin (or lied to herself) or whatever, but I just don’t have the energy to feel any kind of animosity for folks who grapple with identity issues.
Whether Rachel lied to herself or lied to others or whether she’s still struggling with who she is, I just come down on the side of showing her more grace than scorn. (Not saying that you specifically are showing any scorn, thunder!)
Can you point me to an interview, article, whatever in which she states that she sees herself as [quote=“feathered_head, post:41, topic:52194”]
university professor, administrative head of a respected organization, an artiste and author.
[/quote] I believe she actually DID two of these things, one of which she did quite well, but nowhere have I heard her state that she views herself as these things. So please, rather than just speculation on your part, I would like to see it in her words.
Please stop pushing the false equivalency to transgenderism. Having a physiological condition and keeping the nature of it private until one comes to self-understanding and acceptance and feels safe and supported enough is not remotely the same thing as what Dolezal did.
It’s going to take me a while to understand how a person cannot find a job, is nearly homeless, and yet has a pending book deal. Does anybody else thing that this is part of the publisher’s marketing strategy?
Yeah. She’s not “confused” or “struggling.” She’s a race opportunist who called herself white or black depending on which characterization would benefit her.
She’s a fraud. Seriously…which of you would trust this woman with any important decision regarding your own affairs?
Trans people may not publicly say who they really are, which is their right. They are not, however, masquerading as something else. They possess a dual nature, which can be very difficult to deal with, and which they did not choose.
Rachel chose to identify with something she was not genetically or biologically. There’s not crime there, but it is nothing at all like the biological/psychological/genetic issues that trans people must face and deal with.
I see this as an apples to dump trucks comparison—based on the 20 or so trans folks I’ve known over the last 30 or 40 years.
Speaking personally, I don’t “get” transgenderism. As much as I try to “walk in another’s shoes…” I just can’t wrap my head around the concept of someone being biologically one gender but being convinced through and through that they are meant to be the other gender. That said, just because I don’t get it doesn’t mean I can’t show kindness and grace for transgendered folks. We humans are funny creatures, and there’s plenty about me that you guys wouldn’t “get” but somehow we can all be committed to showing people dignity and respect and kindness nonetheless.
That’s my personal response. But logically, I don’t see a logical difference between somebody who identifies with another gender besides their biological gender and somebody who identifies with another race besides their biological race.
I really do not understand the sympathy for her expressed here. I don’t hate her – I just don’t think she should be celebrated as some sort of oppressed and righteous individual. She is attempting to monetize her bullshitting.
The notion of gender dysphoria as an illness is premised on the understanding that gender difference is more than a social construct; it appears to be innate in humans. For example, young children very early on express gender differences; both in how they behave and in how they treat each other. They identify as boys or girls. When this identification contradicts their biology they experience confusion, stress, and unhappiness. The idea here is that their brain is right and their body is wrong so the treatment is to fix the body (which can still sound extreme to many).
On the other hand, young children do not express racial differences. Yes they can see that some kids may look different from them but they do not act as if these differences matter without social prodding. For example, if they grow up in a heavily integrated community they will perceive white vs black skin as no different than straight vs curly hair. This makes it more difficult to argue that the brain is right and the body is wrong. It’s more likely one would recommend counseling to allow the patient to accept all of who they are.
I don’t think the Beastie Boys or Eminem suffer racial dysphoria. This does not stop them from “acting black” in certain ways or in celebrating rap music which is so closely tied to African-American culture. Still, nobody would accuse them of trying to pass themselves off as black and I think if they did we would agree it was an unhealthy choice.
Ask yourself…
If you had held those kind of positions and while you were fired from them because you presented yourself as something you’re not (and no her ridiculousness is not the same as transgender) but you maintain that you did nothing wrong, when leaving aside the whole “transrace” thing, the false police reports and such were enough to justify you being canned…
do you really think we’re think we’re talking about being bounced from interviews for low level jobs or being a cashier at McDonald’s when she says “the only offers for work I’ve gotten are reality TV and Porn”?
So I personally have no problem if she chose to live as a black. It’s her choice, and that, in itself, is not a problem at all. It’s a choice that she could get out of if she wants.
But for trans people, it’s not a choice matter (yes, read scientific studies on this subject), hence excruciating pain and struggle they go through, both socially and psychologically, about a conflict between their biological sex and gender identity. You have what you are constantly rejected every single day ever since you reach the age of self-awareness, and that’s brutal. It didn’t happen to those whom I directly know, but I did read about stories some even committed suicide because the distress and stigma they face was just so too much.
Whether Dolezal deserves bashing or not is another matter. I just don’t yet see convincing reasons we can equate trans people’s cases and cases like hers (hence my question upthread).
