Quote:
Originally Posted by Toy Soldier
(Post 9921601)
Maru: that's why I said A) that I am perfectly willing to agree that it's open for reasonable, considered debate and also B) that my main concern is consistency.
There isn't just a sharing of beliefs when it comes to this topic... There's some quite clear anger, and mocking, when it comes to "blokes pretending to be women" that simply isn't accepted when it comes to other topics and the main reason it's accepted is because Vicky, and to a lesser extent Niamh, the most active SD mods, have (fairly recently) been expressing open cynicism and anger towards the very concept of transsexualism. Frankly, Vicky is more or less the worst for the "blokes in frocks prancing about pretending to be real women!!" type comments.
And like I said, it wouldn't be accepted against other groups. My problem is the double standards.
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I accept this is your view, so I see no argument there. But as far I'm aware, there are no protected "groups" on TiBB. Most stuff that I've seen deleted (and a lot doesn't...), it's caustic or problematic commentary meant to cause a row or derail a thread. Unless certain opinions are being policed... in which case, that is simply
wrong.
On topic, with regards to transgender vitriol, in my own opinion it's something that does fly under the radar quite easily, but I don't immediately connect this with anger or hate against transgender folk (depends on the person or their commentary). I tend to think it's because many folk still view transgenderism in general as a mental illness and mockery and caustic language (prejudicial treatment) towards mental illness has
always been accepted criticism of someone in our society. It's OK to call someone a looney, a bunny boiler, a pathetic drug addict, etc, if their behavior is deemed to be down to some sort of personal defect, especially if it is mental or emotional. This isn't handled particularly well in the media either and it is certainly not handled all that well sometimes even in SD. So it's no surprise that transgenderism has been affected by this stigma since it currently is casting a big shadow over the grey area that lies between mental illness or actual cultural phenomenon in present popular discourse... Some mental illnesses also occupy these grey areas.
For example, when we are talking about what is "wrong" with someone, it's generally considered acceptable discourse to include mental impairments as a way to screen their behavior for other moral or personal defects related to their personhood... for example, Donald Trump and the case for him having NPD... while the media does generally cover what he is doing, they're more often obsessively focused on his more tedious behavior(s) and treating him like a monkey in a cage in need a rubber room.. and though there is validity to connecting his behavior and outbursts with NPD (there is a strong case there I think), they actively search for his mental impairments in order to make other cases for classifying his behavior as signs of serious mental impairment.. when no one, including psychologists breaking their ethics to speak on his mental state, are in any position to even diagnose or treat him. That's an uncomfortable line being crossed for me and is being crossed more and more each day the more we bring social media into the mainstream. The more silly stuff that gets said, the more the media can dig up in other people's timelines in order to play out some cynical fantasy about other people's supposed deviant behavior.
We kind of saw some of this same "fair play" with the Aspergers discussion. Except it was used in such a way to somehow make light of fairly insensitive commentary. It doesn't matter what their mental illness is, imo, if their behavior is terrible, then it is what that is... and just the same, if someone is suffering from dysphoria and acts like a general fool on public television (India), then those same variables can't then be summoned at will as a convenient shield at very particular times to protect themselves from criticism. They have a condition or a dysphoria, but that doesn't make the entirity of their personhood. They aren't bestowed additional virtues for having been identified as such. And when we add these additional markers to make a picture of how these people should be seen on basis of labels alone, we actually further stigmatize others who doesn't necessarily share those characteristics under the same umbrella.. which I think does make it much easier for some folk to cast a general blanket over certain disorders in order to validate their own shared experiences... because some sections think by placing these things on a pedestal, we "destigmatize" it. Like the concept of intersectionality, it actually makes it more difficult for those under certain labels to get out from behind them... it doesn't not just lessen the stigmatization, but it maybe even burdens them with uneasy expectations... especially for those who are still struggling and aren't coping well with even any stigma.
This is why when my grandfather lies or says he can't hear us when we're asking him very specific questions, we don't let him use his Schizophrenia or his Senioritis as an excuse to avoid ducking responsibility for his own behavior. Those are conditions that he lives with, but those conditions are not all that we see in him. And people who have had to deal with someone who is prone to this type of dodging, though it may seem harsh, that's sometimes what we have to do to get someone to not only be accountable for their own livelihood but also to get out from behind their labels so that we can see all of who they are... and not just simply treat them as a burden or disruptive element to society.