A Trans Blog Profile

I was surveying the blogging terrain, looking for blogs that would be relevant to my own blog's topic, when I came across a blog entitled Trans Political. Written by Vanessa Edwards Foster, whose "About Me" blurb indicates that she has been heavily involved with transgender and and other gender issues for some time, this blog looks at, well, politics, what else? National, local and trans-specific politics are covered from an insider's perspective- how much more relevant can you get? This seemed like a gem of a blog for me to profile for the benefit of my readers (please read the disclaimer below*).

Foster is an activist, an insider in the political in-fighting (for want of a better word) of the national trans community, if you can subscribe to its existence (that's a topic for another post). She also seems quite knowledgeable about politics on the Federal level that directly impact trans people - laws, rulings, political maneuvering, and individual positioning regarding trans issues. Though her writing seems more directed at an already interested population of other trans people, it is easy enough for a newbie to get the flow of things, learn who is who and who's doing what to whom. Part of this ease comes from Foster's personal and familiar tone, part of it from her substantial knowledge of her topic.

Activism is huge right now for the trans community, and has been since the early 1990s, when trans activism suddenly mushroomed across the country. One can sense from reading Trans Political that Vanessa Edwards Foster knows all the key players and issues fairly well. Her blog has been linked to 173 times in the last 180 days by 18 different blogs according to Technorati, mostly by other trans or gender centered blogs, it seems.

Though there are other trans blogs with considerably higher numbers on Technorati (Trans Group Blog or the highly popular en/Gender ), Trans Political is doing well for such a heavily political blog focused on trans issues. En/Gender, in comparison, happens to be written by a woman who authored a few popular books about her trans husband-turned-woman, Betty. The selections on en/Gender are not necessarily as trans focused as Trans Political, either: cats, NYC, books and writing, and music are some of the top tags for en/Gender listed by Technorati. Politics has never been quite as appealing to the masses as daily life, especially if there is a twist to it (i.e. a trans partner). Television shows have demonstrated that quite well; I can’t imagine the popularity of C-span’s coverage of daily congressional proceedings ever approached that of shows like Montel, Oprah, or Jerry Springer. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

One thing that Foster does to appeal to a wider audience is pepper her posts with pop culture references, framing the issues in ways easily relatable to by the general populace. A post entitled "Back to Business as Usual", for example, frequently quotes Michael Douglas’s despised character in the Hollywood hit Wall Street:

“‘It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another.’”

This particular post is a critical discussion of Human Rights Campaign** tactics, a frequent topic of Trans Political posts (81 tags so far).

Overall, Vanessa Edwards Fosters’ blog is an insightful look at the the political landscape from a trans perspective. The reader may not agree with everything she says, but will still walk away well informed about what’s going on, who is who, and what all of it may mean for trans people in America.

*Let's cut the bull, this blog is required for a class, so if it seems like some of the ideas behind my posts come from out of the wild blue yonder, it's because they kind of did. In so far as they did not originate within my own thought processes, that is. If a post reads like it is fulfilling the requirements of an assignment, it probably is. I'm hoping you get something out of it anyhow.

**Human Rights Campaign, or HRC, is a lobby organization, historically for gay and lesbian issues. They have added "bisexual" and "transgender" to the roster of people on whose behalf they lobby the federal government, but Trans Political tells us the addition is in name only. Furthermore, Foster claims HRC exploits trans people for a gay and lesbian agenda.

"Now they’ve convinced yet another organization to allow them to worm their way in so that they may undermine the trans political leadership once again, with a particular eye toward what opportunity they may reap for themselves and their own on the backs of ours, and availing themselves of the tragedies of the trans community! I have two words to describe them: selfish greed!"

Personally, I'll have to read more before I make any declaration on this issue. I'm just not well enough informed yet.

What's it all about?

If Anthropology gave me wings, Gender Studies knocked me silly. Coming back to school after a ten-year trip to some place far, far away, I was planning on going into Interior Design. Right. My first Anthropology class reclaimed me for its pursuits in a matter of weeks, considerably less than the six weeks the class lasted, actually. I had quite forgotten my passions of yesteryear for just about anything anthropologically oriented and my relationship with science and academic thought in general had withered from neglect. Anthropology woke me up,nourished me, and had me flying through realms of theory, perception, and really cool cross-cultural data in no time. It was grand, and I was on my way to discover, ponder, and publish. Then I took a Gender Studies course in my third year. The ground did not fall out from under me, so much as collide with me rather unexpectedly.

Gender Studies was just as fascinating as Anthropology, and the two informed each other constantly for me, right into complete confusion. Gender (and lots of other stuff) may seem a clear-cut matter to some, perhaps most, people, but feminist theory and Queer Theory can destroy that illusion quite easily. Nothing is quite what it seems; one must always question what is seen, heard, thought, perceived as reality. This blog is an attempt at autoethnography as I continue with my undergraduate explorations of gender utilizing both anthropological and feminist thought and methods. It is impossible to tell what may be uncovered along this journey through the gender landscape. I am hoping to recover my senses, which I expect will be more finely tuned when I get them back, as well as my wings. Flying always gives such an interesting view of the landscape!

I will be examining concepts of gender, sex, and sexuality, with a special focus on transgender and transgender issues. There will be discussions of academic work, including the indespensible Judith Butler, the writing and activist work of Riki Wilchins and others, trans memoirs, other blogs that cover these issues, and my own random musings on these topics. Ideally, this blog will be a place for discussion of relevant issues and concepts, not just me sitting here typing away into the void. Comments, suggestions, criticisms and large donations (just kidding, save it for the activists) are all welcome, so long as the content is thoughtful and not hurtful.

This blog is not meant to be a voice of authority, at least not entirely so. I may be convinced I know exactly what I’m talking about from time to time. However, when speaking about the experiences of others, experiences I have not gone through, I can never be more than an informed observer, at best. If you are one of those people and think I’ve got it all wrong, or wonder who I think I am, talking about other people’s experiences, I welcome a dialog with you. I ponder everyone’s existence as my fellow human beings. Please don’t take offense.

I do hope to help people who are interested to set off in a helpful direction as they explore gender and its related topics for themselves. I believe any study of this field necessitates a good hard look at oneself and how these issues are at play in one’s own life. I hope my readers will find the posts thought provoking, if nothing else.

posted to landscapeofconsciousness

The below is a comment I posted on a blog called lanscapeofconsciousness in response to a post on masculinity and same-sex marriage.


It seems to me that any flaw marriage may have, other than a traditional notion attached to it that it be between a man and a woman, is really beside the point in the debate over marriage equality. That particular traditional notion is what is being addressed here.

Marriage exists, and with significant social, economical, and political clout. Therefore, it needs to be equally accessible to all who are of age. It is a government recognized, legal institution and therefore discrimination in its deployment is absolutely unacceptable.

Fighting for the equality of all is important, even if one does not wish to partake of marriage themselves. Discrimination anywhere just opens the door for more discrimination.

Personally, I think marriage is in need of a serious conceptual and practical overhaul, but none of that will come any time soon, and meanwhile, people are being systematically degraded by their exclusion from marriage. The resources are going to fight inequality, and this is a major battle. The effects spread far beyond marriage itself. It is worth it.

As for masculinity and marriage, the nature of the desire may be similar for some, but surely not for all. It is dependent upon how each individual understands masculinity (or femininity) and marriage. Not everyone approaches gender from the standpoint of "desiring to be" or "participate." Plenty of people are coming from "this is who I AM." That is a weak point of your argument (as it is here), I think.

If you simply ARE masculine and you desire to participate in marriage, that is different from "desiring to be masculine" and wanting to participate in marriage. The possibilities for agency are different. Desire does not figure in the first case as it does in the second.

Either way, people ought to be able to be what gender (or lack thereof) they are or want to be. It should not be up to popular opinion. Everyone should also have equality in marriage, as equality before the law is essential in our system. It's also just plain human decency, if you ask me, but that won't hold in court.

As I was taught in Feminist Theory, liberalism is still your best bet. Take the legal route and keep working to raise consciousness in the meantime. Laws don't change people's minds overnight, but they certainly can be helpful!

One last thing I would like to mention. The idea of "same-sex" marriage is itself problematic, for it rests on concepts of sex that don't quite fit everyone. It draws boundaries that could easily exclude trans people or intersex people, conceptually, and/or practically. I prefer speaking of marriage equality for all, or some phrasing along those lines. Of course, it's not likely to catch on, especially with those who still think trans people are all automatically gay. That would be a long conversation, wouldn't it?

Anyhow, I think we likely agree on much here, I just thought perhaps I could contribute something to help further clarify the issues at hand. Hope you find something of use in my comment. :)