…drag queens are not transgender.
I believe that anyone who crosses the gender normative is transgender; the entire spectrum from drag queens to genderqueers to post-op transsexuals. I believe when we start dividing who is and who is not it become exclusionist, we draw the line beneath us and look at those below us as inferior. We are trying to separate ourselves from the stigma associated from the rest of the marginalized group.
We see this in all social communities, whether it is race or ethnicity or socioeconomic classes, or whatever; we develop ways to separate us from “them.” They are “fresh off the boat,” they live on the “wrong side of the tracks,” or any other the host of phrases that separate them from us and it is a form of discrimination.
The thing about this lateral bias is that it is only within the subculture that we see the differences, when a bias assault is committed the perpetrator is not thinking “he is an immigrant” or “he was born here” the attacker sees “Asian.” When we are getting the crap beaten out of us the assailant is not thinking “drag queen” or “post-op” he just sees a trans-person.
But we like to separate us from "them" because it makes us feel better then “them”; it makes us feel superior to “them.” It is just like when gays and lesbians look down at trans-people, we hate that and call them “Gay Inc.” because we know that they are trying to make us inferior to "them." So stop and think before you say, “she’s only crossdresser” or “he’s just a drag queen”
I believe that anyone who crosses the gender normative is transgender; the entire spectrum from drag queens to genderqueers to post-op transsexuals. I believe when we start dividing who is and who is not it become exclusionist, we draw the line beneath us and look at those below us as inferior. We are trying to separate ourselves from the stigma associated from the rest of the marginalized group.
We see this in all social communities, whether it is race or ethnicity or socioeconomic classes, or whatever; we develop ways to separate us from “them.” They are “fresh off the boat,” they live on the “wrong side of the tracks,” or any other the host of phrases that separate them from us and it is a form of discrimination.
The thing about this lateral bias is that it is only within the subculture that we see the differences, when a bias assault is committed the perpetrator is not thinking “he is an immigrant” or “he was born here” the attacker sees “Asian.” When we are getting the crap beaten out of us the assailant is not thinking “drag queen” or “post-op” he just sees a trans-person.
But we like to separate us from "them" because it makes us feel better then “them”; it makes us feel superior to “them.” It is just like when gays and lesbians look down at trans-people, we hate that and call them “Gay Inc.” because we know that they are trying to make us inferior to "them." So stop and think before you say, “she’s only crossdresser” or “he’s just a drag queen”
I've heard that said many times, Diana. I think I understood early on that people do drag for many reasons. In the South, where I live, it was until recent decades drag clubs were about the only place to find peers, support, and information.
ReplyDeleteI know some post-op drag queens who would be surprised to learn they're not trans. Although most likely they've heard it already many times.