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Dan Savage On Neil Patrick Harris And The Trans Community |
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Written by Instinct Staff |
Friday, 02 December 2011
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| Tags: dan savage, neil patrick harris, the slog, tranny, language, pc, lgbt, trans community, bigots, activists, react, weighs in, gaylebrities, live with kelly, trannies |
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Dan Savage, likely frustrated from the past month of serial glitter-bombings, uses Neil Patrick Harris's "tranny" "joke" to raise a thought-provoking point on the intricacies of being PC in the age of LGBT activism. Follow the jump to read Dan's reaction to the trans community's reaction to NPH. It's a daisy chain of reactions!
Writes Dan in a just-posted blog at The Slog:
My use of the word "tranny" in a blog post about how I didn't use the word and try not to use the word? Just a sneaky way of using the word! SO! Hate speech! Proof of transphobia! Because the word "tranny" is so toxic, so hateful, and so harmful to the trans community that it can't be used in any context, at any time, by anyone, ever! (The dishonest blogger who used the word when she stuffed it in my mouth? She gets a pass because, um, it's okay to use the word so long as you're lying about someone else using the word?)
Using the logic—if I may call it that—of the dishonest blogger and the GBers... the person who wrote this blog post going after Neil Patrick Harris for his use [of] the word "tranny" on television yesterday is a transphobic bigot. The blogger uses the word four times, after all, and remember: context doesn't matter. So it's irrelevant that the blogger has an entirely legit point about why NPH's use of the word is troubling—NPH thoughtlessly invoked the spectre of trans women as sexual predators—because the word can't be used in any context, at any time, by anyone, ever, and anyone who uses the word is a bigot. So the blogger is a bigot. (When you're ready to apologize, Neil, the cissies at GLAAD are ready to help you play Grovel Madlibs.)
What do you make of the logic Dan says he's shining a light upon?
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When we gets to the point that any and all mentions of the "t-word" are out of bounds regardless of context, it's because people who keep using the word in the WRONG context are incapable of good judgment on what the "right" context should be.
If people seem completely unable to understand, it can be made simple: just don't say it ever. We don't trust you anymore, so just stop.
The context Savage was criticized for was problematic on its own merits, but it's a more complicated conversation to explain why, therefore extremely challenging when someone doesn't even want to hear why and seems precommitted to debunking your argument. Many trans people now appear to feel Savage doesn't care to hear those nuances. Much simpler to just say "ok, just never say it."
And honestly, in a non-trans person's lexicon, "tr*nny" is just one word out of millions of English-language words, dozens that refer to the breaking of gender norms, and a few that refer to trans people. It's not asking for all that much to call it out-of-bounds.
Meanwhile for a trans person, the word means a lot, and represents huge swaths of their total human experience. Much more is at stake for them. It's fair to say, the word is ABOUT them, they own it.
Put it this way, too There's a kid named Daniel. A group of bullies keep referring to him as "Danny," in a way they intend to be condescending. He starts to associate it with a negative connotation. He decides he doesn't want to be "Danny" anymore; he wants to be referred to as "Dan" even to family and friends. Does he not have that right? Is it not basic respect to say, OK, you're Dan now?
Lets say a teacher slips up and says "Danny." He says "Hey I'd like to be 'Dan' from now on." Simple enough; the teacher should say "Sure, Dan," and move on. The teacher slips up again later - simple accident - Dan corrects her, she should say "oops sorry about that, Dan."
But lets imagine instead the teacher rolled her eyes, called Dan unreasonable, and says "whatever shuts you up, kid." The kid starts to have much less trust for that teacher. Later on the teacher is talking to some other students, talking about the kid, refers to him as "Danny." Danny says "I want to be Dan." Teacher says, "Gosh, kid, would you cut it out? I was going to correct them eventually."
Result: Dan is seriously skeptical of this teacher as a role model. Additionally, is much more sensitive to any use of the word for now on, and would rather it just didn't happen.
Obviously transgender people are not children, but it follows: call people what they want to be called. And Dan Savage is very much indeed a teacher when he's touring campuses representing LGBT people and talking about sex.