Translucidity!
By Alexander Herrmann
Translucidity!Mar 07, 2021
Special TDOV 2022 Episode!
- Elliot Paige as Viktor Hargreaves in Umbrella Academy:
https://www.salon.com/2022/03/30/elliot-page-umbrella-academy-viktor-hargreeves/ - Today is Transgender Day of Visibility
- Although this won’t get posted right away…unless I maybe make it a “special episode?” WHICH I DID
- It’s very important to note that Transgender people exist all the time, not just on March 31!
- What does being visible mean to us?
- To Sascz it means:
- Living life as his authentic self and being able to expect people to see him as a man
- Being “out” when he wants to but not HAVING to be “out”
- Honoring all the people who came before
- To Frazley it means:
- Sharing MY experience
- Dressing and being who I want to be
- Standing up for all trans individuals
- To Sascz it means:
Feel free to comment at lothie at gmail dot com (including MP3 files, which we’ll play!)
Episode #17: All Sorts of Phoria
Show Notes:
- Sascz read an article about feeling euphoric after top surgery and is looking forward to the same https://medium.com/genderchic/40-perks-of-being-post-op-top-surgery-80fb2225f4e6
Things that make us feel dysphoric:
- Sascz had an annoying conversation last week with someone who knew him only in his masculine identity but kept referring to him as “ma’am” :(
- Fraz: Being called sir, or man, or he/him
- Fraz: Seeing my…..thing down there.
- Fraz: Facial Hair
Things that make us feel euphoric:
- Sascz’s new reimagining of his Draenei Shaman in WoW. I’ve had her for ages and had this general idea of her having some kind of deep dark trauma, but hadn’t really fleshed it out. Then I read about the Scythian Enarei (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enaree) who were AMAB but feminized themselves using (among other things) pregnant mares’ urine (today known as premarin!) and identified as females; they were great shamans and worshiped nature (did not use temples). So I’ve decided my toon is an Enares and am RP’ing her as such. She is very old, and has children whom she fathered (much like me mothering my children) but then transitioned later on after the Draenei were driven from Argus. It makes me very happy to have this toon who is sort of my mirror image to play! I also have a FTM toon but he isn’t fleshed out as much.
- When Sascz is “heard” and accepted as male while talking to recruiters!
- Fraz: Having my manager at my grocery store say “There SHE is!”
- Fraz: Seeing my breasts and hips and butt come in.
- Fraz: Being properly gendered.
- Fraz: Experiencing my cycle each month, as uncomfortable as it is
- Fraz: Thinking of my past self as being perceived as a man
Episode #16: Guarding Their TERF
Full show notes, kind of long, but I think it's important.
- Notes from Transgender History (Susan Stryker, 2008, revised 2017)
- Beth Elliot was a trans woman who transitioned in the 60s while in college
- She became an activist and singer
- She was thrown out of her group when her former college friend accused her of sexual harassment
- an emerging discourse in feminism that held all male-to-female transsexuals to be, by definition, violators of women, because they represented an “unwanted penetration” into women’s space. (Quote from Susan Stryker's Transgender History)
- Whatever the circumstances might have been, the public accusation of sexual misconduct served as a lightning rod for discharging years of gathering unease about the participation of transgender women in lesbian and feminist spaces. (Ibid)
- TERFs originated mostly in the US in the 70s, but really took hold in UK feminism, which is overwhelmingly "gender critical" at present (there are certainly TERFs in the US but they are more of a vocal minority).
- TERFs tend to hate the term TERF (even though it's merely an acronym for their stated position) and now use the term "gender critical" (which is misleading in the same sense as "pro-life")
- The idea is supposed to be that "men" (i.e. trans women) are trying to "infiltrate" women's spaces, and this hurts women who are largely traumatized by rape in all it's forms
- But the idea that women are fragile and have to be protected is itself a tool of white patriarchy, which makes TERFs themselves such a tool, regardless of whether they are themselves white or not.
- “All hell broke loose that very first night, caused by the gate-crashing presence of a male transvestite who insisted that he was 1) an invited participant, 2) really a woman, and 3) at heart a lesbian,” Morgan wrote in her introductory notes to the keynote speech in Going Too Far. “It was incredible that so many strong angry women should be divided by one smug male in granny glasses and an earth-mother gown.” This from Robin Morgan, a noted feminist, about Beth Elliot, pretty much initiated the TERF movement in the US in 1973.
- “No,” she continued, “I will not call a male ‘she’; thirty-two years of suffering in this androcentric society and of surviving, have earned me the title ‘woman’; one walk down the street by a male transvestite, five minutes of his being hassled (which he may enjoy), and then he dares, he dares to think he understands our pain? No, in our mothers’ names and in our own, we must not call him sister.” She's still alive and still a TERF. Fortunately so is Beth and she's still a singer and lesbian feminist activist.
- There’s some very real pain there, in that 1 in 4 women AT LEAST are sexually assaulted, and so blaming men and not wanting men in women’s spaces is a valid way to feel
- The problem comes when AFAB women feel that transgender women “can’t possibly” understand what it means to feel the suffering of a woman, and any suffering they’ve experienced isn’t a valid example of “women’s suffering”
- But at the same time, TERFdom really supports a white patriarchy where white women are more fragile (TERFs are OVERWHELMINGLY white), ergo, TERFs are really supporting the patriarchy they claim to hate
Transgender saints: https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2020/12/12/little-known-history-transgender-saints
Episode #15: Relief
- Feeling better! We hope
- Trauma
- Interesting article I read about what it means to one’s partner’s sexual orientation identity when one transitions: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/to-some-this-queer-couple-looks-straight-for-him-thats-okay-but-for-her-it-feels-like-a-lie/2019/08/22/098b83f2-c43b-11e9-b5e4-54aa56d5b7ce_story.html
- Erika Moen talks about this a little bit too
https://www.darcomic.com/2009/06/23/identity/
https://www.darcomic.com/2009/12/08/queer-marriage
- Erika Moen talks about this a little bit too
- JoJo Siwa coming out and being supported.
Episode #14: Do Better
Hi all! I'm sorry I'm so far behind. Frazley and I actually recorded this show at the end of January, which you can probably tell! I'll try to, um, do better.
Being behind isn't what this show is about though. It's about trying to do better in every way! The news I reference mid-show can be found here (it's a google search page), but CONTENT WARNING some of the resulting links are very graphic.
Let's all Do Better!
Episode #13: Lucky Thirteen
Frazley and I are all over the place in this episode, but I think we can really boil it down to what it means to accept people who are different from you, and learn from them. Towards the end we talk about how parents may feel when kids come out as trans, and I want to do an episode just about that at some point in the future.
The book I mention a couple of times in the episode, which I really recommend, is The Antiracist, by Kwondani Fidel.
Episode #12: Streams
This week we talk with Annie (Anniemayplays on Twitch), who is a streamer on Twitch (as is Frazley). Sascz wishes he could stream but has doubts about the time commitment! Also he needs some hardware. If you're interested in streaming, we talk about what you need, and the problems you can face, including Imposter Syndrome! Thanks for listening.
Episode #11: Monsters?
We're talking to Terra about transgressive narratives! Show notes are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BdHrXaoP7--FqdDR46LbWxrQqEysHW1miN1J3JiZZj0/edit?usp=sharing
Episode #10: Trans Arts
Here we are again! On this episode, we're joined by Kayla, a transfemme animation student at DuPage! Some hightlights:
- Getting to know Kayla
- Trans representation in the arts - both as artists and IN art
- https://theartofeducation.edu/2020/09/16/why-transgender-representation-in-the-art-room-matters-interview-with-rae-senarighi/
Rae quotes Marian Wright Edelman saying “You can’t be what you can’ts see” although that quote was not about trans people...but it’s true, and it’s why Sascz waited their entire life to come out
Rae’s website: https://www.raesenarighi.com/manifesto-transgender-art
- https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/10-transgender-art-artists
- https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/18/transgender-art-trans-hirstory-in-99-objects
- https://theartofeducation.edu/2020/09/16/why-transgender-representation-in-the-art-room-matters-interview-with-rae-senarighi/
- Rainbow Arcade on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/team/rainbowarcade
Episode #9: Non-Fad-ening
It's just so much fun for an LGBTQIA+/GSM person to hear that their gender identity or sexuality is a "preference" or a "fad"! We enjoy this just so much! That's sarcasm. It's not a fad, it's not a trend, it is what we are and all we want is to live our lives in peace. Frazley and Sascz talk about identity and changing terminology in a changing world.
Episode #8: Eh Sexuality
I just wanted to introduce this episode by saying it's a little bit different from the others we've done. It's a little bit longer, and it's not about transgender stuff per se but rather about my sexuality. I also need to give a content warning, because I'm talking not only about sexuality but also about non-consensual sex, including incest, and how they have affected me even years later. My hope is that this episode will help others who are struggling with these issues, and explain why I now consider myself asexual. Thanks for listening.
Episode #7: Fluid AF
This week we have Jay on the show to talk about what it means to be Genderfluid. Frazley and Sascz both identify as nonbinary in different ways, and we discuss with Jay how that relates to their identity, how to talk to a genderfluid or nonbinary person, and more!
Episode #6: Poly Wanna Platonic
This week we have a lovely guest, Jettafae, here to talk with us about the queerplatonic poly relationship they and I both have with Frazley! A queerplatonic relationship is like a romantic relationship, except without the romance. Find out more by listening!
Apologies for the sound for this episode being a bit under par. We ended up having to record it on Discord due to technical difficulties. Thanks for bearing with us!
Episode #5: Girl Talk
Thanks for being patient while LIFE HAPPENED for a couple of weeks! This week, we have a wonderful guest, Zoey! Zoey talks about what it's like to transition to female, and Sascz demonstrates his propensity for dad jokes, while Frazley muses on possibly undergoing HRT! Thanks for listening to the show!
Episode #4: Songs Our Parents Taught Us
Hello dear listeners! This week, Frazley and I are talking about things our parents said to us that had a negative effect on our lives in terms of our gender identity and sexuality. We don't hate or blame our parents, but we think it might be useful to others on the gender and sexuality journey, or perhaps useful to parents to know what to avoid.
Please feel free to reach out to us.
Frazley
Discord: Frazley#1711
Twitter: @frazleytastic
Sascz
Discord: Lagolad#7272
Twitter: @lothie
Episode #3: Intersectionality
Sascz has brought up the term "intersectionality" a couple of times, but what does it mean? In this episode we talk about who coined the term and why, and what it means 30 years later.
Website mentioned: http://them.us
Episode #2: Mx Gendering
On today's episode, Frazley and Sascz share terms and honorifics they've discovered, plus talk about what to do if you misgender somebody, or somebody misgenders you.
- https://www.them.us/story/gender-neutral-pronouns-101-they-them-xe-xem
- nonbinary.wiki
Episode #1: Bright, Shiny, and New
Welcome to our new podcast, Translucidity! We're Frazley and Sascz, and we'll be coming to you each week from Spotify.
This week we're discussing different Transgender terms, pronouns, and talking about our vision for the show. We reference a web page on pronouns: https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns/
Thanks for listening, and catch you next week!
Transitioning to a Feed Near You
The trailer for the upcoming podcast Translucidity!
Vocals: Chris Hicks
Directed by: Sascz Herrmann
Music from: Storyblocks.com