Trans "Theory" Reply Form Letter

Shamelessly stolen from a post at the Transgender community on LiveJournal (with permission)

Instructions: Simply copy and tick the appropriate places to reply to Yet Another Cis (or Even Trans) Person Explaining Why Trans People Are the Way We Are

Your post advocates a:

( ) body dysmorphic
( ) brain structural
( ) nurture-based
( ) nature-based
( ) fetishistic
( ) product of abuse or parenting
( ) patriarchal coercion
( ) confused male-male homosexuality
( ) ulterior patriarchal motivational

theory of transsexualism. Your theory will not work. Here is why it won't work. (One or more of the following may apply to your particular idea, and it may have other flaws.)

( ) Not all transsexual or transgender people are the same
( ) Not all transgender people identify the same way
( ) There's no firm scientific evidence yet
( ) Not all transgender people were brought up the same way
( ) Diagnostic criteria is not written with a view to trans experience
( ) Biased scientific studies
( ) Not all transgender people were abused as children
( ) Blinding ideology
( ) Not all transsexual or transgender people want surgery

Specifically, your theory fails to account for:

( ) Applying the same ideas to non-trans people breaks the theory
( ) Independent thought and intelligence of trans people
( ) Ideology of people who want to erase trans people
( ) The complex nature of the human mind
( ) The day-to-day security of trans women
( ) Your definitions don't match reality
( ) The fact that lesbian trans women exist
( ) The fact that trans men exist
( ) Feminist trans women
( ) Trans voices and experiences
( ) Discrimination against trans people

and the following philosophical objections may also apply:

( ) An etiology of trans people shouldn't be necessary to ensure trans rights
( ) Biological reductionism sucks
( ) Rigidity of gender sucks
( ) Why should anyone care so much about what's in others' pants?
( ) What are your real motivations for interest in our etiology?

Furthermore, this is what I think about you:

( ) Sorry dude, but I don't think it would work.
( ) This is a stupid idea, and you're a stupid person for suggesting it.
( ) Nice try, assh0le! I'm going to find out where you live and burn your house down!

Guitar Heroin(e)

I'd planned for my first blog post to actually give a background of who I am, what I think, and why the heck anyone should read my blog. And then a friend and I played Guitar Hero III last night and into the early morning. I'm really not a big fan of video games and yet I find it incredibly addicting. It was nice to have women as well as men guitarists shown playing, although if you're watching the pretty video you're not really playing the game well. I also embarrassed myself somewhat as I found myself rocking out while playing so I must have been having fun.

However, I was less than thrilled with the fact that you almost always have the same dude singing. Why? Because out of the 70-some songs in the game exactly three were sung by women. Uh, hello? That's just ridiculous, especially when you've included songs from 1966 or so on to now. Sure, rock may be dominated by men, but not to this extent. Geez!

So props for the women guitarists since women strum just as hard, but lack of hard-rocking women singers ticks me off since I like singing when I'm playing.