Saturday, February 18, 2012

Life and Pantheacon

Okay, so I haven't made a post in a while. I've been busy doing things over here in Huntington Beach. Mainly, I've been looking for a job, but I've also been working out a lot in order to reenlist in the military! I did take a break today in order to let my body rest and rebuild, but I'll be back at it tomorrow for another three hours at least! I can already feel some of my former strength returning and it felt great after yesterdays workout! I've also started reading a new book series called The Hunger Games. I've been told that it's a great series almost worthy of Harry Potter, but it seems to be very depressing so far. We'll see how it goes.

Some news I heard about Pantheacon this year. I did not go myself, but it seems that the focus was on transgender issues in paganism. Personally, I don't understand why this even needs to be discussed. If you have a penis, you're a man. If you have a vagina, you're a woman. If you're a man who feels he needs to be a woman, save up for a sex change. Same if you're a woman who feels she needs to be a man. It really is that simple. It doesn't matter what you think. What matters is the physical reality and how you change that. Until then, don't try to join any skyclad rituals of the gender you identify with. A man exposing himself to a group of women, no matter how much he may identify with them, is still committing sexual assault.

12 comments:

  1. Plastic surgery makes a woman more real.

    Such an eighties point of view! It will be interesting to see if your life experiences change you over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Man" and "woman" are terms that refer to gender, which is a social construct. "Male" and "female" are terms which refer to biological sex. This is the basic cornerstone of understanding trans* issues, and it is an oversimplification to equate gender with genitalia. While a woman with a penis is a difficult situation in skyclad ritual, the existence of her penis doesn't make her man.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You *could* educate yourself before pontificating.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The existence of the penis makes her male. It is assumed that when you speak of skyclad women-only rituals, that the women there will not be forced to see a penis.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have. While I respect their right to call themselves a man or woman, mine and others rights must also be respected. We should not be forced to see ANYONE'S naked body for ANY reason.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So-- your objection is to transfolk going nude?

    ReplyDelete
  7. My objection is to people forcing their naked bodies into places where they are not wanted because of the genitalia they currently have. If they have the surgery to change that, I see absolutely nothing wrong with letting them in. Barring them from entering the community ritual after that is just being hateful to be hateful and that's wrong. This is the caveat I have to my previous statement in this comment thread.

    ReplyDelete
  8. http://health.costhelper.com/sex-reassignment-surgery.html

    So-- wealthy transwomen, who can cover the expensive medical procedures,  are welcome. Poor ones who may never have the money to solve their problems-- not so much...

     Gotcha.

    But you know-- the big problem with this particular episode is that Z wrote this description:

    This skyclad rite honors the body of each and every woman
    present, the beauty and grace of the feminine form in all of
    her infinite variety


    And then she excluded certain types of women, in exceedingly transphobic language. Almost every transwoman that's spoken up about this, has spoken up about that particular thing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Strangely, Pantheacon was trying so hard to exclude transwomen they wrote a rule designed to keep a person out even if she HAS a vagina. If her genitals are female, but her genetics are male (or uncertain, a lot of people have never bothered with genetic testing), this ritual makes her explicitly unwelcome. You may not see why it needs to be discussed, but it matters.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Of course you have the right to ignore my last comment to you. However, I will repeat it:
    http://health.costhelper.com/sex-reassignment-surgery.html

    What you are saying really, is that transwomen of means can attend, poor folk who cannot spare the money for gender reassignment are not really women.

    Speaking as a cis woman with no cash to spare for anything but the basics-- I tend to empathise much more with transwomen who still look like men, then the ones who luxuriate in the identity they've purchased.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I did not ignore it. I actually addressed it. I have no problem with them being nude. I have a problem with them being nude knowing that their physical gender makes others extremely uncomfortable and has been expressly prohibited. That's for good reason. A penis dangling in the air does not promote any sort of womanly bonds offered. Nor do breasts in an all male ritual. Your right to express yourself does not trump anyone elses right to feel safe especially in sacred space. If you can't afford the surgery, do your own ritual. Start your own group if you can. It is wrong to think that someone else should be at a time forced to see your genitalia in the name of human rights. In fact, it's a violation of trust. I am trusting that when I go to a ritual for men's mysteries and it's skyclad, I'm not going to be forced to see someone's tits and vag. In fact, that's part of why I'd be there is to get away from that. I personally don't care what the hell you've got under your clothes, just so long as I'm not forced to see them. That's the difference between discrimination on one side, and sexual harassment on the other.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I hope you will see in my latest post that, after much contemplation, I have revised my positions.

    ReplyDelete

If you like this post or episode, please don't forget to subscribe via rss.

Search This Blog