Michael Silverman is my new hero of the week.
Via Life, Law, Gender.
Before posting a comment, you must read this blog's
discussion rules. By posting here, you agree to abide by the rules listed. If you do not, your comment will most likely not be published. Trolling, flaming, and personal attacks will do nothing but get you banned.
November 19th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
He handled that well. One reason I prefer NPR talk shows to this stuff is that they actually give people time to talk. How can one explore complex issues in such small amounts of time?
November 20th, 2006 at 2:10 am
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he went in to it knowing exactly what to expect and therefore was uber prepared. If I could ever get a spot on national TV (ha!) I would want to follow his example.
Yeah, exactly. I think that the YouTube commenter evieonparade hit it on the head when they said:
There is no way that you can even begin to scratch the surface on one side of the issue in less than four minutes, let alone do an intelligent point/counter-point debate! Which is why I hold Silverman in all the more awe, because he crammed so much info (and food for thought!) into his small space.
November 23rd, 2006 at 12:39 am
Thanks for posting this. It’s a fascinating object lesson in 1) FauxNews tactics, 2) how to counter them, and 3) stereotypical images of transgendered people. There’s a lot to unpack in that 3 minutes! I also thought Silverman was well-prepared for what he faced from the host, and articulated 95% of what this armchair pundit would say on behalf of the NYC legislation.
Can I say how distressing it was that they focused on people who were specifically non-passing transwomen or drag queens? At the beginning of the segment, the host indirectly acknowledged the existence of transmen, but they were completely absent from the ensuing imagery (possibly because they blend right in? They walk among us!). Also showing the makeup application. Every $^%$& time with the makeup. It makes me want to scream. Because makeup = femme cred, and no transwoman looks publicly acceptable without it. I’m rolling my eyes so hard I’m dizzy.
I wish I could say I was surprised that the Family Research Council rep played the “OMG pervs in ur bathroom with ur childrenz!” card, or that the program host chose to close on that note. I’m hopeful that Silverman’s points packed enough punch with “everyone deserves an equal opportunity for employment” to overwhelm some of the transphobia coming from the FRC. I do wish he’d mentioned that it’s not a sexual perversion or predatory tendency, and I *really* wish he’d had the opportunity to state that everyone who is in the women’s bathroom is there to go into a private stall to take care of a biological function in safety, but time is of course limited.