What If Wonder Woman Was Trans Feminine ?

There's this interesting creatively altered segment of a Wonder Woman comic book in which the dialogue seems to suggest that Diana and half of the women on Themyscira are trans.

The actual issue of Wonder Woman in which this panel was taken from and the dialogue changed doesn't say this, but it did jump start some hard solid thinking about the 'what if' Wonder Woman was trans feminine?

We know from Greek mythology about hermaphrodites, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility that in Wonder Woman's home society that didn't have men as part of it, if you free your minds to ponder that possibility, you would probably have girls like that as part of it.

So what is Wonder Woman was a girl like us?    What would change about her character? What parts wouldn't?

But it's definitely something interesting to ponder.

January 2017 National Geographic Cover Makes Trans History

One of the cool things about being trans is that we can and are making history at times.

This latest bit of trans history involves the iconic international magazine National Geographic.

When the January 2017 issue of National Geographic comes out, it will have an article in it entitled 'The Gender Revolution' that has a picture of trans teen Trinity Neal in it.  

National Geographic is also airing a documentary on February 6 entitled 'Gender Revolution, A Journey With Katie Couric.'

Couric will in the documentary be interviewing parents of trans kids, people undergoing gender confirmation surgery and intersex individuals.

"It's hard to avoid hearing about some aspect of gender these days. Every time you check your phone, turn on the TV or scan Twitter, there's another story that's challenging our preconceived notions of what gender is, how it's determined and the impact these new definitions are having on society," Couric said in a statement. "I set out on a journey to try to educate myself about a topic that young people are living with so effortlessly—and get to know the real people behind the headlines. Because the first step to inclusiveness and tolerance is understanding."

One of the covers for this National Geographic gender issue will be 7 year old Avery Jackson, who will become the first out trans person in the nearly 130 year history of the magazine to grace its cover.

 “National Geographic is almost 130 years old, and we have been covering cultures, societies and social issues for all of those years. It struck us, listening to the national conversation, that gender was at the center of so many of these issues in the news,” Susan Goldberg, editorial director of National Geographic Partners and editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine, told NBC Out.

Goldberg emphasises that while throughout the year there was a lot of emphasis on celebrities, she wanted this issue to focus on the lives of the common man.
Goldberg emphasises that while throughout the year there was a lot of emphasis on celebrities, she wanted this issue to focus on the lives of the common man.

There is an alternate cover with a group of seven people on it

Congrats to Avery for making that amazing history and proving once again that trans people are part of the diverse mosaic of human life, and everyone who was interviewed either for the magazine article or the documentary.

Olympic Gender Drama Posts

With the Rio Olympics a month from starting, and me being a serious Olympic junkie, it's the perfect timing for a TransGriot compilation post that features an Olympic theme.

Since it's the worlds penultimate sporting competition, international sporting prestige, national pride and tax dollars are on the line in the chase for Olympic glory.  Sometimes interesting stories have emerged as that pursuit of gold, silver and bronze medals gets heated.

Some of those controversies involve gender and 'that's a man' shade thrown at feminine Olympic champions, allegations of better feminine Olympic athletic performance through steroids or shockingly finding out your intersex status in a very public and humiliating way.

Or in Nazi Germany, East Germany and Russia's cases, being caught cheating.

Here are some past TransGriot posts that have tackled that theme.

Gender Drama At The 1936 Berlin Olympics

Olympic Gender Drama- The Press Sisters

Olympic Gender Drama- The 1976 East German Swim Team

Olympic Gender Drama-Erik Schinegger

Olympic Gender Drama- Flo Jo

That's A Man'

Caster Semenya Case Opening Old Wounds

Black Female Athlete Dominates Competition- Gets Gender Identity Questioned

2012 Olympic Watch- Semenya Gets 800m Silver

BET Apologizes To B. Scott For Awards Show Drama

Diamond has commented on it in her latest video blog along with other people in the blogosphere and outraged fans of multimedia personality B. Scott

The openly gay Scott sports an androgynous look and was hired by BET to be the host of the red carpet pre-show broadcast before Sunday's 2013 edition of the BET Awards.  

But just before Scott went on camera, drama ensued as BET producers demanded he tone down his makeup, pull his hair back, wear masculine clothing and not wear heels.

The producers also attempted to replace him with Adrienne Bailon before pressure from show sponsor Procter & Gamble forced them to drop that idea and got him back on the telecast.

Scott was not a happy camper about the behind the scenes homophobic drama, and it was noticeable during his first on camera interview.  He later took to Twitter to discuss his feelings about it and dished about what happened to a fellow blogger and BET took a public relations beating over it.

“It’s not just about the fact that BET forced me to pull my hair back, asked me to take off my makeup, made me changed my clothes and prevented me from wearing a heel,” Scott wrote. “It’s more so that from the mentality and environment created by BET made me feel less than and that something was wrong with who I am as a person.”

BET tried to ride out the controversy with silence as outraged fans of B. Scott vented on Black Twitter and elsewhere but as the firestorm of criticism continued and BET continued to take a public relations black eye over this they finally issued an apology to the multimedia maven.  

“BET Networks embraces global diversity in all its forms and seeks to maintain an inclusive workforce and a culture that values all perspectives and backgrounds,” the statement read. “The incident with B. Scott was a singular one with a series of unfortunate miscommunications from both parties. We regret any unintentional offense to B. Scott and anyone within the LGBT community and we seek to continue embracing all gender expressions.”

Yeah, right. You sure didn't demonstrate that 'embracing of global diversity' and 'valuing all perspectives and backgrounds culture' Sunday night with B. Scott and you are deservedly getting excoriated for it.

Diamond Stylz Comments On The BET-B Scott Controversy

Catching up on all the news I missed while traveling, and I'm just hearing about BET hiring the androgynous B Scott and then demanding he not wear heels on the red carpet for the BET Awards.

WTF?  

Cheryl Courtney-Evans has her theory on why BET was hatin' on B Scott despite hiring him because his claim to fame is being that over the top androgynous personality.

Diamond comments on it in her latest video as well.

 

The Gender Puzzle

This is an Australian documentary that focuses on the lives of several Australians that have gender issues..  One is a model with AIS (androgen insensitivity syndrome, while the others are trans.

There are also interviews in with with researchers and lawyers discussing the medical and legal issues and their impact on Australian law, society and these individuals.

The Gender Puzzle is a fascinating documentary and hope you enjoy it.   

Facing Race 2012 Panel-Race And Gender In The 21st Century

Definitely wish I could have been a part of this panel discussion at the Facing race Conference that was held in Baltimore.  The panel tackled the subject of race and gender in the 21st Century and included Janat Mock.  

Upcoming Archie Gender Swap Issue

One of my guilty pleasures is Archie comic books, and I was pleased to find out some interesting details about the upcoming Issue 636 that will hit newsstands around August 22.

It will contain a story called 'The Great Switcheroo' that involves Sabrina the Teenage Witch and her cat Salem.  It will focus on gender and the perceptions of gender roles by having gender swapped versions of Archie, Betty and Veronica as they become Archina, Billy and Ronnie.

It happens after Salem hears the denizens of Riverdale articulating the age old grumbling about how the other gender has it easier, then casts a magic spell that flips the gender script.

Hmm.  Looking forward to reading this one if I can get my hands on it when it hits the newsstand of my fave local comic book store.   

This also isn't the first time Archie has been reimagined in the other gender.    In Issue 516 there was a story called 'The Other Side Of The Fence' in which Archie's mother, frustrated about being the lone estrogen based lifeform in the house and raising a teenage son imagines what life would be like if Archie had been born a girl.   

She changes her mind after having lunch with Mrs. Lodge and Mrs. Cooper and they talk about the drama their daughters Veronica and Betty put them through..

At any rate, really looking forward to adding this one to my collection.

2012 Equal Pay Day Food For Thought

Today Is Equal Pay Day, and the statistic is getting trotted out today ad nauseum that women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. 

However, that statistic as you probably guessed is WHITE women's wages compared to WHITE men's wages.   For BLACK women it is worse at 68 cents for every dollar a white male earns.  For Latinas it is even more abysmal at 59 cents for every dollar a white male earns. 

And for transwomen?   Don't even get me started on that.   All I have to say is pass ENDA and any local or state anti-trans discrimination laws.

Eliminating the ability for people to overtly discriminate against us transpeople will be a good start to helping us get gainfully employed so we can get a solid foothold in the economic game, begin contributing to the nation's economy and address some of the ills of our community.

Interesting post that breaks the equal pay stats down in the trans community, and looking forward to seeing that same Kristen Schilt-Matthew Wiswall 2006 study replicated and broken down by race.

Are Chemical Plants A Factor In Transsexuality?

I remember reading with interest the story about the documentary entitled The Disappearing Male which focused on the Chemical Valley near Sarnia, ON and the nearby Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve.

In Canada, the ratio of male births to female births is 106 boys to every 100 girls.  Since the 1990's on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve it's 46 boys to every 100 girls.

Dr Warren Foster, an expert in reproductive health at the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre has done research pointing to what he calls endocrine toxicants. These are endocrine disruptors — chemicals that mimic hormones like estrogen, and that are found in pesticides, organo-chlorides, heavy metals and plastics.

He suspects those endocrine disruptors may be interfering with in-vitro development of a fetus before it can get to the hormone wash point where fetal development will go onto the male path and produce a live male child.

After reading that, I had a things that make you go hmm moment.  If being around Chemical Valley was enough to radically skew the birthrate at this First Nations reserve and there are reports of the same phenmenon happening near other chemical complexes around the world, are those endocrine disruptors doing just enough to cause the spike in trans children we're seeing now? 

For starters between Houston and New Orleans are 1/4 of the petrochemical plants and refineries in the United States with 107 of those plants being in the Houston metro area alone.  When you drive along I-10 from Houston through Beaumont to Lake Charles you are passing several major petrochemical complexes   There's also another major concentration of chemical plants between Philadelphia and  New York

Note where the clusters of transpeople are   Besides the Houston, Dallas-Ft Worth, Austin and San Antonio areas, the trans community clusters off the top of my head in the States are in New Orleans, Washington DC, Memphis,  Nashville, Indianapolis, Tampa, Miami, Pittsburgh, the Philadelphia-New Jersey-New York-Boston corridor, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco-Oakland, Los Angeles,.San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Jackson MS, .Louisville KY, Puerto Rico and the Ashland KY area.

Many of those cities and territories I named have petrochemical plants in the area.  In terms of the Ashland KY-Huntington WV area having trans people I always wondered what was up with that until I rode I-64 east through the area in 2000 on the way to Washington DC and saw the massive refinery complex there..  
 
So is this just a coincidence in terms of the clusters of transpeople being in areas that also have petrochemical complexes, or are endocrine disruptors a factor causing a hormone wash that doesn't quite do its job in vitro to either masculinize a fetus or get the masculine development path going?  

Only more medical research will provide the answer to my question..