5 Comments so far

1. Amanda in the South Bay on April 14, 2009 5:09 pm

   In a similar vein to the comment I left at Feministe, I feel like I’m the only trans person on the internet who isn’t really bothered by this.

   The burden shouldn’t be on one oppressed group (in this case, trans people) to have to explain themselves to a group that has privilege. However, in reality, I don’t see how there is going to be a certain level of ignorance, (either willful or not) among both bloggers and commenters. Simply refusing to visit certain blogs isn’t going to help rectify the information gap.

   I’m well aware that most of us trans people have better things to do than help police transphobic comments on various blogs. I will admit, though, to spending lots of unnecessary time already on the net, reading all sorts of blogs and forums that I could probably do without. Its not going to consume my every breath to call people out on their shit wherever it is on the intertubes.

2. depresso on April 14, 2009 5:13 pm

   Thank you for a well thought out apology, Cara, and for taking responsibility they way you have. However, I’m still not going anywhere near Feministe!

3. voz on April 14, 2009 7:53 pm

   What Amanda said, to the 10th power.

   the whole point of the boycott wasn’t to turn a blind eye, it was to make some noise.

   It may have worked…only time will tell. I am hosting a trans safe discussion at my place.

   Come by and speak ur truth.
   http://voz-latina.livejournal.com/5763.html

4. Jenn on April 15, 2009 1:23 am

   Thanks for the link, the background, and the apology. Not because I am transgendered myself, but because I’m sure I’ve done the same to marginalized groups I am not a part of, and it is shameful and something I need to reflect on. Observing the tearing and mending of the feminist fabric helps illustrate how not to replicate the patterns responsible for the marginalization in the future.

5. Thealogian on April 21, 2009 8:52 am

   I’m a bit torn on this one because

   #1 I think that blaming a certain blog for the plethora of understanding/level of discourse that a diverse and large group of commenters possess on blogs like Feministe and Feministing is unrealistic and it plays into right wing memes about the blogosphere (think, O’Reilly pulling a random anti-Bush comment from a liberal blog to “prove” that that blog is inciting violence against the POTUS, etc.)

   #2 I totally get it when people get pissed when a commentary stream gets drawn in a direction totally not the point (in this case, cisgender experiences with hormonal birth-control–which needs a forum, but in this context it was supposed to be about trans experiences, I think that was the context). So, when there’s a feminist post on say the development of male birth control methods or male responsibility for thinking about their fertility and then it gets hijacked by MRA’s ranting about child support, it pisses me off and so in that I totally relate to the trans ladies who are stagging the boycott.

   Cara adding some catagories are a good thing, but I think that there needs to be a way to develop etiquette structures that are not at the same time censoring to aid commentary streams work with the main thesis, but also diverge when appropriate.

   Jezebel has a commentary structure where you can respond to individual commenters and then elect to follow that new stream, but the principal stream dealing with the thesis is also going on. I think that Feministing is starting to use that structure as well, though it shows all streams simultaneously. Perhaps Feministe might want to consider this as well? Of course, there would have to be a special stream addressing this and talking about general commenter etiquette as well–which is good, people like some structure.

   Peace, I wish you well. Remember, we all have our own process of awakening to a more inclusive and empathy/interpathy world view. Its a practice, this was a lesson for you and you are responding well Cara.