Looks like a pump, feels like a wingtip.
A bra that fits me: A Critique of Chrysalis Lingerie’s May 1st Launch [Interrupt Mag]
I feel like several of the folks I follow already ran down the reasons why Chrysalis is a right idea that was executed Not Well, but here’s an article breaking it down just in case you missed the original discussion. (I know genderbitch was one of the folks who had some stuff to say, but I can’t find the link to the full-of-reblogs conversation, which was a good one.)
This also has shopping suggestions for folks who aren’t willing to drop a hundred bucks on a Chrysalis bra.
FIERCE's Call to Action Against the New York Times Depiction of Trans Women
Thank you, Fierce, for publishing these letters. I, too, am upset that the Times has not issued an apology for this lacking-in-context piece and/or published any of these letters from others who are angered by the piece.
On July 25, 2012, FIERCE organized a Call to Action asking supporters to submit letters to the New York Times demanding Dignity for Transwomen of Color and LGBTQ Youth in their reporting. The Call to Action was organized in response to a July 24th article: “For Money or Just to Strut, LIving Out Loud on a Transgender Stage.
The article, which relied on and fed into harmful, negative stereotypes of young transwomen of color, neglected to highlight or consider the root causes of why LGBTQ youth are disproportionately on the streets and finding it harder to maintain access and ownership over this historical safe space.
Over the weeks following the action, we received dozens of letters that were not only powerful, but also the acts of solidarity were incredibly moving for all of us here at FIERCE! Seeing your words and feeling the support of so many allies, we saw the depth and strength of our struggle against transphobia, homophobia, gentrification, and criminalization of LGBTQ youth of color, especially transwomen of color.
As far as we know, theTimesdid not publish the letters. In an effort to empower LGBTQ youth and the communities that support LGBTQ youth-led organizing in NYC and elsewhere, we wanted to share a small collection of these letters with you.
In love and struggle,
FIERCE
How to Show Your Virtual Support of Fernanda Milan
Today I read a story about Fernanda Milan, a Guatemalan trans woman who spoke out about being raped while being detained in the men’s wing of an asylum seeker’s camp in Denmark.
A campaign was launched on Facebook and Twitter to support a petition that would stop her from being deported to Guatemala, where she fears for her life.
“What I’m most afraid of when I go back isn’t being killed. What really petrifies me is being attacked and tortured,” Fernanda says, adding that she knows “no transgender people in Guatamala over 35.”
Fernanda is due to deport back to Guatemala on September 17.
Sign this petition to show your support of Fernanda. It is in Danish so with the power of Google Translate I’ve translated the fields to English (you can choose other languages to translate Danish via Google Translate) to make it easier for you to add your signature.
PETITION URL: http://www.skrivunder.net/stop_deportation_of
Fornavn/-e (First Name)
Efternavn (Last Name)
By (city)
Land (country)
Emailadresse (email address)
Skal din underskrift være offentlig? (Do you want to display your signature publicly?)
BUTTON: skriv under på denne underskriftindsamling (Add my signature to the collection)
Some things on my mind: Women of color and the virgin/whore dichtomy
This is just me thinking out loud. I can’t promise that it will be coherent.
When I think about the virgin/whore dichotomy, I don’t think in terms of sexual vs. non-sexual. Instead, I think in terms of which women’s bodies must be protected vs. which ones can be disregarded. It’s not an expression that has anything to do with a woman’s desires or her choices but with how she is positioned in society. Therefore, some women will always be virgins and some women will always be whores no matter what they say, what they do, what they think, or what they want.
This is very noticeable with women of color and trans* women (especially when the two overlap). Trans* women and women of color (and particularly trans* women of color) are automatically whores. There is no violation that can be inflicted upon us that we apparently didn’t have coming. Not even if we were just minding our own business. Not even if we were just little girls.
It even shows up in media and fandom. How much of True Blood fandom actually cared to stop swooning over Franklin long enough to recognize that he had abducted and raped Tara? Not like I can blame them. Sookie herself didn’t seem to give two shits about the fact that her BFF 4eva was kidnapped and raped and almost murdered by a psycho vampire. Did the majority of Once Upon A Time fandom pause to consider the ramifications of Regina’s marriage to Leopold after her mother traded her off like a prize horse? Then again, the characters on that show seem more focused on putting Regina in her place (and that’s a rant for another day) than in figuring out what’s really going on with her and getting this woman some serious help.
The fact that what happens to these women (and many others — I’m just picking from the shows I currently watch) is not even worthy of mention, let alone substantial commentary, says everything about who gets to be a virgin (and thus valuable) and who must always be a whore.
Madonna/Whore still plays out in a way for WOC. It’s just that it happens without the reverence. It’s usually more like Mammy/Jezebel, Bumbling Maid/Harlot, Dragon lady/China Doll etc. Sometimes we get to be wise, but we aren’t revered or respected for that wisdom. We can’t be raped or abused since we’re already either evil or invisible. Basically we exist to prop up the white leads in one way or another & then we can either be destroyed or vanish on our own. If we’re virgins we’re that way because we were never attractive in the first place as far as these narratives are concerned.
*nodnodnod* Exactly.
We’re not sexual, but we’re never pure. We’re ignorant, but never innocent. We’re perceptive, but never wise. We’re selfless, but never noble.
Speaking of media, can you imagine Snow White and the Huntsman being made with a Black woman in the Snow White role? Me neither. Not because Black women are not compassionate, innocent, imaginative, brave, and all that good stuff, but because people never see that good stuff in us.
K. pauses on 34th Street while on her way to the Village. August 2006.
Transgender people comprise the highest proportion of homeless LGBT youth. In particular, they are often denied access to shelter services, particularly in shelters that segregate clients based on birth sex. Discrimination and lack of identification that reflects their chosen name and gender makes it hard for many young transwomen to find a legal job, leaving sex work as one of the few options available to them.
Photographer Samantha Box spent six years documenting Sylvia’s Place, NYC’s only emergency shelter for LGBT youth. See the photos here.
I hope Photographer Samantha Box didn’t just exploit these women for their photos and stories without compensation.
Ditto. Does anyone know?
As the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey is pointing out, we’re catching hell right now and we’re going to need help passing the legislation and formulating the policies that will help alleviate our suffering.. We want to work, pay our taxes, vote for the candidates of our choice and live our lives without interference. We also want to be in a better position before the end of this decade to be able to do our part to uplift ourselves as African descended transpeople, the race and be better allies to all the communities we intersect with.” TransGriot: Black Community, It’s Past Time To Fight For Black Trans Women’s Human Rights (via biyuti)
Janet Mock tells it like it is!
this is an incredibly powerful piece coming with Janet Mock’s amazing analysis on the violence trans women of color navigate every day. filled with resistance strategies, statistics and moving testimony. thank you for your brilliance, Janet!
Queering Prison Abolition, Now? [PDF]
must read article by Captive Genders co-editor Eric A Stanley & Normal Life author Dean Spade!
A New Queer Agenda finally hit the online new stands!
Hello the internet!
Specifically the POC centered, gender self determining, queer liberation, disability & economic justice internet!
I co-authored a chapter in Queers for Economic Justice’s ebook, A New Queer Agenda with my sibling Che & AJ Lewis about queer & trans people resisting police violence. after many years in limbo, The Scholar & Feminist Online journal published by the Barnard Center for Research on Women published it! it finally hits online newstands today! We wrote it in 2009, but clearly police violence has hasn’t stopped, nor has our resistance, so IMHO its still relevant! its also filled with beautiful photos by Syd London!
You can read it here:
I’m really excited about this: Lower East Side Harm Reduction will offer free self defense classes for trans women throughout this summer, from June 3rd til July 1st. Please forward widely!
“Losing My Dignity: Lorena and Me”
Jahaira talks about how the New York Times and others in the media stripped her friend Lorena Escalera of her dignity by sensationalizing and sexualizing her life and death.
janet mock on cece mcdonald & paige clay, "worthy" victims, &media narratives re: trans* ppl
fighting back tears as i read it.
