After watching the movie about Ludovic and his troubles with his family, I was extremely interested to read the article paired for the upcoming class. I thoroughly enjoyed both pieces, but was interested as to how the Feinberg's piece, Transgender Warriors, read. Feinberg provides many examples of transgendered people like Billy Tripton throughout the course of our history as humans. In doing so, Feinberg opens up our ideas about transgender people, both men who dress as women and women who dress as men, in a historical, social, economical, and emotional context. Although some tend to focus on the the historical and economic context Feinberg brings to our attention that cross-dressing has a much deeper meaning for many and is very circumstantial. Despite the ease with which a woman can put on men's clothing, it is important to note that there are far more difficulties than what appears on the surface. Feinberg mentions the example of George Sand and Liberte and mentions that although these two passed as males, they faced much more than just oppression. The idea of lesbian oppression comes up throughout Feinberg's chapter, and the author argues that cross-dressing and transgender move far beyond this form of oppression. She perfectly argues with her example of men passing as women, and she asks the reader to question the practicality of this in a somewhat male dominated society. The reasoning behind "just passing" neither makes sense to Feinberg nor to me. The idea of the evolving economic context and its role in persuading some to cross dress was immediately interesting to me, especially as a female growing up in a progressive place.
Feinberg clearly argues that cross-dressing is not just a simple act. We have seen how ideas such as transgender or intersex are never quite as simple as people or professionals make them out to be. Ironically, it is almost as if professionals are more fixed on our dichotomous world than everyone else. We have all noticed, through this class and previous experiences, how the idea of duality or dichotomy is so important in our society and how difficult it is for many to reconcile with any disruptions to what we perceive as normal. The first movie clip that we watched in class was a perfect example of this. The mother of the intersex child was faced with a lack of expertise on the part of the professionals and felt forced into making the decision that she did. The lack of autonomy that this mother, along with others who face such difficulties, feels is something that she seems to be reminded of everyday of her life. Feinberg does note that passing is a product of the oppression that grows out of our societal context, but reaffirms the reader that each person does have an identity.
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I think that it’s really interesting how you bring up the point that Feinberg emphasizes the idea that “each person does have an identity.” This is the pivotal point in the movie “Ma vie en rose.” It seems as if Ludo is the only character who does have a true sense of who he is and who he wants to be even though he is not considered to be “normal.” His “normal” family and neighbors do not seem to be so sure about themselves: the boss struggles with his persona as a family man versus his desires for affairs, the mother struggles with her duty to be a good mother versus her desire to conform to how society thinks her family should be, and similarly, the father’s struggle to be a good father. Thus, the movie and the readings make hypothesize that identity is in no way linked to normalcy. We should not define who we are as people by how well we do or do not fit into what is considered to be normal.
This separation of identity from normalcy is well –supported in the article that we have read. One woman recounts her experience of finding out that she was clitoricized. Throughout her life, this woman attempted to define herself by fitting into a normalized, binary gender categorization. However, it was not until this woman accepted herself as an individual that she truly gained her identity.
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