14Kgold on Jezebel in the days of yore, and some others; you can call me 14K. Back in my ancestral stomping grounds of NYC, teaching, editing, feeding a music addiction. I love learning; if you can teach me something, I'm all ears. I'd love to teach you what I can in return. Nota bene: I can accept an initial lack of knowledge, but I'm too old to tolerate bullshit. If you prefer willful ignorance, this ain't the place for you.

18th January 2012

Link reblogged from From The Mind Of Nefarious Newt with 33 notes

Tumble DC 25: Transableism →

nefariousnewt:

jonathan-cunningham:

Learning how to be respectful of the transgendered community and everyone in it was one of the first things I started learning on Tumblr (which isn’t to say I’m perfect now, or finished learning, just that it was a large area of personal ignorance at the time).

I learned that it was disrespectful…

Presented without comment.

There’s a difference between taking up the appearance of something and living with something.

The difference, what distinguishes between legit body dysmorphia and being an asshole, is what happens when you’re all alone and no one can see you. If you pretend to be a paraplegic but stand up to take a shower in the privacy of your bathroom, you’re an asshole.

It’s actually not all that difficult a concept, as anyone with a disability can tell you. Comparing it to transgendering is bullshit, because the crux of transgendering is that gender is a social construct and a way of presentation. Disability is not a way of presentation. It is a condition. Someone with BIIP? That’s a condition as well, albeit of a different category. Someone who only appears disabled and can step out of that presentation whenever they want to? That’s someone who is disrespectful and dismissive of every truly disabled person who lives with their condition unwillingly. 

To not recognize this, to think that all ‘opinions’ (so to speak) deserve equal consideration, is really, really fucking ignorant. A disrespectful way of presenting oneself deserves no consideration, whether the presentation is appropriating race-specific artifacts or ability-specific hardware.

Is it a coincidence that this is apparantly only a thing with unencumbered White folk? Why are they not using their energies to help the less fortunate, and instead so desperate to encumber themselves through falsity? No, I don’t have to respect someone who is shitting on me.

Tagged: transableismableismappropriation

Source: jonathan-cunningham

  1. sweetpeteneattreat reblogged this from liquidiousfleshbag and added:
    Oh my god can we stop comparing “transabled” people to transgendered people?? How are people even comparing them?! Like...
  2. liquidiousfleshbag reblogged this from thelefthandedwifeinhiding and added:
    I don’t see why I should be obligated to respect someone who has turned my life into a game. I know that getting angry...
  3. transversegirl said: Well written, Jon. I must admit that you’ve given me quite a lot to think about as a transgender woman who has been wary of it. . Could much of the reaction be located in their use of the prefix “trans” as opposed to say the prefixes “para” or “a”?
  4. jonathan-cunningham reblogged this from 14kgoldnyc and added:
    How can you tell that people who identify as transabled don’t have body dysphoria? Your opening statement assumes that...
  5. itssochaotic reblogged this from jonathan-cunningham
  6. atheologist said: Small correction - it should be “transgender community” not “transgendered community.” The word transgender is an adjective.
  7. thelefthandedwifeinhiding reblogged this from 14kgoldnyc
  8. 14kgoldnyc reblogged this from nefariousnewt and added:
    There’s a difference between taking up the appearance of something and living with something. The difference, what...
  9. girl-non-grata said: Because there is biological variations backing sex and gender disparity, but not mentally ill people who try to appropriate my constant struggle and suffering. They need therapy, not the same rights as me.
  10. vampishly reblogged this from nefariousnewt and added:
    Great post, I learned a lot about feminism and all those wonderful things from tumblr. I look forward to learning more....
  11. nefariousnewt reblogged this from jonathan-cunningham
  12. jonathan-cunningham posted this