In the past week, I have seen two articles which have actually made me feel physically sick. Last Tuesday I managed to stop myself posting a response to one called "5 Reasons to Date A Girl With An Eating Disorder", talking myself into taking the moral highground. But this morning, when I found a post - on the same site, may I add - called "8 Ways To Spot A Transsexual", I couldn't help myself.
The quote 'I’m not a mental health expert' from said transsexual shaming article, sums up the irrelevance of it in general. However, for men reading this article on the site 'for masculine men' - which I also have a problem with, but I'll go into more detail about that in a moment - I imagine this will be seen as truth.
Now, it's no secret that a lot of people have a problem with trans* people. (If you don't know what trans* means then click here) People feel uneasy, confused, and even disgusted sometimes at the thought that someone would want to "mess" with their gender or sex. As a trans* person, even I can understand that to a certain degree. People feel this way because they don't understand. And why don't they understand? Because people are not properly educated about trans* people and their experiences. But that is a different subject for a different blog post (which I'm sure I'll write at some point).
So although I accept that some people feel confused, I do not think this condones people to write transphobic, ignorance-fuelled articles, telling people - or rather, telling 'masculine men' - how to spot, and avoid, as it happens, trans* people. Or, being more specific 'transsexuals who are “male to female”'.
Why the pigeon holing of MTF trans* people? It appears, through the article, that the writer of this article believes all MTF people to be interested in men. This simply is not true. There are many transwomen who identify as lesbians - therefore not interested in men - and, actually, there are many transmen who identify as gay. You get the picture. The idea that all trans* people are straight is outdated and, well, wrong.
This kind of hatred should be illegal. So why are articles like this still allowed to be on the internet?
Onto the famous eating disorders article. I can't even begin to describe how awful this is. Glorifying eating disorders is one thing, but identifying characteristics (and mostly false characteristics, I'll say) about women with eating disorders and using them to a male's advantage in the dating world is inexplicably wrong.
For instance, why should 'She’s fragile and vulnerable' be a reason to date anyone? It's disgusting! This suggests that men need not try at all in relationships to please their partner. Everyone needs to try in every single relationship, no matter who they are with. Stop being such a narrow minded idiot.
And making the link between eating disorders and financial backgrounds is just fucking ridiculous. It's a mental health condition, anyone can get them, you don't buy them.
Speaking of buying things, saying that women with eating disorders are 'today's best-buy in the West’s rapidly plummeting dating market' suggests you buy women. So you're misogynist too are you? Shocking.
Something I'd like to briefly touch on is the site itself. The tagline 'For masculine men' has me in stitches. I just find that hysterical. Now, I could talk endlessly about how there are thousands of trans* men who are in fact 'masculine men', and would find the articles on this website - not just the one on transsexuals - offensive beyond belief. I myself am one of them, but you know, that seems slightly irrelevant for the time being.
When I've had a look around the rest of the site, I can see that these two articles are not the only ones which are completely and irrevocably offensive. Amongst them are articles that: slut shame; feminist shame; are misogynist beyond belief; justify their offensive nature; justify rape; blames a fifteen year old suicide victim for his own death; I could go on, but this list is long enough and I think you get the picture that it is disgusting and needs to be taken down.
While I know I am not alone in my viewpoints, I would love to know what you think. I am not going to put a link to the site here, because I do not want their traffic to increase, but the ideas of their articles have been summed up here. If you have not read them, and would really like to read the articles, get in touch with me via Tumblr or Twitter.
Love,
Benjamin x
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