Sick, Exhibitionist, Mentally Ill Self-Mutilator
According to a member on flickr called Mac Diva, anyway, I'm all those things.
Flickr is a brilliantly executed piece of web native social software that uses tag-based collaborative filtering to create communities of interest which encourage people to share their photos and stories.
Now, difference is part of what gives communities vibrancy and texture and I normally enjoy a well-argued dispute. But even I was shocked by the vitriol that Mac Diva exhibited when replying to a post where I introduced myself to the weblogging community on flickr and invited people to take a look at this weblog you're now reading.
Mac Diva made the preposterous assertion that this weblog is some sort of transsexual erotica site and that I was somehow concealing this fact by dressing it up as a weblog in order to attract readers by stealth.
Her main point seemed to be that to publicise this was inappropriate on a site such as flickr as were many of the photos I was posting of myself. In fact she took such umbrage, especially with the picture posted above, that she started peppering it with tags such as "guy", "ugly", "freak" and "pervert". Not only that, but her words were couched in an aggressive, patronising and insulting style, pointedly using the wrongly identified personal pronoun "he", for example, which is a studied insult to any transgendered person.
Now, I know a troll when I smell one, and I don't like entering into debates with them as they never end well, so I made a factual rebuff and decided to leave it at that. But of course, the thread escalated, and other members' support for my position only seemed to further enrage the woman.
In a series of increasingly ludicrous and insulting follow up posts, she went on to assert that:
- I'm attention seeking and have many other sites (the former point may be right, the latter is not. I think the implication is that somehow I profit from this attention, if not financially, then in some ego-feeding way)
- That all the people defending me are doing so because they have a perverted attraction to transsexuals (patently untrue)
- That I'm by my actions somehow corrupting children (again, flickr is not family oriented, but rather an inclusive site. None of my images violate the terms of use and I have no intention to corrupt or deprave)
- That gender reassignment surgery has almost been totally phased out in the US as it is an outmoded and improper treatment
- That the proper treatment of transsexuality is to try and get people to accept their "true gender" (she means birth gender)
- That Gender Identity Disorder is a mental illness similar to apotemnophilia, where people derive sexual gratification from having their own limbs amputated
This astonishing and inaccurate list of bigotry, misinformation and hearsay is like reading something written 100 years ago. What makes this amazingly ironic is that Mac Diva is apparently a respected left-leaning blogger whose weblogs focus heavily on civil rights. Clearly this person has serious issues with transgenderism and no awareness of how much suffering the condition can cause to those who have it.
The emancipation of transgendered women and men continues to be a civil rights issue. It's a shame that our journey is continually blighted by people like this, who fundamentally cannot distinguish between the concepts of gender and sexuality. This is a problem that lies four square with this abusive poster, and not with myself or other transgendered individuals.
It wasn't nice to be a victim of this hateful attack over my birthday weekend. I'd like to thank those who have supported me, vocally or otherwise.
I've no doubt that Mac Diva will continue to troll the thread on flickr. She will probably come here to this weblog and start spouting her nonsense as well. I and a few others have tried to draw the thread to a close as we feel it's inappropriate to give this ignorant bigot any more space. I urge you not to respond on the flickr thread, but to leave your comments here instead.
I'm off for Christmas now. Have a lovely one everyone, and I'll probably post again on the 27th. Byee!
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