More Good Vibes From Ru Paul

"Honorary Trans Nazi in Male Drag"

It seems one of my all time favorite performers "Ru Paul" has drawn an Estrogen line in the sand on his "Drag Race Show"
If you really care "William Belli" was recently kicked off the show for "undisclosed" reasons.
The only relevant part of the whole affair was some of the fallout which helped to recognize differences in our cultures in the "Huffington Post".

"Last week's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race promised to be the "most shocking episode ever." Viewers learned, after watching two drag queens compete in the "lip sync for your life" elimination round, that neither contestant would be disqualified. Instead, one of the other Season 4 contestants, Willam (Belli) was disqualified for breaking the rules."

"William Belli"

"While it's been advertised that we'll have to wait for this season's reunion special of RuPaul's Drag Race to find out exactly what went down, this hasn't stopped fans from creating speculative theories. Whether it was promiscuity, drugs, or behavior, Willam's departure can be used as catalyst for a larger discussion on tensions between the worlds of gay men in drag and female transgender performers. I'm not too concerned about why Willam was eliminated, but I am concerned about certain types of justifications use to explain his dismissal, specifically speculation regarding the use of estrogen or hormone therapy.
To help you locate me in this discussion, I should point out that for the past three years, I've documented the lives of 10 self-identified effeminate gay men for a documentary series called 50Faggots. I've spent a lot of time entrenched in the worlds of individual nightlife personalities and drag queens, as well as having gone out many times in drag myself as a gay man. I believe there is an ongoing undercurrent of different privileges, benefits, and consequences for both gay drag queens and trans female impersonators when individuals perform in specific nightlife venues. In the controlled, television space of RuPaul's Drag Race, there is an expectation that these performers should identify as gay men, and that has allowed for certain assumptions about what differentiates a gay man from a transgender woman. There seems to be a certain level of criticism attached to the speculation that if Willam was taking estrogen or hormones, then a) he could not identify as a gay man any longer, and b) this would somehow be cheating and giving him an "advantage" over the other contestants.
Well, let's address this. I have a hard time understanding why the idea of estrogen use would be threatening to being a gay man, when in fact, personal identity is a delicate balance of choice, personal representation, and lived experiences. I believe some gay men can take estrogen or be on hormone therapy and still identify as men, just as some trans folks choose not to take hormones at all or refuse body-modification surgery. It would also be ironic if this were the real reason for William's departure when fake breast plates, body modification, and plastic surgery have been openly used by many gay men who commit their careers to drag."

I underlined what I feel to be the most important part of the article.
Now I'm trying to connect the dots between this and "Jenna" the disqualified Miss Canada participant.
If I can!

Quote of the Day

The new midlife crisis. Why get a new woman...become one! -
unknown

Taking the Night Off!

I was going to take the night off and just lay around and watch some my favorite brainless television shows.  For some reason I have moved upward or downward from "Mob Wives" or "Jerseylicious" to quality shows like "Swamp People" and Mud Catters". (I'm too ashamed to even give you all any links!)
I just couldn't stay away though, came down to the library here in the "Condo" and  checked out what a few of my blogging girlfriends were up to.
Truthfully, my mind has grown weary for the moment with the endless gender dialogue here and elsewhere.
The highlight of the day was the wonderment of how "my girls" became so sore so quick.
In the midst of my "night off" I found some one else to do the heavy lifting.
Her name is "Andie" and she writes a beautiful blog called "Andie's Place".
I am too lazy to steal any of her thunder and too impressed not to pass is along.
Her post is called "What is a sense of Gender" and here is just a touch of it:

"A section in my new poetry book is called ‘A Sense of Gender’, and it is a really curious thing. What is it to be self-aware of being a man or being a woman? Is it just a feeling of consonance with others who have bodies like yours? Or perhaps dissonance with those who don’t? That seems a bit thin somehow. I am sure that with a bit of research I could unearth psychological studies that would dip into the gendered mind, the ways we think, that place us more comfortably in one camp or the other. Except that drags us kicking into the binary conflict that simply doesn’t suit everyone."

Her post is simply a wonderful look of how many view our gender (s).

Quote of the Day

It doesn't matter how you "present". People will see what they want to see anyhow!
A message from "Alex" a close friend!

Why We Owe Black America a Ton of Credit.

Recently the local PBS (Public Broadcasting System) channel in my area ran a documentary about the black civil rights struggles in the deep south in the early 1960's. The marches, protests and boycotts by the black community led to the Civil Right's Act of 1964. (from Wikipedia)
"The landmark legislation was a piece of legislation in the United States  that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public ("public accommodations")."

What is happening now is that transgendered and transsexual groups are using the legislation to argue we are one of the remaining groups in our country still being denied rights as Americans under the law.

"The bill was called for by President John F. Kennedy in his civil rights speech of June 11, 1963, in which he asked for legislation "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments," as well as "greater protection for the right to vote." Kennedy delivered this speech following a series of protests from the African-American community, the most concurrent being the Birmingham campaign which concluded in May 1963."

In 1964, I was in my early teens and of course followed all of this. Little did I know how it would affect me later!

Lend a Hand!

Change.org has began circulating a petition to help the disqualified transsexual trans woman who was rejected from the "Miss Canada" pageant.
You can to "Change.org" to lend your support to "Jenna Talackova"!

"Weakly Horrorscope"

Here we go friends another "horrorscope" from the Frisky!

Who cares how things get done this week, as long as you haul ass and get all your ducks in a row. As it goes, you need to be on point with your plans now and know what you want. No more putting up with excuses or thinking, “Why me?” as the world can’t wait for your genius for one more day. Bring it or back out.

Sure it's weak but true!!!!!!

Quote of the Day!

"As my momma would put it.  Lips, hips, tits, and ass don't come for free nor are they covered by medical insurance." Christina Cracraft, transsexual teacher and burlesque dancer in Sante Fe, New Mexico.
Unfortunately (per norm) she is facing suspension from her teaching job. Read the story and see the news video here.

Just an aside. I saw a real live burlesque show on New Years Eve last December by a touring NYC group and it was tremendous!
If you really are looking for lessons on the sensuality of being a woman, I highly recommend burlesque or belly dancing!

Waaaasupp?

It is so easy to get caught up in the life and death- give and take around here in the "Condo" It's hard to slow down.
Who did who, how hard they did it  and what did they looked like when they did it rules us sometimes. I am one of those.
First of all, I missed a couple milestones to thank you about.
Somewhere along the way recently, the fact that we zoomed past 215,000 hits on the blog and shot past over 900 posts was totally lost on me.
Slowly and sometimes unsurely, I'm still putting together as much time and effort as I can into my "Trannsnation.com" website is varyingly levels of success. My patience level on occasion collides with my lack of expertise and causes a huge amount of frustration.
One thing is certain, time keeps marching on. Thanks so much for being along for the journey!