Thursday, August 31, 2006

Savage Love on Jane and Jack

Dan Savage discusses the Times article on FTM transsexualism in this week's Savage Love.

"At the risk of being burned in effigy at the next dyke march, the fluidity of female sexual identity sure does make me appreciate the solidity of male sexual identity."

He puts it too bluntly, coming off as the asshole we all know and love, but the idea that females have a more fluid sexuality and sexual identity than males is intriguing. It's tempting to think it might have something to do with sex hormones -- maybe estrogen-heavy systems are more affected by slight variations. I'm going to revert back to the old girls-can-wear-pants explanation though. It is more acceptable in a patriarchal society for a woman to want to behave like a man (which is the perception of masculine behavior, FTM transsexualism, and even lesbianism) than for a man to want to behave like a woman, because women are simply trying to move up the chain of command. What kind of man would debase himself by giving up power? A sissy, that's who. A little tautological? Yeah, maybe. Don't tell me, tell the guys in charge.

It's fall. Can you tell I'm missing Smith?

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