tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post3768400167527462527..comments2024-02-26T02:14:00.144-08:00Comments on TransFusion: On Teaching (Trans) GenderDr. Cary Gabriel Costellohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14478058791195474381noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-49118914719961286562015-05-29T00:50:02.629-07:002015-05-29T00:50:02.629-07:00I'm not sure what you mean by 'mastoid pro...I'm not sure what you mean by 'mastoid protrusion'? My college training is in Anthropology. One delightful characteristic I have observed in studying faces is how many actors/actresses have features which more typically belong to the opposite gender. The atypical face can be a powerful asset. Sean Bean (Boromir of LOTR) has the brow ridge below the eyebrow which is a female characteristic. I believe this gives him a rakish appearance. Sean Connery has a prefrontal cortex swelling on his forehead which sometimes reflects light (if the makeup artist has not been alert). In most populations this is a female characteristic, but is really very common among Russians and border-Scots (they are closely related). This may soften his otherwise hard edges. Glen Close has a somewhat harsh, even mannish face, which adds authority to many of her portrayals (I will often say that gender dimorphism is thin in some populations and I am part border-Scot myself). The point is none of these people are intersex, but they are part of a continuum spectrum, as in a rainbow, that illustrates the fallacy of gender as a binary. My interest in this began with learning the visual differences between male and female. It was years later that I learned the family oddities were called "intersex", that I was such, and there were related consequences other than some cosmetic corrections. I always try to say something intelligent, but I present the previous sentence as evidence of how slow (and stupid) I can be to see the obvious. It is because I was not conditioned to think beyond the binary. So when a person has characteristics of the opposite gender it challenges our binary concept. It also blurs our ability to be recognized as "intersex" as we can get lost in the various degrees that are still regarded as normal variation. If we want to be invisible, this is a good thing. Once I was at a hot dog restaurant when an older man whom I had met recently sat down and said "You should get a genetic test". I answered "And what would I be testing for?" He explained how he was "intersex" with Klinefelter's syndrome and how much I looked the same. I had never heard the "intersex" before. After years of study I related to him what I knew to be facts about my condition (a male-feminizing version of CAH). He said I was delusional. I have observed a common event among the "intersex". That is many will know more about THEIR condition than most doctors. When confronted by something that does not match their limited experience they reject it as some variety of error. So it is good to learn the basics of the 36+/- varieties that make us a family. Remember that the medical profession remains one of the great wellsprings of misinformation. - Tupungato.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.unisonbiomed.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=104&search=GE+3S" rel="nofollow">GE 3S</a> <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16710131686065196125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-15505534068960274772014-04-19T15:01:36.544-07:002014-04-19T15:01:36.544-07:00Now this is absurd. Blogspot. Now this is absurd. Blogspot. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-78798745478529583382014-04-19T15:00:45.927-07:002014-04-19T15:00:45.927-07:00Argh. Wish I could edit that for typos. Struggling...Argh. Wish I could edit that for typos. Struggling with bloodspot. Anyway, I was just blogging about reading your book at http://bit.ly/1i5c9J9. I hope that's a compliment and not comment spam!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-58028312908007728752014-04-19T14:20:35.527-07:002014-04-19T14:20:35.527-07:00Your discussion in Professional Identity Crisis of...Your discussion in Professional Identity Crisis of professional school students managing their own struggle to adopt what the right political habitus, and how classroom dynamics around professors' reputations are part of that, has been an absolute revelation to me about my own environment (a medical school four years into curriculum renewal). Is the faculty association any help to you? Academic freedom without a faculty union is looking fragile. You're in the middle of a fantastic cultural storm, and the weight of wearing it with dignity must be enormous. As you say, it's sad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-8977128967368224922014-02-12T06:09:47.537-08:002014-02-12T06:09:47.537-08:00Dr. Costello, this post really struck a cord with ...Dr. Costello, this post really struck a cord with me. This is a serious issue and I am appalled and disappointed that the administration, faculty and students seem to see you (at times) as a threat. I'm sorry that you've had to experience this. If you don't mind, I will be sharing this post on my social media. <br /><br />(Also, I'd just like to point out: while my roommate and I were passing links to your blog posts back and forth/discussing them, autocorrect repeatedly 'corrected' my spelling of intersex to 'interest' and continues to draw a red line underneath it, as if it's not a 'real' word. Social gender norms exist even in computers! Sigh.)kristynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00370544928717266784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-6757433459050779012013-10-01T17:49:59.316-07:002013-10-01T17:49:59.316-07:00Dan Cicon: As a genderqueer trans woman, I know fo...Dan Cicon: As a genderqueer trans woman, I know for a fact and have experienced many times, that trying to project "an assertive stance, posture, and tone" will only be met with vociferous criticism and misgendering. Your misunderstandings on this issue run deep.Daira Hopwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07786700719460528830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-906442678610585215.post-51829299822902425102013-08-23T02:47:58.165-07:002013-08-23T02:47:58.165-07:00Cis, white, christian, male, living along the west...Cis, white, christian, male, living along the west coast if that matters, which i don't think it should.<br /><br />First I would like to ask you about (middle-aged, middle-income, non-disabled, white)male privilege. It is a concept I am familiar with only by testimony and perhaps some observation, but not one which I have any recollection of being guilty of enforcing, or enjoying. <br /><br />I know what you are thinking. "Of course you don't observe it; your mind has no benefit to observing it," or perhaps just "This person is a sociopath," but I have taken the time to read (and learn from) your blog, so I hope you have time to hear me out.<br /><br />When I introspect all the major points in my lifetime. School, job interviews, or even common points, like straightening out billing errors (which seems to be becoming a rite of passage for any adult in the first world), I found that while my appearance and title may have had some effect on the outcome, far more potent results came from stance, body language, and words. <br /><br />While I empathize with cracking voices (having been a preteen trying to sound manly once) is there some physical or mental inhibition for a female or intersex person from assuming an assertive stance, posture, and tone? <br /><br />I can tell you from experience, that a slouch, stammer, and an infirm stance ("maybe I don't deserve this job, i don't know....") is too heavy a disadvantage to be carried by this "male privilege" force, so would it not also stand to reason that having assertiveness and confidence on your side is not only stronger than privilege, but also has the potential to make that privilege inconsequential? <br /><br />I'm not so sheltered to suggest racism or sexism or cissexism is non-existent. But, tagging and swearing by a concept like "male privilege" instead of taking action to dissipate it's power is like a climate-change researcher who doesn't recycle.<br /><br />Second, (if you're still reading) I'd like to suggest that your rejection by your students is less based on their religion, upbringing, and identity, and more based on a notion that their youth of mind grants them pride in opinions that they feel don't need testing. <br /><br />A person of respectable academic prowess (as you yourself appear to be) knows that even if an opinion is convenient, adopting it without its being tested, ESPECIALLY if it's a strong opinion, is irresponsible.<br /><br />But let's be a 19 yo student here for a moment. Testing opinions takes WORK. And screw that.<br /><br />So, while I've come to reject the notion that "boys will be boys" I think short of an evolutionary leap, "kids will be kids." And, if you've managed to maintain eye-rolling vigilance, I encourage you to keep it up.<br /><br />I wish you luck in your newly aligned body, and specifically solidity of your career. While I may not wholly believe that what you have to teach is the naked truth, I think it is a closer truth than many adults enjoy today, and I hope the adults of tomorrow are smarter than me.<br /><br />~DanAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07954777756367332505noreply@blogger.com