Marti Abernathey January 4, 2007 Opinion

Makeup Is A Tool Of The Devil

“‘It is important for transsexuals to look beautiful as they consider themselves female,’ said Sulastri Ariffin, co-ordinator of the transsexual programme at PT Foundation, an organisation that provides support, education and counselling to transsexuals, drug users and sex workers. She said transsexuals would go straight for branded cosmetics, such as Elizabeth Arden and Christian Dior. ‘We do not care about the price of make-up as we want to look great, just like normal women,’ she said.” – New Straits Times Online

My personal opinion on this piece is here.

I’ve been monitoring the ongoing fallout from this radical feminist blog post, and it’s been tough for me to read some of the extreme hate that came from that post. I think much of the hatred that some of these radical feminists feel comes from this kind of misogynistic nonsense. What do you think?

6 Comments

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Colin says:
January 5, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I caught wind of that collective diatribe, too. I haven’t read the original post and comments (I don’t need to witness insanity), but I have read several blog posts that responded to the issue. I agree that the tendency of some MTF women to continue to adhere to the singular mode of transition that was required prior to the last decade or so is probably the provocative force here. I fully support each individual’s right to define/construct the self as each sees fit, even if that means conforming to cultural gender stereotypes. What disappoints me about many radfems is their fundamentalism about deconstructing gender. Though I am doubtful we’ll collectively get there anytime soon, I wish people would just stop telling other people how they should/shouldn’t live their own lives.
Colin says:
January 5, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I caught wind of that collective diatribe, too. I haven’t read the original post and comments (I don’t need to witness insanity), but I have read several blog posts that responded to the issue. I agree that the tendency of some MTF women to continue to adhere to the singular mode of transition that was required prior to the last decade or so is probably the provocative force here. I fully support each individual’s right to define/construct the self as each sees fit, even if that means conforming to cultural gender stereotypes. What disappoints me about many radfems is their fundamentalism about deconstructing gender. Though I am doubtful we’ll collectively get there anytime soon, I wish people would just stop telling other people how they should/shouldn’t live their own lives.
marina brown says:
January 4, 2007 at 6:15 pm
The blog was way too long – even crashed my browser.
These daze i hardly ever pay attention to the 70’s style
radical feminists. Their arguments are so old and so dependant
upon the stereotypes they fought against that they have
become a reverse parody of what they fight.
—- Miri of Mtribe (Trans, Queer, Multiple Personed and Proud)
marina brown says:
January 4, 2007 at 11:15 pm
The blog was way too long – even crashed my browser.
These daze i hardly ever pay attention to the 70’s style
radical feminists. Their arguments are so old and so dependant
upon the stereotypes they fought against that they have
become a reverse parody of what they fight.
—- Miri of Mtribe (Trans, Queer, Multiple Personed and Proud)
cyberdependent says:
January 4, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Egad. Squabbles like that are what put me off from academic feminism during my undergrad days. (Of course, those were different squabbles, such as the rifts between global and nationalistic feminists, or 2nd/3rd wave arguments) Glad to see that radfem is still singularly obsessed with a giant proverbial prickwaving contest about who’s more marginalized.
In a sense, I see the conflict… that transfolk use conforming to gender stereotypes as an instrument of their personal change, which pisses off the radfems who don’t want anyone to conform to gender stereotypes for any reason at all.
In a sense, you should take these arguments as evidence of the increased awareness of both schools of thought. As it used to be, and still is in less open places like Indy, that queers and radfems and transfolk all used to stick together, bound by nothing more then the fact they were all outsiders. As each individual group grows, the need for solidarity is lessened, and the quite disparate aims of the different groups can come out. Kind of like being a kid and the punks and goths hung out together because there weren’t enough of either to stand on their own… but once both got popular, they separated into distinct groups. Sure there’s room for fence-straddlers who are comfortable in both camps, but people on the whole are fucks, and the more you get together, the less they get along.
Was that on point at all?
cyberdependent says:
January 4, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Egad. Squabbles like that are what put me off from academic feminism during my undergrad days. (Of course, those were different squabbles, such as the rifts between global and nationalistic feminists, or 2nd/3rd wave arguments) Glad to see that radfem is still singularly obsessed with a giant proverbial prickwaving contest about who’s more marginalized.
In a sense, I see the conflict… that transfolk use conforming to gender stereotypes as an instrument of their personal change, which pisses off the radfems who don’t want anyone to conform to gender stereotypes for any reason at all.
In a sense, you should take these arguments as evidence of the increased awareness of both schools of thought. As it used to be, and still is in less open places like Indy, that queers and radfems and transfolk all used to stick together, bound by nothing more then the fact they were all outsiders. As each individual group grows, the need for solidarity is lessened, and the quite disparate aims of the different groups can come out. Kind of like being a kid and the punks and goths hung out together because there weren’t enough of either to stand on their own… but once both got popular, they separated into distinct groups. Sure there’s room for fence-straddlers who are comfortable in both camps, but people on the whole are fucks, and the more you get together, the less they get along.
Was that on point at all?

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