Transgender Questions

Society has silenced gender fluidity and expression in countless ways, creating a strict binary. It is so necessary to push back and challenge society’s narrow and abusive definitions of gender. Ignorance perpetuates violence, empower yourself with knowledge to create a safe more inclusive society for us all.
everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-transgender-peopl

A Cautionary tale for self-proclaimed “Allies”

Initially, I was excited about the website: Itspronoucedmetrosexual

I have seen the Genderbread Person used frequently and thought it was a great explanation for the fluidity of gender expression and identity. I even downloaded the free digital copy of the book by Sam Killermann.

However, when I posted a link to the free digital copy of the book on my Facebook I found myself quickly informed by a couple of my activist friends that the book was entirely based on plagiarized material. My friend Sean Waldbillig, commented: “The info is important, but just remember it's not his work first. A lot of work, culture, and art has been coopted from marginalized communities. Much of it is the coopting of the knowledge of Black and Indigenous peoples (specifically women of colour) by white people.”

 Another friend posted this website which researches the entire investigation of the intersectional appropriation of the Genderbread Person: https://storify.com/cisnormativity/the-genderbread-plagiarist. Which states, “Mr. Killermann didn't mention how what he'd seen online may have been the collective working efforts of trans people and, instead of building a new brand from their work, maybe he should have been finding ways to advocate for them by boosting their voices in their name. That kind of selfless advocacy is how one earns the respect of being seen as an ally by those who experience intersectional marginalization and violence.”

This website includes an interesting visual history of the origins of the Genderbread Person Infographic. It also discusses the problems with the simplification found in all the Genderbread Person info graphics and is a very informative read.

We need to ensure that we are not applauding and rewarding members of dominant groups who steal intellectual knowledge and speak “for” marginalized communities while silencing the voices of those very communities they are pretending to advocate on behalf of.

Allies in Action

Identifying and understanding privilege is an important first step, but educators cannot stop at just understanding their own privilege. The following is a website containing a Prezi and thought provoking next steps to move towards becoming an effective ally within social justice work.   

https://storify.com/TeacherSabrina/resources-unpacking-privilege-and-becoming-an-ally

White Privilege and Allyship

The YouTube clip below is the personal experience of Joy DeGruy, who faces racism based on skin colour. She shares her understanding of how skin tones can drastically effect daily interactions, even to something as simple as an interaction at the grocery store. She discusses white privilege and blatant racism in the YouTube link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf9QBnPK6Yg&feature=youtu.be

This clip is from a bigger projected called Cracking the Code  and you can access more information and rent the video at:

http://crackingthecodes.org/