Not an Identity crisis

The Ha'aretz weekend edition in English published a really fascinating article about a visible member of the Trans* community in Israel - Eli Avidan Azar - who isn't shy about talking about the fact that he was born 26 years ago and given the name Lihi.

The whole piece - The man I am - is fascinating and worth the read.
But it's this bit that I found really interesting, the interview portion of the article, that is, his answers to the questions:

Hetero-normative assumption

In 11 years, you've changed identity twice.

"That's a question that bothers me of lot - did I change my identity? Was I straight before I became a lesbian? I don't know. The assumption that until you declare yourself a lesbian you're straight is an assumption of the hetero-normative culture. Anyone we meet, we assume he's straight.

"As for the change of gender, it's weird for me to say, 'When I was a little boy' - to use the male vernacular, but if I'm sitting in class, say, and I were to say, 'When I was a little girl ...' it wouldn't be very coherent. I try, like a lot of male and female transsexuals, to create some kind of connection between who I was and who I am now. There were people who told me they needed to grieve over me - but really they were mourning for themselves, for the function I fulfilled for them. Because of this, too, it's hard for me to come out of the closet to people. It's very hurtful. Suddenly, I feel like my gender function is so critical. I'm the same person. I'm smarter because I've matured a little, I have a few more wrinkles, and yes, I also have facial hair."

Do you feel that girls no longer feel comfortable talking with you about subjects they used to be at ease with?

"Not at all, just the opposite. I really understand, I know what it means to be a girl and I identify with women's struggles, though obviously I can't know how every woman really feels. My girlfriend and I laugh that one day I'll come out of the closet ... I'm a sensitive person, delicate, I like clothes, my transition to the male category doesn't mean I have to obey all the social imperatives that go along with that."

What's it really like to be a transsexual in Israel today?

"One of the main problems right now has to do with physical changes. Not all trannies are interested in physical changes, but our society categorizes gender according to body and appearance, and many of us feel a need to toe the line with this. Someone who's interested in a physical change needs to cope with the difficulties piled on by the Kupat Holim health maintenance organizations. If you want to have any operation in Israel, you can't do it privately. The moment there's an attempt to question the gender you were born into, people freak out and their biggest fear is that the person will change his mind, and so you have to go through this series of tortures that lasts for many years, and includes being humiliated in front of the Tel Hashomer hospital committee. At the basis of the investigation is the question of whether the person is suited to the gender to which he wishes to belong.

Read the rest of it, it's linked above, it's totally worth it.

The video embedded below has been going around for the past week or so. Seeing as it touched on the subject of this post, I though it fitting to put it in.

Enjoy the Gender Subversion!

"On Being Genderqueer" - Text of "Swingset"

( Swingset Transcript )

Welcome to the House of Fun

I just finished watching the first episode of Joss Whedon's new show Dollehouse.
It's available via streaming (thanks nurint!) and the Pilot episode is titled Ghost.

The rest of this entry is placed under a cut for spoilers, I'm generally very bad with that sort of thing because I tend to watch things after they've been "out" for a while and thus don't bother. However, seeing as this is a brand spanking new show that only began this week, I'll be considerate.

( Dollhouse S1 Ep1 - Ghost )

I'm not an automatic Joss-Fan. I didn't particularly enjoy Firefly, nor did I think Buffy Season 8 was a particularly well crafted comic book.
Teevee is where Joss belongs and I hope this show grows into its huge amount of potential.
Here's to a new show we can obsess about!