sorry, wish I had something cogent to say. :)
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| cand86 Member 164 Posts 8/08 |  Posted - Aug 31 2009 : 4:31AM* Addressed mostly at our lovely Mandy Mitchell, since she's one of the few (only?) trans stars I've seen grace the forum. But anybody else who's knowledgeable is certainly welcome to comment* So, there are quite a few rather vocal transwomen in an online forum I participate in who are vigilant that there are very few actual transsexual women in porn- that they are almost all "partially feminised men" (their words, not mine). I'd completely ignore it and write it off as the whole "chicks-with-dicks-are-really-dudes!" transphobia if it came from anybody else . . . but these are transwomen who I otherwise find very smart, educated, and kind. But their belief that the T-girls in porn are somehow different than the transwomen who don't do porn doesn't jive with me. It just doesn't ring true- I just can't imagine anybody with a firm male gender identity (not transgender or genderqueer, but male) going to such lengths as part of a career in porn. I could see it possibly for CD porn- very easy to dress up and get off and get back to life as guys- but the Gia Darlings of the world and many other T-girl pornstars can't. As far as I know, they live as women, and they identify as such. Am I wrong about this? It's ridiculously difficult to find any real, personal, non-promotional blogs or whatnot out there from transwomen who work in porn, but everything I can find seems to confirm that porno T-girls are just as trans as any other transwoman (the only differences being surgical status). So I guess I'm asking if there are actually individuals out there working as T-girls who actually identify as male, or who only see their work as something temporary, probably to make money. I know I read somewhere (here on ADT, I think) of a performer who returned to living as male . . . but that's only one person (can anybody refresh my memory?). I want to be able to educate these women and stop the hatred/ignoring gender identity of trans sex workers, but I want to make sure I'm not talking out of my ass before I do so. Also- T-girl performers, have you ever had your trans identity questioned because you do porn? [Link] |
| mandymitchell Member 254 Posts 5/09 | Posted - Sep 12 2009 : 10:47PM sorry, wish I had something cogent to say. :) [Link] |
| cand86 Member 164 Posts 8/08 | Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 5:44PM I actually did get a hold of one of them via e-mail, and I basically copied and pasted this with some additional info, and her response was fairly decent (I thought): "Actually you are probably closer to the truth than I am. I have NO experience with porn outside accidental exposure via cable or porn sites on the web. What I know is strictly second hand. However, what I do know is I have known about 1,000 transsexual women over the last half dozen years and only about 4 ever did sex work or porn. My main goal has been battling the stereotype that we're all sex workers, drug addicts or psychotic killers. That stereotype is proving incredibly difficult to overcome. Just look at that question a couple hours ago. That girl probably saw drag queens at the club, but she thinks that's what transsexual women are. It's incredibly frustrating!!! People want to believe the stereotype and resist efforts to educate them. I'll make a deal with you. I'll stop responding to those questions if you'll make a point of saying that those porn actors do NOT represent who we are. Just as prostitutes don't represent natal women." Still not exactly great (I find it more than a bit hypocritical to take someone to task for not being educated on trans matters, but then talking about trans porn without actually having any knowledge of it), but I was glad she was willing to meet me halfway. [Link] |
| mandymitchell Member 254 Posts 5/09 | Posted - Sep 13 2009 : 8:47PM [Link] |
| cand86 Member 164 Posts 8/08 | Posted - Sep 14 2009 : 12:48AM The forum- Yahoo!Answers- is actually pretty swarming with this kind of stuff- HBS separatists and other transpeople who seem waaaay too invested in strict boundaries and threatened by those who don't fall in line. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one advocating for screwing "normal" and celebrating the queer. But, yeah. You're amazing (as always!). How goes the new site so far? [Link] |
| mandymitchell Member 254 Posts 5/09 | Posted - Sep 14 2009 : 1:52AM It has been interesting working with new people and I'm enjoying having larger degree of support than I ever had running my old site. [Link] |
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