Abraxas
04-03-2008, 07:03 AM
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/04/et-tu-letterman.html
Letterman decided to take a cheap shot (ten, actually) at Thomas Beatie on his top ten list. I've never liked Letterman, but I found this to be incredibly insensitive, uninformed, and just plain rude. The words 'androgynous freak show' came into play, for instance.
For those who don't know, Thomas Beatie is a transman who, because his wife couldn't get pregnant, stopped taking testosterone and had artficial insemenation in order to become pregnant. The baby is due on 3 July and Thomas was denied prenatal care by at least one doctor because of his trans status.
To put together this ridiculous list of insults aimed at a group that's already shunned and treated as outcasts by much of society, and is at a staggeringly high risk of being beaten, raped, denied medical care, murdered, and commiting suicide, is dispicable.
To be fair, though, at least Letterman called him a man and used correct gender pronouns, which is more than can be said of a lot of people. Still, the whole thing was just stupid and, while it does bring attention (some positive) toward transgender issues, the lack of education and research behind the subject is ultimately just going to make things worse for transpeople everywhere.
/rant.
(I also complained to CBS, as did a lot of other people, according to the comments on the above link)
Letterman decided to take a cheap shot (ten, actually) at Thomas Beatie on his top ten list. I've never liked Letterman, but I found this to be incredibly insensitive, uninformed, and just plain rude. The words 'androgynous freak show' came into play, for instance.
For those who don't know, Thomas Beatie is a transman who, because his wife couldn't get pregnant, stopped taking testosterone and had artficial insemenation in order to become pregnant. The baby is due on 3 July and Thomas was denied prenatal care by at least one doctor because of his trans status.
To put together this ridiculous list of insults aimed at a group that's already shunned and treated as outcasts by much of society, and is at a staggeringly high risk of being beaten, raped, denied medical care, murdered, and commiting suicide, is dispicable.
To be fair, though, at least Letterman called him a man and used correct gender pronouns, which is more than can be said of a lot of people. Still, the whole thing was just stupid and, while it does bring attention (some positive) toward transgender issues, the lack of education and research behind the subject is ultimately just going to make things worse for transpeople everywhere.
/rant.
(I also complained to CBS, as did a lot of other people, according to the comments on the above link)