So Not Funny, George Lopez!

I get most of my feminist news from the mainstream feminist blogosphere, which likes to throw its trans news of the day in a little daily wrap-up, if at all. So I sincerely apologize for neglecting to get my feminist news from a place that's friendly to issues facing trans people. I will do better from now on. Being out of the loop in that regard is much worse than being out of the loop when it comes to Dancing with the Stars and Lopez Tonight. George Lopez is a guy that I never found funny. He probably doesn't think he's that funny either, since he tells transphobic jokes, the final resort in getting a cheap laugh. Last week, after the premiere of DWTS, he unleashed his fat hate and transmisogyny with this sorry excuse for a joke:

(At about 1:20) Finally my favorite male and female dancer of the season. Up first the male (he shows a clip of Wendy Williams' performance). It wasn't really her dancing that caught my attention, check this out. (he shows a clip of Wendy crying during dance practice). The last time she cried that hard was when she was on Maury and she heard Wendy Williams you are the father.

And then he called Kirstie Alley a pig, but he spared her her gender identity. George Lopez: A real revolutionary.

Alright, first of all, Wendy Williams is the bomb, okay? She's a Jersey girl, and she's really successful. She seems like a down-to-Earth woman, and she's one of three people I sort of pseudo-stalk when I hang out in Montclair (the other two are Stephen Colbert and baseball legend Yogi Berra). Most importantly, this "joke" doesn't hurt Wendy as much as it hurts trans women, particularly trans women of color, which make up about 100% of the trans people who are murdered each year. People have to learn that insulting someone by calling them trans isn't funny and leads to violence. It's a way of delegitimizing someone's being. And it needs to end like forever ago.

Not that you ever were funny to begin with. But, George Lopez, this is so not funny!

So Not Funny, Saturday Night Live!

I could stop with just that title and follow with a randomly selected clip, since Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny in about 15 years. But not only is this skit not funny, it's downright offensive. It's a mock commercial for hormone replacement therapy aimed at M to F transgender people. It shows several of the male cast members in varying stages of transition. The punch line is basically, "Get it? Trans women! Ha-ha!" I guess cissexist knuckle draggers find this hilarious, but mocking the experience of trans women is not a joke. Looks like NBC might have new ownership, but it has the same tired transphobic stereotypes that pretty much every other comedy has.

GLAAD has a petition that you can sign, demanding that NBC apologize for this disgusting sketch and remove it from future airings.

Spanky Would Have Called It the "She-Male Palin-Hating Club"

Some pastor from Florida named Doug Giles made a video stating why it is feminists don't like Sarah Palin. It's not because she wants government to be about as big as the distance between one's ovaries and vaginal opening. And it's not because she is as dumb as a pair of dookie stained granny panties. It's because we're all a bunch of "she-males" who are jealous of her looks. In case you haven't heard that before, I've posted the video. Additionally, I will henceforth be referring to Pastor Giles as Spanky, because he is a childish little rascal. Seriously, Spanky. I'd like to welcome you to the year 2010. Feminists have been hearing this bullshit since before Sarah Palin's father shot her out of his nutsack.



And because I like correcting people so much, I'd like to let Spanky know that Sarah Palin did consider having an abortion when she was pregnant with Trig. Luckily, she lives in a country where she had the choice to have all 5 of her children, instead of being forced into motherhood by a so-called small government. Spanky chooses to believe the lie, or else she wouldn't be his proper definition of a woman. And that would make his ass hurt.

And lastly but not leastly, this video is filled with disgusting transphobic hate speech. Simple proof that trans people are always seen as a simple scapegoat for assholes. If Spanky was truly confident in his beliefs, he wouldn't be threatened by metrosexuals or Chaz Bono or trans women or anybody else who doesn't fit the strict gender binary that he worships every day. It's old fucking news, and I believe, as a wise young woman once said, has been around since way before Sarah Palin's father shot her out of his nutsack. I have a feeling this man sleeps with one eye open and both hands holding his dick for dear life. It's pitiful.

So Not Funny, Family Guy!

I never watch Family Guy, because I think it's stupid and unfunny. When I found out that Quagmire's dad was going to come out as transgender, I figured I'd boycott the episode. But I decided that I'd rather watch it and become offended. As a cis woman who will never have to endure the harassment, assault, murder, and everything in between that trans women suffer every day, it was the least I could do.

So after a handful of gay jokes, Quagmire's dad comes out as "a woman trapped in a man's body" and decides to have a sex change operation. When Quagmire goes to Peter and Lois for comfort, they can't seem to tell the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. After some banter, Lois concludes that they should all agree that Quagmire's dad is "odd." While at the hospital with Quagmire, Peter calls Quagmire's dad "it" and a "he/she." After Quagmire's dad, now Ida, reveals the results of the operation, Peter gives her the thumbs-up. Trans women don't need cis men's approval to make sure that they're sufficiently womanly, even in a cartoon. Later, Ida is invited to dinner at the Griffin's where transmisogynist jokes and comments are hurled both at Ida and daughter Meg. After the dinner, Ida and Quagmire get into an argument, so Ida goes to a bar for some drinks. She meets the Griffins' dog, Brian, and they end up having sex. You know, because trans women are into beastiality. Brian tells the Griffins that he's met a wonderful woman, and everyone thinks it's hilarious when they find out Brian's love interest is Ida. Stewie is the last person Brian tells about his wonderful new lady friend, and Stewie tells Brian about Quagmire's dad. They have a good laugh about it, calling her an "it" several times, questioning the validity of trans women's relationships, and defining her private parts as "a train wreck." When Brian finds out that he had sex with Ida, Quagmire's father, he vomits for like 30 seconds.

This list of transmisogynist "jokes" is by no means exhaustive. That was just from memory. There were probably a lot more hateful jokes in there. But don't take my word for it! Watch the whole episode!

Pretty much every transmisogyinst stereotype was incorporated in this episode. Except for Ida becoming a prostitute. How did Seth MacFarlane miss that one? Now, many people will tell me, "It's Family Guy! What do you expect?" "They offend everyone eventually!" "It's called being edgy! Get a sense of humor!" If Family Guy was that edgy, they would have made a pro-trans episode. Hell, they didn't even use the words "trans," "transgender," or "trans woman" in the entire episode. Instead, they rolled out all the anti-trans woman stereotypes and put them in one episode. These jokes are offensive and contribute to the death of trans women. When someone calls a trans woman a "he/she" or an "it" or question the legitimacy of her body parts and romantic relationships, they are dehumanizing trans women, and that is tantamount to advocating for their demise.

Yeah, so not funny, Family Guy.

So Not Funny, Keith Olbermann!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Keith Olbermann called his Worst Person in the World segment last night "unusual," and ended it with this:

All I have to say about Ann Coulter is this: If this guy wants to live his life as a woman, I'm gonna back his choice up 100 percent.

Calling Ann Coulter a man? Real unusual, Keith. And so not funny.

I know what you're thinking, because it wasn't long ago when my cis brain might have accepted this train of thought. "But Ann Coulter made a litany of gender-variant-phobic jokes in the column Keith quoted. She dissed cross-dressing! She dissed androgyny! She dissed butch lesbians! Why aren't you holding her accountable? Coulter is worse than Olbermann!" Maybe she is worse than he is, but not today. Or last night when Keith made that comment. I would really like the whole world to be above this, but I think the best hope the world has of becoming above this is if our progressive media figures become above this. Conservatives aren't going to call Coulter out on her trans hate. If anything, they might praise her for it. Progressives don't seem to be calling Olbermann out either. One woman on Twitter actually said it was the best part of her day. How's that for praise? But I still believe there are some people in the progressive movement that will tell him that his comments were offensive.

So that's why I e-mailed Keith Olbermann at Countdown@msnbc.com and told him that his comments were hurtful and possibly deadly. I mean, as long as mainstream media figures and the rest of the world are going to frame trans people as the outliers of humanity, then it doesn't make much of a difference if they were to die, right? (h/t @lilithvf1998). Making a joke about someone's gender identity does this extremely well. I think he needs to make himself tonight's Worst Person in the World. And never make a trans joke again.

So Not Funny, David Letterman!

This story is three days old, but transmisogyny is not, so I'm going to talk about this anyway. Late night talk show host David Letterman made a transphobic "joke" on his show the other night after telling his audience that President Obama appointed Amanda Simpson, a transgender woman, to be the Senior Technical Adviser to the Department of Commerce. Amanda Simpson is a super smart woman with three degrees, but that doesn't seem to matter because:

Letterman's announcer guy: What?! Amanda?! Amanda used to be a dude?! OH MY GOD!!!!! *runs away*

See, because it's funny that Letterman's announcer guy became disgusted at the thought of a trans person existing. Maybe he found Ms. Simpson attractive and now can't believe how stupid he was not to have seen what should have been so obvious. Now, I know Letterman didn't say the joke. He might not even have written the joke. But this is something that should have been canned before the taping of the show. So not funny, David Letterman!

Take Action Monday

Show everyone you know this video.

Protect polar bears from global warming.

Help stop violence in school.

End water pollution from mountaintop removal mining.

Urge President Obama to make fighting HIV/AIDS a priority.

Tell Congress not to fund the troop surge in Afghanistan.

Take Action Finally

Practicum teaching, school projects, work, oh my. I've been a busy, busy bee. And I've been getting a lot of comments on the old blog, but they've been from the same Anonymous Russian, so I can't read them . . . .

Today is International Transgender Day of Remembrance. Attend an event, e-mail your representatives, write a newspaper editorial. Make sure they're not forgotten.

Stop the Stupak Amendment from entering the Senate health reform bill. And send a coat hanger to the so-called "pro-choice" Democrats who voted for the amendment in the House. Virtual coat hangers, of course. Real ones wouldn't get past security.

Block attempts by the Chamber of Commerce to block healthcare reform.

Support early childhood education.

Tell the CEO of Goldman Sachs to help the workers of Stella D'Oro (or just do it for the cookies).

Urge President Obama to make fighting HIV in women and children a priority.

More from the Anonymous Misogynist

It's been more than a year since I left my old blog and started this one. For some reason, people still comment on the old blog from time to time. Some of the comments come from assholes who always post under "Anonymous," so I'm calling this sorry excuse for a person the Anonymous Misogynist. They're probably different people, but they all come from the same breed of women-hating dirtbags. And I recently got two comments in moderation two days in a row, so this time, I think the comments did come from the same Anonymous Misogynist. They're just too stupid to realize that comments go through moderation and aren't even posted anymore (not even the nice ones), because I don't update that blog anymore in any way. One comment was from a post dated March 10, 2008 where I wrote about a gym at Harvard that has women-only hours to accommodate Muslim women and any other women that feel uncomfortable exercising in front of men. I commented on the backlash the Muslim women were receiving from political pundits and the university community. Anonymous Misogynist said,

You're just a man hating sexist and all of your arguments boil down to that.

Yes, I am a man (shock horror) and no, I don't letch at women nor do I feel I have the privilege to do so and I don't want it either. (I bet now your next conclusion is that I'm gay - wrong again).

In the UK there are entirely female only gyms and I'm forbidden to enter because of my gender. There is no other reason.

There is no way you can argue that that is not sexist. Its ridiculous that you're even trying.

Rich of the person who's commenting anonymously to a post from a year and a half ago to call me ridiculous, and rich of the person who's telling me what I believe to simultaneously deride me for supposedly making assumptions about his gender and sexuality, which I never did, and before even reading the comment. And this is after I said, "A Harvard student suggested that another gym on campus have male-only hours at the same time as the female-only hours, and that's a policy I support," and "Usually, I don't support separating the men from the women," and after a slew of other civil comments I made without insult to two people, at least one who I know is male (because he's a friend of the woman I used to blog with). But apparently, according to the paranoid and privileged "Anonymous Misogynist" ** that's all code for "I hate men!" [froths at mouth]

The next forever-to-be-unmoderated comment from Anonymous Misogynist was about a genderqueer boy named Larry King, who was murdered for flirting with another boy after that boy made fun of his gender identity. I wrote that post on March 28, 2008, and the trial starts late next month. Here's what Anonymous Misogynist said:

that faggot deserves it! and you are a piece of shit feminist.

I guess Larry King was a bigger faggot than I am a piece of shit feminist, considering Anonymous Misogynist didn't end that last statement with an exclamation point. What a fuckface, right?

I don't know if Anonymous Misogynist takes Sundays off, but I'm definitely looking forward to its next comment.

*Reminds me of a recent episode of The Simpsons that was just on, in which Marge opens a gym for women. Homer asks, "Why would women want to go to a gym if there were no men there watching them and judging them?" After seeing the long line of women waiting to enter the gym at its grand opening, Homer exclaims, "We're gonna be rich!"

**I'm totally thinking of drawing a cartoon character of that.