Misuse of words, or Did she really out him?

[karmyn75.livejournal.com]

As we all know, LKH has a strange way with words and misusing them in amusing ways. There's the infamous lose/loose, the new air/err, and my new favorite, the overuse and abuse of 'homophobe'.
I'm the first to admit I have no sort of gaydar at all. I mean, even after I saw a photo of a friend in a newspaper story about the university glbt club I still wasn't sure he was gay. Now he's in the middle of a sex change.
Anyway, it seems to me that LKH is misusing the word homophobe. When Richard is uncomfortable at seeing JC naked, Anita says he's homophobic. Maybe he just doesn't like seeing other men naked all the time. Nothing homophobic about that. The use of the word homophobe heavily implies that JC is totally and completely gay. Of course the readers know he and the other men are, but LKH has been denying this all along. Now she outs him.

Comments

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

Wellllll. There are a lot of semantic things here.

I agree that LKH overuses the term "homophobic." After all, I'd be uncomfortable seeing JC naked if he'd stolen/sexed up my girlfriend, after all. It's not necessarily homophobia; it's not wanting to get busy with the guy who took your former significant other and turned her into, well, kind of a hobag.

I get the sense that LKH is just trying to be "daring" and "alternative" or some other kind of nonsense (and it's really sad that denouncing homophobia would equal being "daring," but that's a rant for another day). Of course, her actual writing reveals that she's not so open-minded as she thinks.

On the other hand, you're misusing some terms yourself here. If your friend was born biologically male and is transitioning into living as female, it's proper and respectful to refer to your friend as "she."

And, you know, gender identity and sexual orientation are totally separate things, so while your friend is transgendered, that doesn't affect whether your friend likes men or women or anything in between. "Gay" and "transgendered" aren't one and the same.

"Homophobia" is often used to apply to just anyone uncomfortable with same-sex sexual tension. "Biphobia" as a term isn't used that often, and it has connotations of objecting to the fact that someone's attracted to both genders, rather than objecting to the fact that someone's attracted to the same sex. (Thus, some homosexual people are just as guilty of biphobia as some straight people are.)

[x-bluerose-x.livejournal.com]

Quite right. I know of transgendered people who identify as straight because they are attracted only to those of the same biological gender--and vise versa.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

As a trans person, I have to say that the use of pronouns in this particular context are probably fine. Some trans people might take issue, but I don't. It's basically a frame of reference to people who don't know this person in order to illustrate a point; 'I knew this guy, he had a sex change'. If the poster had gone into more detail about this person's life and then continued to use the male pronouns, then it would be offensive, but as it stands, it would have gotten confusing to refer to the friend as 'she', as I for one would have wondered whether she was MtF or FtM.

Essentially, I read it as the original poster saying 'The LGBT world is something I admit I don't know much about [illustration], but even I can see that LKH misuses the word homophobe.'

Also, gotta agree with you re Richard - I wouldn't want to see my ex's new boyfriend naked, either - all the mental comparisons, wondering what he's got that I haven't etc etc.

And 'kind of' a hobag? *cackles* I'm sure her reputation is past that now. ;)

[sevariusjr.livejournal.com]

As a trans person

omg pix plz

[windiain.livejournal.com]

For a subscription fee of $200 a month... ;)

[tartful-dodger.livejournal.com]

Well done. *high fives*

Just out of curiosity is SevariusJr a mate of yours being in-jokey and piss takey about tranny chasers or is she actually serious? *crosses fingers* Tell me she's joking, honey.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping she's a stranger being jokey...

[tartful-dodger.livejournal.com]

*clings* I'm afeared. Papa, save me, save me!

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

The OP was vague about the whole trans/gay illustration, so I was just throwing stuff out there to make sure it got said just in case. While the OP wasn't being offensive or anything, it's better to overexplain than underexplain, I think!

(Sup other person in the trans* community! My significant other is a transguy.)

[tartful-dodger.livejournal.com]

I was going to enquire there myself as I did wonder if karmyn was being appropriate herself.

Wow I had no idea there were so many other tranny-types in the AB fandom. I feel so at home. :D

[windiain.livejournal.com]

I have to wonder how many trans fans decamped to the anti-fandom, and how many are actually still True Fans. I don't know about anyone else, but Narcissus made me eyeroll huge amounts and want to throw the book against the wall. Though luckily he's so out there you can't particularly take the character seriously.

[tartful-dodger.livejournal.com]

I feel pretty ambivalent towards Narcissus. On one hand the sheer lack of research or understanding into the intersex condition is pretty headdesky, but given that's LKH all over.

On the whole I liked that a genderqueer pervert had such power (even if it was undermined later on). I like seeing predatory queers who can handle themselves, make heterosexuals squawk with fear and use it to gain respect for themselves. It's nice to see someone so effeminate be dangerous. I personally was amazed that LKH could get her blinkered mind around the concept of a strong man in a dress with a uterus. Plus he replaces Gabriel as none-submissive, none-weak masochist, which I really appreciated as a counter balance to characters like the leopards and Phillip.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Yes, agreed - given the internet is text-based, it's better to be thorough explaining. Just because I interpreted it one way doesn't mean others will. And hey, you bringing it up has opened some interesting discussion (which has been not at all flamey and offensive, which impresses me), and revealed that there are several trans fans in the comm. Which is pretty cool. :D Does your SO like LKH? Or is he saner than we are and know to avoid LKH's stuff like the plague? ;)

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

I got him to read the first couple of AB books before he lost interest. He really likes Jean-Claude, but after hearing me bitch about the turns the series have taken since then, he's not interested in investing any more time in the rest! Haha.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Depends on the trans person, really. Me, I'm female to male, so if I'm referred to as 'he', I get a giant buzz out of it. :D But I'm pre-transition, and not everyone knows (though I dress male full time), so I'm fine with female pronouns. Though I know some people who deliberately use female pronouns in order to piss me off, in which case said people need a kick in the head.

Though personally, I'm pretty laid back, so roll with the punches. Other trans people get hung up on it for various reasons. I have to say that if an MtF was dressed as a guy, she shouldn't get offended by being referred to as 'he' by the general public, because that's what she's presenting. Though again, people who do know she's MtF and use male pronouns to be offensive and annoying need a kick in the head.

I call everyone dude, too. It's unisex in my vocabulary. :D

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Yeah, asking is the best course of action - at least that way it cuts out any ambiguity. It can get pretty confusing for even trans people as to what other trans people want to be called. There are some who ID as trans but are fine with their biological pronouns, others hate their bio pronouns. I even knew one trans person who was more generqueer and insisted on people using he and she in alternate order, often in the same sentence. That one kind of went down like a lead balloon, because there are limits.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. You can see why people drew the line at that point. XD

The whole thing can boggle me, too. There's a whole thing about 3rd gender/non-gendered pronouns, too. Zie and Zir is quite popular in the trans world. It's okay if people can stick to it, but can get really confusing for people who have no clue about it. Not so bad when the person is laid back like me and doesn't mind outsiders using gendered pronouns, but gets really annoying when people get screechy about how they must use Zie and Zir and society must conform to their non-gendered way of life.

[windiain.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I'm sympathetic to the cause, but realistically it's not going to happen. Society would have to re-educate itself, and I'm just not sure that's possible at the moment, if at all. Hell, a lot of people haven't even heard of transsexualism, let alone third genders. We're talking about a society that thinks men in drag is shocking, much less men who want a sex change. Not to mention the fact that there are people out there who can't even spell gendered pronouns properly. Throw in a third set, their brains would break.

Sometimes I think it would be better to be an amoeba.

I like the idea of being a ball of electricity or something. I could still surf the net then. :D

[rinkori.livejournal.com]

There's always the singular "they," which is my default pronoun for people whose gender I don't know or who identify as genderless.

Yeah, the etiquette is a little complicated, isn't it? Haha.

Really it's not so much whether you slip up and use the wrong pronoun as whether you correct yourself afterward. My partner is much more likely to forgive a wayward "she" if it's immediately corrected than if the pronoun-slipper-upper just blithely continues on.

[slayra.livejournal.com]

"Homophobia" is often used to apply to just anyone uncomfortable with same-sex sexual tension.

Strangely enough that would make Anita Blake a homophobe. After all, she is unconfortable with the notion that Asher and Jean-Claude are "doing it" behind her back. From what I read it's not only a question of jealousy, but it gives the idea that the fact that Asher is male also plays a big part in Anita 'not liking the idea'. Of course, I always thought AB read like a homophobe. A veiled one, but one nonetheless.

As for Richard, we all know about his 'experience' with Gabriel. Since he is (for the moment) a straight character who was sort of abused in a way (at least that's what I gathered) by another man, I don't see why he shouldn't feel unconfortable in the presence of other naked men. The fact that Anita, the homophobe is classifying Richard as one, is actually hilarious.

[frabjously.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten that thing with Gabriel. Good point. If Richard is anything close to homophobic (which he really isn't) then he has a psychological reason to be.