There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this poster. DOS stamped it because it is a gender identity. I (Bonny) personally think it is a gender identity as well, and when I thought of it (yes, it is my quote, the majority of the non-picture ones are actually my quotes, as otherwise we wouldn't have had enough material to put up) I actually imagined it as something happy, uplifting and childish with a question mark at the end. However, other people do not feel this way, and we can recognize this in hindsight.What can I say? Maybe someday fag will be reclaimed in the mainstream as something celebratory, just like queer has, and this poster won't be construed as offensive anymore. Even queer hasn't really been reclaimed, as the older generation still finds it a derogatory term.
Until then, I apologize for the distress this has caused anyone.
-Bonny Guang, 12/16/09
This does not make a good poster. Imagine posters that said "Faggot?" or "Nigger?" Yes, they're all interesting words that refer to members of oppressed minority groups that the minority group is co-opting, and that makes them interesting, but putting them on a poster without any context whatsoever means much of your audience will assume you're intending to disparage or offend.
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ReplyDeleteHaha Rachel no need for sarcasm. This anon was just stating a legitimate viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteAlso I can't say I disagree with this anon. Some people get this poster, but many don't, even with the other posters as context. That's not to say it's not a good poster to put up, but you really don't see how it could be offensive? Particularly to someone not involved in a queer community?
@Anon: Don't be scared, Rachel is actually very nice.
As a trans student on the 5Cs who was not involved in this project directly, I must say that I agree with the earlier anonomys poster. Even in the context of the other posters (and this site when I actually looked at it), I found this poster offensive.
ReplyDeleteIf someone had been willing to take resposibility for the use of this, and explained their stance, I would have been a little more comfortable with it. As it is, I cringe every time I see this poster: it actually makes me feel a little bit ill.
I think that it is really important to remember that just because one person thought this was a good idea inside the trans community, doesn't mean that it isn't potentially offensive to other members of that community.
-- An FTM Trans Student
@Anon: I understand your concerns. It's something difficult to address. We want to push the boundaries, this poster was not meant to be innocuous and non-controversial, but when's too far?
ReplyDeleteIt seems more people had a problem with the fuck posters, to be honest.
@rae and David: You're goons.
@FTM Trans Student: I guess I feel so far past being called a dyke or a fag or a he-she or a chink that I forget what it's like for other people, where those words still hurt.
I wouldn't say it was a decision inside the trans community. I don't see a trans community on campus.
Let me renege/add to my statement on trans communities: That doesn't mean there isn't one, and if there is I think it would have been a good idea to be in communication with the people in them.
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