I am a woman because I say so

I think Eddie Izzard is mostly being flippant with the 'male lesbian' line. He also says he's 'whole boy, half girl'. I've never seen him claim to be a woman or female - even his 'lesbian' is qualified.

I suspect he just is and is fed the hell up of having still to fit in other people's labelled boxes.

Boy genetics and girl genetics? FFS Eddie! How very disappointing from him

I know. I was really disappointed when he changed from being transvestite/gender non conforming to identifying as transgender. I never saw him as anything but male and certainly no less masculine when he wore a skirt. Well there's my crush down the pan

It's so disappointing. Eddie Izzard is so smart, and I've had a crush on him forever.

Bah.

I'm just so angry about this! I thought that Izzard got it, that he at least was for gender non-conforming males being okay, and not encroaching on anyones elses space just because of how you like to dress up. Except seems he is just like all the rest of these entitled males. Women, under the bus you go, lesbians too!.......

'male lesbian'? I mean, if someone tried to describe themselves as a 'white black person', most people (well, Rachel Dolezal excluded), could see straight away how that might be a bit problematic to those suffering from racism. But those suffering from sexism and homophobia? No problem at all, because their issues are insignificant compared to those of a TV celebrity who is a straight bloke who likes to wear nail polish because of some 'forced femininity' fetish he picked up as a kid....................................

"Calling himself a "male lesbian" is so insulting, patronising and belittling to lesbians."

I was cool with Izzard before because he didn't encroach on anyones elses space, and claim anything about womanhood. He was just a bloke who liked to wear clothing of a sort usually associated with those of a different sex.

But this 'male lesbian' nonsense -- he can fuck right off, just another entitled male who getting even more brownie points by jumping on the trans bandwagon.

That's because he was encroaching on male territory, Rufus. Men don't get out of the way for trans people- it is only women who are expected to surrender their rights.

Just posted on the other thread

Trans man banned from male changing rooms in the Mail

I am a man because i say so isnt working very well for him is it

Calling himself a "male lesbian" is so insulting, patronising and belittling to lesbians.

www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/eddie-izzard-gives-inspiring-speech-on-being-transgender-as-he-takes-a-break-from-marathon-to-get-a3204136.html

I suppose his saying he has been transgender for 31 years could be interpreted as his saying " I am crossing gender conventions" but “I've got boy genetics and girl genetics".... Really?

From his wiki page He said that he knew he was a transgender person at the age of four, after watching another boy being forced to wear a dress by his sisters

and

He identifies as "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian". He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body", transgender, and "a complete boy plus half girl"

But Eddie Izzard has never claimed to be a woman either, has he?

Eddie izzard, has jumped on the transgender bandwagon now though.

He no longer says he's a TV.

I think it's a perfectly understandable view point. Think of it as a Venn diagram.

"Men don't wear dresses"
"Women wear dresses"

No overlap in your Venn diagram

"I , a man, want to wear a dress"
"But men don't wear dresses so I must be a woman"

The concept of men wearing dresses is not one society is comfortable. It's not particularly met enthusiasm even on MN except in relation to small boys wearing princess dresses. It's not even met with particular enthusiasm on FWR. I've seen highly critical posts in the past about transvestite men.

Buffy, yes I see your point - so just taking it on a simplistic level of the socially accepted clothes for male/female - women wanting to wear the same as men didn't feel they had to say they were men because it was seen as something to aspire to anyway.

But men wanting to dress in a traditionally feminine way can't say it's something they aspire to, as to be feminine is/was viewed as weaker, so they have to say they are women because their egos can't deal with wanting something that's typically viewed as inferior

Flora, thanks, I realised afterwards that was probably it. Great post btw.

Buffy - I take the point about "men wanting to adopt the markers of the inferior gender" being harder to understand.

But.

If it's rooted in men feeling that they are superior to women, how is a man actually wanting to be a woman to the extent of demanding to be legally called a woman, more understandable than a man wanting to be a man who wears a dress?

reply was to blinky on page one claiming someone is what they identify as

Bit late to debate ...

Paris Lees is a real women because Paris has said so

oh male entitlement telling us women loud and clear we are wrong

No it is not

It's is only presenting yourself as a women or man and feeling

I will never have the biological body of a man no matter how many hormones I take or operations I have I will never produce sperm

And I will never pass as a man and be treated by society as a man

Yes. If men want to wear dresses, why shouldn't they? But they don't need to call themselves women to do so

Yes, when women first started wearing trousers it was seen as shocking, unacceptable and was challenged by society wasn't it?

And women carried on, and people got over it - but those women never said they were wanting to be men because they wanted to wear trousers. They just challenged the accepted fashions of the day because it was more practical to wear that item of clothing!

Why can't men do that for themselves but still be men, women did it the other way round

Great post, Silver - agree with every word.

We need to say again and again, 'go and change your own male sex's norms not the biological definition of women

Yes. If men want to wear dresses, why shouldn't they? But they don't need to call themselves women to do so.