SILENCE! We have a winner

[anansie-s.livejournal.com]

It's Miss Mango \o/

"SILENCE!"



Congratulations, Tyra!



(gifs from here.)

What did everyone think?

*--*

Project Rungay/TLo's recap of the finale and reunion.

Entertainment Weekly's recap and Q & A with the winner.

Epic interviews / Behind the scenes from the taping of the Reunion special, with amazing pics, here:

*My Own Private Untucked: Behind The Scenes At The RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2 Reunion

*Exclusive: RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Winner Interviewed: Long Live The New Queen!

*RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2, The Runner-Up Exit Interview: Maybe Gone, But Never Forgotten!


*Pics by Rich Juzwiak

Comments

[anansie-s.livejournal.com]

It's so cool to hear that the show made you come to those realisations :)

I think that's where a lot of transphobia in the gay community comes from; this idea of "Well yes I'm different, but I'm not *that* different!"

True enough. I think that the same does apply to queer women (*raises hand*), generally -- there's at once the sense of a need to battle the stereotypes about how lesbians aren't feminine enough, and the embracing of difference, the celebration of andogyny/butchness etc.

That said, I feel like from what I've seen, it seems like it's *slightly* harder for transwomen to find acceptance within lesbian communities, than for transmen to find the same. I'm not sure why that is exactly, but it's not just about ignorance and suspicion that the person is a gender 'impostor' -- it's probably related to the devaluation of femininity in general. (I'm sure that there are regional variances and it really depends on fashion/trends etc -- this is just based on what I've seen.)

Julia Serano (http://www.juliaserano.com/whippinggirl.html), who's a transsexual writer, talks about this issue in 'Whipping Girl' -- specifically the demeaning of femininity not just in mainstream culture but within the gay and lesbian communities. IMO she's not saying that transwomen have it harder than transmen, but that they're seen as 'weaker' or more frivolous.

From the intro to that book (in the link):

"Examining the societal-wide disdain for trans women also brings to light an important yet often overlooked aspect of traditional sexism: that it targets people not only for their femaleness, but also for their expressions of femininity. Today, while it is generally considered to be offensive or prejudice to openly discriminate against someone for being female, discriminating against someone’s femininity is still considered to be fair game. The idea that masculinity is strong, tough, and natural while femininity is weak, vulnerable, and artificial continues to proliferate even among people who believe that women and men are equals. And in a world where femininity is so regularly dismissed, perhaps no form of gendered expression is considered to be more artificial and more suspect than male and transgender expressions of femininity.

I have called this book Whipping Girl to highlight the ways in which people who are feminine, whether they be female, male, and/or transgender, are almost universally demeaned with respect to their masculine counterparts. This scapegoating of those who express femininity can be seen not only in the male-centered mainstream, but in the queer community, where “effeminate” gay men have been accused of “holding back” the gay rights movement, and where femme dykes have been accused of being the “Uncle Toms” of the lesbian movement."