Kryptonian in Platforms

Life is hard enough 

when you belong Here.

— Morrissey,

Benghali in Platforms

Lil' Tic, set it off. DJ, 45 seconds. 

Spin that shit. 

I'ma murder this man! 

He's the type to lose a fight with a dyke 

They don't laugh 'cause you wack 

It's 'cause you white with a mic 

You're a laughingstock 

When will this laughter stop? 

When you and Everlast bitch-ass get popped 

You a wigga that invented rhyme for money 

Watch Lil' Tic spit kick The Energizer Bunny —

Rip the Rabbit head off 

Toss it to Hugh Hefner 

'Cause I don't play, boy 

Tell me who's fresher 

LT, that's right 

Cock the heat and shoot ya 

I'll punish Rabbit or obsolete Future 

My paws love to maul an MC 

'Cause he's faker than a psychic with caller ID 

So that bullshit, 

save it for storage 

'Cause this is hip-hop 

You don't belong, 

you're a tourist —

Put your hockey sticks 

and baseball bat away 

This here's Detroit 

16 Mile Road is thataway —

Whoa, whoa, okay, 

45 seconds, very nice. 

You did a good job, Lil' Bitch. 

I mean, Lil' Tic. My bad. 

All right, next up is my boy 

Bunny Rabbit. 

Hey, talk that shit if you want, 

but I vouch for this motherfucker. 

He's a motherfuckin' genius. 

Hit that shit. 

Forty-five seconds. DJ, kick it. 

Hey, yo —

“By the time they were writing, Laclau and Mouffe were aware of the demoralization that had struck much of the left. The legacy of Budapest, Prague, Vietnam and Cambodia (just a few of their own examples) had left many socialists reeling. But in this ‘whole series of positive new phenomena’ a new energy could be harnessed. Although for Laclau and Mouffe it obviously first needed an urgent ‘theoretical reconsideration’:

“The rise of the new feminism, the protest movements of ethnic, national and sexual minorities, the anti-institutional ecology struggles waged by marginalized layers of the population, the anti-nuclear movement, the atypical forms of social struggle in countries on the capitalist periphery — all these imply an extension of social conflictuality to a wide range of areas, which creates the potential, but no more than the potential, for an advance towards more free, democratic and egalitarian societies.”

The Point is that these new groups of people could be useful.

Of course those who took the advice and attempted to bring all these groups together found a number of problems in all of this. Aside from the assumed racism of the working class, the practitioners of 1980s and 1990s deconstruction provided new tensions of their own. For example, after critical race theory and gender studies had done their work, was it not hard to explain why some things that seemed fixed (especially sex and race) were in fact social constructs whereas other things that may have seemed more fluid (not least sexuality) had become viewed as completely fixed?

If these questions did detain anybody, they did not detain them for long. One of the traits of Marxist thinkers has always been that they do not stumble or self-question in the face of contradiction, as anybody aiming at Truth might. Marxists have always rushed towards contradiction.

The Hegelian dialectic only advances by means of contradiction and therefore all the complexities – one might say absurdities – met along the way are welcomed and almost embraced as though they were helpful, rather than troubling, to the cause. 

Anybody hoping that intersectionality would dissolve amid its own inherent contradictions cannot have seen the myriad of contradictions a Marxist can hold in their head at any one time.

Their ideological children in identity politics and intersectionality seem content to inhabit an ideological space littered with contradiction, absurdity and hypocrisy. 

For example, one of the foundational notions of women’s studies and feminist studies was that victims of sexual abuse should be believed. 

Discussion of rape, abuse, domestic violence and inappropriately wielded power relations lay at the basis of all women’s and feminist studies. 

Yet when a student of Avital Ronell of New York University filed a Title IX complaint against her in 2017, accusing her of sexual harassment, the alleged harasser found Ronell’s academic colleagues coming out in support for her. 

Along with Slavoj Žižek and others, Judith Butler was among the signatories to a letter condemning the investigation of Ronell, testifying to her own character (‘the grace, the keen wit’) and attempting the equivalent of a drive-by shooting against the reputation of her male accuser. 

Specifically they demanded that Ronell ‘be accorded the dignity rightly deserved by someone of her international standing and reputation’.

All of which suggested that allegations of abuse are indeed always to be taken seriously, unless the victim is a man or the accused is a professor of feminist literary theory. In all matters, such contradictions merely have to be got over.

By contrast, anybody who got in the way of this direction of travel found themselves mown down with astonishing vigour. The weapons to hand (accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia and finally transphobia) were all too easy to wield and there was no price to pay for wielding them unfairly, unjustifiably or indeed frivolously. Critics of the emerging orthodoxy, including scientists, were accused of being propelled by the most base motives. 

As Steven Pinker wrote in 2002, ‘Many writers are so desperate to discredit any suggestion of an innate human constitution that they have thrown logic and civility out the window . . . The analysis of ideas is commonly replaced by political smears and personal attacks . . . The denial of human nature has spread beyond the academy and has led to a disconnect between intellectual life and common sense.’

Of course it had. For the purpose of large sections of academia had ceased to be the exploration, discovery or dissemination of Truth. The purpose had instead become the creation, nurture and propagandization of a particular, and peculiar, brand of politics. The purpose was not academia, but activism.”

“Passing privilege” is the concept that transgender people face less prejudice when they are perceived as cisgender, including less risk of harassment and violence and *better employment opportunities.*

For those in the transgender community the ability to pass is held as the standard of sorts for which to ascribe to. 

However in terms of the privilege associated with passing there is a general lack of research about the impact that successfully passing has on a multitude of aspects of an individual’s societal experience.

However it can be noted in a few studies that successfully passing can impact ones likelihood to experience homelessness as well as ones experience with homeless shelters themselves. 

Passing privilege in these cases can present as the following experiences or lack thereof as pertaining to homelessness. 

11.4% of surveyed individuals stated that they had experienced homelessness directly related to their gender identity, with a bigger percentage of 16.3% indicating they needed to seek new or short term living arrangements due to their identity. As for those dealing with direct homelessness those who lacked the ability to pass were more likely to experience a variety of difficulties including harassment from staff and other visitors, difficulties being accepted to and staying in the shelters themselves, and due to these factors being less likely to seek assistance from shelters.

Risks of NOT passing

The risks of not fully passing for the gender one is attempting to pass for can vary depending on the circumstances. 

There is a significant difference between drag queens or those who dress for performances, and transgender people or those who vary from the gender binary. 

For those who attempt to pass as a means of a differently gendered lifestyle the risks assumed can be greater. Being outed by ones physical attributes as a transgender or gender non-conforming individual can negatively impact one’s cultural experience, resulting in neglect, abuse, or disownment by one’s community.

According to data from the U.S 2015 Transgender survey, 88% of those interviewed were denied “equal treatments and services” as a result of their trans identity.

Transgender people face high rates of discrimination and harassment, particularly among trans women of color.

Transgender people face high rates of harassment and violence both sexual and physical, sexual objectification and social stigma.

The experience of transphobia can also lead to negative impacts on mental health, as noted by Lombardi, Melendez & Pinto, Nuttbrock in the article “Experiences of transphobia have consistently been found to be associated with depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem”.