Trans Visiblity: Rallying, allying and minding your own business

NB – I am open to suggestions and making edits to this piece if anyone feels the language used is inappropriate or inaccurate. Please drop me a message and let me know. 

Here is an extract from a recent conversation I had:

“But the first Matrix is definitely the best Wachowski Brothers’ film”

“They’re actually not called the Wachowski Brothers anymore, as one of them has since transitioned”

“Ah okay, didn’t know that! Good pub quiz knowledge!”

And then the conversation moved on. Transgender people are arguably more visible now than ever before, and words and phrases such as “transition”, “non-binary”, “female-to-male” and “gender identity” are far more commonplace in general vocabulary and seem to not need the level of explanation that they once did. That isn’t to say that it’s fully entrenched in common knowledge, and many people still don’t know the difference between terms such as “transgender”, “transvestite” and “hermaphrodite” (and think “cis” is some kind of infection), (the BBC published a helpful glossary this week). Awareness is rising, and that’s never been more true than this week, with Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover, quickly becoming the most visible trans person in the world.

Transvisibility has certainly increased in the last couple of years. Openly trans actress and activist Laverne Cox rose to prominence in Orange is the New Black, later gracing the cover of Time magazine and posing nude for Allure. Trans models such as Lea T and Andeja Pejic have been very visible in fashion and beauty campaigns. Popular television shows such as Transparent and Louis Theroux’s “Transgender Kids” have been educational to audiences. Journalist and presenter Paris Lees, once voted top of the “pink list” of influential UK LGBT people, has brought a lot of attention to trans issues. Trans men continue to be less visible, although statistics suggest that they are similar in number.

Prior to this week I was only vaguely aware of Ms Jenner (I’ve never watched her reality shows) but lately my social media has been awash with images of her, celebrating her bravery, openness and the inspiration she gives. But you only need to read the comments posted on this article (or indeed from some celebrities) to see how far we have to go in terms to increasing awareness, acceptance and equality for the transgender and minority gender identity community.

Trans people experience significant discrimination and abuse. Many trans people, particularly women of colour, are murdered each year. They are rejected by their families, bullyied and the list of those who turn to suicide increases. The stories of Leelah Alcorn and Lucy Meadows are two recent tragic examples that have been publicised. Trans rights were largely ignored in the equal marriage debates, and the issue of “spousal veto” remains – in which a married person applying for a gender recognition certificate must have the approval of their spouse. The UK’s most prominent gay rights charity Stonewall has only recently begun to represent trans people, after lengthy lobbying. Transphobia is pervasive and often slips under the radar, as though seem as a fair topic for fun rather than an undercurrent of prejudice that impacts on the lives of trans people continually. Trans people are often the subject of jokes in the media and derogatory terms such as “tr*nny” are used without thought. If you look out for it you might be surprised the level of offensive language commonly used that refers negatively to trans communities, often slipping in subtly. Trans people are overrepresented in mental health populations, and with a lifetime of discrimination and high incidences of trauma it’s little wonder why. In order to access gender identity services people must jump through considerable hoops that include extensive psychiatric evaluation. The past hashtag #transdocfail exhibited just how uninformed health professionals are about trans issues. Any one of these instances is shocking, but together it’s a pretty horrifying picture of how we treat human beings we see as “different”.

On politics: idealism and inaction

A little prose and musings…will probably add to this in time

As a child I was very idealistic. It sound pretentious but I generally had a sense of a “calling”. I imagine myself holding hands with activists in the desert (where wars happen, obviously) to stand in the way of battling troops, or feeding water to a poor malnourished child in the slums. Princess Diana was my role model and I felt sure I was going to go out and do Good Things. Growing up Jewish I think you assimilate your own sense of atrocity. We were taught stories of slavery and learnt the turbulent history of the state of Israel. Everyone knew someone who had been in the death camps.  We learnt and practiced “Tzedakah” (charity) and were taught that the greatest thing we could do for another was to help them to reach independence and self-sufficiency.

Intention achieved: frightening children

My first awareness of current politics as a child in the 90s. I remember the anticipation and excitement around “New Labour”. There was a feeling of change. My mother told me that the Tories supported people who had money, and this was a party who represented people like us.  I remember seeing the crowds on the news cheering after the 1997 Labour victory.

But it wasn’t entirely the promise we’d hoped for. I remember watching the news show the troops going into Afghanistan in 2001 and I actually cried. I thought this was the stuff of history books, not something that actually involved my modern country. An idealistic child grew into an idealistic teenager. My simplistic views were left-leaning: everyone should get along and be treated equally, war is bad and we should look after the planet. I felt strongly about the environment and became a vegetarian (I missed chicken burgers, but felt it was the Right Thing). At school I joined Amnesty and spent lunch breaks hearing stories of torture that left me feeling awful inside. I became drawn to mental health and set my sights on becoming a psychologist, and became involved in politics through the school.

Vince Cable, effective politician, once came round and had a chat with my mum, general all-round nice guy

Our local MP was the Liberal Democrat Vince Cable and remember him as a very visible member of the community. He visited my school and came round door-knocking and chatted with my mother. He was very well loved locally and gave off a sense of really caring about the local people.  The issues I felt strongly about (increasing access and reducing stigma in mental health, supporting the NHS, sex and relationships education, reducing involvement in foreign conflict, LGBT rights and gender equality, and evidence-based drugs policy) felt more closely aligned with Lib Dem politics than any other party. At university I became a party member and I was later involved in some local campaigning.

Then came the 2010 election. The party I voted for went into power! I was thrilled, my vote was actually represented. Then things began to sour. Prior to the election I hadn’t been aware of how unrealistic the Lib Dem tuition fee promise had been, and the backlash from the people was immense. People protested and were largely ignored. When it came to the Alternative Vote referendum the public seemed to vote to punish, destroying our highly anticipated opportunity to have a fairer voting system. Then the cuts began. At this point I had begun working in the NHS. I had no experience of working in healthcare pre-austerity, but older staff had plenty of stories of how it used to be. Over 6 years of work in mental and physical health, across the NHS and charity sector I never worked in a team that wasn’t being “restructured”. We were fined for not reaching unrealistic targets that did not represent the work we did (as though with less money we would be more productive). Our criteria for accepting referrals grew increasingly stringent, as we turned away people whose suffering  didn’t quite meet threshold. I let my Lib Dem membership lapse and kept my head down when people discussed Nick Clegg and his treacherous party.

Eating Disorder Awareness Week – Can you spot a sufferer?

Yesterday began the UK’s Eating Disorder Awarreness Week, flagged up by charity B-eat. the year is littered with various ‘awareness’ and appreciation days, weeks and months, making them all too easy to meet. Why should we pay attention to this one? Do eating disorders really need more awareness? Arguably they’re one of the most sensationalised mental health problems, providing women’s weeklies and gossip rags an endless supply of material, along with photographs of emaciated beings. There’s an argument that this publicity does more harm than good, teaching young people that throwing up and skipping meals is a viable way of losing weight. When you think of eating disorders, what kind of image comes to mind? Nicole Richie? Mary-Kate Olsen? Red-carpet shots of protruding ribs or an image of a supermodel nibbling on a lettuce leaf?

For the majority, this is not the true face of eating disorders, and this is what needs greater awareness. An eating disorder may exist in a stereotypical teenage girl who aspires to look like a model and goes on a starvation diet, but they could also be a middle-aged single mother, binging after her children are asleep and then overdosing on diet drugs and laxatives. Body-image campaigners Body Gossip have spoken about this far better than I could, so I’ll leave you with a few links to some fantatastic websites and a few stats.

• The stereotype of eating disorders is a teenager/young woman, white, heterosexual, middle-class, wanting to lose weight. But eating disorders occur in men and women of all ages and backgrounds. Suffers may have no obvious outward signs of their disorder and may be very successful in other areas of their lives, so the problem goes unnoticed. Not all sufferers want to lose weight, be thinner or be more attractive, the disorder can begin for many different reasons. Some sufferers may actively want to make themselves less attractive. 

• The majority of individuals with eating disorders will be of ‘normal’ weight, or overweight. Many cases of obesity are due to a binge-eating disorder. Services for individuals who are not at a ‘dangerous’ weight can be very limited, adding to the stigma that one must be underweight to have an eating disorder and be ‘worthy’ of help. Ilona Burton’s fantastic article ‘But you don’t LOOK anorexic’ is well-worth reading.

• Anorexia is probably the best-known eating disorder, but only accounts for about 10% of cases. 40% have bulimia and the remaining 50% are often categorised as ‘Eating disorder not-otherwise specified’. These are disorders that do not meet the AN or BN criteria and may include: all symptoms of anorexia but being a ‘normal’ weight, binging and purging less often, abuse of diet-drugs, eating non-food items, purging without binging, binging without compensatory behaviour, eating a very selective diet such as avoidance or fear of a particular food/group, difficulties relating to swallowing.

• All eating disorders, regardless of the individual’s weight, are dangerous. Binging, purging, over-exercising, use of laxatives and diet-drugs can have very serious physical effects including electrolyte imbalance, risk of diabetes, fainting, osteoporosis, obesity, tooth damage amongst others. Sufferers of eating disorders are also at high risk of suicide, self-harm and problematic drug and alcohol use.

• Eating disorders have been seen in children of 6 and adults above pension age. Often these conditions are misdiagnosed or not picked up. Although age of onset is often between 15 and 30, many sufferers may take the disorder with them through their lives.

• An estimated 10-15% of eating disorder suffers are male, though the real figure may be greater as many do not come forward for treatment due to the stigma attached. Check out the wonderful MGET for more details.

• There is often overlap with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, where individuals have a distorted view of their body and may go to frantic and obsessive lengths to change or conceal it. Recently more attention is being given to Muscle Dysmorphia, a condition where individuals believe they are weak and ‘puny’ and may abuse steroids and over-exercise in attempts to build up muscle. This condition is seen more frequently in men than women.

• Eating disorders can be beaten! It often takes a lot of time, support, patience and determination from both the sufferer and the people around them. There will be set-backs and relapses, but recovery is very much possible and worth it.

More facts and figures at B-eat. 

So there’s my bit! Don’t forget, the Re-Capture exhibition (which features one of my photos) launched today in Edinburgh and will be on at Scottish Parliament on the 27th February – 2nd March, in the Garden Lobby. More on the project here. You can also see my article on body image distortions and obsessions in our culture here.