Here's a link to another sort of transgender writer: Why James Chartrand Wears Women’s Underpants - by James Chartrand.
Hugs,
Erin
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Sigh
As the article says, just how far have we actually moved in the past 100 years, when writing with a male pseudonym can result in significantly more work and earnings than a female (true) name? Yup, the Glass Ceiling still exists - particularly in business, politics and sport - and doesn't show any signs of going away soon :(
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
An interesting disclosure
Even though it says something uncomfortable about our society.
As I don't really have much of a feel for what goes on inside a 'proper' man's head, I can't really comprehend why one would treat a writer/blogger/etc differently just because the name on the byline is gender-specific. It obviously implies things to the reader which I can't see.
Perhaps there is a bias which says that: it's a woman, she's writing, therefore she's a feminist, so there's going to be bug-eyed ranting, there's going to be some kind of twitchy man-hating subtext and I can't be bothered by all that. Or, she's a woman, she's going to be all touchy-feely and discuss all kinds of icky emotions when I just want to cut to the chase... whatever, I just don't get it. Or, she's a woman, how can she possibly understand [insert technology here].
There is, of course a certain irony that a proportion of the contributors to BCTS use female names when they are functional males, but for us the reasons are different, and for us it seems to make no difference at all in the way we are received. Well, mostly, anyway.
Penny
Things May Change
On some levels, they're already changing. The need for low-skilled, muscular labor in the U.S. is at an all-time nadir. More than one household is now being supported by a white-collar woman holding down an office job, while her husband is stuck trying to find anything better than a minimum-wage job and having to compete with younger workers for it. It's a bit of a reversal, really.
In some environments, women white-collar managers actually perform better than male ones, especially when it comes to supervising a diverse workforce, including facilitating conflict resolution, and are becoming sought after by corporate employers for that.
The bias in things like authoring comes in part from publishers who think they're catering to a male consumer. If and when the earning power of men and women equalize, I think that bias will also diminish.
Not Sure Whether It Says...
...anything about this subject. But as I read a news or feature story, if the author slows down to physically describe the person being written about or what he or she is wearing at the time, I almost always find myself looking back up at the byline to see whether it's male or female. I'm not quite sure whether I actually draw different conclusions depending on the answer. But my first inclination is that I want to know.
Eric
Interesting article.
That was an interesting read... I totally empathise with her a lot... It's bloody tough.
However, I don't quite get how this is transgender? Imean... sure, male pen name... its been done by thousands of female writers for years, I think the transgender title gets thrown around a bit too easily at the moment... the more we dilute it, the less it means and the easier it is for people to tear us apart. Associating females using a male name to make it in a male world with say... transsexual people simply cheapens us to a point where someone can say 'so why did you transition ? More money? the clothes? to screw men? well you must have had a reason... Yeah its unfair, but they have no gender dysphoria... they are not transgender. end of story in my book.
Alyssa
PS: for the record, my name is a nom de plume also. Though for anonymity more than anything else... I'd rather not have people I know in real life, or say, a future employer discover my... ah, past... I'm in college, living life to the full, and I enjoy writing, trans or not, and I'd rather I can enjoy that uninhibited than having to watch my step... the world is far too small these days....
Miss nameless ;)
Imagine the situation were reversed
Say it was a guy using a female penname for acceptance in writing romances or an agony column. Now it sounds like the beginning of a BigCloset story, one of several in fact. :)
Transsexual has a narrow meaning; someone who has or wishes to transition could be one definition, perhaps a little too narrow.
Transgender has a broad one. It is useful to have a broad meaning for the word and trying to narrow it down is less useful, in my opinion. There must be a word that includes the meaning "characterized by being of the opposite gender to the traditional, obvious, or expected." Most people use transgender to mean that. Crossgender would be the only alternative, I suppose, and that is not yet a single word in the way transgender is.
I tend to take the widest view possible of what is transgender. As they say, your mileage may vary.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I wonder if ...
... the writer's experience is really down to gender. He/she doesn't actually mention what sort of writing is paying the bills and I'm sure that's relevant. If James Chartrand is writing (say) technical articles on mechanical engineering I'll acknowledge there may be a bias towards males even if it's unjustified. OTOH if 'he's' writing on (say) midwifery then a female name would be an advantage equally unjustified, perhaps.
I haven't done a careful survey but I would say the regular columnists in my daily paper (the Guardian) are roughly evenly distributed between men and women. I'm quite sure my enjoyment of their contributions is gender blind. Certainly some of the humorous ones tend sometimes to have 'battle of the sexes' story lines which makes the gender of the writer quite obvious but doesn't make any of them less or more funny. I enjoy them all. The more politically angled columns seem to be mostly gender blind; those that aren't tend to be commenting on the position of women in society.
Robi
bias
Well journalism is a different field to compare... there are niches within it, and still divides, but largely its accompanied by a vocational degree... you can do it or you cant. Other types of writing and less 'formal' qualifications end up this way... mercinery freelance writers. And yes, men do get it easier. My mother is an educational author, and her former partner in business got a damn sight less corrections on his work than her, and hers was accepted between the two as better... Sadly, it is pretty sexist... a lot of the world is :(
As for transgender... Transgender generally means the person does not feel comfortable with thier birth gender... for whatever reason... cd, ts, tv... the usuals... this woman is happy as a female... its simply a 'disguise'... How many artists put on stage names for carears? Names sell reputations without even speaking sadly.