And one of my firmest conclusions is that we always think by seeking and drawing parallels to things we know from our past, and that we therefore communicate best when we exploit examples, analogies, and metaphors galore, when we avoid abstract generalities, when we use very down-to-earth, concrete, and simple language, and when we talk directly about our own experience.
Trans_ may work well enough as shorthand, but the quickly developing mainstream narrative it evokes (__orn in the wrong body,_ necessitating an orthopedic pilgrimage between two fixed destinations) is useless for some__ut partially, or even profoundly, useful for others? That for some, __ransitioning_ may mean leaving one gender entirely behind, while for others__ike Harry, who is happy to identify as a butch on T__t doesn__? I__ not on my way anywhere, Harry sometimes tells inquirers. How to explain, in a culture frantic for resolution, that sometimes the shit stays messy? I do not want the female gender that has been assigned to me at birth. Neither do I want the male gender that transsexual medicine can furnish and that the state will award me if I behave in the right way. I don__ want any of it. How to explain that for some, or for some at some times, this irresolution is OK__esirable, even (e.g., __ender hackers_)__hereas for others, or for others at some times, it stays a source of conflict or grief? How does one get across the fact that the best way to find out how people feel about their gender or their sexuality__r anything else, really__s to listen to what they tell you, and to try to treat them accordingly, without shellacking over their version of reality with yours?
The Argonauts
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Trans_ may work well enough as shorthand, but the quickly developing mainstream narrative it evokes (__orn in the wrong body,_ necessitating an orthopedic pilgrimage between two fixed destinations) is useless for some__ut partially, or even profoundly, useful for others? That for some, __ransitioning_ may mean leaving one gender entirely behind, while for others__ike Harry, who is happy to identify as a butch on T__t doesn__? I__ not on my way anywhere, Harry sometimes tells inquirers. How to explain, in a culture frantic for resolution, that sometimes the shit stays messy? I do not want the female gender that has been assigned to me at birth. Neither do I want the male gender that transsexual medicine can furnish and that the state will award me if I behave in the right way. I don__ want any of it. How to explain that for some, or for some at some times, this irresolution is OK__esirable, even (e.g., __ender hackers_)__hereas for others, or for others at some times, it stays a source of conflict or grief? How does one get across the fact that the best way to find out how people feel about their gender or their sexuality__r anything else, really__s to listen to what they tell you, and to try to treat them accordingly, without shellacking over their version of reality with yours?
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It's not at all hard to understand a person it's only hard to listen without bias.
Our business is communication oftentimes through the medium of stories but our capacity has a far greater scope - to entertain certainly, but also to stimulate debate, to mark up changes and differences and that way, to maybe, just now and then, to change the world.
The new contract between writers and readers is one I'm prepared to sign up to. I've met some fascinating people at events and online. Down with the isolation of writers I say! And long live Twitter.
Honest, open communication is the only street that leads us into the real world... We then begin to grow as never before. And once we are on this road, happiness cannot be far away.
Or maybe he means in a richer world the begging population is melting away. But no to that too. So maybe, perhaps, he means there aren't many 'human beings' left to look, see, and understand well enough for one to ask and one to give. Everyone busy, running, jumping, there's no time to study one another. But I guess that's bilge and hogwash, slop and sentiment.