Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2015 4:18:25 GMT 8
Hi, Everybody!
How are you? I’m OK myself, feeling fine and dandy. In a bit of a silly mood right now, but I don’t think it’s against the law. It may be against the rules of this forum. If so, I’ve no doubt that our esteemed moderator will let me know PDQ.
Anyway, this article
www.the42.ie/readme/irish-by-heart-2277271-Aug2015/?r_dir_d=1
caught my attention. It’s personally relevant to me. Here we have a man ultimately of Nigerian origin complaining because people don’t really see him as Irish. Now, brother, first of all, I’m not going to deny that there’s racism in this country. But the fact that people are questioning your Irishness isn’t in itself racist.
I have the same problem. I’m lily-white and red-headed, so that when I walk down the street, nobody but nobody would question my Irishness—until I open my mouth and then it’s immediately, “What part of the States are you from?” or “Are you here on holidays?” The answer to the first question is, “I grew up in Texas,” and to the second, “No, I’ve been here 30 years.”
There are lots of transplants in Ireland, even in my little town. When I hear an English accent, I always ask, “What part of England are you from?” And nobody’s ever minded telling me. But Irish reaction to an English accent is very different from their reaction to an American accent. The reason is that there are far more Brits than Yanks more or less permanently living in the country. Most Americans here are tourists, which is why when I meet someone new, they tend to assume that I’m a tourist—and yes, I do get weary of having to explain that I’m permanent here.
So what is my nationality? Legally, I’m both American and Irish. But how do I identify? It depends on my moods. I don’t think I ever identify outright as Irish. I always feel the difference between myself and those who were born and bred here. I’d say some of the time I identify as American with a heavy veneer of Irish. A lot of the time I feel stateless, neither one nor the other. I think my speech mirrors my nationality. I still have a readily identifiable American accent, but it’s certainly not the accent I used to have. When I visit Texas, I feel very out of place, especially when I use one of the many Irish expressions that have crept into my way of talking.
What all this brings me to is this passage from the man’s article:
Identities are subject to change – the law facilitates this. By law, one who was once a man may be recognised as female – or vice-versa – if he or she identifies as such. Likewise, he who is Chinese or Nigerian may identify himself as Irish, if he so wishes, especially if the law proclaims this. Identity is a subjective phenomenon, a small group of xenophobes and anti-liberals should not claim to be the hero of Irish identity and sovereignty, using freedom of expression as their sword.
I would like to know where their definition of identity comes from; it is not rooted in literature, statistics, nor is it even socially grounded. They opined that “blood, sacrifice and beauty” are the determining factors of ‘Irishness’. This is a narrow definition which excludes every other Irish person that identifies as Irish, most likely through naturalisation or long-term residency. But what differentiates an Irish person ‘by blood’ from an Irish person by heart?
Now the man claims that “identity is a subjective phenomenon”. It’s interesting to me that he’s equating national identity with gender identity. Interesting because there are people who deny that, whereas in that recent hoop-la with what’s-her-name who was denying her whiteness and claiming blackness, trans-haters jumped on that point to deny the reality of trangenderism. For me, as a transperson, the central point of the article is this:
Identities are subject to change – the law facilitates this. By law, one who was once a man may be recognised as female – or vice-versa – if he or she identifies as such. Likewise, he who is Chinese or Nigerian may identify himself as Irish, if he so wishes, especially if the law proclaims this.
At this point let me make it plain that from here on out I’m speaking strictly for myself. I’m talking about how I feel on the issue. Some of you may perceive things differently, and that’s one of the reasons I’m posting this: to see how the rest of you feel, whether you go along with me or not.
For me, this man is simply mistaken. He’s one more cisgender person who thinks he understands transgenderism but doesn’t. The Gender Recognition legislation recently passed in Ireland will permit me to legally declare myself female. But that doesn’t mean that I used to be a man and now I’m a woman because that’s the way I perceive myself and the law says that I can be what I perceive myself to be. I was never a man. I was always me. I was never “normal”. I’ve always been what I am. Society, the state, foisted a definition off on me, but that doesn’t mean that that’s what I was. By declaring myself “female”, I’m not changing from one thing to the other. I’m simply stating more accurately what I am.
What am I? People this is how I look at things because I find it the best way of expressing what I am: I use the “Navajo definition” of people. The Navajos were traditionally trans-friendly. In their view of things, ultimately we all come from the spirit world, which means we’re fundamentally spirit, not flesh. So that if you’re a female spirit, you’re female, regardless of what your body is like. If you’re a male spirit, you’re male, regardless of what your body is like. And this opens up a way for non-binary people to define themselves more accurately because they, too, are primarily spirit, not flesh.
This means that if a cisgender person were to ask me, “Are you a woman?”, I’d side-step the problem. A cisperson doesn’t understand our use of the word “woman”. He only understands gender as something physical. So to avoid confusion or a heated argument, I’d simply say, “I’m a female spirit.” And if he wants to ask, “What the f*** does that mean?”, I’ll simply say, “Well, just watch me, and then you’ll know.”
But my identity as a female spirit is not subjective. It’s fact. I’m not a female spirit because I think I’m a female spirit or because I identify as a female spirit. I’m a female spirit because I am a female spirit. A cisguy isn’t a cisguy because he thinks he’s a cisguy. He’s a cisguy because he is a cisguy. It isn’t subjective. It’s hard immutable fact.
I may identify as American or I may identify as Irish. That’s subjective. What’s not subjective is what I really am. I grew up in the States, as red, white and blue as anybody else. Having spent 30 years in Ireland, I’m now very different. I do feel a certain divide now between myself and other Americans, just as I feel a certain divide between myself and other Irish people. What I am is one thing. How I perceive myself might be something else. Irish law declares me Irish. But that doesn’t mean I was born and bred here. American law declares me American. But that doesn’t mean I never left home.
American law used to declare me male. It now declares me female. Irish law used to declare me male. It now declares me female. But law cannot tell me what I used to be or what I am now. How do I perceive myself? Lots of times I’m not sure. But that’s simply my failure to know myself as well as I could. I am not what I perceive myself to be. I am what I am. Now that I’ve been out full-time for a while, bit by bit I’m getting to know myself better. Who knows? Some day my perception of myself might be pretty close to reality.
At any rate, folks, this is how I view things. My own personal view. If any of you see things differently, I’d be interested in hearing from you.
