Marlene says:
You may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a while. I’m back from my hiatus and will be as semi-regular as ever.
So Adam Sandler told a stupid transphobic joke. Like the title says, no surprise. I don’t want to dignify it by talking about it, but here I am. I definitely won’t link to it. It just makes me tired. He joked that he had a transgender housekeeper because that way there would be another penis in the house. Ha. I get it. Trans women have penises. That’s hysterical.
The sad thing is that I’m not angry or outraged. I know the world is like that. I know there are a zillion mediocre comedians in the world who use trans folks as punchlines. Mediocre comedians have been coaxing smiles at the expense of marginalized people as long as… ever, probably.
What bugs me, more than his juvenile transphobic crap, is the idea that we are expected to smile at the idea that he feels alone and alienated amongst his family because none of them are men (accepting his cis supremacist assumption that penis equals man). We all are supposed to find it heartwarming that he thinks of his daughters as other. The level of casual misogyny implicit in his attitude isn’t new or special, but it’s getting to me today. Death by paper cuts.
I’m angry that two little girls are growing up with that.
I’m angry at how unsurprised I am at being the butt of a joke.