Comparing the readings about transbodies and body image representation of women and the conception of space I have been led to a couple conclusions. The idea of space is difficult to portray to everyone because there is very many perceptions about space. Every person has their own comfort level of space, some people are very private while at the same time people would walk around naked in public if they could. These different levels of comfort map to both women and men in separate ways. Men are supposed to be comfortable with their bodies no matter what and show of their masculinity that they have, while women are supposed to wear skimpy dresses and show off a lot of skin while being conscious and hiding as much as possible at the same time. These ideas of body presentation are what drives sexuality in our society, we are supposed to look our best and show off our best features so someone will be attracted to us, so ultimately a hookup, relationship, or something develops and happiness ensues.
The person you are attracted to should be of the opposite sex so when marriage rolls around you two can make babies and live happily ever after. This is the image that our society and media creates and therefore we must follow or else we will be cast out of our social circles, looked down upon, and get called weird, different, and categorized as the other. I believe this occurs because it makes people feel uncomfortable when someone wont follow whats normal, so the easiest thing to do is completely disregard it, ignore it, or just make fun of it. But there are more layers to it than that. When people are labeled as weird its when they don't wear whats popular, listen to music thats not popular, or conduct themselves in a polite and generally respectable manner. As a male because I listen to death metal, heavy electronic music, play the piano, like to spend months on end away from everyone in the mountains, and at the same time trim my nails, pluck my eyebrows, and put on the occasional mask I should be cast away as a social weirdo, but I'm not because of the community I am in. However, we are lucky here at Allegheny where our social bubble is small and filled with societies weirdos, which makes the weird normal and everyone is alright with it. Outside of Allegheny that comfort is not there, and people are ridiculed for who they are or how they act. This concept I feel really shines through in Chris Edwards Huffington Post article Sharing the Bathroom With Someone Who's Transgender: What's Everyone So Afraid Of?, many of the concerns that arose about having a transgender in the office was, as the title states, about the restroom. As a man I can put myself in those mens shoes. Having a woman who is dressed as a man using the same bathroom as me can cause some discomfort. What if I farts and she hears? What if she farts!? And the worst of it all, would she use the urinal, and if she did would she do it next to me?!? These kinds of things, to me at least, are silly and I feel if I was put in that situation I would get over it fairly quickly, and according to the article it seemed like many of the men did get over it after a couple weeks of getting used to it.
It all comes down to space. I have my own and I should be able to choose who I let into that space. When it comes to public spaces, there are designated spaces that separate males and females because of the comfort felt in those specific spaces. Many people do not want those spaces invaded and are uncomfortable when someone tries to break that space. Transgender and transsexual people are the ones who break these boundaries and cause a sense of discomfort, which causes the reaction I stated above of rejection and to make fun of such an individual because they are not like the way you are. Our most recent reading from The Politics of Women's Bodies by Rose Weitz spoke about how women are trained to present their bodies and it got me thinking about how trans people present their own bodies. If a transgender man dresses like a woman but still sits, walks, and shows a sense of masculinity is she still transgender or simply a cross-dresser at that point. The image of a woman presented through a mans body causes more conflict in my brain than the image of a man presented through a woman's body. I suppose that feeling comes from the perception of my own body. I don't shave my armpits or my legs, so I guess the image of a man through a woman's body is presented through hair being present. I then also suppose that a womanly image being presented through a mans body could come through the lack of body hair. But at the same time I feel like that is not enough for a man to present himself as womanly. He needs long hair, softer facial features, and maybe the appearance of makeup and breasts. I feel as if I am being insensitive by making such a comment, but thats where the definition of transgender becomes a point of confusion in my mind. I define myself as a straight male because I have a penis and I seek, or am most interested in having a woman partner. I guess the only way to help my confusion would be to talk to a transgender individual and get a sense of how they feel on the inside and how they feel most comfortable projecting it on the outside.
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