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Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

RetroChrome

03:54 / 05.07.06

Any women out there going to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival?

Or have you been?

05:41 / 05.07.06

I support Camp Trans, but I've never actually been.

05:45 / 05.07.06

Also, here are some dykes who also support Camp Trans. I don't want you to think I'm being all patriarchal with my bad man self.

If you go to Michfest, I hope you have an awesome time. And if you go to Camp Trans instead or as well, I hope you have a triply awesome time.

RetroChrome

12:54 / 05.07.06

I don't want you to think I'm being all patriarchal with my bad man self.

Well, now, that's a patronizing statement.

id, I think you've assigned me political sensitivities as well as assumed a lack of knowledge on my part. I prefer to be asked about these things rather than have them attributed to me, especially by someone who doesn't know me.

If you'd like to discuss policy/politics, then state that and we can take it to a different thread.

Otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you'd honor the intent of this thread, which is to connect with women who are going to Michfest.

Regrettable Juvenilia

12:57 / 05.07.06

WTF? How is it patronising?

RetroChrome

13:07 / 05.07.06

There's a history to Michigan and Camp Trans that colors this, FDD. I'm not sure if you're aware of it, so pardon the following if you already know.

Often, attendees of Michfest are pegged as feminazis who hate trans people. And, to be fair, Camp Trans' supporters can be pegged as "traitors" to their sisters.

Neither one of the above pertains to me, my ideology, or how I move out and interact in the world.

So to say "bad man self" is patronizing to me because it assumes an opinion and political stance for me. I don't think men are bad and, therefore, my attendance at the Mich festival is not indicative of that.

RetroChrome

13:17 / 05.07.06

Upon further reflection, part of the reason for my response is that I just want to discuss the festival and connect with women who are going without having to constantly delve into a political debate. Which is what usually happens.

It seems that always happens--a rabbithole of explanations, justifications...

It's exhausting.

So, I acknowledge that I bring a bit of baggage to this discussion thus far because of that. And, that may distort my reading of id's post.

I dunno.

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:53 / 05.07.06

Retrochrome, are you familiar with the phrase "to get down with one's bad self"? It is an expression of dialect or argot, in which the term "bad" does not in fact have the standard connotations of badness, but rather means something along the lines of "good". As such, I think you may be misunderstanding entity's intent in the deployment of that adjective.

On other matters - honestly, if you go to a festival that excludes transwomen, you're going to get into a conversation about the fact that the festival excludes transwomen. Sorry. If I posted asking if anyone was coming along to the whites-only disco, I would expect something similar to happen. Fortunately, with the exception of me, everyone here is very polite and well-mannered, and any such discussion will be very civilised, as long as (and this is important) nobody gets defensive. If it gets involved, we could move it into another thread, say in the Switchboard.

RetroChrome

17:22 / 05.07.06

Actually, Haus, I have but I didn't even *think* about that.

Taking a deliberate breather to digest, I realized that I needed to read id's statement with the right type of inflection. I was reading it in an entirely different way.

Any other discussion that I've had on the subject of Mich and the WBW policy has been tended to result in really ugly, personal attacks. The forums weren't moderated and, instead of stepping back and digesting (not getting defensive), both "sides" would just fire away. Never mind who got shot down in the process.

id: I apologize for my knee-jerk reaction. It's not an excuse, but I'm so used to being on the defensive for my own personal sanity on other boards, that I just got into defensive posture immediately.

Ticker

17:57 / 05.07.06

Retro/id, would you consider starting a thread in the Head Shop on the topic of the policy/issue surrounding the event? (or bump an oldy up?)

I'm really interested in exploring it and I don't want to derail this 'un.

20:34 / 05.07.06

Sure, I'll bump an old thread. And Retro, I'm sorry I sounded patronizing; I meant to soften my own words with a little self-deprecating humor and to make clear that I'm speaking on this issue as a (trans) male ally and not a participant.

20:51 / 05.07.06

Discussion here.

This thread should now be used only for the purpose for which it was intended by RetroChrome. Sorry for the digression.

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