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Elliot Page: Why the pronoun is so important

2020-12-04T12:24:27.483Z


Actor Elliot Page has declared that he is transgender. The public handling of this information reveals how deeply rigid ideas of men and women are anchored in our society.


Icon: enlarge

Actor Elliot Page: Just out of courtesy one shouldn't use the discarded name.

Photo: 

Jordan Strauss / AP

What exactly do we mean when we say "I am masculine" or "I feel feminine"?

Whenever I try to grasp these concepts, I find that I can only think in terms of clichés again: women are gentle, diplomatic and caring.

Men brave, confrontational and fearless.

Such assignments are nonsense.

Traits have no gender.

Men are caring.

Women are fearless.

Samira El Ouassil Right Arrow

Photo: Stefan Klüter

Born in Munich in 1984, is an actress and author.

In 2016 her book "The 100 most important things" (with Timon Kaleyta and Martin Schlesinger) was published by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

In 2009 she was candidate for chancellor of the PARTY, which at that time was not admitted to the federal election.

She was recently awarded the Bert Donnepp ​​Prize for media journalism for her media critical column "Wochenschau" (uebermedien.de).

Nevertheless, such ideas run deep with me too.

How much this has to do with social roles and ideas, I notice that this gender-identical cloud is completely irrelevant in my everyday life: I don't get up in the morning, put my arms in the air and shout “Aha!

I am a woman!".

I only think of being a woman when I interact with others.

The realization that gender and gender are social constructs is not new.

I certainly don't have to refer the pink bows and blue toy pistols out of their heads with Simone de Beauvoir or Judith Butler.

The correct name

What I can say with certainty: I identify with the gender that was assigned to me at birth.

I am cisgender.

I don't feel any discrepancy when I am greeted as "Ms. El Ouassil".

And I would be extremely irritated if I were called "Mr. El Ouassil" all the time.

(You can of course continue to call me Quassil in a funny and incorrect way, if that's what you want. I'll treat you to it.) 

The actor Elliot Page, Oscar-nominated star of the film "Juno" and hero of the Netflix series "The Umbrella Academy", declared on Tuesday that he was transgender.

He also explained the pronouns with which he would like to be designated from now on: With "He" / "Er" and "they", which is used when the person identifies himself neither exclusively male nor female.

Many headlines, for example from the BBC or the New York Times, refrained from

using

his so-called

dead

name, the name the actor had before his outing.

They also used the pronouns he wanted correctly.

Netflix changed the credits of all series and films on the platform and only the correct name is shown on IMDB and Wikipedia.

Being able to identify with the gender assigned at birth is a privilege that a cis person is not aware of as such.

But it also became apparent that it is still not a matter of course to report correctly about transgender people.

For example, it is a problem when the media - including SPIEGEL - report, based on a dpa message that has since been corrected: “Ellen Page becomes Elliot Page - Ellen Page has been one of the most prominent faces of the LGBTQ community in Hollywood for years.

Page has now announced that he is transgender: ›My name is Elliot‹, the actor announced on Tuesday in the online networks. "

One should not use the discarded name out of politeness, but also because it reveals the internalized view of a cis-centered society.

How do we know that he wasn't Elliot Page all his life, who performed or had to perform as a woman because it was the gender assigned to him?

Strictly speaking, the message is actually: "Elliot Page is now publicly Elliot Page" - or: "Elliot Page has become Elliott Page". 

Being able to identify with the gender assigned at birth is a privilege that a cis person is not aware of as such.

If I were to write now that I was lucky, that would be just as presumptuous, as it would insulate that it is something negative to be transgender.

It is of course not, it is just much more difficult in our reality, which still thinks in terms of "penis equals man".

So I'm lucky that my self happens to feel meant and seen when someone says "Ms. El Ouassil" to me. 

That is why the correct pronoun is of such existential importance.

It allows a trans person to exist in public space as themselves - and not as a socially required version of themselves. The outside world not only recognizes one aspect of their identity and allows them their transgender sovereignty, but also accepts a reality in which the gender of another is not defined by one's own perception.

That is the natural thing we should achieve for transgender people.

more on the subject

As a transgender on the Internet: "The target is my life" By Matthias Kreienbrink

In his book "Ich bin Linus", the author Linus Giese describes the moment when his name was first written on a Starbucks mug, as is customary when ordering.

He published the photo on the Internet and wrote that it felt great to say the name out loud that you had wanted for yourself for so long.

Then he closed the laptop for fear of the reactions.

"When I came out, I lost the privilege of belonging to the normal - I was suddenly different and dependent on whether I was still accepted or liked by others." 

Page received a lot of enthusiastic praise and recognition for his statement - which of course also says something about our still awkward, excited and over-the-top dealing with trans people.

People who make their transgender status public are held up as emblematic examples, although they should not single-handedly have to educate society about transgender life.

You shouldn't have to tutor through intimate self-disclosure.

Perception and visibility yes, exoticization no.

At some point it should no longer be considered brave to be who you are.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2020-12-04

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