Saturday, August 02, 2008
Bearded lady: from carnival freak to intersex forebearer
HISTORY / Carnivale Lune Bleue builds a vintage 1930s carnival, without moral queasiness
31 July 2008
***
Canada hid bearded ladies in remote asylums, but elsewhere we displayed them as human curiosities. Canada treated people with unusual physical attributes — paradoxically — as a cause for fear and as crowd-pleasing attractions. Nowhere was that contradictory attitude more apparent than in the carnival.
Jan-Rok Arcand is a Montreal carnival historian. He talks about the exhibition of human curiosities as "a sort of exoticism." But the moral questions are tough for him to answer.
"Was this just exhibitionism, or was it in a way sensitizing people?" says Arcand.
Bearded ladies and half-man-half-woman sideshows were lined up with various grotesqueries — men with horse-hoof feet, women with bizarre tumors. In the quest to find the next big thing, carnivals sent scouts across the country to find new acts. . . .Read More
31 July 2008
***
Canada hid bearded ladies in remote asylums, but elsewhere we displayed them as human curiosities. Canada treated people with unusual physical attributes — paradoxically — as a cause for fear and as crowd-pleasing attractions. Nowhere was that contradictory attitude more apparent than in the carnival.
Jan-Rok Arcand is a Montreal carnival historian. He talks about the exhibition of human curiosities as "a sort of exoticism." But the moral questions are tough for him to answer.
"Was this just exhibitionism, or was it in a way sensitizing people?" says Arcand.
Bearded ladies and half-man-half-woman sideshows were lined up with various grotesqueries — men with horse-hoof feet, women with bizarre tumors. In the quest to find the next big thing, carnivals sent scouts across the country to find new acts. . . .Read More
Ladies Only: a luxury turning into an inconvenience
1 August 2008
By Eman Goma
Being veiled in Kuwait does not deprive you of certain luxuries like swimming and tanning in your bikini. Like several Arab and Muslim countries, Kuwait provides women with numerous venues that operate only for ladies on certain days. Such places include beaches, water parks and theme parks, some of which have designated three days per week exclusively for women and children.
I gather with my friends at the beach at least once a month during a ladies day where we can enjoy the beach and swim at the pools in our normal swimsuits, given the fact that we don't have to worry about being watched by men," said Mariam, a 28-year-old Syrian national living in Kuwait. "Even though I'm not veiled, I prefer going to the beach on ladies day because it's more comfortable for me not having to worry about being hit on, or photographed by men," she explains. . . .Read More
By Eman Goma
Being veiled in Kuwait does not deprive you of certain luxuries like swimming and tanning in your bikini. Like several Arab and Muslim countries, Kuwait provides women with numerous venues that operate only for ladies on certain days. Such places include beaches, water parks and theme parks, some of which have designated three days per week exclusively for women and children.
I gather with my friends at the beach at least once a month during a ladies day where we can enjoy the beach and swim at the pools in our normal swimsuits, given the fact that we don't have to worry about being watched by men," said Mariam, a 28-year-old Syrian national living in Kuwait. "Even though I'm not veiled, I prefer going to the beach on ladies day because it's more comfortable for me not having to worry about being hit on, or photographed by men," she explains. . . .Read More
Long and painful journey to womanhood
August 2, 2008
Melody Brandon
Melody Brandon
NATIONAL Women's Day next week will be her third annual celebration of being a woman for Christina Engela, who was born male. And despite being ridiculed, rejected and misunderstood, she hopes to assist others like herself on their tough road to happiness.
Born and bred in Port Elizabeth, Christina, more affectionately known as "Tina," has gone through a painful journey of self-discovery and surgery to become a woman. . . .Read More
Castration law for Swedish transgenders
2 August 08
Claudia Rodas
A new proposal to introduce castration as a prerequisite for those undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Sweden has been met with outrage by a leading gay and transgender rights organization. . .
Today, those undergoing gender reassignment surgery in order to achieve sex change usually complement their surgery with hormone treatment.
A side-effect of the hormone treatment is natural sterilization.
However, hormone treatments may be broken off, whether permanently or short-term, allowing for the possibility of pregnancy, as was the case of a British transgender “man” who got pregnant this year. . . .Read More
Claudia Rodas
A new proposal to introduce castration as a prerequisite for those undergoing gender reassignment surgery in Sweden has been met with outrage by a leading gay and transgender rights organization. . .
Today, those undergoing gender reassignment surgery in order to achieve sex change usually complement their surgery with hormone treatment.
A side-effect of the hormone treatment is natural sterilization.
However, hormone treatments may be broken off, whether permanently or short-term, allowing for the possibility of pregnancy, as was the case of a British transgender “man” who got pregnant this year. . . .Read More
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