Okay, preface: I'm MTF (read: female), too, university student, basically nobody but family and my doctor knows my past, for my mental sanity. Not to go all V&N here, but I'm basically open for any questions on the topic, from here, PM, etc.-I trust this forum to be awesome about it, as it is about basically everything else. If Nip or anyone wants to move that elsewhere, a-OK by me. Merely skimmed through the thread, to know some board perspectives, to let me know if I'd feel safe sharing this here. I do.
This starts off okay, but most offensive stories, aside from Shank headlines, do this as well. First thing I found disturbing is that, given Dr. V's willingness talk merely about the putter, and not herself, what made this premise okay? You breech a harmless individual's sense to privacy in that sense, and that in my case is huge. If someone went against my word and wrote an article like this about my medical status, I would be so furious, yet so down all at the same time, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. It would hurt that much. To put it into simple terms, imagine every negative emotion you've ever had. Be it anger, confusion, resentment, self-loathing, etc. Then put all those emotions, feelings into one ball of hate, but that one ball of hate impacts your emotional state (like a massive depression), and how you view yourself, both intra and interpersonally. And that becomes you, and you are embarrassed by that hate, that not only could those emotions remain within you, but they may externally come to you, by means of others. This is all from breaking this story alone, that you certainly wouldn't be made public. Heck, it's not only personally painful, but quite a few people see you as less for it, like you have a serious sexual perversion, or that you have big mental issues that impact your capacity, ability to function otherwise.
And then there's this:
“Are you trying to tell me that Essay Anne Vanderbilt was once a man?”
Oh God, fuck no, fuck that question, fuck that quote, fuck you Hannan. I hope you read this, you scumbag. I get how someone would think this, since a lot of people if I told them would think I'm simply a gay man with a fetish, or couldn't own up to being gay. This is wrong on so many levels. I was never a man (or a boy, a few years ago), never. My body may have been that way, and still is (with great pains to say so) in some ways today, but I always knew since I was 3 that I was female. I can't speak to everyone's experience, but this is an ignorant quote that should have been at minimum paraphrased to something more appropriate, and respectful of Dr. V.
She was born a boy on July 12, 1953, in Philadelphia. She was given the name Stephen Krol
Oh my god. Just oh my god. This is ignorant. If this was ever published about me, I would be in TEARS, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't live the night. I never wanted anyone to know the name I was assigned at birth, I only wanted them knowing me as Jessica (or any of the names that go with Jessica, like Jessie, or Jess). This basically is the worst thing you can do to someone like me. It invalidates their struggles, pain, and joy they've found during the life they've experienced, only to go back to square one of everyone knowing their past. Not only is that harder internally, but it hurts externally when people do not recognize you. It is mocking decades long pain. I cannot believe I am reading this in 2014.
Further, when Hannan uses the birthname beyond this point, it starts getting into media ethical violations that have been mentioned upthread (and I think in place for 8 years now), as seen in the quote "What little else I know about Stephen Krol". Much shorter to type Dr. V, and that is her applicable name for this story. Use it. The next paragraph goes beyond the TS (transsexual) concerns; detailing an individual's past suicide attempts, seemingly without their permission, is absolutely unacceptable, as has been mentioned. On what grounds does this add to the story, except to make things harder for Dr. V?
Back to the TS issues, though, to say she "faked" the credentials, no, not really, she was giving what she had to do in order to live. Her putter did not change, and was equally a good club, regardless of this. Then he mentions her past to someone feeling attracted to her in the miniskirt. Great, so now Hannan felt the needed to sabotage a potential relationship for her. Because her life likely wasn't hard enough. Wow. I am disgusted, and feel lessened as a woman, and as a person for having read that nonsense, but I am glad I did it to (hopefully) benefit the site with my experiences to compare how OUTRAGEOUS and heinous these actions were.
I deeply apologize if this doesn't make sense, it's a dear subject to me as well, and sometimes feelings like this that aren't all that common, we lack the best of words for, so I have to make do with what we have, you know? I also realize you all want to talk about this subject from the journalist, non-TS (transsexual) perspective, which, yeah, I get that, it's the media section after all--but this one, I have to go personal with, because I feel it's what I can add best, and perhaps some perspective.
Jessie