Masopher's Mind

The other day I felt especially masochistic and decided to watch two human interest shows about farflung places. One was about lawlessness in Johannesburg the other was about laws in Ohio. I am not sure which one was more depraved. The Ohio case featured a legal man with no penis, but with vagina and womb still attached selling his story to the world. Within months of the 2007 ruling making gender reassignment legal a reassignee goes about doing the opposite of what legislation gave him the right to do. For us natural born males, pregnancy is something we thankfully endure from the outside looking in. Thomas on the other hand got to use his birthright (giving birth) while still being one of the guys.

Carny folk all know about the bearded lady but the world had it’s first pregnant man. And it was really simple too, Thomas stopped taking the testosterone drug that made him grow a beard and muscles and got himself pregnant. His wife, a very butch woman with whom he used to be female body builders with reportedly couldn’t squeeze out any more kids, after the two she had had with her previous husband so Tom, who was keeping his female equipment (for just that eventuality?) decided to be the surrogate.

And apparently there is a sequel planned. Aside from the lucritive exclusives for the well documented birth and pregnancy Thomas and his wife make a living selling t-shirts about him giving birth. “Define Normal” is their slogan; “Google it” is mine.

The only part that raises my hackles is the implication of being a “legal man”. Is there such a thing as an illegal man?do I need a judge to validate my gender? If I choose to live out the rest of my life as what I beleive is a good approximation of a female, how the hell can a judge think he can tell me otherwise. Do I need a judges permission to be male? The answer sweetheart is no. No one needs permission to be themselves.

Johannesburg on the other hand: I would napalm the entire area down to ground level come back a year later and burn it again just to be sure. The sheer volume of criminality was evidence to me that permits to be human might not be a bad idea after all. While Tom frets about his reputation on Youtube, basic human rights are up for grabs in Jo-burg.