Megan Mulls It Over

+JMJ

Note: In this post and others I will use what some of you might consider to be the “wrong pronouns.” I will also use the terms “transgender man” and “transgender woman” in a way that is opposite that of politically correct society (i.e., when I say “transgender man,” I mean “man who identifies as a woman” and vice versa). Regarding Chelsea Manning specifically, I am already unhappy that I am emasculating him with my tax dollars (my ultimate #ThanksObama). I will not add insult to injury by doing something that feels to me like emasculating him with my words. I can assure you that this decision comes from a place of genuine compassion and concern. Whether or not you believe that is your choice, but if you choose not to believe it, that won’t make it untrue.

I assume that Obama is practicing the eulogy he will deliver at John McCain’s funeral on Saturday, and all the while he is still ROFL and breathing huge sighs of relief over something that Chelsea Manning shared with the Twitterverse last week.

August 21, 2018 marked the fifth anniversary of Chelsea’s sentencing. I pulled up his Twitter feed that evening expecting to see some serious shade thrown at the former #EmasculatorInChief.

So what was the aspect of his incarceration that Chelsea chose to put on blast on this momentous anniversary? *Drumroll please*…

Being made to work “in a prison woodshop for pennies an hour”

I certainly did not expect him to refer to Obama as the #EmasculatorInChief or call out the #EstrogenForDissidents program (although that would have been a very pleasant surprise indeed). But I thought he would have chosen something more like:

      –Two months in a cage-in-a-tent in Kuwait before seeing a lawyer

     –Almost a year in confinement before being fully charged

–Egomaniacal prison guards

–Punishment for nothing burgers like possession of expired toothpaste (which the rulers of Leavenworth called “improper medicine use”)

–Less than a slap on the wrist for the pilots in the #CollateralMurder video (Do we even know their names?)

Chelsea was and still is understandably upset about days spent naked in solitary confinement, so I find it puzzling that the “injustice” that he chose to single out on that day of all days was one that allowed him to be fully clothed and around other humans.

He was not being sent into a raging forest fire. He was not on a chain gang. He was getting out of his cell and learning a new skill. I’m sure he would have preferred something more in line with his interests, but did he really think the prison should have let him work on their computers?

And I am also a little miffed at the idea that woodworking is degrading. If it was good enough for the divine Son of God, it is certainly good enough for any son of Adam.

For those who are interested in seeing the actual tweet and article that he linked to about prison labor, you can find them at xychelsea. And yes, those letters at the front are, according to Chelsea himself, intended to be a chromosomal reference. I guess that is one of his ways of challenging assumptions about who a woman should be. Here’s a thought: why aren’t we as a society encouraging men who struggle with their gender identity to challenge assumptions about who a man should be?

What do we need to do so that men like Chelsea will be comfortable saying some version of the following to bullies who accuse them of being “not man enough”?…

“I may not ‘fit in’ with you and your horde of minions. I may be gay. I may love unicorns.

But I am 100% ‘man enough.’

And if you think I’m not, you are the one who should change, not me.”

Verso l’alto,

Megan

A Note About Comments: In addition to the rules posted in the main Comment Policy, please note the following. I will not impose my personal rule about masculine pronouns for Chelsea Manning on commenters. Your comment will not be deleted if you refer to him as “she” or “her.” It will, however, be deleted if you refer to him as “it.” Feel free to criticize his actions or ideology, but please do not attack his humanity.