Dave Chappelle and “the Closer” are under attack by the mass media because of his comedy routine regarding transgenders. This past month, a large number of Netflix staff members went on strike to protest this horrific display of “transphobia”.
Interestingly enough, I don’t see a mass outcry against J.K. Rowling, who has been accused of “transphobia” for years. I haven’t noticed that Harry Potter books have been universally banned nor boycotted. Harry Potter on Broadway was a major success and is apparently going to come back post-COVID, so exactly what is going on here? Is it that Dave Chappelle is being targeted by certain groups?
My first question is whether the word “transphobia” will be “word of the year” in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2022 The word has only been around for a few weeks two and every major newpaper (rag) is now using it. For the record, the OED added the word “cisgender” in June 2021, so we are getting there. This word for those who cannot keep up with LGTBQ+ jargon is defined as “designating a person whose sense of personal identity matches their gender at birth” — is seen as an opposite and complementary term to transgender.
It is really not about agreeing with Dave Chappelle’s comedic tirade denigrating transgenders. I don’t know if he fears or hates transgenders, but it is doubtful. It is rather about whether our society has now reached a point where we are totally incapable of tolerating any insult, slur, or denigration of an individual and where that will lead us.
Growing up in the Bronx, better know as “Fort Apache”, next to a schoolyard, insults were as common as sidewalks. As a Jew, I was subjected to “Jew Bastard”, “Little Jew Boy”, or just plain “Kike”. Italians were “Wops” or “Guineas”, Irish were “Micks”, Hispanic boys were “Spics”, and blacks were “Negroes” or the “N” word. Chinese people were called “Chinks”, Koreans were Gooks and Japanese were slurred with just plain old “Japs” from WWII slang. It was the Bronx, so it was acceptable Lingo, probably still is in my old schoolyard. And forget the fat kids; they were doomed to eternal abuse. Of course, one may rest assured that the schoolyard had its fair share of bullies, so coming back at them was not a particularly good idea.
What was the outcome of this verbal abuse? We grew up understanding that the world was a tough place. It was not a question of living; it was a question of surviving. And that was ok, because it made us tougher; it forced us to cope with hardship. Whining or going home to tell your parents was just something you did not do.
We are breeding a generation of young people who will no longer be able to handle any insults. They will immediately go running to their respective therapists. Later if life, they will be unable to deal when things don’t go their respective ways. This will result in a society of mental invalids, with more mental health issues than any generation has ever faced.
I’m not certain of the order in which a child will respond, but I believe it will consist of several options:
- Post it on Instagram or TikTok.
- Cry with indignation that someone would dare to insult you.
- Immediately call your therapist for an appointment.
In the workplace for young adults, the responses might be slightly different.
- Immediately file a claim with management that a racist or ethnic comment was made and that the entire work environment is toxic.
- Request that the individual, regardless of how high the position, be immediately fired.
- If the individual is really high up, and management “dares” to defend the individual, then organize a strike, a la Netflix.
- Demand new protocols in the workplace to ensure that no one else ever says anything disparaging. Good luck with that one; never going to happen.
- Get rid of the water cooler as that is where most of the insults occur.
The problem is that transgenders don’t just want to be treated fairly or equitably. They want “special treatment.” They “demand” that the entire world accept them and “approve” them. Predictably, that is never going to happen in this century. Many of these same people have had difficulty accepting homosexuals because of their upbringing. You don’t get a gold star for being transgender. And if you choose to be different, there will be those out there that cannot relate. The Catholic Church Archbishops and Cardinals have never truly accepted “gay” or “lesbian”. There are those in our society that follow these teachings. These individuals believe that transgenders “violate” the natural order of things. It is hardly reasonable to expect these individuals to accept transgenders.
If it were not enough to be “accepted”, they want far more. They want to use bathrooms of their choice, even if some others are made very uncomfortable. They believe that it is not acceptable for them to have a special, separate bathroom; they insist on forcing this down the throats of others under the guise of “bias”. However, envision a 6’2”, 200 lb. transgender entering the bathroom of your 13 year-old daughter. This might just make her feel very uncomfortable, like it or not.
Transgenders want to be able to participate in sports, e.g. the Olympics or professional sports as their newly transformed gender. But there are physical issues here that cannot nor should be ignored. Case in point: Richard Raskin won the all Navy Championship, but never achieved any major U.S.T.A. ranking until he was over 35. However, after becoming transgender Renee Richards, she achieved a high ranking of #20 in the world in 1979, at the age of 45 years old. The obvious question is how many women historically have had such a high ranking at that age?
From DB4Tennis.com website: Richards has since expressed ambivalence about her legacy, and came to believe her past as a man provided her with advantages over her competitors, saying “Having lived for the past 30 years, I know if I’d had surgery at the age of 22, and then at 24 went on the tour, no genetic woman in the world would have been able to come close to me.”
In the 2020 Olympics, Mokgadi Caster Semenya from South Africa was prohibited from competing on the basis of elevated steroid levels. She is one of the premier middle-distance runners in the world with two Olympic Gold medals and three World Championships at 800 meters. Semenya was born a female with elevated testosterone levels and has done absolutely nothing that could be criticized. It would be difficult for the International Olympic Committee to justify allowing a transgender to compete against women and ban Semenya.
Perhaps, the only reasonable solution is to hold a “TransOlympics”. That would solve the “inequitability issue”. Sponsors would have to be located, most likely through the LGBTQ+ network. That would be fine, but it is uncertain what kind of attendance could be expected and whether the sponsors would not lose their shirts. However, that is the only mechanism in which transgender athletes would be able to compete on a level playing field. There is little doubt that transgenders would resist this solution as they wish to be recognized as “women”. But in reality, there will always be certain genetic differences between a transgender and someone born as a female.
According to Google, there are 1.4 Million admitted transgenders in the U.S. which would amount to .4% of the population, hardly a significant number. If it weren’t for the LGBTQ+ agenda embracing their demands for recognition, they would most likely be ignored. But we now have a media circus emphasizing that society that “will not tolerate” any sort of prejudice whatsoever and we have a left-wing agenda promoting the same. As a result, this country has never been more divided in history, not even during the Civil War era.
As for transphobia, it is nonsense. As bill Maher stated, “phobic’ comes from Greek for “fear. “Fear is not the issue. There are simply people that do not approve or accept. That is their right as much as it is the right of individuals to opt for the surgery.”
As for Dave Chappelle, he is not even close to Don Rickles’ propensity for insulting people in his comic routines. Don Rickles insulted everyone and everything and we laughed. LGTBQ+ wants to take away our right to laugh. I wonder if that right is protected in the U.S. Constitution . Probably NOT!!