Self-Organizing Man

Jen Burke writes in her blog on Boys Don’t Cry:

“Do (should) they [artists] have a burden of being “responsible” for a certain presentation? Which one? The most inclusive or representative somehow? How can that be determined as trans people and their allies tend to be one of the most varied groups of which I’ve ever identified? Do artists become automatic political pundits? Is there any way that a filmmaker or fiction writer can say, “I am not political in my work?”

….Do I have these answers? Nope, but asking the questions is part of getting there.

I don’t deny the power that creative people have to shape the perceptions of others, particularly the mainstream public who may or may not know a thing about gender-variant people. I don’t deny that power, but I question which political and ultimately “moral imperatives” we should apply to them and their work.”

She raises excellent questions, ones I have been struggling with for years.  I conclude that any representations of trans/TG/TS cultures are political.  We are not value neutral people in the way Paris Hilton is.

Why are we so afraid to have our art called political? If politics is about storytelling then how can describing the conditions of our life be bad?