YOU MAGAZINE SLATED FOR CHAZ BONO ARTICLE
The South African Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (SA GLAAD) has slated YOU magazine for an article on Chaz (formerly Chastity) Bono’s gender transition, claiming that the piece is offensive.
The article, entitled “Chaz ditches Chastity”, is in the latest June 25th issue of the weekly publication.
“I find the article to be particularly offensive. It was clearly written with intent to ridicule and to derogate a person for the fact of being transgender,” Christina Engela, board member of GLAAD, wrote in a letter to the magazine.
Correct pronouns were “repeatedly and deliberately ignored,” Engela said, pointing out the use of “she” instead of “he” and the writer referring to Chaz as Chastity, despite the title of the article claiming that he “ditched” it.
“Even by the way in which the writer examines the person’s past life and refers to Cher’s perceived reaction to Chaz and for pursuing gender reassignment, the writer uses a tone which can only be called mocking,” she continued.
“The article was clearly intended to mock transgender people and I find such blatant prejudice offensive,” said Engela.
“One would expect a magazine which claims to be a ‘family’ magazine in a country which supposedly respects the equality and dignity of all its citizens – even the transgender ones for whom this “journalist” made his or her dislike perfectly clear – to be far more sensitive to its readership – and a bit more discerning in terms of the quality of people who will write for YOU.”
…… I stopped reading & buying YOU magazine several months ago … and I’m so glad I did.
Difficult Issue For Some. I read the aticle in question (my boyfriends’ mother buys the mag – not me) and I have to say that I did not see nearly as much “blatant predudice” as some others may have seen. Perhaps I am just a little more mindful of the fact that an issue such as this is by no means a simple issue that everyone automatically understands. Many people, including myself, whilst being respectful of a person’s decision find it a little difficult to approach. If my mother developed multiple personality disorder I would not begin referring to her as “them” simply beacuse that which I am used to makes the most sense to me. One may argue that the incorrect use of pronouns is blatant prejudice as GLAAD have, or one may acknowledge that we are not taught how to respond to this situation, which is often totally removed from our daily lives, and this makes it difficult for some people to apply the correct sensitivity. Whilst GLAAD personnel may be accustomed to this issue it is unreasonable for them expect that everyone else is, and immediately attack them for it. YOU magazine may simply be guilty of bad editing by not ensuring the tone of their article was correct, and not blatant prejudice as stated. Just my 2 cents. . .