Guilty pleasures...

Sept. 19th is fast approaching. The high anxiety is starting to kick in and I'm feeling a little giddy.  It's crazy, I know, but I'm gonna let you in on a wee secret.  I have a passion for dance competitions. Yup, it's true, so the above date is in reference to this season of 'Dancing with the Stars'.  I can't help it... it's my guilty pleasure.  I know it's been on for a number of years, but I only got hooked 2 years ago.  And it's not about the 'stars' at all, it's about the process of taking a non-dancer and making them a Dancer.  The beauty of watching someone embrace a talent they didn't know they possessed is priceless. I love it.  Then again I love all shows with dancing of any style whether it be TV or movies.  Luckily, there seems to be no dearth of them around these days.  I do, however, recognize that in taking them all in would be detrimental to my health and well-being, so I try and keep it down to the one.

This years DWTS will prove to be interesting... unfortunately for reasons totally unrelated to dancing. This year is special as it has as one of its competitors the dancer formerly known as Chastity Bono, the former daughter of Sonny & Cher.  I say 'former' because unless you've been living in a tree in Borneo for the last few years, you'll know that 'she' is now a 'he'.  Chastity went through a very public sex reassignment surgery in order to become 'Chaz', the male gender she always identified with.  He had his female breasts removed and will be taking testosterone for the rest of his life.  He proudly displays some patchy facial hair along with the requisite tattoos on his arms and legs.  The one thing he did not change though were his genitals.  He is a 'man' who has a vagina; who could nurture a fetus and birth a child.  To me that would be no less confusing than if you didn't go through all the surgery and shots in the first place.  There is still an element of 'pretend'.  Sure you can have a judge declare you now a male, but  it isn't what you really are.  Your vagina, not to mention your DNA, will give you away every time.

I don't harbor any ill will towards Chaz, nor do I pass judgment on him.  I have no right to do so.  It certainly wouldn't deter me from watching the show, as some over zealous boycotter's would wish.  However I do feel for him.  To have grown up feeling foreign in ones body would be hard, for sure, yet I think many of us go through times when we don't feel authentic; when what we feel doesn't match what was given.  I wish he had found a better way to cope, because in a way he is no further ahead.  He traded his minds gender disconnect to a bodily one.

And we, as witnesses, are left with the task of making sense of it so we can in turn, try to explain it to our children.  Explain without eliciting fear and hatred; finger pointing and condemnation, but also knowing they do not have to accept it as the new normal.

Now, let's bring on the dancing!