People are weird, and at a time where identity politics is perceived as being the motivating in a lot of the things that go on in our society, people are weird about their identity. For example, you might know the name Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who pretended to be black for years and after being called out on it changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo, a totally normal reaction. She also says that despite being white, she “identifies as black,” whatever the hell that means.
The next name you’re going to want to learn is Carissa Pinkston, a model who was caught saying some things perceived to be transphobic on social media. I word it like that because while the first thing she said was absolutely transphobic, the way she tried to walk it back is so confusing I honestly don’t know because I can barely parse what she said.
Her first Facebook post on the topic simply said “Being Transgender does NOT make you a Woman. It makes you simply Transgender.” Which is transphobic. People have all sorts of ideas on what transphobia means, but in my eyes, if any one cares, the line is whether or not you accept that trans women are women. Which they are.
Pinkston tried to make things better, but probably only made them worse with her next post.
Being Transgender does make you a Woman in a Transgender context according to gender and not sex. This how they want to be perceived. In a biological context there are Females and Males.
This is the world in 2019.
This is where it gets weird. Pinkston claimed that she herself was trans after these comments came out, as a way to take the heat off of her. Here’s what she said, via Paper.
“I wasn’t ready to come about it yet but today I got fired and I’ve been receiving hate mail and death threats ever since so I’m being forced to tell the truth,” she wrote. “I’m Transgender. I transitioned at a very young age and I’ve lived my Life as a female ever since. It’s been very hard to keep this secret but what I said about Trans-Women is a direct reflection of my inner securities and I have since come to realize that I am a Woman. WE ALL ARE!”
Very moving. Except it’s 100% bullshit. She didn’t transition at any age, she is a cisgender woman. Which she admitted herself a few days later.
This weekend, Pinkston has addressed the issue once and for all with an official apology. “I apologize for any transphobic remark I’ve ever made towards the Trans community,” she wrote in a post. “I panicked and I thought if I came out as Trans that I could somehow make things better for myself but it appears I’ve only made things worse. I’m truly sorry. I’m only 20 and I’m human. I make mistakes but I refuse to let them define me. I hope you all can forgive me and move on from this because I’m so much more than this incident and I’m not a coward.”
She also posted photos of herself and Hunter Schafer on Instagram Stories. “I hate to do this because this doesn’t concern her but, me being ‘Transphobic’ is stupid,” she wrote. “I been friends with Hunter way before all these comments and now she won’t even talk to me.”
Yeah, that last part is weird. It’s like, if you had a black friend, and some Facebook posts of you saying the n-word surfaced, and you said “It’s okay, I’m black” but you’re clearly white, why would your friend be mad at you over something like that?
Okay, so here’s the thing… don’t pretend to be something you’re not. If you said something dumb in the past and your views have evolved, then just say that. If you said something dumb in the past and you still believe it, stand by it. If you posted a David Icke to justify your transphobia (which she did) maybe take a step back and realize David Icke thinks the government is run by lizards from outer space in skin suits, like that TV show V from the 80s.