"Real Girls"

[puck]

Originally Posted by Bionca

Pretending that I hadn't read Jen's reply above - no I wouldn't have added anything. The reason for the assult was the same - she was perceived by her attacker as not being a "real" woman at best, an intentional deceiver at worst. The reaction of the cop implying that he assumed she was being deceptive, thus bringing the violence on herself. This line of reasoning is caled the "gay/trans panic" defence and is quite popular because it works to get men (who have often had continued relations with trans*women) off the hook or reduced sentences for violence/murder of trans*women and gay men (see Angie Zapata and Matthew Shepherd).

I know you aren't tryng to say that violence is justified, but so often people - even other trans*folks will assume that a gal wasn't being honest about her status, denounce the violence, then say she kinda had it comming anyway. I wonder what the public's reaction would be if women started beating the snot out of men who lied about their cock size...

Bionca,
I'm not sure that is the same thing (cock size). If a woman is out with a guy, she believes he HAS a cock, and when a guy is out with a woman, he believes she DOES NOT HAVE A COCK, and when he finds out, he is going to feel he has been mislead (at the very least), and not be very pleasant about it. Some people are going to BE violent because the world teaches us that that is the response we should have when we are decieved.
If you bought a corvette and they drove out a ford after you signed the papers, you'd be mad too. I understand the problem, but the guy who doesn't know that the "real" woman is not, is simply not going to go with the program. That is simply asking too much of human nature.