Ian Thomas Malone

transgender Archive

Tuesday

24

May 2022

18

COMMENTS

Ricky Gervais recycles tired grievance nonsense in the odious bore SuperNature

Written by , Posted in Blog, Movie Reviews

There is a belief that free speech is under attack in comedy. Subjects such as transgender rights are apparently so taboo to talk about that many of the world’s highest-paid comedians spend most of their new specials saying things they’re forbidden to talk about. Ricky Gervais wants you to believe he’s been canceled for SuperNature, his new show that Netflix paid him millions of dollars to perform.

What did Netflix receive for their money and inevitable PR headache? Early in the special, Gervais returns to the subject of transgender women being rapists in public bathrooms, a topic that had started to lose its edge in 2016. For a man who talks about how comedy evolves, Gervais seems oddly stuck in the past regarding a cultural subject that even the Republican Party has lost interest in fighting, instead turning its attention to targeting mainstream medical care for trans children.

Gervais jokes that the 1%, namely his millionaire buddies are the new Rosa Parks. A thin layer of sarcasm can’t really hide the idea that he fundamentally believes this notion, that comedians are the real marginalized group. He dedicates extended riffs to the “cancellation” of renowned masturbator Louis C.K., who is so canceled that he recently won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album earlier this year, and Kevin Hart, the A-list martyr who stepped aside from hosting the Oscars in 2018 after refusing to reiterate regret for old homophobic Tweets.

It’s not particularly complicated to see why Gervais is so fascinated by trans people and social media criticism directed at anti-LGBTQ comedians. He doesn’t really have anything else to talk about. SuperNature touches on the differences between cats and dogs, AIDS, abortion, and religion, delivering observations that aren’t particularly original even by 1990s standards. Gervais’ brand of grievance politics exists as a shallow cover-up for the staleness of his material, a Trump rally masquerading as a comedy special.

Gervais loves to frame intersectionality as an “us vs. them” equation, suggesting that LGBTQ people want to ban anti-transgender jokes as a way to drag people like him down to build themselves up. He’s right on the objective, but intellectually dishonest with regard to the motives, denying the real-world harm of a society where it’s socially acceptable to write off an entire group of people as rapists, in the complete absence of any evidence to the contrary. Gervais’ logic only works if your brain is warped enough to believe that stereotypes have never actually affected anyone.

The bitterness of Gervais’ shrill delivery obfuscates a broader truth. Gervais has no moral obligation to be a nice guy. He’s built most of his career off of being the exact opposite. Comedy can be mean-spirited. No one is asking him to stand up on stage and be anything less than the person we expect from Ricky Gervais.

There’s something fundamentally sad about a man with nothing to strive for beyond a cheap cash grab. Far from the first mainstream comedian to dedicate chunks of his act to defending C.K. or Hart, Gervais’ dull blade simply lacks the edge he thinks it wields as he stands up on stage laughing at his own jokes. For a staunch atheist, he’s pretty solely tapping into the spiritual nature of right-wing grievance with his riffs on trans people that don’t bring anything new to the table. He’s not so much trying to entertain his audience as to get them to see him as a general on the front lines, an hour-long gratification of replacement theory nonsense. With millions in the bank, Gervais might get the last laugh, but the whole ordeal is a sad sight to behold.

Wednesday

11

May 2022

0

COMMENTS

Transgender Storytime: Pesky Bisexuality

Written by , Posted in Podcast

An episode all about Ian’s jumbled-up bisexuality, colloquially known as the leg hair spectrum (masculine of Ian’s not too feminine center). Ian talks about what bisexuality means to her, how no one else can define your own sexuality, and how it’s perfectly okay to “pick sides” in the sexuality equation. Ian just mostly wishes she wasn’t 90% heterosexual, but who would really choose to be attracted to men anyway? 

Tuesday

10

May 2022

0

COMMENTS

Tinder While Trans: Standards

Written by , Posted in Podcast

An episode all about dating apps! ITM shares her experiences as a single trans woman, navigating the complex webs of cis men, polyamory, T4T, and all the other fun stuff Los Angeles has to offer. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s important to make sure you’re holding yourself, and your potential romantic partners, to standards that fulfill your needs.

Tuesday

10

August 2021

0

COMMENTS

Confessions From My New Vagina (Promo)

Written by , Posted in Blog, Podcast

ITM has a comedy special out! Ian wanted to share some thoughts about why she wanted to make a trans-themed comedy album. She’s a little rusty after taking the summer off from podcasting, but very happy to have the special finally out in the world.

Confessions From My New Vagina is available on all major music streaming websites.

Spotify

Apple Music

Amazon Music

Thank you for your support. Please tell all your friends and family and strangers on the street.

 

Thursday

17

December 2020

0

COMMENTS

St. Elsewhere’s Transgender Storyline

Written by , Posted in Blog, Podcast

We are doing a deep dive into LGBTQ TV lore by exploring one of the all-time greats in the medium, St Elsewhere, which aired a transgender storyline all the way back in 1983. We are joined by Jessica Halem, former director of LGBTQ Outreach & Engagement for Harvard Medical School and tireless advocate for inclusivity in medicine, to help understand evolution of the medical community toward gay & transgender patients over the past few decades. Jessica shares so many great insights from her career, helping put these episodes into context.

We’ll be talking about episodes 12-13, “Release” & “Family History,” from St. Elsewhere’s first season. Both episodes can be watched on Hulu. Ian highly recommends the series as a whole, which features Denzel Washington, Howie Mandel, Ed Begley Jr., and William Daniels (Mr. Feeney from Boy Meets World) in starring roles.

You can learn more about Jessica on her website https://www.jessicahalem.com/ and on Twitter @jessicahalem

Jessica’s partner Jen Manion appeared on an earlier episode of EI promoting their book Female Husbands.

 

St. Elsewhere title card courtesy of 20th MTM Enterprises.

Tuesday

15

December 2020

0

COMMENTS

Star Trek: The Pon Farr

Written by , Posted in Blog

The Pon Farr is one of the weirder aspects of Star Trek lore, making it a natural topic for Estradiol Illusions to explore! Join host Ian Thomas Malone and specials guests Johnny Kolasinksi and Dr. Jackson Vane from Hi Everybody – a Bad Medicine Podcast, as well as Dr. Courtney Nicholas and Dr. Greg Winter for a wide-ranging discussion all about everyone’s favorite Vulcan mating ritual. What would happen is a transgender Vulcan underwent the Pon Farr?  Why don’t any Vulcans ever want to talk about this totally normal biological function? All of that and much more ahead!

This episode covers the following Star Trek episodes, as well as parts of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

TOS: “Amok Time”

VOY: “Blood Fever,” parts of “Blood & Soul”

ENT: “Bounty”

 

For more of Hi Everybody, check out their website https://hieverybody.libsyn.com/ (available on all major podcast platforms). 

You can also follow Hi Everybody on Twitter, @hieverybodymd and Johnny, @cycloptiko, and Jackson, @JacksonVane

 

Star Trek logo courtesy of ViacomCBS

 

Wednesday

9

December 2020

0

COMMENTS

Rudolph: A Transgender Perspective

Written by , Posted in Blog

Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight? Such is the question Santa posed, after committing acts of intolerable cruelty against the poor young reindeer merely because he was born different.

Transgender people have heard this story before.

The TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer reinforces casual bigotry. Its Santa is a giant asshole. Santa & Coach Comet can go straight to hell. No reindeer games, no presents, just a steaming pile of coal and a permanent place on the naughty list. Never allow your oppressors to gaslight you into pulling their sleigh.

Ian’s original article from 2017

Tuesday

24

November 2020

0

COMMENTS

Candis Cayne

Written by , Posted in Blog

We are delighted to welcome iconic transgender actress Candis Cayne to the show. Candis has appeared on such shows as The Magicians, Grey’s Anatomy & Dirty Sexy Money. Candis recently starred in the new holiday film I Hate New Year’s, which comes out December 4th on VOD. 

Candis talks about about storied career and the evolution of trans representation on screen, as well as her new role in I Hate New Year’s. This holiday season will be tough for many, but the film offers LGBTQ people some much needed inclusivity in a genre often defined by its heteronormativity.

ihatenewyears.jpeg

 

Tuesday

4

August 2020

0

COMMENTS

Legal Analysis of Trump’s anti-LGBTQ HHS Rule

Written by , Posted in Blog

Today we are joined by Carl Charles, staff attorney at Lambda Legal, to discuss the ongoing case Whitman-Walker Clinic v. HHS, which centers around a recent rollback of LGBTQ healthcare protections within the Affordable Care Act by the Trump administration. Carl eloquently explains the case for a general audience and the dangers that this HHS rule presents to the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender individuals. This episode is a must-listen for people confused as to how such a rollback would be allowed after June’s historic Supreme Court ruling.

 

To learn more about the case or to support Lambda Legal’s great work on behalf of the LGBTQ community, please visit www.lambdalegal.org

 

Lambda Legal also posts great analysis on Twitter @lambdalegal

 

You can follow Carl on Twitter @oh_rarl

 

headshot.jpg

 

Photos courtesy of Lambda Legal

 

 

Thursday

23

July 2020

0

COMMENTS

Transgender Storytime: One Wand to Rule Them All

Written by , Posted in Blog

***Note this episode is probably not for everyone.***

There are many in the gender critical movement who think transgender people are sexless blobs, incapable of any pleasure whatsoever. Ian debunks the nonsense, explaining how her wand vibrator helped her rediscover her sexuality after bottom surgery. This subject is certainly an awkward one for many, Ian included, but there’s a lot of misinformation out there. The “othering” of trans people is based on a lot of myths and false theories.