Where I Live Now

Fight Night at a Memphis McDonald's

Got this from Lindsey Turner, who lives in Memphis and loves it.

Comments

 

Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use, and will be moderated prior to posting. NPR reserves the right to use the comments we receive, in whole or in part, and to use the commenter's name and location, in any medium. See also the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Community FAQ.

yeah, really funny. a transvestite is not automatically a drag queen, and the TV report says nothing about the people in the car and what pissed them off so much. (wanna venture a guess as to how many times someone called them he/she or fag or worse?) But, hey fighting freaks is so much fun, eh? disappointing, at best.

Sent by david | 1:13 PM | 12-10-2007

BPP could do a series of pieces on gender identity. Would be awesomely rad.

As someone who is still massively confused and is exploring their own gender indentity, I have to say that was sort of hilarious. And I mean hilrious from all angles.... just the notion of eating at McDonald's (gross), then a tire iron versus a cauldron of hot fry oil... both sides of the fight went a little loopy.

But then it sank in that the McDonald's employees conviently don't say what the argument was about, and who started it. And why CNN? A non crossing dressing attack wouldn't have made CNN. The clothes make the story??? - how lame.

So now its hilarious and trajic at the same time... hilajic.

Glossary:

Transvestite - someone who dresses in clothes associated with an opposite gender, but does not identify as being of an opposite gender. Transvestites can be of any sexual orientation.

Drag queen - a transvestite who makes money of it, for entertainment acts or special events. filling out the royal family, there are also drag kings, faux queens and faux kings.

Transgendered - someone who identifies as being of the opposite gender. does not require surgery (though some choose), its a frame of mind and state of being.

Bonus term #1:

Gender Queer - gender is in flux or transcends (oh la la) the binary male/female system. person is both yet neither genders... very zen. being gender queer has nothing to do with attire, one's own sex or sexual preference.

I'm gender queer, my biological sex is male, I only dress in male clothes (more utilitarian and fit better), and am attacted only to other biological males whether they be gender queer too or strongly identify genderwise as male.

Bonus #2:

Disco - There are some exceptions, but overall a good way to disarm an angry identity-nonconformist male weilding a tire iron. Would work against me. :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=68x040woN7Q
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ADlRq6eN8ho
http://youtube.com/watch?v=086p5RAY30s

Gender is a tricky beast. The body doesn't always agree with the mind, and the mind itself can go back and forth sometimes.

Just be kind to people who don't fit the strict All-American Male stereotype, nor the strict Female role.

And for those who are the subject of verbal abuse from binary society, its not worth going berzerk over. Tire irons belong in trunks of cars or wrestling rings... Take the moral high ground.

Sent by Brian | 5:43 PM | 12-10-2007

The saddest part is that it looks a lot like the Cooper-Young Mickie D's, right around the corner from my house.

I vote for the gender series, too. We could all use a little help understanding the five genders.

Sent by Benji | 1:04 AM | 12-11-2007