Sunday, August 29, 2004

"Transgendered Party--Ladies Free"

A sign in front of a nearly empty bar downtown read: "Transgendered Party--Ladies Free."

This is just confusing on so many levels. Who, exactly are the ladies? I saw plenty of women--those born that way and those who discovered their own femaleness later in life--near the place; which of those women could've gotten in free? Then there's the issue of why a bar open-minded enough to host a transgendered party would choose to have a policy that evokes bars where gender roles are far more rigid. "Ladies Free" suggests lots of post-frat-guys living in fear of a "sausage-fest" and trying to get as many tube-top-wearing women into the bar as possible.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see your point, but maybe the bar wasn't all that different from a tube-top quest in terms of neediness. It could be that those interested in transgendered folk far out-number the feminine ones, no matter how these females came into being. So a little financial incentive--on the surface an unenlightened stance--could be just what the doctor ordered.

Anonymous said...

It is not confusing at all. 'Party' is modified by 'transgendered,' which, in the inept parlance of the sign's author, denotes a party that allows both ladies and gentlemen to attend. In other words, a co-ed party.