The Age of Innocence, and a Transgendered Mother and Son

 Facebook continues to amaze me. Most of the time not, but on occasion, there is something there. In this case it was one of the usual suspects throwing out some red meat to see how folks responds. On this occasion it was a headline and image of a son and daughter. Both are now trans-gendered. The poster was intending to use the image and article to continue an earlier post involving the President's twitter comments on transgenders in the military.  I never got to the military topic. I got stuck at the image and the possibility of such events. 

This Mother and Son Are Becoming Father And Daughter, Both Will Transition

In short, such a headline could only happen today. It is indicative of today's world. That is not really saying anything in itself, unless one unpacks today's world. And this is where I thank Facebook. It allowed me to see something, at least from where I stood. It does happen now and again.

So we have this image of mother and son. the image on its own was more in line with father and daughter. That image did have an effect on me. In short, my response was that apparently whole families can go trans, all can pursue gender reassignment. That is actually not true here, as the mother in fact had five kids before deciding to pursue this. My conclusion though is that this is just another option among numerous options. Becoming trans-gendered is becoming normalized. And I am not arguing pro or con here, it is a fact that trans-gendered individuals are a part of American culture. 

Now the night before I saw this article I was watching Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence on TCM. I still feel Scorsese wanted to prove with this movie that he needed no actual physical violence to make a violent flick. Goodfellas had preceded it. Regardless, the picture represents a different time, a different age. One in which such headlines as the above of parent and child would not occur. For better or worse this is conservatism, a clinging to traditional values, and the movie so clings to how things should be. It literally becomes a conspiracy to insure that Daniel Day Lewis' character complies with the standards of the day. Basically, it is a conspiracy to insure he stays loyal to his wife, played by Winona Ryder, versus running away with a lover, Michelle Pfeiffer. 

Quite the cast no doubt, but Scorsese illustrates through this cast this society's stress upon what is proper, what is accepted. It is a conservative culture. Everything is proper. They look to social mores, custom, to determine what is appropriate. Romantic involvement of youths might be tolerated. Adults are without passion in this world. To embrace such is to risk ostracism. Such freedoms, such passions, were not allowed. First and foremost was the preservation of the social fabric. 

Contrast Scorsese's movie with the image of mother and child both arriving at decisions to become trans-gendered. Such things would not happen in the world the movie explores. Obviously. Nor could it happen. The technology just was not available. The option of gender reassignment was neither available nor acceptable in nineteenth century New York. 

The Age of Innocence illustrates the amount of violence or harm initiated by such regimes. The consequence of forcing Daniel Day Lewis' character to stay in the marriage is that they do have a family, and he does in fact values that as time goes on. Yet he gave up the one that he did love. There was a cost for this man. Likewise, I imagine that for the mother in the article, there must also have been some violence, some psychological torment in her having five children before coming out as transgendered. 

That said, what of the violence of making such an announcement to one's family, as this mother and child did? There is an impact here on the family, and its members. Granted you are not forcing them to accept or comply with your decision, it still effects them. It still disrupts and intrudes upon what is. The mother here, however, has something that is not available in the nineteenth century. There is not only the technology to allow for transgender, there is today an acceptance of the individual. of the will of the individual. For one to embrace a transgender identity requires an act of  individual will. 

Just as the Age of Innocence can be seen as a traditional society, where social custom and norms are valued, so the trans-gendered mother and child can be seen as representing our culture's value for the individual and the right to express one's self, express one's will. The former, the traditional culture, and a reliance on social norm, for me is an instance of conservatism. The decision of both a mother and child to pursue gender reassignment is an instance of power of will, the power of individuals, and of liberalism. The latter, an act of two individuals, is a challenge to the family, to that which is the norm, to that which is traditional.

And the radical expression of the individual's will here has led to two things. Conservatives today are challenged by such demands. They refuse to embrace such things as transgender. They refuse to embrace such things as their social conventions, their customs, what they value has been shredded in the process. For them, value and meaning are found in the social norms and conventions. For them it is not the individual that creates value or meaning, but rather the individual within the culture. 

They do not value the passions of the individual, but rather see them as things to be mastered and overcome. Discipline over the passions is what is required here in the conservative tradition. 

Secondly, for the conservative, science and technology likewise are a threat to one's traditions and social norms, one's social conventions. If it were not for science and technology, gender reassignment would not be possible. Science, technology, and the radical expression of will go hand in hand. They all are destructive to the norms and social conventions of traditional society. Liberalism stresses the primacy of the individual and his or her will. Science and art are an expression of that will. 

Once in awhile, whether on Facebook, or not, you see something. That or perhaps, I just had too much coffee. Again.