Monday 5 January 2015

Kate Pierson - 'Mister Sister'

Here's the video for Kate Pierson's lead single - 'Mister Sister' - from her first solo album due out in February. Yes, you read that right, Kate Pierson (*that* Kate Pierson from the glorious The B-52's). She has one of the loveliest pop voices in the past 35 years and she's still going strong. At last she's chosen to release a solo record!



I think this is a great, catchy, poppy song that could help to normalise transitioning from one gender to another. It's not a treatise on transgender politics, it's a fun song with a message about individual empowerment and what's wrong with that?

If you look at the comments underneath the video on YouTube Kate now seems to be embroiled in a transgender political correctness argument much like the arguments last year about the word 'trannie'. I recall reading posts from people like Kate Bornstein and Justin Vivian Bond about how 'trannie' was part of their collective history and was a badge of honour rather than an insult.

I'm particularly puzzled by the comments about Kate singing 'you are a beautiful girl' - I don't hear that as supporting the 'norm' about who and what beautiful people are and should be, I hear it as saying 'now you're really yourself you're beautiful and don't listen to anyone else'. You don't have to be traditionally beautiful to be beautiful, just have the confidence that comes with knowing who you really are and that makes you beautiful.

I'm beautiful (in my own way) and so are you. Just because I'll never feature on the cover of 'Vogue' or any of those glossy magazines doesn't mean I'm not.

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