It does kind of seem like, a lot of the time, rape is used as the female equivalent of the training montage, doesn't it?

Ah, I see. The "I don't actually have an argument, so I'm going to call you names and run away" defense. A tried-and-true classic.

"RuPaul" is not revered in the trans community. RuPaul is revered in the drag community. Two different things. And RuPaul being an advocated for certain segments of the LGBT community does not preclude him from being really shitty about other segments. That is, in fact, extremely common (See: The HRC's tendency to…

"Everything is/can be a slur."

"Everything" doesn't have a history of being used to dehumanize a particular group. "Tranny" is no different from "faggot" or "nigger".

And no, the term hasn't really been "reclaimed". Besides, non-trans people don't get to decide that.

And you know, since trans people are still hugely…

"Trans person". Bam. Done.

But then, since you go on to say that you're going to act like a narrow-minded bigot, I'm not sure why I bothered.

RuPaul is a drag performer, not trans, therefore he doesn't get a say.

And yes, god forbid your "5 year old" be exposed to people different from you. The horror!

What a fantastic, open-minded parent you must be.

Uh, no, it's not "picked on a whim". It's based on decades of marginalization and slander.

But thanks for letting me know you're totally unconcerned with being a decent human being.

"Transsexual" and "transgender" are to some extent interchangeable.

"Transgender" is generally used as an umbrella term, whereas "transsexual" (a term which has kind of fallen out of favor anyway) is generally used specifically for people who transition.

But these days, most people generally don't refer to themselves…

Well, I mean, sure, if you look at specifically LGBT media, the portrayals will be different. That's true in the U.S., too.

The thing is, the portrayals don't need to be "outright mean or dismissive". I mean, most U.S. portrayals aren't actually explicitly about trying to slander trans people. It's about using…

Really? There's a reason the "okama" character type is still in such wide use.

Like...I've been looking at this very thing pretty extensively in anime lately. If we're looking at (relatively) non-problematic trans characters, I can think of...two, MAYBE three:

1: The kids in Wandering Son
2: Ruka in Steins;Gate (though…

I didn't say they were treated worse than in the U.S. I'm not sure that it's substantially better, though, on the whole.

Just so you know, calling trans people "traps" is sort of...ugh.

(Yes, I know it's "a thing", but...when you use it to refer to actual, living people, it's unpleasant.)

Acceptable, yes, but still...problematic.

(Not that the U.S. is perfect, because...holy shit, no, not even close.)

The way in which, say, the media portrayals are terrible does tend to be different from the U.S., though.

Yes, but that's an example of the community making a deliberate attempt to reclaim the term, and even still, its use is...complicated.

(For example, you can talk about "Queer Theory", but a straight guy calling a gay guy "a queer" in anger would not be looked on kindly.)

"Tranny", despite some effort to reclaim it, is…

First of all, just so you know, "tranny" is a slur. I mean, I know it gets tossed around a lot, but...well, now you know!

Secondly, no, Japan's attitude towards trans people is not generally all that great. The portrayals you're describing are...not the same thing. There's certainly a lot of playing around with gender…

Ah, yes. Erasure and slander. Two great tastes that taste great together!

I get what you're saying (in that there's no need to turn a Pokemon NPC into a public service announcement).

I just get a little leery when people start using terms like "shoved in our face" or "shoved down our throats" and "special treatment" and all of that. It's just that...those particular arguments get deployed…

I would substitute "a lot of" for "virtually all", at least when dealing with mainstream (and not LGBT-targeted) media, but yes.

Of course. And I then have the response to call that person a bigoted asshole, encourage others to do the same, etc.

Granted, that's leaving aside the ugliness of telling, for instance, LGBT people they're just a bunch of whiny "pussies" because they won't just sit down and shut up.

Um....the LGBT stuff has nothing to do with the Dickwolves strip (or the response to it). They're two totally separate instances.