Coffer,
Paula J
From: Vanessa [Vanessa@indiana.edu]
Sent: Thursday,
To: Coffer, Paula J
Subject: RE: Feedback on presentation to S321 Course
Hello
Paula,
I intended to contact you a couple of weeks ago, but then
Won-Joon Yoon
was killed and I’ve been frazzled
since.
At any rate, here’s the skinny:
Your presence was a great
introduction to the existence of
transgendered/transsexual people for the majority of the
class. You made
a strong positive impression on the
students, who expressed the thought
that if most tg/ts
people are as straightforward and self-confident as
you, they’d have no problem accepting
or becoming friends with them.
I asked for feedback on your
presentation after Kate made her
presentation.
The students engaged in quite a bit of comparison/contrast
between the two of you. Most appreciated was the fact that you did
not
describe who you are in anything but
positive terms. You did not express
the idea that what you had become
physically was the result of some
biological defect. While you had experienced some emotional ups
and
downs, you described your transition
experience in a way that, for lack of
a better expression, normalized it
for the “born heterosexuals.”
After hearing about Kate’s numerous
experiences of violence, the students
were very surprised that you had no such
experiences to speak of. While
Kate’s presentation left the students
feeling that it was extremely
difficult to make the choices and avail yourselves
of the methods
available to make your bodies congruent with
your emotions, your story led
them to believe that there must have
been something very different about
the way you carry/conduct yourself that
didn’t leave you vulnerable to
physical assault. You did not appear to be a victim of either
your body
or society.
Long after you spoke to the class,
your presence would be invoked. One
student brought in the article you wrote
about honesty and fatherhood.
There were a few students who
insisted that even though you seemed whole
and happy with your change, the new you
had to be a problem for your
daughters or would be when they started
dating and their dates knew your
story.
This reaction seemed a bit contradictory to me in light of their
responses to your story, but our students
these days are not given to much
depth of thought.
In general, your story was the best
introduction to
transgender/transsexuality that this class could have heard. I thank you
very much for taking time to share your
self with us, and I hope you will
consider speaking to my class in the fall.
Peace,
Vanessa
____________________________________________________________________
Hi Paula,
Here is the gist of the feedback received from the S321 students. It seems that of
all the presenters thus far you’ve made
the most lasting and positive impression.
Many thanks for speaking to the class.
And thank you for giving me suggestions
for visualizing the successful
completion of my degree. It’s working!
Paula’s Feedback
“She presents herself
with so much confidence and sincerity that it is really
admirable.
Also, she is very open about her sexuality and it shows through her
outgoing personality. I was most surprised by that because I have
sat in
presentations by other transsexuals and they seem
very reserved, passive, and
very tense when it comes to talking
about their lives.”
“She gives a new
meaning to the phrase “be all that you can be.”
“I really felt that
Paula radiated strength. I felt
empowered just hearing her speak.”
“Paula was very
inspiring to me. One thing that I plan
on taking from her is her
view (on) worrying about what people
think. She said something to the extent,
“Who cares? You will never see that person again.”
“I think that by
bringing her into the classroom she not only was able to teach
about being a transsexual, but in a way
was also able to teach the class about
inner strength.”
“The most interesting
part, to me, was to hear that she became a woman, and
isn’t attracted to me (a male). In your head, I guess you always figure the
two go
hand in hand.”
“A stereotype I wasn’t
even aware I had was changed and that was that post-
operative transsexuals don’t necessarily have
all these bizarre sexual
encounters.
(I was shocked that I was actually influenced by Jerry Springer).
Paula gave me the
impression that she had this operation for her, not for sexual
encounters, but to finally be at ease with who
she was and not have to hide a
secret anymore (which is very beautiful).”
“The most important
thing that I took away from the presentation was the idea
that no matter who you are, you must
always be true to yourself.”
“I think she is a good
role model especially when it is for self-confidence.”
“Although the
structure of her body was erect and strong like a man’s and even
the way she spoke, aggressive, sure of
herself, it was her eyes that relayed the
message to me about transsexuals. Every time she laughed, thought about a
question, or panned about the room, it was
the expression in her eyes that was
feminine.
Looking deep into her eyes, you could see she truly was a woman. It
gave me new sympathy, for lack of a
better word, for people living life trapped in
the wrong body. How ironic it is that transsexuals are
persecuted for this.
Because what more is a
body than a carrier of the soul?”
“I wonder if she
reverts back to her real voice when she gets excited or if she just
forgets to harmonize
her voice like that some days.”