Dina’s Diner 2/15/16

AW C’MON, THAT’S JUST SILLY

Nano the cat.

Worldwide news outlets picked up the story of a 20 year old Norwegian woman who says that she is a cat trapped in the body of a human. The stories appeared on January 28, 2016. I saw stories in the UK Mirror, NY Daily News, HuffPost.com and others when I searched for more information. According to some of the news articles, the young lady has some videos of her being a cat on YouTube.com. I didn’t check them out, though. Here are most of the pertinent parts of her story that seemed to rely on one interview with the young lady who goes by the cat name “Nano.”

“Nano said she first realized she was a cat when she was 16 years old. Doctors found a “genetic defect” in her DNA, she said — which she believes proves she is a cat. “Born in the wrong species,” she said. “My psychologist told me I can grow out of it, but I doubt it.” The 20-year-old did not elaborate on the “defect” or provide any proof that her DNA matches that of a cat. She looks entirely human, but she wears a cat-ear headband and a fluffy stuffed tail to help her inner feline match her outward appearance. But Nano said her personality and psychological features prove that she is more feline than human. “It’s also obvious that I’m a cat when I start purring and meowing,” she said in a YouTube video that has racked up more than 300,000 views. “And walking around on four legs and stuff like that.” She prefers walking around on her hands and knees to standing on two legs, and likes to sleep in sinks and windowsills, despite her adult size. She can see better in the dark than in the day time, she claimed, and has ultra-sharp hearing. While walking around an Oslo train station, she said she could hear rolling suitcases and jingling keys that human ears could not detect. When a dog passed by her as she filmed the video, she instinctively recoiled and hissed. “Sometimes I hiss when meeting dogs in the street. It’s because of their behavior and my instinct automatically reacts by hissing,” she said. She has the same reaction to water, she claimed. Nano described life as a cat as “exhausting,” but said she has no intention of trying to change the way she was born. “I think I will be cat all my life,” she said.”

You may scoff but if someone claims they are born in the wrong body . . . who are we to say otherwise?

Hilary Hanson of the Huffington Post website wrote a “debunking” article (tongue somewhat in cheek) in which she disputes some obvious problems with Nano’s story. Ms. Hanson points out that human eyes and ears would not be positively affected with “cat vision” and “cat hearing” by someone’s internal belief because biology is not affected by psyche. Hanson makes her strongest — and funniest — rebuttal when she says the fact that Nano consented to an interview was proof of her delusion. She writes, “When is the last time you tried to get your cat to do ANYTHING, much less sit down for a lengthy interview? Cats have better things to do.”

But if this is a real thing — human-to-cat trans-speciesism — how will we handle the inevitable “which litter box should they use” controversy?

SELLING THE NEW MODELS

Some news outlets reported the founding of a new modeling agency focused on transgender talent. The agency has the easily remembered name “Trans Models” and is based in New York under the leadership of a model herself, Pêche Di. I saw an article on the HuffingtonPost.com site on February 11, 2016 headlined “This Modeling Agency Is On A Mission To Mainstream Trans Beauty.” The Diner was fortunate enough to get a chance to watch one of the agents work the phones to secure modeling work for some of their clients. The following is a transcript of one side of the prospecting calls we were privy to and points out the challenges facing the new venture:

“Madge, get me Lagerfeld at Chanel!”
“Karl, bubala, it’s Leslee at the Trans Modeling Agency. [pause] Well, it was Leslie when I was a man but it’s Leslee with two e’s now that I transitioned.”
“Listen, Karl, baby, have I got a model for you. She’s gonna be bigger than RuPaul. [pause] Okay, not literally bigger than Ru because he’s six-foot-five, but big, I tell ya! She has it all.” [pause] “Yeah, she still has that too.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll try you again next week.”
“Madge, get me Dolce and Gabbana and make it quick. What? Yeah, either one will do, just dial already.”
“Hey, Stefano! Oh, you’re Domenico? That’s alright, sweetheart, it’s Leslee at Trans Models.” “Oh you saw the article about our agency. Great, Domenico, great.” [pause] “No, we’re not kidding, it’s a real agency. [pause] “Hello, Mr. Gabbana, uh, Mr. Dolce…are you there?”
“Madge, get ahold of Christian Louboutin, the shoe guy”
“Chris, old pal, it’s Leslee at Trans Models.” [pause] “Yeah, it’s going great, going great. Listen, Chris, [pause] alright, Mr. Louboutin, here’s an idea for your new line of size 12 and up. I got some models here with huge feet, be perfect for ya.” [pause] “Oh, you don’t design higher than 10s? Hey, Chris, how about size XXL gloves? These girls have hands like you wouldn’t believe. Well, give me a call if you ever change your mind.”

All fooling around aside, the agency has some beautiful models — like Evalyn pictured here. They also have some trans men models which is a barrier that hasn’t been broken anywhere so far as I know. Check the agency’s site. Best wishes to all involved. No kidding.

SOME GUYS HAVE ALL THE LUCK

Singer Justin Bieber and L.A. Reid.

The HuffingtonPost.com website had an article headlined “Justin Bieber’s Feminine Beauty Pretty Much Landed Him A Record Deal” on February 6, 2016. The article reported on an excerpt from the memoir of top record producer L. A. Reid. The HuffPost article was pretty short so here are most of the salient points verbatim.

“Justin Bieber’s beauty during his early teen years was apparently so potent that it helped him get a music deal, according to the record executive that signed him. In L.A. Reid’s new memoir, Sing To Me, the exec goes in depth about the first time he met Bieber, when [recording artist] Usher brought the singer to the Island Def Jam Records office. “At four on the dot, Usher walked into my office with this adorable fourteen-year-old boy,” Reid wrote. “This kid was beautiful, like a woman can be beautiful and men rarely are, and he turned it on as soon as he stepped into the room.” [The article continues] Reid refers to Bieber’s beauty a few times in the book. At one point he talks about how the teen had “grown his hair down almost covering his eyes” and that Reid “could see immediately that Justin’s hair would be every bit as important as his songs, his voice his face, or his presence.” Later in the chapter, Reid wrote, “Justin was simply beautiful — his superpower was his face.”

I don’t know what to make of this story. This is the kind of sentiment that is never articulated about beautiful young performers. Especially young male performers. One online commenter put it simply, “Little girls love boys that look like girls.” But I never heard a record producer/manager/agent admit that this was a main attraction of the kid’s talent. Many years ago when I was writing for a predecessor of this site, I wrote about the 1990s “hair bands” like Poison who used feminine hair-do’s and cosmetics despite posturing as tough metal musicians. I wondered at that time what female fans (not to mention the male fans) saw in the makeup and teased hair. I still haven’t figured it out.

Most crossdressers who prize their masculinity as much as they enjoy their alternative pursuits probably wouldn’t really want to be known for their “feminine beauty” a la Bieber. Still, it’s enough to make you think what it would be like to have been born with gender transcendent beauty.

IS IT COLD OUT HERE OR IS IT JUST ME?

Now that it is truly, snowfalling winter in the parts of the country that get a real winter, one of my favorite street fashion genres is in full bloom: the urban snow bunny. I say urban snow bunny because I’m not a skier so I can only experience this annual phenomenon on the streets, supermarkets, or shopping centers of my everyday world.

The ideal snow bunny look would include a knitted hat, long scarf, (knitted mittens or gloves is a nice optional touch), a short wool or quilted winter jacket, tight jeans or leggings, and winter footwear that can include anything from leather knee boots, to thick hiking boots, to chunky Uggs. At the risk of sounding sexist (moi?), young women look cute bundling against the chill winter air. The short winter jacket (rather than a long coat) and tight pants are essential because there’s something extra sexy about the idea of a young lady trying to protect herself from the elements . . . but still wanting to give some feminine visual cues. There must be something to it because it is a fairly standard winter outfit for many young ladies. And I thank the fashion gods for it every year.

By the way, while I was doing a little research on this particular fashion style, I found a ton of Google hits for the word “snowbunny” that had nothing to do with winter clothing or ski slopes. It turns out that “snowbunny” is modern slang in some circles for a Caucasian woman who prefers black men for sex. All that time on porn sites and I never ran across that particular term for inter-racial relations. If this is the first time you heard this term used for that purpose — you’re welcome.

FIGURES DON’T LIE . . . WELL, MAYBE

Is this dress lying to us?

I like to watch television newswomen and weathercasters. And judging by the comment boards on a lot of websites, I am hardly unique in that pastime. One recent morning, one of the female morning show contributors on HLN’s Morning Express appeared to have a pronounced hourglass shape in place of her usually thicker midriff. Since she was standing while she was reporting, I was positive that I could see the outline of a waist-cincher under her dress. I won’t name the reporter in case I’m mistaken (it wasn’t anchor Robin Meade, for those who watch the show). The next day, the hourglass shape was gone — which didn’t surprise me because I don’t think anyone could cinch that strictly two days in a row unless you were one of those corset fetishists. So maybe I was right.

Not long after that viewing oddity, one of those weight reduction commercials featuring Marie Osmond came on the telly. You may remember that Marie dropped 50 pounds a couple years ago and is now sporting the svelte MILF look we always knew she was capable of attaining in her middle years. But on this particular installment of the commercial series, I swear I spied the same corset outline under Marie’s dress as I had noticed on the newscaster. This seemed perfectly logical since celebrity weight loss spokespeople are notorious for backsliding to porkiness. I assumed Mrs. Osmond had succumbed as well and was now tightlacing to keep her figure. As above, I could be completely wrong but as a long time Marie Osmond fan I make a pretty thorough inspection of her appearances on my television so I give myself 8 to 5 odds on being right.

I’ve also recently noticed many instances of television women wearing dresses with striping designs that silhouette a modified hourglass onto the body of the wearer. The design usually has vertical stripes running down the side from the bust to nip in a little at the waist and then flare back out over the hips to the hemline. In fact, Marie Osmond (oh, Marie!) wears one of these dresses in her latest commercial series. Many of the young broadcast professionals who wear these dresses don’t really need to look slimmer but, heck, a little optical illusion can never hurt. Ain’t that right, girls?

Tags: Bieber, featured, Nano, opinion, Peche Di

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment, Transgender Opinion