[Sundae]

I have an inherent dislike for Julie Burchill.
But way back when I used to buy the Independent on Saturday it ended up mainly to read her op ed. Sometimes she even changed my mind. Other times she allowed me to question my opinions and strengthened them.

If all that kicked this off was a comment about the pressure for women to look like Brazilian transsexuals, I have no idea where to respondants' vitriol comes from. I wish I had a tenner for every time I read that haute couture is designed for boys with tiny perky tits (the further opinion that this is because fashion is dominated by gay men also follows). There seems to be reasonable circumstantial evidence for this.

Birchill writes in her usual "fuck you if you don't want to hear it" style, but she does have a point on the validity of suffering. I do believe that some transsexuals are made not born, by the world and the culture they live in. The same way that some gay men live straight (or straightened) lives because of the culture and times they are born in.

Psychology is in its infancy.
Roll on the advent of Iain Banks' The Culture.