Transgender Dysphoria Blues
by Against Me!

From ShaneSpear TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/26/2014 18:55 | #101583 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Plenty of artists have brought up transgender topics and issues before. of Montreal for example. No one deserves to be discriminated against for their sexual orientation/gender identity, but I don't know if I think they should be given a free standing ovation just for releasing music about it either. Especially when she's not making the best case for herself on this record in my opinion anyway.

I have no issues with transgendered people. None. She could be singing about the 2001 World Series for all I care, but her voice is very loud and irritating and is usually either singing very cliched things or just trying to a rise out of people like in Hanging With the Jocks. I may not be transgender, but I have problems too. I could write 10 songs like that if I wanted to.

MY SUPERVISOR HATES ME
THAT BALD HEADED ASSHOLE
HE USED TO BE MY FRIEND
ALL MY CO-WORKERS LOVE HIM
I WISH I COULD THROW HIM DOWN A WELL
AND SHOOT HIM WITH A SHOTGUN ON THE WAY

There is a good song on here - Dead Friend. An actually very touching song about a member of their lighting crew who passed away. A diamond of a song in a pile of angry emo shit.

From SuedeSwede TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/21/2015 18:32 | #154873 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

"It's cool hearing the topics discussed by someone who is actually transgender, but keep in mind the Replacements released Androgynous 30 years ago."

Believe it or not, "Androgynous" is about androgyny not transgender. It's literally about how gender doesn't (or shouldn't) define how people dress and that the "gender" of clothes they dress as can be fluid. Nothing about transgender issues.

Besides, what does it matter if someone tries to explore the same theme a SECOND TIME in 30 years? Oh no, burn them at the stake for daring to explore a hugely important [and clearly under-represented since you can only name one SONG that has anything to do with gender never mind trans in particular] topic.

Probably got too salty at what was just you sharing your passion for another song but man you have to be more sensitive (Edited)

From babyBlueSedan TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/23/2015 19:01 | #155001 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

It's not every day I notice when someone calls me out for an asinine comment I wrote, so I'll take the time to try and defend one-year-ago me. The goal of my previous comment was, much like ShaneSpear's, to call out a musically sub-par record that's been getting attention for dealing with a progressive topic. I didn't feel the need to explicitly mention my support of the transgender community since I thought that went without saying, but I apologize if I offended anyone.

Yes, the topics of Androgynous and this album are different, but fundamentally they're both about not fitting in and a desire to be loved for being yourself. Whether you're trying to present yourself as a gender that others don't associate you with or without a gender, the anxiety of being something society is uncomfortable with is the same. A better comparison would undoubtedly have been I Am a Bird Now, which I feel covers this topic better (it just happens that Androgynous is one of my favorite songs). I also think Antony addresses her situation better on I Am a Bird Now than Laura Jane Grace does here, but that's probably just a personal preference. I'm sure there are people who connect with her outrage and anger, and that's great, but I connect more with Antony's internal conflict as she tries to understand herself. And there's nothing here as poignant as Bird Gerhl or For Today I Am a Boy. It's certainly unfair to compare the two, but again that's just my preference. And I think musically this album could also be something that doesn't connect with a lot of people who, like myself, am more inward with their feelings.

And of course there's nothing wrong with addressing issues that have been covered, especially when it comes to a topic that is as severely underrepresented as this. I'm sure Against Me has and will continue to help many who feel scared to be themselves, and that's great. But this album isn't for me, and I'm not going to give it points just for being progressive. (Edited)

From jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 01/09/2016 23:52 | #156194 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I'm just going to chime in on what you BEA peeps are saying. I will just say that I find this accessible, yes, actually deliciously catchy in every way that could ever be good. This album gets the trans message across better than anything else in the media ever has in my opinion. I read Laura Jane Grace's story and totally sympathised with the issues faced by transgender people after listening to this punk rock epic. I love this album for being so ridiculously likable as a means of spreading that message to an old fart like me.

From jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/14/2015 20:16 | #152941 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

The best punk rock has always been done by people who knew how to channel anger into the graceful, glorious aggression of rock and roll music. Laura Jane Grace has a lot to be pissed off about, and sounds... not revitalised but far more vital than ever. I hear at least two different voices (maybe more; the first two songs epitomise this) and this sounds like an artist discovering her voice. One of the best backstories ever, and also a great album, period.