Vonnegut was your standard-issue 50s/60s artistic liberal, bewailing society’s ongoing efforts to Stamp Out the Individual.

–“The Prisoner”, “I’m not a number, I’m a free man” (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Cs-VIDKSY

Though you wouldn’t believe it today, once upon a time liberals upheld freedom and creativity.

How did Vonnegut Know?

Could be he read Nietzsche on “The Last Man”: https://youtu.be/O4amBEGwVXs

“THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal
before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter
than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was
stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the
211th, 212th, and 213 th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing
vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.”

“Some things about living still weren’t quite right, though. April for
instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in
that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron’s fourteen- year-old son, Harrison, away.”

“It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think about it very
hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t
think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his
intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his
ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a
government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would
send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair
advantage of their brains.”

George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel’s
cheeks, but she’d forgotten for the moment what they were about.

On the television screen were ballerinas.

A buzzer sounded in George’s head. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits
from a burglar alarm.

“That was a real pretty dance, that dance they just did,” said Hazel.

“Huh” said George.

“That dance-it was nice,” said Hazel.

“Yup, ” said George. He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They
weren’t really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway.
They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces
were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty
face, would feel like something the cat drug in. George was toying with the
vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped. But he didn’t get
very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his
thoughts .

George winced. So did two out of the eight ballerinas. ”

———
Read the whole thing.

Inmates running the asylum.

I mean, like I said before there can be nobility in giving it one’s all even when fated to not be able to compete with the best, and I don’t have an issue with that. Much like how I enjoyed horse riding the very few times I did it (though I imagine the horse did not, which is one reason I didn’t) in spite of being too towering and heavy to be a good jockey. And let’s face it: Most dancing isn’t world-class, and most niches for it aren’t world class. So there’s a lot of room for earnest, well-meaning performers who can handle appearing somewhat ludicrous in public without losing their (psychological) grace and doing “better than I could do.”

Gymnastics are less so given that, but there are plenty of Country League teams and shows to appeal to to the public and there’s a lot the spirit of competition can do.

Your wait is over. And you would be surprised. Women Olympic athletes were as well. “How is a man even doing this?!??”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvz3F4HP170

Ah, you again. Have you said apologies to anybody here for alleging they want you dead?

The “joke” is claiming that Rebecca is going to be a professional, rather than wanting to try learning to dance as a hobby.

Agreed, and the kicker I think is that if American Idol and its ilk are any indication, people actually sympathize with an underdog. You don’t need to be particularly good at something if you come at it positively and try hard, at least in many things like amateur dance or the like. And there are a fair number of jobs around for mediocre but spirited dancers willing to embarrass themselves in order to give others a good time and some joy.

It’s a hard truth to swallow but it’s a lot less bitter than many truths one has to, including if one believes that they were born in the wrong kind of body and will face suspicion and hostility from others.

Another “joke” is stirring up more sentiment and hatred against transgender people for political or other ideological gain.

I’ve heard that joke. It’s not funny. Much like accusing others on this blog of wanting to kill you is a monumentally unfunny joke.

Also: there is nothing wrong with stirring up hatred against a given transgender person, so long as it isn’t because they are transgender. I can think of maybe half a dozen hateful idiots who got on the Chris-Chan hate train specifically because they came out as transgender. True equality means being treated for one’s merits as a human being.

The corollary to that means that there are going to be transgender people who have the soul of fecal matter wrapped in human skin and who are attractive targets for hate and ire, much like people from other genders, intersex states, and what have you.

I don’t know the first thing about Rebecca and I sure as hell am not going to hate them like I do Chris Chan, the fashion thief in Biden’s cabinet, the Naked Mole Rat in the Kremlin, Shrillary, oe a host of other people. I say she deserves the benefit of the doubt, which is why I do feel sad given the inherent anatomical issues Neo pointed out (and which aren’t limited to transpeople by any stretch of the imagination), but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a spirited amateur with their own success in spite of failure. And I wish them luck.

I’m strongly opposed to the entire trans ideology idiocy, but BOTH SIDES are guilty of it.
I’m transgender myself and I suffer the consequences of the hostility against transgender people that the ideologues on both sides cause.

Fair, and while we have had our differences (and I am still justifiably bitter at what I believe was your smearing of other blog readers as wanting you dead), you have my sympathies there.

Skills are easy to test for. If someone can dance like a ballet star, they have the skills needed.
If someone don’t, they can’t.
If a trans woman can dance like a ballet star, more power to her. But most of us never will be able to. Doesn’t mean we can’t dream and try. Not that I’m going to try, not my thing, plus I’ve serious balance problems so I’ll never be able to even get close to developing the skills.