Colonel Flagg on 07/11/2008 3:52 am

Max, it's good to see you pontificating again, my friend! Two comments:

quote - Then I could go on calling him ‘Pregnant Man’ or even ‘The Pregnant Man’ (as in ‘The Batman’).

Don't you mean "The Goddamned Pregnant Man"?

quote - "... your overweening commitment to Star Trek in all it’s forms, including ‘Voyager’."

Ok, but not including "Enterprise" - that show sucked balls.

Drunken_Lemur408 on 07/11/2008 4:06 am

Curse you Colonel Flagg, I wished to be first. You shall rue this day and yes I should get to sleep.

Terrible-D on 07/11/2008 4:21 am

Good stuff.

I refuse to refer to "Thomas" as a he. Maybe I'm just an asshole. But she's missing three things that all men have(two if we're talking about Lance Armstrong). Now some people might say "it doesn't matter what gender you were born as, but which one you identify as." To that I say nay, nay. I would like to be refered to as "The Mighty Emperor of the Midwest". But just because that's what I want, doesn't mean I get it.

Tanuki on 07/11/2008 8:21 am

I honestly have no idea what to say about this.

I do wanna say "good for you" to Mr. Babymaker over there, though. I'm Episcopal, my mother's devout Catholic, so I don't discuss this issue with her.

Whoa.. (Guest) on 07/11/2008 9:11 am

How.. is it even POSSIBLE for a man to give birth?

Would he not be a man anymore? :S

Jay-tee (Guest) on 07/11/2008 10:03 am

It's an it.

Silver on 07/11/2008 10:46 am

Gosh... I thought we only had gays and lesbians... What's next? Those abominable entities you just mentioned?

While I tolerate most people, I can't hide the fact that several individuals give me the creeps.

We have been screwed.

Adam-Wan (Guest) on 07/11/2008 11:24 am

erm umm.. hmmm.. kinda at a loss for words. I swore for the longest it was a hoax.. I guess not.

Ohma (Guest) on 07/11/2008 12:06 pm

Fuck you intolerant shitheads! It's assholes like you who make it so fucking easy for society to screw over transpeople at every fucking opportunity.

"Oh wah wah, he can't be a man because 'he' don't gots no wee wee."

Shove your bullshit in your eyes! It's exactly that fucking attitude that helps assholes feel safe and secure that nobody will care if they rape and kill transmen and women.

Parout (Guest) on 07/11/2008 12:07 pm

Heh, for school I had to write a ballad, and I chose the pregnant man story. Classic.

adw (Guest) on 07/11/2008 12:13 pm

Shes is not a man. If i cut off my arms and legs does that make me a snake

ther is n0 try on 07/11/2008 12:28 pm

Ohma, is anyone on here talking about going to this womans house and harming her? Keeping her from getting a job? No, everyone is simply saying she is not a man because she isn't. All she did was change her appearance to look more like a man. If she still has her reproductive organs and can still get pregnant, guess what, shes a woman not a pregnant man. Way to get super over defensive about something thats not even offensive.

Max Burbank on 07/11/2008 1:19 pm

Author weighing in. I hope it's clear from what I wrote that I am fine with Pregnant Man, at least as fine as I am with everybody else on the planet, which is not so much, but in fairly equal amounts.

As far as what he calls himself and what he is, I've always been a fan of the skunk from 'Bambi', who said "He can call me flower if he wants to."

twittlie (Guest) on 07/11/2008 1:32 pm

"Way to get super over defensive about something thats not even offensive."

Not offensive?!? You don't think that invalidating someone is offensive?!?

That is exactly the type of mentality that Ohma was talking about, except the murder example was to an extreme. Obviously Max is more of a man than the insecure assholes on this page since he is able to refer to Thomas Beatie as Mister.

spleek on 07/11/2008 1:34 pm

hmmmm.....methinks Ohma was inadvertently directed here on his way to www.i-serious.com

if its brought up on this site, we are going to make fun of it, we are going to laugh at it, dare I say......MOCK it! Anything less would be uncivilized and more akin to calling a doughnut a hot dog..........

twittlie (Guest) on 07/11/2008 1:37 pm

Hey Max,

Thanks for reiterating your point. It's that loss of equality as shown by other commenters that make me feel queasy.

ther is n0 try on 07/11/2008 1:43 pm

I'm gettin a little sick and tired of being called an asshole, I have no problem with Mister or Mrs. Beatie or whatever the fuck she he it wants to be called. I'm simply sayin scientifically she is not a man, these are facts not opinions. If I painted myself black and started calling myself an african american man that would be an incorrect statement, as I am not. Same goes for if I took some estrogen pills and got myself a pair of breasts but kept my penis I wouldn't be a woman. Men cannot get pregnant thats a fact of nature. Get over it.

Stonedfox on 07/11/2008 2:03 pm

As a young man who discovered the wonders of Unitarian Universalism recently (and also the one member of my family to not be baptised) I must say this article was very reaffirming (hehe) for me, and my choice to became a Unitarian.

And for the record, although "phooey" is a fantastic thing to say to someone/something, I'm a bigger fan of "nuts to you!"

bertleman (Guest) on 07/11/2008 2:08 pm

wow, Max loves to provoke even he's not trying, and he's not trying here at all, believe me. Nice to know the troll/crank crowd is tuning in to BrandMax.

AIF (Guest) on 07/11/2008 3:02 pm

The Pregnant Man divides me. While I am okay with the idea of a transman becoming pregnant, especially if his partner is incapable of doing so, I don't know how I feel about him using it as a way to gain his fifteen minutes of fame.

Now, I haven't read much about him. Maybe in all of his interviews he stresses the importance of respecting transgendered people and answering questions for folks and all that good stuff. But I still don't think this is the best publicity transgendered people could be getting.

Let's face it: people still aren't used to gays and lesbians. They won't be used to transpeople for decades to come. And pregnant, male-identified transpeople gracing the cover of every tabloid and becoming a guest on every day-time talk-show? Well, I just don't know if the world will ever be ready for that, frankly.

I was always taught that the best way to get people to like you is not to demand it, but to persuade them through good behavior. Thus, I think if LGBT people (myself being one of them) wish to gain others' acceptance they must strive to behave in ways that the more conservative (read: "...people of the land. The common clay []. You know... morons.") can understand. At least publicly. Then they can gradually work their way up to having a pregnant transman talk about it on Oprah.

Max Burbank on 07/11/2008 3:31 pm

Yeah, but I'm still getting out in front of the crowd with Flower

Jaimas on 07/11/2008 5:06 pm

Which means frankly you have bigger stones than most of us, dear Max.

Maxilor (Guest) on 07/11/2008 5:18 pm

I think in this case Max would have the larger ovaries.

Jay-Tee (Guest) on 07/11/2008 6:00 pm

It's still an it.

Protoclown on 07/11/2008 6:14 pm

I called Max "Flower" once and he socked me in the jaw, and then urinated on me.

Inky (Guest) on 07/11/2008 7:33 pm

He's a man, in my opinion. No breasts, testosterone in the system, etc. But it's true that he'll always be a female. That is, with a vagina and overies.

I pity those who can't wrap their heads around this.

And lastly, "it" refers to bugs and furniture, not human beings..

-RoG- on 07/11/2008 7:50 pm

"I called Max "Flower" once and he socked me in the jaw, and then urinated on me."

Proto, did he stand up straight or did he squat when he urinated on you? Your answer just might clear up a LOT of questions that people have about ol' Max.

Dungeonbrownies on 07/11/2008 8:26 pm

Iono, imma get myself urinated on for this..
but I liked start trek voyager...
I felt it was fresh and closer to the original,
without being too crazy like the one that ultimately brought the end of the series as we know it.
that and I liked the skintight suits.

Yo (Guest) on 07/11/2008 8:39 pm

I thought he/she was a guy by birth. Then again, I only saw a glimpse of one interview with him/her on TV.
I don't know what all the fuss is. If he has normal woman organs, what is so weird about him having a baby? It would be much weirder if they tried to generate a baby in his nuts and giving birth through his penis.
THAT would be weird.

-RoG- on 07/11/2008 8:45 pm

Dungeonbrownies, Voyager was ok, I've seen enough episodes of it. I obviously prefer the original series and Next Generation though. However, as Colonel Flagg pointed out, Enterprise was just pure suckage. The intro to that show alone let me know just how bad it was going to be before even seeing an actual episode.

Tom the Bomb (Guest) on 07/11/2008 8:56 pm

I'm the exact opposite of a U.U. then. There are a lot of people devoted to ideologies that I do not except or affirm, like violent racists and people who try to defend pedophilia as just another form of love. There are too many wackos out there *doing stuff* for me to ever convert, Max.
(here comes the part where I'm kidding) Like for instance, I'll give you two examples. There are these two guys name Rog and Protoclown. . .

alittlebirdytoldmeso on 07/11/2008 10:09 pm

Hey, if someone cut off their arms and legs and asked to be called a snake, I'd call them a damn snake. Because they showed me whose commited to hapless acts of self-mutilation.

Art Vandelay on 07/11/2008 10:23 pm

So a WOMAN who looks like a dude had a baby.

Big whup.

Gimal (Guest) on 07/12/2008 12:38 am

There was never a pregnant man. It's just a freaky chick who thinks she is a man. Once and always will be a female. Plus if they are putting picks of HER all over the place topless can we get some real chicks with nice boobs on the news not blurred

Jay-Tee (Guest) on 07/12/2008 3:55 am

It's nipples make me uncomfortable.

Armless Snake (Guest) on 07/12/2008 11:26 am

Actually, if there had been scientific research done saying that you likely had the brain structure or chromosomes or partial genitals of a snake from birth, if you lived as a snake not just in words but in lifestyle, if it was easily explainable how womb conditions could make a baby part-human and part-snake, if there were numerous historical precedents of human/snake crossover from Native American tribes to Emperors of Rome, if you were diagnosed as a snake by a PhD or MD psychologist who has much more experience on the subject than angry teenagers with comic-book avatars on the internet, and if living as a snake made you comfortable in ways living as a man did not even though you realized that living as a man would be eaiser, then yes, you'd pretty much be a snake.

But then you could not post, because snakes don't post. Sacrifices.

Of course, I've never heard of such a thing, but I'd probably call you a snake anyway becasue I don't need to be rude to people and force my (possibly mistaken, definitely unresearched) view of the world on them. I would call you a snake and realize that no one was forcing me to be friends with you, so it really wouldn't affect me one way or another.

Max Burbank on 07/12/2008 12:15 pm

Never watched Enterprise after the Rod Stewart opening.

BUT. Voyager. The captains spirit guide was a salamander. End of conversation.

Nick on 07/12/2008 7:36 pm

Technically he isn't a man.

Shawn_the_Donut (Guest) on 07/13/2008 12:35 am

Let HIM be what HE wants to be. Woman, Man, Snake, what right does everyone else have to judge?
But Max... I am offended. "THE" Batman? Do you call Clark Kent "The" Superman? I think not. It's "Batman" or be damned, I say.

I wanna be a donut...

Desert_Screams on 07/13/2008 1:52 am

It's Pat!

HowardC on 07/13/2008 2:37 am

This politically correct b.s. is a bunch of crap.

I have no problem with the lady (or man as SHE likes to call herself, which is fine) but the fact of the matter is her insisting that we call her a he is just confusing in this particular instance.

When I first heard of the story I thought "Holy Fucking Crap! The Future is now!" and I had visions of artifical uteri, strange genetic manipulation and basically the movie "Junior" coming to pass. Of course I read on to discover that it was simply a woman that's undergone gender re-certification, which, quite frankly is NOT a pregnant man, but a pregnant post-op transexual.

If she wants us to refer to herself as he I'm fine with it and I can certainly understand that, but when you start selling your image to everyone under the sun as "The (God-Damned) Pregnant Man" you better fucking have been born a man or else you are just spewing falsehoods around.

And just on a tangent I've often found people who get upset when you refer to them as what they are particularly annoying. Just for example, if I call a fat man "fat" and obviously didn't say it in an insulting manner why must he get upset? Did he not know he was fat? Is the truth now too offensive to the populations delicate ears? I don't think so. Probably the ultimate example is the word "retarded." Retarded is not a slurr or slang or an insult, it is a MEDICAL TERM used to describe someone with a undervelopment/defect (in this case a mental one). So why is it we have to call retarded people "special"? I mean if they aren't retarded it's one thing, but if they are, isn't that what we should call them? I could also go into the whole "N word" deal and how this is slang for the word Negro, which is literally Latin for "dark brownish-hue" but some people would get too upset.

My point? Well when we speak we should be free to use whatever words best convey our thoughts to others without censorship and judgement. That doesn't mean that we should talk to people in hurtful ways, but we should keep in mind that there isn't such a thing as a hurtful word. It's how you use a word.

In this particular case, because we are dealing with a medical condition, this individual should NOT be referred to as a man when talking about their pregnancy because that is simply untrue. At this time it is MEDICALLY IMPOSSIBLE for a man to carry a child and to call this woman a man simply confuses the issue. Furthermore, he should NOT be offended when someone refers to him as a girl, because, like it or not, he kept his lady parts so the description isn't inaccurate, so long as they aren't using this fact in a hurtful manner.

And in honor of George Carlin himself, if you disagree you can just fuck off!

(Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits)

Fast Eddy (Guest) on 07/13/2008 4:53 am

I agree with HowardC.

Also, i'm morally outraged that anyone is morally outraged about anything occurring on this page.

Colonel Flagg on 07/13/2008 11:20 am

Max said:

"BUT. Voyager. The captains spirit guide was a salamander. End of conversation."

But you didn't get this nugget of information until the third (?) episode, while we all knew Enterprise blew at the opening credits.

On the other hand, I'd much rather argue the merits of Star Trek: Voyager than the ethical implications of gender reassignment. It's so much more life-affirming.

(Last off-topic comment for awhile. My apologies.)

gr8bishie on 07/13/2008 1:42 pm

I liked that episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer's spirit guide was a coyote who inexplicably had the voice of Johnny Cash.

Sands (Guest) on 07/13/2008 3:05 pm

Thomas Beatie is a WOMAN. Anyone with half a brain knows that much. She may wish to be a man or believe that she was born one but I have news for her. She is NOT. Furthermore, the fact that she has chosen to engage in the ultimately female act of getting pregant and having a vaginal birth tells me that she is not above embracing her femininity when it suits HER. Any psychiatrist or psychologist who is not concerned about being bullied by a certain left wing segment of society will openly agree with me. I don't care about being politically correct. I care about being truthful and as a medical student, I can unequivocally and factually state that she is a female. Like it or not.

Croix (Guest) on 07/13/2008 4:49 pm

I don't really care if she's a man or a woman, but I thought it was really bad of her to sell herself to the press like that. I mean, in essence, by going public with all of this, she's basically presenting herself as a freak show. It's really terribly selfish of her to do so. After all, how fucking messed up is his daughter going to be?

Poop on a Stick (Guest) on 07/13/2008 6:40 pm

Dear Max, I enjoyed the slightly existential take on your religious affiliation. I almost thought it was a complete tangent until finally you somehow managed to tie it in to "Pregnant Man." I was getting a little worried; but, as usual, you showed what an intelligent, underpaid internet writer you are. Still waiting for BRAND MAX BURBANK shit to buy. Until then, make mine BRAND MAX BURBANK!

Terrible-D on 07/14/2008 12:29 am

I'm glad that in stating my opinion that I've been labeled an angry, childish rapist/murderer. Some people would say Ms. Beatie deserves my respect for going so far to be comfortable with herself. I ask why? Since when did self mutilation become an acceptable way of dealing with your own personal issues? When the latest bleached blonde gets herself a boob-job to make herself feel better about her apperence, am I supposed to stand up and say, "Congratulations on taking that step, no matter what anyone else thinks"? Should I apologize for having an opinion, even if it contradicts with the popular opinion? Nowhere in my previous post did I refer to Thomas as a freak, sideshow attraction, "it", or an abomination. And nowhere in that post did I insinuate that I was right. I just stated that it was my opinion that she is not, and through no amount of surgery, will ever be a man.
Well, in the spirit of including everyone, here are few more of my opinions that might possible enrage those of you who didn't get a chance:
1. I will not refer to anyone with black skin as an african-american, unless they prove to me with offical documentation that they hold duel citizenship in America and any African nation.(This holds for any nationality or race.)
2. I don't believe in a god (or gods) of anykind. In fact, those people who do believe unquestioningly in there faith and god scare the living shit out of me. Why is it so easy to accept the concept of god, and not, say, vampires?
3.We are all, in some way, hypocrites, insecure, judgemental, and/or assholes. It's just a fact of life. No one is perfect, and if they were, someone would form a lynch mob.
4. Child birth is not a miracle. It's a chemical reaction.
5. If you refer to your pet as your child, you're delusional and should seek help.(I love animals, I've owned dogs my whole life, but I don't need humanize them to make myself feel better.)
6. It's not a tragedy when people die. Young or old, it's a fact of life. Everything that lives, dies. Not to say that it shouldn't affect you when a loved one dies, but it was bound to happen.
7. Unquestioning loyalty to any political party makes you a tool. We all vote for the canidate that thinks most like ourself, assuming that we know jack shit about how the world should work.
If any of you feel left out, please feel free to contact me. I'm sure there's something you and I don't agree on, thus giving me a chance to say(or write) something that will piss you off.

Kitsunexus on 07/14/2008 4:27 am

So he's part of me because I want to be a Japanese schoolgirl?

Tom the Bomb (Guest) on 07/14/2008 11:54 am

Terrible-D, although I believe in God, I still feel that your rant could have used a few angry words about stamp collectors, comic book geeks, goldfish fanciers, and (this one refers to me) people with pet turtles.

See there's a whole bunch of people you missed, T-to-the-D. I hope you try harder next time.

Joe Cool (Guest) on 07/14/2008 2:32 pm

Hmmm...It is a shame that they did not adopt one of the many children out there who are waiting for a loving home.

Adam (Guest) on 07/14/2008 4:22 pm

Thomas isn't even a man, never was. It's a woman who had breast reduction surgery, took hormone replacements, and had follicle groth stimulated on her face. She's still a woman, still has a vagina, and is no medical miracle. Once she grows a penis, then she can be a man.

Sinkyl (Guest) on 07/17/2008 12:57 am

If the sole requirement for gender is the presence of a gender's specified genitalia, then I suppose that victims of genital mutilation, castration, cancer, birth defect and other means are all genderless? Just countless Its incapable and undeserving of the tiniest respect?

Transexuals deserve the respect to called by the pronouns that they feel as proper, so long as they fit in with normal societal boundries. The Pregnant Man, on the other hand, does not. She isn't living her life as a man, she's a lesbian, a lesbian without diginity, and utterly self-absorbed, but a lesbian all the same.

She isn't living her life as she claims she feels is right, she's living her life as a woman, an ugly, boobless woman. A man doesn't get pregnant, a man adopts, a man helps his wife undergo fertility treatments.

Sinkyl (Guest) on 07/17/2008 1:00 am

Also,a man doesn't purposely appear on Oprah, a man cannot ever appear on Oprah, it has been decreed.

Chiya (Guest) on 07/18/2008 4:59 pm

His children are going to probably get bullied, but as long as he's a good fmother (father/mother) then I don't see any problem with it. It's just kind of...gross.

('course I used to think gay people were gross but that was silly and I know some gay people and they're awesome.)

Chiya (Guest) on 07/18/2008 5:01 pm

PS: you have an ad on your website that doesn't like my computer and my computer doesn't like. So I probably won't be back, but just wanted to say your blog looks neat.

I found it from watching The Guild on youtube.

Adam-Wan (Guest) on 07/18/2008 11:36 pm

Abomination... no offense but the "shim's" kid is going to grow up miserable. I mean if you fell the need to be some bizarre sexual hybrid, we do live in America and you have that freedom, then cool do whatever. But bringing in a child into such an odd situation is unfair to the kid,, we all know how mean little kids cam be.

greenimp on 07/20/2008 7:33 am

well, (kiddies, please dont google anything you see in my posts you dont understand[at least not while your parents are home anywayz]) seeing as last i heard he has no vagina, i have a vital question... how did the baby come out? please tell me it waz zuzarian otherwise i might have nightmares and glance fearfully down at my genitalia from time to time