I emailed Ofcom regarding the recent 'chick with a dick' comment that was broadcast during a discussion between Gordon Ramsay and Cheryl Tweedy/Cole on Gordon Ramsay's Channel 4 show – The F Word. Since the term is often used as slang to describe female-identified transpeople, I wondered whether or not the use of the phrase in this context was transphobic and therefore, constituted a contravention of not only Ofcom's guidelines, but also current UK hate crime legislation.
The reply is below. Ofcom decided that in this instance, inferring that Lily Allen is a 'chick with a dick' didn't necessarily constitute transphobia. Nevertheless, at the same tim,e Ofcom (please see letter below), and much of the media, the general public and most notably Lily Allen herself, definitely felt the term 'chick with a dick' to be an insult, regarding the insinuation of being one as a slur on her attractiveness and self-worth as a woman.
If then, the term 'chick with a dick' is generally understood to refer to a non-operative transsexual woman or non-op female-identified transperson then it seems to me, that even if not intentional, it would still be understood by most people as validating and re-affirming a transphobic belief system, that either they may or may not choose to buy into. The automatic assumption of a transgendered state of being as something 'physically undesirable' and 'less worthy', if not 'worthless', is revelatory of bi-gendered society's deep-rooted, profound transphobia. Recently remember, Ofcom upheld complaints that Jeremy Clarkson using the term 'gay' to describe a car that didn't float his boat did actually amount to homophobia.
Did many commentators, at any stage during the very public Lily vs. Cheryl row, consider whether or not being utilised as the 'lowest common denominator' may also prove offensive, hurtful and generally harmful to the well being of non-operative transwomen and female-identified transpeople? Seemingly not: although there was this article in the Guardian: http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2082059,00.html
Well here's another question: Just what is wrong with being a 'chick with a dick' and just why is transphobic society so hung up about it?
From Lily to Willy