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Fuck you very much, the TSA.2
Hello there! This is your nine AM report that yeah, opting out of the backscatter machines really is as unpleasant as you've been led to believe.
I had the time when I arrived at the airport, and the security lines were blesséd short, so yeah, why wouldn't I choose to opt out? Cause someone else a bit of hassle, and not have naked pictures of me leaked to the internet in a couple weeks. I am quite okay with this plan, and so, at the point where you are meant to be removing your shoes and putting everything on the little moving belt, I smiled oh so cynically at the woman directing things, and asked what procedures one must take to opt-out.
She didn't quite sigh, and directed me to put my things on the belt --make sure there was nothing in my pockets, no paper, no anything, no belt, and of course, no shoes. "We have a female opt-out" she said wearily into her walkie-talkie, which nearly broke me in two right there --I am not female, and I hate being called such, and I know that it is only a hundred times worse for so many more people.
I had to walk through the backscatter machine to get to the area in which they would scan me --directly on the other side of the backscatter machine, causing a slight bottleneck as more compliant people had to squeeze around me. And there I was and there was a young woman who was not the slightest bit comforting as she told me that she was going to have to touch me.
And proceeded to do just that. She, as the one account has been saying, stroked my hair, which felt far more violating than I ever would have expected. She ran her hands down my back, over my ass, down my legs, then came 'round to the front to stroke my chest, down between and under my breasts, my stomach. Waistband search is apparently mandatory --she slid a finger into my waistband, both front and back, and ran it back and forth to make sure I wasn't concealing contraband in the waist of my panties or some such.
Perhaps the part that made it worst for me was the way she kept emphasizing "I'm going to use the back of my hand" when she went to touch the so called "private" parts of my body. I'm sorry, if you are rubbing something against my butt, my breasts, it really does not matter whether it's the front of the hand, the back of the hand, or a six inch rubber dildo. I will still feel violated by the pressure and by the fact that you are stroking my body in a way I do not consent1 to. Her reassurances that it was "only" the back of her hand felt rather like being told that it's okay, the stabbing you're about to receive is "only" going to be done with a blunt knife.
I waited patiently afterwards, to gather my bag --ohwait, I forgot that I have evil Massachusettsian water in my bag. This simply won't stand! So I had to wait for the agent to dump out my water and send my bag through again (she wanted me to go do it, which would have involved going through the line again...um, fuck no, much? One, it's not my fault you can't tell the difference between a bottle of water and a bottle of EVIl, two, I am so not fucking going through that unpleasantness again.).
Now I am about to go refill my water bottle with more evil Massachusettsian water (somehow MAGICALLY DISTILLED by being from an airport water fountain *after* security instead of an airport water fountain *before* security) and continue to try not to cry about the fact that I feel like I was just molested.
Banner fucking way to start the day, especially after how impossibly shitty last night was.
Fighting the good fight, and all that. Just wish it didn't feel so damn futile.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I do not consent to being photographed naked by the TSA, and I sure as _hell_ do not consent to being molested by a TSA agent. However, apparently if I want to fly in this country, I have to let the people in power molest me, so I'd better just be a good girl and shut my mouth about it. Charming!
2: (from the title) Is anyone else thinking that Eric Idle's song from 2004 could really use an update? It scans and *everything*
I had the time when I arrived at the airport, and the security lines were blesséd short, so yeah, why wouldn't I choose to opt out? Cause someone else a bit of hassle, and not have naked pictures of me leaked to the internet in a couple weeks. I am quite okay with this plan, and so, at the point where you are meant to be removing your shoes and putting everything on the little moving belt, I smiled oh so cynically at the woman directing things, and asked what procedures one must take to opt-out.
She didn't quite sigh, and directed me to put my things on the belt --make sure there was nothing in my pockets, no paper, no anything, no belt, and of course, no shoes. "We have a female opt-out" she said wearily into her walkie-talkie, which nearly broke me in two right there --I am not female, and I hate being called such, and I know that it is only a hundred times worse for so many more people.
I had to walk through the backscatter machine to get to the area in which they would scan me --directly on the other side of the backscatter machine, causing a slight bottleneck as more compliant people had to squeeze around me. And there I was and there was a young woman who was not the slightest bit comforting as she told me that she was going to have to touch me.
And proceeded to do just that. She, as the one account has been saying, stroked my hair, which felt far more violating than I ever would have expected. She ran her hands down my back, over my ass, down my legs, then came 'round to the front to stroke my chest, down between and under my breasts, my stomach. Waistband search is apparently mandatory --she slid a finger into my waistband, both front and back, and ran it back and forth to make sure I wasn't concealing contraband in the waist of my panties or some such.
Perhaps the part that made it worst for me was the way she kept emphasizing "I'm going to use the back of my hand" when she went to touch the so called "private" parts of my body. I'm sorry, if you are rubbing something against my butt, my breasts, it really does not matter whether it's the front of the hand, the back of the hand, or a six inch rubber dildo. I will still feel violated by the pressure and by the fact that you are stroking my body in a way I do not consent1 to. Her reassurances that it was "only" the back of her hand felt rather like being told that it's okay, the stabbing you're about to receive is "only" going to be done with a blunt knife.
I waited patiently afterwards, to gather my bag --ohwait, I forgot that I have evil Massachusettsian water in my bag. This simply won't stand! So I had to wait for the agent to dump out my water and send my bag through again (she wanted me to go do it, which would have involved going through the line again...um, fuck no, much? One, it's not my fault you can't tell the difference between a bottle of water and a bottle of EVIl, two, I am so not fucking going through that unpleasantness again.).
Now I am about to go refill my water bottle with more evil Massachusettsian water (somehow MAGICALLY DISTILLED by being from an airport water fountain *after* security instead of an airport water fountain *before* security) and continue to try not to cry about the fact that I feel like I was just molested.
Banner fucking way to start the day, especially after how impossibly shitty last night was.
Fighting the good fight, and all that. Just wish it didn't feel so damn futile.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I do not consent to being photographed naked by the TSA, and I sure as _hell_ do not consent to being molested by a TSA agent. However, apparently if I want to fly in this country, I have to let the people in power molest me, so I'd better just be a good girl and shut my mouth about it. Charming!
2: (from the title) Is anyone else thinking that Eric Idle's song from 2004 could really use an update? It scans and *everything*
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*hugs and love to you and yours*
~Sor
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This will be done though!
~Sor
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I'm looking to see how the Thanksgiving opt-out protest will turn out.
When we flew through SF, I got chosen for the backscatter, and I wasn't really in any mood to be fussy, so I just went through. But I still had to wait a good while for
Maybe we'll soon see a "Markets in Everything" based on this comic (http://www.overcompensating.com/posts/20101116.html). (I don't think I'd recommend the comic as a series, but this one is applicable)
Out of curiosity, would have you been less startled if the TSA agent had said "we need a female agent for an opt-out" rather than "we have a female opt-out?"
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I am so incredibly sorry you had to go through that, sweetheart, and I am sending happy thoughts and hugs your way so hard right now. Unless you're in a no-hugging state of mind, like I get sometimes, particularly when having physical contact meltdowns, in which case I'm just sending the good thoughts.
Also, I want to check on something, now that you've reminded me. You've said you're not okay with the word female being applied to you. Are you okay with "she" and "her" or do you want me to avoid pronouns when talking about you? I've been using them for you and I don't want to if it bothers you, but I know you're not male either. I talk a more slowly when I have to avoid pronouns, since I have to think harder about what I'm saying, but I've done it before.
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I really appreciate the non-hug thing, and I send the same kind of good vibes back at you. (I am good for hugging now, but yeah, right after there was that little bit of "but now I feel dirty and don't want to be touched." Which is, you know. Totally unfair.)
I actually am more or less okay with the word female being applied to me, as long as it's done by people who actually understand, or are willing to understand, that my gender is more complex than that. I consider myself to be a cisbodied multiplygendered person, which I define to mean as having many different mental genders which may or may not feel right at any given moment, but pretty much always being okay about being in a body that has breasts and a vagina. I don't know if this makes my whole genderqueer thing a scam, except sometimes there are days where I really just don't feel like a girl, or anything close, and wish the world could see me the same way.
You may use whatever pronouns you would like for me. She and her are fine, so are he and his, so are e and hir and zie or sie. I will not be offended by you --my big problem with the agent was that she was a complete stranger to me, and yet felt entitled to assign me a gender. I get a _lot_ bitchier about the female thing when I feel it's being done by people who don't get why maintaining the binary is hurtful.
~Sor
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I suppose it'd be, you know, insane to suggest that the airport security actually wipe the bodyscan files or retool the machines so they don't actually record them? I mean I know that asking them to do what they said they'd do is horrific of me, really I get that. But it'd certainly increase the chances of people flying.
I know, thinking outside the box by saying to do what you promised is crazy.
...I do get the reason they were picky about the water though. That's not really something I can side with you about. Since the reasoning behind that actually is reasonable. And separate from this binary choice of how to be violated by the airport security thing.
About that water ...
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Were they advanced-scanning everybody, or just people selected for additional scrutiny? It seems to vary.
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I'm flying up your way a week from today and am debating my options:
- I don't care at all about my nekked body being seen by some random agent in another room, nor, really, about not all that identifiable leaked images were they to exist.
- I do have some concerns that although properly calibrated backscatter machines should be less radiation than the upcoming flight . . . I don't know how well calibrated those machines will stay. So next week I'd probably not consider a health risk to me, and with the amount I fly, also not much of one.
That all said, I do have reservations about the whole deal.
I'm tempted to
1) use some silver infused burn goop I have around to write Oh Baby! across my boobs, and go through the machine. Probably not clever.
2) ask for the enhanced patdown, and go commando with a skirt. Probably won't feign interest, though.
The latter concept is mostly to up the annoyance factor on the part of the agents, so they start complaining up the line.
Honestly, I think I'd prefer an option 3, of asking for a small room and then just stripping and performing a Charleston.
It probably all depends on how busy I am at work that day.
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Going commando with a skirt is really tempting --I am definitely getting the scan-or-grope choice again in a week (and might get it on my return flights on Monday and next Monday as well.) and my other main thought is the idea of binding and packing, and going through security as a pre-op transman. (I do worry about being appropriating if I choose to do this.)
The choice of "enjoying it too much" or "sobbing uncontrollably" is perhaps my favourite mental debate for how to do the groping. I think either would be uncomfortable for the TSA, and hopefully, like you said, that might start the complaints going up the line.
~Sor
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don't know if you heard about what the radio guy in seattle is planning next week
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*hug*
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And thank you.
~Sor
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I'm not flying any time soon, but when I do I'm probably going to wear my kilt and do the same.
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Possibly the only good thing that seems to be coming out of all this (besides maybe America bein' all "wait, security theatre isn't always a good thing...) is the idea of a whole lot of pretty boys starting to wear their kilts to the airport. I am a-okay with this.
~Sor
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...and a bit scared and peeved with myself that reading this is making me reconsider if I want naked pictures of me (the answer to which should always rationally be "no" or "with a prettier backdrop").
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My general opinion is that people who are emotionally able1 to take the opt-out, should. I don't like the idea of anyone having nudes of themselves floating out there that they're unaware about (obviously, if you choose to use a prettier background and publish yourself, that is an acceptable thing), and I really like the idea of irritating the TSA agents, and making things more difficult for them, as well as making a public fuss and causing other people to think about the choice they're making.
~Sor
1: And if you don't think you would be emotionally able to deal with it, for allgods sakes, do not put yourself through that kind of hell just to make a statement that may or may not ever be seen as effective. It is terrible to have to take *either* choice the TSA is currently offering, and whatever makes it easiest for you is a good plan.
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I personally find it really easy to deal with being touched "professionally" so to speak. Still not sure I'd find it within myself to choose the frisking over the scanning to stick one to the system. Ack. Both sound awful. I don't want people looking at me naked! Well actually. I don't give a fuck who sees me naked, but only as long as it's on my terms (and as long as they don't mind seeing me naked, also).
totally seeing red about this
It's all completely pointless and stupid. Security experts agree that it accomplishes NOTHING. All it does is encourage a police-state mentality.
I am probably going to get in trouble the next time I end up flying anywhere. Josh has prevented any summer visits to far-off places since 2007, so I've missed out on recent airport security "improvements"... but no, I totally won't deal well with being treated like that. I WANT TO TAKE MY DAMN SODAS WITH ME IN MY BOOKBAG.
(Does anyone know if there's some kind of ink that shows up in those full-body scans? Preferably something that is otherwise invisible... Then I could write "FUCK THE TSA" or maybe "I AM A TERRORIST" somewhere under my clothing.)(Yes, I know they have signs saying "no joking". It's not a joke, it's a protest... and besides, airports are public property and I am exercising my freedom of speech.)
further thoughts
If I had the money to blow on lost tickets, what I would really do is just breeze on through security as if, y'know, I had paid for a flight and had a right to proceed to my plane without further hassle -- walk around the device, cut over to another entrance, whatever. Answer politely but firmly when asked to stop (after determining that there was no *good* reason to stop, of course). Completely ignore the existence of the security checkpoint without actually doing anything illegal or rude, and see what happens. There are certainly enough horror stories out there -- but is that what *usually* happens, or are they outliers?
And I am trying desperately to work up a song. If anyone has lyrics to throw in the pot, post a comment or contact me however.
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Contact your reps. Honestly, I don't think any amount of public outrage will influence the TSA directly, not until Congress gets involved.
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Thank you for describing this. I've been told that because of my sex and the way that I look I'm more likely to get chosen for this, so I definitely need to figure out what the hell I'm going to do. Thank you for giving me more information.
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What exactly does that mean? What are the parameters for being chosen for a full-body scan?
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I just found an article in my reader from Sociological Images related to this. I'm going to send you the link, but with a trigger warning - the article's about an organization that uses images comparing the pat-downs to sexualized violence, and the images are a little disturbing. Here it is. (http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2010/11/17/do-full-body-scans-sexual-groping/)
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Activism
Fly With Dignity (http://flywithdignity.org/)
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So why bother with letting someone look at me naked to begin with?
Some people say, Well, I'm not ashamed of my body, so why are you so bothered by this? Lucky them, they don't have a colostomy bag, or urinary catheter, or prosthetic parts (or decided to leave their prosthesis at home just because of this madness), etc.
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Fighting the good fight, and all that. Just wish it didn't feel so damn futile.
"The good fight" (= a position that is right, if not always popular) usually feels futile until it's won.
I'm hoping that this new policy will be the one that finally goes a step too far enough that there's actually a real backlash against the TSA (real as in policy-changing). Although Fivethirtyeight had an article (http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/the-full-body-backlash/) the other day that mentions a poll where 81% of respondents support the scans, so who knows. The poll makes no mention of the alternative opt-out grope, though, and was conducted a week-10 days ago, which kind of seems like before the furor over the scans/gropes really came to a head, as it were, so I'd bet that a large part of that 81% were unaware of the negatives and lack of positives for the whole thing.
Totally unrelated to the topic of the post, if you have to be stabbed, it's much better it be a sharp knife than a blunt one. More of a clean slice, less ripping and tearing. (This is why sharp tools of all kinds are supposed to be kept sharp, in addition to that obviously being part of their function.)
There's hope
I'm sorry you had to go through that experience : (
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I could not stand for that shit. Noone should stand for that shit. This is not acceptable!
FWIW ...