(no subject)

[kaberett]

This is a good and important article about the vigil held this evening for Lucy Meadows. Content notes: suicide; Lucy's birth name is given in the body of the article.

I note that this is way, way better than I typically expect the Guardian to be on the topic of trans* people (and wish I weren't so cynical about the fact that they're being ~this good~ because it gives them a chance to have a dig at the Daily Mail).

... however, I also note that if they are going to insist on getting a vox pop from a token straight cis white professional dude in his early 30s? They should maybe think twice before quoting his surname as "Mudkipz".

Comments

[liv]

What exactly is your objection to the guy's surname? Am I missing some cultural reference here?

[cxcvi]

In short, it's a cultural reference to Pokemon.

In long, Mudkip is one of the (I've lost count) many species of Pokemon, notable for the meme "so i herd u liek mudkipz [sic]".

(And this time, I might even reply to the correct post...)

[liv]

Cool, that's exactly the level of explanation I was hoping for, many thanks. I'm a bit sensitive cos half my family and friends have names with combinations of consonants that aren't typical for English (often with non-standard transcriptions / spellings), plus I think people are allowed to choose their own use-names even if it's not what's on their official documents, whether that's for gender reasons or any other reasons. But if Mudkipz is an existing joke, I can exactly see why this is a case of the journalist getting fooled by a prankster, rather than someone having an unusual (given or chosen) name.

[kaberett]

In context, with the other sociodemographic information given about the gentleman in question, to me this reads very clearly as Dude Is Part of Anonymous/Hangs Around 4chan - and as though he is deliberately referencing that. But, yes, sorry, that's a piece of cultural detritus I've acquired that I shouldn't assume everyone will have, & you are quite right that people are frequently crap about names and I should be clearer about why I'm sceptical in instances where I am (which are, tbc, very rare - this is the only one I can think of).