I went into the "Bucking the System" lecture not knowing anything about it. I had some idea that it would be about doing things your own way, as the title suggested, but that was all. I did not know who Buck Angel was. All I had heard was that it was a big event, so I thought I'd attend.
While waiting for the lecture to begin, my friend said, "There he is! That's Buck Angel!" and pointed to a tough-looking bald guy with tattoos covering his arms. I was puzzled. What did this guy have to do with my Women's Studies class? Then, my friend told me that Buck used to be a girl. I was in absolute disbelief because I would have never guessed that just by looking at him. But knowing that he was a trans male, I became more interested in the lecture, and was glad I decided to go.
Buck started his talk with a video about his life. We learned from that short clip that he went from being a cute little blonde girl, to a fashion model, to a man - a man who made porn. There was so much about Buck's life that I learned in that short video, so I had no idea which aspect of it he was going to discuss for the next hour. Luckily, my lack of expectations led me to thoroughly love his whole presentation.
Many people in my class expressed disappointment in "Bucking the System," saying that they expected Buck to discuss being a trans male in the porn industry. This bothered me because that's asking one person to speak for an entire group of people. Each individual experience is different. What if Buck had an extraordinarily unique experience? (Note: it seemed like he did.) Additionally, I think that would alienate people.
Instead, Buck's talk was applicable to everyone. He talked about how his entire life, he felt that he had to be a certain way - the norm - even though he knew that he was different. He talked about how this struggle to conform led to problems with drugs and alcohol, led him to do poorly in school, prevented him from becoming an amazing athlete, got him kicked out of the house and made him homeless, pushed him into prostitution, and made him attempt suicide. Buck then told us how he found a solution: being himself. Buck did what made him happy. He stopped trying to be what he was supposed to be. Now, he seems perfectly happy with his life.
I liked how Buck went about this discussion. I think that, because Buck is a trans male, people assumed he was talking about people who are having issues with their gender and sex. But that was not the case. He talked about things to which everyone could relate, regardless of whatever made them unhappy. Lots of people have trouble conforming, fitting in, and meeting societal expectations, for whatever reason. Lots of people crack under the pressure. Buck's message to people who experience such problems was to "buck the system" and do whatever they want to make themselves happy.
Just because Buck is a trans porn star does not mean he is only a trans porn star. Yes, it is true that he cannot try to give a speech at a school under the title of Porn Star, but that is because a porn star would not speak in an academic setting. So he does this as a Motivational Speaker, because it is a different part of him that is speaking. He talked about his decision to become a motivational speaker because he wanted to help people. He said he knew that if he could overcome his challenge and identify how he did it, then he could aid others who were struggling. Overall, this was an amazing event, and was probably the one I have enjoyed most during my four years at Colgate.
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