Sexism: A common ancestor of homophobia, transphobia, and transmisogyny
Content Warning: The Discourse, homophobia, transphobia, and transmisogyny.
Have you ever noticed discourse around transgender people and gay or queer people sound so similar?
I remember when same-sex marriage was the hot button issue of the civil rights debate™ and that people said that SSM would erode away established social traditions and customs, confuse children, destroy society as we know, and allow *silly thing* like marrying your lawnmower to be possible. Yet none of that happened, so what was all the fuss about? It was homophobia, which is a belief that gay, queer, non-heterosexual people, relationships, and sexuality were wrong and inferior to heterosexual or straight relationships.
People shouted "marriage is between a man and a woman" just like how people shout "there are only two genders, male and female!" Like, you may have thought those things to be true, but they're not. You can learn, people can and should change. Definitions are not traditions, we may have not considered that marriage or gender be so expansive, but both are social constructs, albeit different. Popular belief changes overtime. Just look at how Americans on average accepted same-sex marriage in 2015 versus 10 years prior in 2005. People evolved on homosexuality, queerness, non-straight people and will do the same for transgender people as well.
Transgender issues are getting a similar treatment, people are becoming much more aware of trans people, however, trans issues are not that new. Just on heals of the Supreme Court of the US legalizing marriage regardless of one's sex, trans issues such as bathroom access. Yeah really, bathrooms. In 2015 many states, ones with Republican-controlled legislatures introduced laws to make it illegal for someone to use a restroom that did not match their assigned gender at birth, the law specifically said sex on birth certificates, on these so-called bathroom-bills. However, it is not about the damn bathrooms, it is about making transgender people feel lesser, putting a minority in their place in the margins. It is appropriate for transgender women to use the women's bathroom and for transgender men to use the men's bathroom. (What about nonbinary people? Put a pin that, we'll get there)
Conservatives legislating against transgender people, not just in the United States, but anywhere else in the world, are doing this for similar reasons against gay and bisexual individuals, because they want to preserve the status quo legally, socially, and politically against LGBTQIA+ individuals. Civil Rights issues of other groups play out broadly similar in the law, the groups in power are maintaining the legal separations and that legitimizes bigotry. Segregation of race happened because white people believed themselves to be superior to black people, and other peoples of color. There were and still are laws dictating codes for men and women because the men who make them believe themselves to be more deserving of more rights than women. Anti-sodomy laws and criminalization of homosexuality happened because straight people believed gay and bisexual people to be morally inferior and themselves to be morally superior. Homophobia is a moral issue at its heart. Likewise, laws against transgender people happen because of cisgender people wanting to preserve the sex-gender system of assigned sex that determines a static gender and erasure and marginalization of anyone who is not cis. Transphobia and homophobia differ in their philosophies, transphobia is metaphysical.
Gender has metaphysical properties to it. Some people see being a gender with certain qualities and essences that are beyond people, even though it is mostly socially constructed.
Feminine essence theory of transsexuality is a common argument that lines up with essentialism and not social construction theory. Under the feminine essence theory, trans women are women because they are TRANScendentally female! They may have been born in the wrong male body but by cosmic chance, they had female souls or brains. Female souls born into the body of a crossdressing baby! What a sad misfortune. Yet, the feminine essence of trans people theory does not challenge a lot of cissexist assumptions of gender, especially transmisogyny, it still plays into the notion that a woman must have something to be transcendentally female. TERFs or farts, believe it to be brutalized by men, while some it is being literal walking vaginas and nothing else, or menstruation. Do you even bleed, sis?
This is biological essentialism, a similar theory, essentialism of gender relies on gender being biological rather than socially constructed or even psychological.
Gender overall has many competing theories and each can be explored in their own essays in much greater detail. This blog explores the idea of sexism in homophobia and transphobia.
Going back to transgender people, especially trans women, are being sensationalized in the same way that many gay and queer people were in the 2000s over the debate on the legality of same-sex marriage. Homophobic stereotypes show gender non-conformity, such as effeminate men and butch women to stand for gay men and lesbians respectively. That shaming of the non-conformist is similar but not the same in transphobia but to a greater degree. Trans women, in particular, have a narrative of being wrongfully accused of being "male rapists invading sacred womyn-born-womyn spaces" while trans men usually are ignored or cast aside as "lost lesbian sisters", and non-binary people meanwhile are, uh where the nonbinary people.
I'm glad you asked!
Nonbinary and genderqueer people often face challenges reintegrating themselves due to a lack of social, political, and legal recognition in many cases. With the rise of trans awareness, some people are beginning to see them.
Trans women and trans men already have pre-existing social roles to integrate into, because they have the same social roles of cis women and cis men. However, there are no cisgender non-binary people because nobody is assigned that at birth. Us nonbinary people are inherently transgender. Our gender does not match our assigned gender. Nonbinary people can be anything but strictly a man or strictly a woman. Transmasculine and transfeminine nonbinary people exist and may have some broadly similar experiences to binary trans people, such as transfems affected by transmisogyny and transmascs are exempt from it, just trans women and trans men. Of course, trans-androgynous and trans-neutral nonbinary exist as nonbinary people do not have to be aligned to any binary at all. It is an umbrella term, and thus people under it may have differing or similar experiences.
Non-binary people and genders deserve an essay on their own, so I'll end for now.
Sexism impacts and affects people of all genders differently, and can depend if you are transgender, cisgender, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, etc. Gender, sex, and sexuality are all spectra of social constructs. Sexism comes into play and still informs many roles, identities, and hierarchies. Various feminist theories can all explain why, how, and what better than I can, I really do recommend you read and research as well, and keep posted on my blog and youtube channel as well. I'll keep reading and writing on the philosophy and politics of transfeminism and other feminisms too.
-Miss BDE
Support this blog!
Have you ever noticed discourse around transgender people and gay or queer people sound so similar?
I remember when same-sex marriage was the hot button issue of the civil rights debate™ and that people said that SSM would erode away established social traditions and customs, confuse children, destroy society as we know, and allow *silly thing* like marrying your lawnmower to be possible. Yet none of that happened, so what was all the fuss about? It was homophobia, which is a belief that gay, queer, non-heterosexual people, relationships, and sexuality were wrong and inferior to heterosexual or straight relationships.
People shouted "marriage is between a man and a woman" just like how people shout "there are only two genders, male and female!" Like, you may have thought those things to be true, but they're not. You can learn, people can and should change. Definitions are not traditions, we may have not considered that marriage or gender be so expansive, but both are social constructs, albeit different. Popular belief changes overtime. Just look at how Americans on average accepted same-sex marriage in 2015 versus 10 years prior in 2005. People evolved on homosexuality, queerness, non-straight people and will do the same for transgender people as well.
Transgender issues are getting a similar treatment, people are becoming much more aware of trans people, however, trans issues are not that new. Just on heals of the Supreme Court of the US legalizing marriage regardless of one's sex, trans issues such as bathroom access. Yeah really, bathrooms. In 2015 many states, ones with Republican-controlled legislatures introduced laws to make it illegal for someone to use a restroom that did not match their assigned gender at birth, the law specifically said sex on birth certificates, on these so-called bathroom-bills. However, it is not about the damn bathrooms, it is about making transgender people feel lesser, putting a minority in their place in the margins. It is appropriate for transgender women to use the women's bathroom and for transgender men to use the men's bathroom. (What about nonbinary people? Put a pin that, we'll get there)
Conservatives legislating against transgender people, not just in the United States, but anywhere else in the world, are doing this for similar reasons against gay and bisexual individuals, because they want to preserve the status quo legally, socially, and politically against LGBTQIA+ individuals. Civil Rights issues of other groups play out broadly similar in the law, the groups in power are maintaining the legal separations and that legitimizes bigotry. Segregation of race happened because white people believed themselves to be superior to black people, and other peoples of color. There were and still are laws dictating codes for men and women because the men who make them believe themselves to be more deserving of more rights than women. Anti-sodomy laws and criminalization of homosexuality happened because straight people believed gay and bisexual people to be morally inferior and themselves to be morally superior. Homophobia is a moral issue at its heart. Likewise, laws against transgender people happen because of cisgender people wanting to preserve the sex-gender system of assigned sex that determines a static gender and erasure and marginalization of anyone who is not cis. Transphobia and homophobia differ in their philosophies, transphobia is metaphysical.
Gender has metaphysical properties to it. Some people see being a gender with certain qualities and essences that are beyond people, even though it is mostly socially constructed.
Feminine essence theory of transsexuality is a common argument that lines up with essentialism and not social construction theory. Under the feminine essence theory, trans women are women because they are TRANScendentally female! They may have been born in the wrong male body but by cosmic chance, they had female souls or brains. Female souls born into the body of a crossdressing baby! What a sad misfortune. Yet, the feminine essence of trans people theory does not challenge a lot of cissexist assumptions of gender, especially transmisogyny, it still plays into the notion that a woman must have something to be transcendentally female. TERFs or farts, believe it to be brutalized by men, while some it is being literal walking vaginas and nothing else, or menstruation. Do you even bleed, sis?
This is biological essentialism, a similar theory, essentialism of gender relies on gender being biological rather than socially constructed or even psychological.
Gender overall has many competing theories and each can be explored in their own essays in much greater detail. This blog explores the idea of sexism in homophobia and transphobia.
Going back to transgender people, especially trans women, are being sensationalized in the same way that many gay and queer people were in the 2000s over the debate on the legality of same-sex marriage. Homophobic stereotypes show gender non-conformity, such as effeminate men and butch women to stand for gay men and lesbians respectively. That shaming of the non-conformist is similar but not the same in transphobia but to a greater degree. Trans women, in particular, have a narrative of being wrongfully accused of being "male rapists invading sacred womyn-born-womyn spaces" while trans men usually are ignored or cast aside as "lost lesbian sisters", and non-binary people meanwhile are, uh where the nonbinary people.
I'm glad you asked!
Nonbinary and genderqueer people often face challenges reintegrating themselves due to a lack of social, political, and legal recognition in many cases. With the rise of trans awareness, some people are beginning to see them.
Trans women and trans men already have pre-existing social roles to integrate into, because they have the same social roles of cis women and cis men. However, there are no cisgender non-binary people because nobody is assigned that at birth. Us nonbinary people are inherently transgender. Our gender does not match our assigned gender. Nonbinary people can be anything but strictly a man or strictly a woman. Transmasculine and transfeminine nonbinary people exist and may have some broadly similar experiences to binary trans people, such as transfems affected by transmisogyny and transmascs are exempt from it, just trans women and trans men. Of course, trans-androgynous and trans-neutral nonbinary exist as nonbinary people do not have to be aligned to any binary at all. It is an umbrella term, and thus people under it may have differing or similar experiences.
Non-binary people and genders deserve an essay on their own, so I'll end for now.
Sexism impacts and affects people of all genders differently, and can depend if you are transgender, cisgender, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, etc. Gender, sex, and sexuality are all spectra of social constructs. Sexism comes into play and still informs many roles, identities, and hierarchies. Various feminist theories can all explain why, how, and what better than I can, I really do recommend you read and research as well, and keep posted on my blog and youtube channel as well. I'll keep reading and writing on the philosophy and politics of transfeminism and other feminisms too.
-Miss BDE
Support this blog!
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